Antelope roundup

After facing the trauma of a roundup wild horses and burros are sent into a system of holding that has historically failed to maintain the most basic of standard equine welfare practices (like vaccines, hoof care, record keeping). The system is set to “move ’em in, move ’em out” like a pipeline to slaughter for livestock.

Above: Roundups this time of year do impact foaling season. The risk of spontaneous abortion, death from foaling complications and foals that “fail to thrive” rises very high during January/February roundups. Our team member saw a lot of pregnant mares during the roundup including the one in the video above. 

Antelope Is Over. The Risks Grow.

BLM’s winter 2026 Antelope roundup is now officially wrapped, with 344 wild horses captured and 6 dead in just three days under the label of an “emergency.” Despite the press line that this was about horses “outside” Antelope and Moriah, the operation skirted relying on a new, legally challenged plan for the wider Complex and slid in under emergency language just in time to “get the horses out fast before livestock turnout.” (We are challenging the new plan.)

Every one of these 338 Antelope horses that survived capture are now in the same federal system that historically fails to provide the most basic equine welfare (vaccines, hoof care, shelter) is aggressively pushing “individual and group sales” as the solution to overfull pens and budget pressure. Wild horses from Antelope have gone to Palomino Valley Center that is open to the public.

Owyhee Complex wild horses

Wild horses from the Owyhee roundup, where an “emergency that was not was announced to skirt around the lack of an approved roundup plan” just completed, were sent off-limits from public eyes into the Winnemucca facility. We have just learned that the same person in charge of that roundup is now the same person doing oversight at the facility. In May 2024, Wild Horse Education joined the first and only public tour of the facility since it began receiving horses in 2022. Our FOIA work tracked thousands of East Pershing Complex horses into Winnemucca and found a grim picture: at least 65 deaths from capture through the first weeks in holding, including 39 dead at the facility by late February alone, with render receipts showing 103 carcasses over the winter. (See more HERE)

The roundups are over for now, but the next phase of risk has just begun: surviving the holding pens and then surviving the push to “sale” and the slaughter pipeline.

Our team tracked arrivals from the (then active) Antelope roundup into the facility. We continue to monitor.

From Holding Pens to “For Sale”

BLM’s January press release “highlighting” its Sale Program tried to present sales as a simple way to “place” unadopted horses and burros while saving taxpayers money, with fees starting at $25 and buyers allowed up to four animals every six months—or more through special “group sale” approvals. This change now allows someone to take eight, not four, wild horses and burros through the Sale program in twelve months. Instead of tightening oversight, they are flinging the door open further increasing risks. Note: The “four horse limit” came after a scathing investigation showing BLM shipped more than 1700 wild horses to one killbuyer alone (using taxpayer money to foot the bill for shipping) and the horses went right to slaughter. 

BLM’s wild horse and burro Sale Program has climbed to record levels. We have noted that “over the last few years, under cover of outrage over the Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), BLM has hit record numbers of ‘Sales.’”

Since the “Ten Years to AML” lobby document (2016) and the AIP came and went, the Sale program has jumped 1,287% from 2015 numbers with 3,718 horses and burros sold in 2025!

Once sold, wild horses or burros are no longer legally “wild horses” but private property immediately losing any protection. Now covered only by domestic animal law, with no federal compliance checks or ongoing oversight, they can simply slid into the “slaughter pipeline” and BLM can claim “we do not sell to slaughter.” Morally, if not legally, they do. 

Antelope mares in holding

The SAFE Act would permanently ban the slaughter of horses, donkeys, and mules for human consumption in the United States by adding them to the existing federal dog‑and‑cat meat prohibition. It would also make it illegal to ship, transport, purchase, sell, or donate equines for slaughter for human consumption, including export to slaughter plants in Mexico and Canada. For wild horses and burros, it closes the slaughter pipeline after adoption or sale by protecting them once they lose status under the 1971 Act and become “domestic” under law.

SAFE will not repair BLM’s broken on‑range management or solve the problems of abuse during capture and in holding. But it will shut the main market that makes bulk buying BLM horses profitable by closing the human‑consumption slaughter pipeline in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. That is the financial engine behind the kill‑buyer model.

Action: Make the Call for SAFE

The House Agriculture Committee will mark up the 2026 Farm Bill on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, at 2:00 PM PST, and this is the key window when SAFE Act language can still be added.

Once markup closes, the path narrows sharply.

Here is what you can do today:

1. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard: 202‑224‑3121.

2. Ask for each of your two Senators and your Representative. You will need to make more than one call to reach each office.

3. Say: “Hi, my name is ___ and I live in (city, state), ZIP ___. I’m asking the Senator/Representative to support including the SAFE Act (H.R. 1661 / S. 775) in the Farm Bill. Tens of thousands of American horses are still shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter for human consumption every year. SAFE would finally ban this and close the export pipeline. Please ensure SAFE language is in the Farm Bill—I will be watching how the Senator/Representative votes. Thank you.”

We also have a fast “click and send” for your representatives HERE. (The site seems to be experiencing a high volume today and you may get an error message… just try again later)

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Captured wild horses from Antelope and Owyhee are in holding now carrying both physical and psychological wounds as they face new threats in holding. We will talk more about these threats in the coming days.

Antelope stallion ripped from the range now in holding facing new threats daily.

BLM says it has “approximately 50,000” wild horses and burros warehoused in off‑range corrals and pastures today, a number that does not yet fully reflect 2026 removals but is already being driven higher by this winter’s roundups, including Antelope.

Every single one of them is at risk of landing in the kill line. 

Today, please make the call that could help impact the horror of the slaughter pipeline.

Thank you. 

Help keep our teams on the frontline and in the courtroom.

Every mile we travel to cover roundups or assess a herd, every court case we bring, every win, every action we take is only possible because of your support.