The last day of the Adobe Town roundup begins. BLM has a hard target of 1675 wild horses. They only have 63 left to catch.

Our team covers roundups to address welfare issues and report back to the public. We have done that here at Adobe where there had been no treatment at all of injured or compromised wild horses at temporary holding and now there is. BLM authorized the contractor to administer things like electrolytes to compromised or roped foals and the application of simple antiseptics/anti fungals on wounds when animals are in the chute (the standard is something called Blue Kote spray). BLM actually listened when we also discussed issues with transport and (specific) disturbing changes we have seen over the last couple of years.

We will follow-up. But basic welfare issues will continue. They will continue until BLM actually formalizes welfare rules. Formalizing welfare rules includes a public comment period and review before finalizing policy. In the case of the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP) BLM literally just typed the word “Permanent” on it without review. We have active litigation and will be able to give you a wrap on that case shortly. (You can find an action item you can take. We can win it in the courts or, to simply cut to the chase, Congress can designate specific funding for BLM to complete the process. You can find and action item at the bottom of the holding corral report and we will add it to the bottom of this article if you scroll or continue to read.)

Documentation is key to being able to craft our reports and file litigation on welfare issues. But this work is really hard on the soul.

At roundups emotions can run high and there is a tendency to simply “wall off” and play “teams” where communication, even among advocates themselves, gets strained. The long days that can get very hot in the summer that begin before dawn (4 a.m. wake up call) and end as the sun goes down (around 8:30 p.m. this time of year in this part of Wyoming). For advocates your night time hours are spent charging batteries, packing for the next day and editing updates for the public. You also have to complete everything else like answering emails, working on Appeals and Federal Civil court cases and even try to answer a phone call from your family.

This article does not have pictures of the roundup.

The pictures in this article are of the last hours of freedom.

One of the last times a young band stallion struts his stuff for the bachelors. One of the last naps in the sun while mom stands over you giving you much needed shade and protection. One of the last moments of the complex interaction of the bands that live in this valley…. some of which had escaped the helicopter over the last two days, but are unlikely to escape today.

As advocates, the complex social structure and family bonds are one of the things we love about sitting with wild horses.

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What is harder? Watching capture where families are shattered forever or sitting with bands and wishing you had a vanishing spell to make them invisible for the next 24 hours? We can’t really answer that.

The search of empty ranges where you witness the aftermath is rough. We found this one lone stallion (far off) in the area of a previous trap. (below) We hope he can find others soon and try to regroup a band. We hope those captured from his herd survive the holding facilities and find safe landing somewhere.

Our team has already filed Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIA) as BLM shipped to three different facilities and never posted which facilities they shipped to each day. Finding a specific horse (if someone wants to adopt) is going to be a real tangled mess. Finding out how many survive over the next six-months is going to be a challenge (the average death rate is 1 in 9, or 12%, within six months).

Of the deaths onsite, foals account for about half of them. We expect foal deaths in holding to be high. We do not know how many did not make it into the trap. The youngest foals often do not run, but hide. Foals a bit older run until they can’t, break off, and then travel in a direction they think their family went. Each and every day operations pushed too hard and too far for this time of year.

We need to catch up on updates on litigation, legislation, vehicle repairs, even checking in with family. 

We will have an update coming soon on all the technical paperwork. We do not like to do those articles fast. Context and specific language is incredibly important when it comes to law legislation and litigation). We have seen how “shorthand” can lead to all kinds of misunderstanding in the public and then a “misfire” when it comes to creating the changes we need to protect our wild ones from abuse and preserve them for future generations. Sleep deprivation and processing the emotions of the roundup always make switching to technical speech a bit like mental whiplash. We will update soon.

All of our herds matter. Each individual life matters.

From sweeping policy change, court wins to hold BLM accountable to the law and getting electrolytes and fluids to exhausted foals and wound care to try to ward off infection as wild horses are bunched together and shipped to facilities where spread of disease can be rampant… it all matters.

We thank our team for all of your hard work on and off the field. Our members come from all over the country. Some traveling long distances and some attending in their own communities. We thank all of you for your help, compassion and commitment. 

Our team needs your support. None of our work is possible without your support. Thank you!

When it comes to the WELFARE our wild horses and burros there should be NO DEBATE. 

These amazing wild horses deserve so much more than to be treated like garbage and basic needs dismissed.

Our team is continuing litigation against abuses. Our team is pushing Congress to stop giving lip service to the words “humane management.” We must have a real enforceable welfare policy before we begin to debate “alternatives.”

While we litigate, you can reach out to your lawmakers.

Call your reps at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representatives in the House and Senate. Tell them we need designated funding for a concise and enforceable welfare policy in the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program. We also have a fast “click and send” letter to your reps, HERE.