It’s that time of year when we reflect, review and plan in the battle to protect our wild horses and the land they stand upon. In three short weeks it will be 2018. What will the new year look like for wild horses and burros and all of our public resources? The battle we are faced with as this year draws to a close is critical, the proposed budget that seeks to kill tens of thousands of wild horses is still in debate. The outcome of that debate will set the stage for 2018.

Advocating for wild horses and burros on public land is always an uphill battle. Profit driven exploitation holds political control and resource protection is not the priority of land managers. Advocacy organizations like Wild Horse Education (WHE) must fight hard to protect our wild ones. Through January 1 we have a generous donor that will match all gifts to the fight fund and another donor matching the match! Help us start 2018 strong!  Click HERE to contribute.

We look back at your top ten for 2017; articles, images and videos that you viewed the most. (Listed from number one through ten)

This image of a beautiful stallion and his son running free in Nevada was the number one image viewed, commented on and requested by our readers in 2017.

Senate Version of Bill Will Not Kill Wild Horses: The proposed budget called for the outright sale (slaughter) of tens of thousands of wild horses. The House version said “just put a bullet in their heads.” The Senate said “figure out something else.” This bill is now in conference and our wild ones await their fate. Click Here.

Support the Probe Into Interior: We asked for you to sign onto a letter supporting a probe into the Department of Interior from top to bottom. The response was overwhelming and we still need your support to see this through. A House investigative team is looking into potential violations of law; some of them involving our wild horses. Click Here.

Reveille Roundup Reports: Daily reports from the Reveille Roundup; capture and release. Click Here.

#Post Truth; a few wild facts you should know in these dangerous times (part one, Congress: This piece features two videos vital for the serious advocate to watch; an unofficial hearing into threats on public land (violence) and an official hearing on wild horses. Click Here.

This image was number two on views, comments and requests in 2017. It was taken after a gooseneck weld apparently broke transporting wild horses, just processed at temporary holding prior to release, near the end of 2016.

All The Pretty Horses Must Die: Our introduction to a piece written by Christopher Ketcham, published in the Daily Beast. An in depth look at what WHE faces, in one small area that we travel. A hard look at todays West and wild horses. Click Here.

WHE works; Humane Care: Our standing page written in 2015 about our fight to gain a humane handling policy. Our fight to stop wild horses and burros from being hit by helicopters, run through barbed wire, chased to exhaustion, etc was a 5 year marathon from range to court. We are the only organization in history to take this on. Today we have the first policy on handling. Still work to do to make it better, but it exists today. Click Here.

The video above was shot in 2016 at the Caliente roundup. It continued to be a favorite in 2017 and has been viewed more than 22,000 times in 2017. This was an extremely unusual roundup where the contractor actually sought input from myself (Leigh) and was completely transparent with actions. In most instances contractors are obstructive and BLM allows it regardless of the First Amendment. The Caliente Complex has a new EA for nine herd areas. Over 1,7000 horses will be removed from the area that BLM says can not sustain any wild horse population. You can view an article HERE.

Wild Horses and the Public Land Seizure Movement; A series of articles that traces significant aspects of the fight in the West for private control of public resources and how it effects wild horses and burros. Click Here.

4 Leg Brigade: Kids Can Help Wild Horses: the 4 Leg Brigade campaign is still on. Letters from kids are being collected by Fritz, a miniature horse, to use in his political fight for his wild brothers and sisters. Click Here.

The video of wild horses released at Fish Creek was shot in 2015. This video has been viewed nearly 60,000 times since it was loaded and continues to be a favorite with over 15,000 views in 2017. Unfortunately this program was litigated against by counties and ranchers; they said BLM has no authority to release horses and do fertility control. The county wanted them simply removed and sent to slaughter if BLM had no room to house them. Their case lost in court, but politics kept the program from moving forward, backdoor deals in the Deranged War. BLM prioritizes exploitation, not sanity and preservation. The investment in data and fertility control is now lost and we are likely to see a roundup in this area very soon.

Terror Tactics; Wild Horses: An article that responds to Mark Amodei (R-NV) in an RGJ article where he claims in the budget debate nobody wants to kill horses. However when Mark talks about “fertility control” he means spaying wild mares in the field. There is a real danger that political games will either see horses killed outright or older mares suffer the consequence of spaying in field (a procedure only done on domestics in extreme cases, in a sterile environment). Wild horses are not domestic dogs. Click Here.

Zinke to Head Interior; Here’s Your Sign: An article written right after the appointment of Ryan Zinke to head the Department of Interior. Zinke has been a proponent of horse slaughter a long time. He is very cozy with those that want to take over public resources for profit. This appointment was not a good sign for anything that lives and draws a breath on public land. Click Here.

The release of wild horses back to Reveille in a snow/hail/rain mix was the third most popular picture of 2017.

The most downloaded pdf on the site for 2017 was our pamphlet with nearly 4,000 downloads.

The articles above represent the most read stories of 2017. We continue our countdown to the fight of their lives in 2018. As always we renew our commitment to our readers and the wild horses. We will do everything in our power to understand as much of this mess as we can, pass the information to you and take whatever action we can to protect our wild ones from abuse, slaughter and to fight for sanity on the range.