Images of this mare, and warnings of others close to giving birth, were shown to BLM prior to the start of Triple B in 2018. We were able to warn BLM of her location and document the herd because we came before the chopper ever flew and know the range. We found her, she is still free but her band mates are not. Her family was shattered and she must have lagged behind or hid. One of the released studs found her… and they are now a small family of 3. BLM often has cotton in it’s ears as advocates speak, yet take any direction, even petty ones, from proslaughter. We will have more on that soon.

NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER, Laura Leigh

Each mile, each range, each wild horse, carries so much information critical in the fight for protection against physical abuse of the land, horse and abuse of power. Triple B is not just a “roundup,” it is a piece in the big picture. 

Many people only see these roundups when an expensive cameraman shows up a couple of days to get some footage for a news piece or a social media campaign. The pics go up, people click a button, and then the story is replaced with the next round of “click bait” as our society becomes more and more addicted to the practice. From our perspective, the ground, the results are tragic; the media, Congress and the public remain uneducated and simply reactive. We have watched the consequence over and over as cycles repeat, create deep ruts, and the layers of misinformation and ignorance grow.

Triple B carries so much for me, personally. Surrounded by other HMAs that the public does not connect, but the reality the wild horse lives in the place it stands is connected to the large picture. Little picture to big picture and back again; sometimes it feels like you need Dramamine to combat the dizziness. This is my tenth year, on the ground, in this fight. Nothing I had experienced in advocacy before that first mile on the range prepared me for all that has happened.

In 2011 I spent six weeks at a roundup that target nearly 1700 wild horses for removal. I ran the roundup documentation all day and crafted legal documents all night, then did it again. WHE filed and won the first case against abuse to wild horses in history. WE stopped the operation just days short of reaching the goal, the Judge banning the helicopter saying “the court is watching” and knew we would bring back documentation of any further abuse. This began a nearly 5 year battle to gain a policy for handling of wild horses during capture. Case after case, round after round, we continued to win.

In the fall of 2015 BLM finally instituted a policy. However just like anything else that offers any protection to our wild horses the policy was resented. There was push-back, drama storms, and consequence for us taking such a hard stand. We must continue the fight to ensure that progress continues and does not become another casualty of politics. 

Politics, all sides, rule the reality our wild ones experience. The reality our wild ones experience very rarely even makes it into the room.

WHE was here again in 2018. WHE ran that road starting before the helicopter flew and stayed until after it landed for the last time again in 2018. The before, middle and fallout to many of our wild horses was, and is, epic.

This road is long, hard and, frankly, heartbreaking. The consequence to the wild horse is immense, time and time again, from profit driven and well organized interests. I swear it is like living in a soap opera or episode of “Game of Thrones.” 

In order to gain protections for our wild horses the deeper issues must be addressed or they will continue to build more and more layers that we must dig through. I have said it before, and will say it again, “An educated advocacy is needed now more than ever.” 

Wild horses before the roundup. None of these are left in the wild.

Our focus is one thing, and one thing only, the wild horse under federal jurisdiction. We do not deviate from that mission. We are a specialized organization, without distraction or anything that can confuse the already immensely muddled mess our federally protected wild horses are caught in.

We are working on a final document to send to several federal oversight agencies, and a handful of members of Congress, that go into detail about the layers of Triple B. This is  an example of the mismanagement practices of the BLM that run deep, very deep. We are working hard to make sure that Triple B is not just click bait and people forget about it in 48 hours. There needs to be a very close look at the operation in a complete review.  (READ MORE HERE)

We have been working with several members of Congress and oversight agencies since early last year. Issues involving public land, intimidation, corruption and concealment of those actions is in extreme. 

Your public land, Triple B

Many that follow wild horses see an adoption or sanctuary issue and, although those are important, they are not efforts that deal with public land management; wild, wild horses are public land management.

Each link in the chain is distinct, and the expertise that goes with it, we are a  link in the chain for our wild ones. “Wild” management is our focal point; birth on the range through capture and holding.

Wild Horses are a component of public lands and subjected to the whims of the bigger political resource grabs. Perhaps wild horses are even more vulnerable as they are the only animal in our nation defined by the land they stand on, not what they are biologically? 

Cover of WHE Mag for Triple B

We are doing a version of the document we are preparing for Congress, for the public in the form of an E-Zine. The e-zine is intended to take you on a journey into Triple B; horses, land and politics. This microcosm of the wild horse program is one string in the web, yet illustrative of the issues we see program wide.

We are not an organization that sends you 5 fundraising, hard-sell, mailers every week. We are not a newspaper that has put up a paywall to our content to protect it and fund it. However we do need funding, just like everyone else does, to keep our work active. We are creating the magazine as gift to donors that give $25. or more to the fight we are engaged in.

The E-zine will include info on the area, the horses and the politics. A 36 page, full color, printable, magazine that will include photos of adoptable wild horses from Triple B. The E-zine will publish March 3.

We thank you for following and support this work.

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To receive your copy of the E-Zine “Triple B” to be published March 5, 2018, any contribution over $25. will help us cover costs and continue this mission. Thank you.

Click here to make a contribution of over $25 and receive E-Zine as a gift