Above: Taken on the way to observation as the sun began to rise. Last moments of freedom.
We met BLM at 4:15 a.m. for a long drive down to the Muskrat Basin, the largest of the Herd Management Areas (HMA) in the complex. If you are planning to go to the roundup, when BLM says “be prepared to spend most of the day,” they mean it. Days can be 12 to 14 hours long. We did not get back to town until close to 5 p.m.
Observation was insanely far away again to document anything meaningful to assess. BLM seems to think the only thing the public wants to see is that a helicopter is in the air, therefore they have given “access.”
The public and media need “meaningful access to assess the handling of wild horses and burros by their government.” Over 14 days the amount of actual handling we could observe from a distance has held little meaning. Access to assess handling does not mean we need to see everything all the time. But at this operation we have not clearly seen one single moment a human has contact with a horse; not during capture, moving through alleys, loading on trailers at trap, sorting at temporary, loading onto semi-trucks for transport to the facility. Not one time in 13 days of observation.
We are not even close enough to know if ropers go out. Like the ropers that went out to get a foal BLM put down in the field today. You would not even know to ask “What happened?”
An occasional horse that runs by observers a bit closer because it deviates from the path or tries to escape is not meaningful access.
Above: One thing we can tell you, the cows did not seem bothered at all as they were at the other trap below the rim.
At holding we ask a series of questions if it does not appear we will be yelled at that day for asking questions (sometimes we ask anyway).
There were 251 (115 Stallions, 93 Mares, and 43 Foals) captured.
We asked about any “incidents.” BLM replied that there were a couple of escapes and seemed that satisfied our inquiry.
We asked about “incidents” again. Did they rope?
The reply was that they had. A foal was roped that BLM said had “lax tendons.” We were informed they “euthanized the foal in the field.” (Many foals are born with lax tendons and they tighten up in about a month or so. In other words, this was a new baby that BLM put down. To learn more about “baby feet” you can go HERE.)
To add a bit of “insult” to the entire mess, BLM is not even counting that babies death in the totals. Apparently because they killed her in the field and not at trap.
The death of this foal will never be counted as “roundup related.”
How many die in the field and are never counted?
If we did not ask that question waiting for the wind to die down before a literal “run around” at temporary holding… we would never know that foal had ever even existed.
It was also confirmed that the foals BLM put down due to “Wobblers,” had been “diagnosed” as having some type of neurological issue that the APHIS vet onsite simply said was Wobblers. Neurological symptoms are also part of capture myopathy (capture stress), injury (like being kicked in the head) or by having a spinal cord injury from being roped. (APHIS stands for Animal Plant Health Inspection Services and is a branch of USDA. These are the vets that inspect slaughterhouses, oversee what is “humane” with things like killing coyotes and wolves in Wyoming.)
Below: waiting for the wind to die down.
We do not know which band the foal was a part of or which run she lagged back from… we do not even know when riders went out. to rope… we were that far away… day after day after day….
Above: When we are at trap all we see are dots. You hold your breath (so you do not shake the camera because at full zoom even the slightest breeze can cause your camera to move off subject). When we get back (after 10-14 hour days) we spend a lot of time trying to enlarge that footage simply so you can see an actual horse, not a blob. At the distance we are kept, atmospheric disturbance occurs and makes even enlarging difficult.
There was a time there was no daily observation. Then we litigated for 6 years to get meaningful observation. We began to have meaningful observation for a few years. Around 2017 the slide backwards began. Now here we are again.
BLM recognizes permittees and mines as “customers and clients.” Each request by a permittee or mine is treated with a certain level of respect and is discussed and often capitulated to.
As a wild horse advocate, if you have a request or question, you are treated like an annoyance or even like some type of criminal.
We are talking here about basic, the most basic, First Amendment Rights (not discretionary privilege).
About an hour before the helicopter took to the air…
If we did not ask the question… no one would know that baby died yesterday…. and whose life is not even counted in the deaths of this roundup.
The average death toll from trap through 6 months post capture is 12%, about 1 in 9 wild horses and burros will die. We now have to preface those statistics with “of the deaths BLM actually reports.” (More on our investigative reports to uncover the real death rate from roundups HERE)
You can see the cumulative team updates HERE from North Lander in Wyoming.
You can see team updates from Blue Wing in Nevada, HERE.
Wild Horse Education is, and always has been for over 16 years, a frontline organization reporting to the public. We advocate for fair use of public lands, equity in inclusion in planning, humane handling, First Amendment Rights.
Our wild ones have been shortchanged in the game of big corporate, political pressure and nonsensical excuses for far too long.
Thank you for keeping WHE on the frontline in the fight to protect and preserve our treasured wild ones!