Incredible window into the mind of one of many horse lovers who would sacrifice the desert and responsible development for the sake of non-native, invasive horses.

https://www.rgj.com/story/opinion/v...up-colt-video-and-new-chance/9911818002/

Pancake wild horse roundup: the colt, the video and a new chance

Struggling to get out there, watching through a camera lens and trying to hold it together while half the time the government is trying to block me is a window into what it is like to be an observer. I shot the video of the young colt being chased by a low-flying helicopter, causing its leg to snap at the infamous Pancake Complex wild horse roundup in Nevada, which has been viewed by millions through multiple news stories.

One person can feel helpless. But don’t give up. Change throughout history has come from creating a ripple, and you never know how far it will travel. Out of this has come legislation and litigation.

Congresswoman Dina Titus saw the incident, took it to heart and gave homage to the colt in the introduced HR 6635, the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2022. It calls for the outrageous and large helicopter roundups across the West to stop and for the Government Accountability Office to look into alternatives and create a report.

A good alternative and place to start would be for the government to start doing its job. It is grossly failing to follow the requirement mandated in the Code of Federal Regulations: Herd management area plans “shall” be prepared for all areas where wild horses are allowed to live. In Nevada, for example, of the 83 areas, 82 do not have a herd management area plan.

These mandated management plans would be a lifeline for wild horses. Plans would have directives to start protecting the range they depend on to survive, start protecting their critical habitat so they stop losing it to industry, and start protecting their genetics. The effect of not having these plans is these outrageous and large helicopter roundups. The byproduct of not preparing these plans means the public is not being given a chance to comment on how these animals are being treated and managed, which violates the National Environmental Policy Act.

Events I shot that day are now part of a lawsuit pending in Reno Federal District Court alleging violations by the Bureau of Land Management of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Defendants failed to prepare a herd management area plan as required for Pancake. “Round up and remove” is not a herd management area plan.

Imagine the sight of wild horses so strong and stunningly beautiful with unique characteristics from a genetic pool created over generations. My thoughts were how tragic that my fellow Americans will never see these wild horses. More than 2,000 were rounded up and removed from the Pancake Complex. Most were sent to facilities off-limits to the public, never to be seen again, their fate unknown. These beauties were sterilized, their genetics lost forever.

The colt was chased by a helicopter so it fell back from its family, slipped and snapped its leg, and in obvious distress and all alone was roped, loaded onto a trailer, and while struggling to stand, traveled over a bumpy road for a half hour to a temporary holding corral and was killed.

I am one human being who volunteered for those who fought for our First Amendment right for the access to view roundups and fought against abuse. Being there on the ground, watching and documenting, has given us a new chance, momentum, and a window of opportunity.

It is in the best interests of the public and wild horses to have herd management area plans to start protecting areas of our public lands from industry encroachment — livestock, oil, gas and mining. Once our land is gone, it’s gone.

Wouldn't it be easier to just shoot them and turn them into food?

.....and a great wailing and gnashing of teeth was heard across the Western lands from your post!!

yep make some canned bully beef ! get rid of the wild horses unless someone wants them on their land fenced and they capture and haul them.

Yep and horse meat is tasty. When our supply chain bites the dust MANY horses will be chile meat. And in my opinion about 60% of horses are good for nothing else.

Can we all agree that they are feral, not wild?

Cuteness trumps environmentalism.

Who you calling "we"?

Filly mignon and porterhorse steak.

I always remind these idiots;

INVASIVE SPECIES!

I have a female friend---staunch Trump supporter and rock-solid conservative. But when it comes to wild horses, her brain goes out the window and she is completely driven by emotion. Heaven forbid anyone shoot one of these critters or drive to remove them from the range!

I'd be OK with the horses if we could get them to reintroduce some Giant Sloths and Giant Camels to keep them company.

You know, like they had for company before they went extinct in these parts.

How many of those horses has she adopted- - - - -or is she a hypocrite, too?

Yes sir. You can't swing a dead cat and not hit a horse around here. I've yet to see on rode or pulling a plow.

edit

Feral covers horses and some maladjusted bipeds as well. The only way to fix stupid is to educate stupid out at the start. Didn't happen this time. Sigh.

I'd be okay with that, as long as the horses here now where like those then...

"Congresswoman" says it all. Estrogen derived policies.

"... estrogen derived policies! ..." (snicker, snort, chortle!)

A few feral horses become useful....nowhere near all of them.

There is a program where applicants are chosen to adopt a horse, then break, train and show the horse. Some of those folks do some amazing work with those horses.

Federal law enforcement agencies that require mounts are supplied with feral horses.

I'm a real horse person.
I won't allow a horse under my care to be sold to a meat packer.
I won't allow a horse under my care to be left out for the buzzards. They WILL be buried.
....but the wild horses out west? It would grate on my nerves, but yeah, they need to go!
Sometimes you just gotta look "beyond the estrogen"! LOL!

Not the way my Nevada brother did it. Slap a packsaddle on that sucker and run her in a string of already "trained" horses on an elk-hunting trip to Idaho. No one died, but some of the rodeos were fun! The horses actually learned quickly what was allowed and not. OJT.

The first horse I picked to ride from his BLM string of 8 , he disallowed. "You dona't know enough. She falls asleep while walking. She will step off a cliff and kill you". She did too - she would walk slower and slower, her head nodding, until the horse behind her bit her on the ass - good to go for another mile or two.

The one I rode was a gentle plug - fitted for someone last on a horse 19 years before, with no horse skills to speak of. Coming out, at dusk, she started shying at shaded spots and rock outcroppings - a throwback to her range days, I think. Pretty sure she forgot I was up there until I nudged her with my heel, at which she lashed out with hind feet. "What the hell was that?" the guy behind me asked.

"Ghosts!"

With or without beans?

My wife has a quarter horse mare I think she loves more than me and can be a disgusting pet owner but she looks at the feral horse problem and sees the bottom line as euthanasia as probably the most efficient means of management. She has known her whole life that herds need to be thinned to survive. If nature can't do it, man needs to.

Did she go vote or did she stay home with you?

Exactly............right.

I wonder what giant sloth tastes like? Might be fun to hunt?

Tarbe;
Good afternoon to you sir, though it's still morning here, nonetheless I hope you're well regardless of the time of day.

If you're ever traveling east of Ft. McLeod, AB on Highway 3, on the south side of the highway you may spy a whole bunch of horses. This is what you'd be looking at if you did.

https://www.bouvrycanada.ca/

Many non-horse folks don't understand that the horse racing industry for instance is pretty tough on a lot of participants and that is the way one's who either are injured or don't make grade are dealt with.

There are still somewhere near 500 PMU farms up here too - Pregnant Mare Urine - and of course since the mares need to be pregnant to get the chemical needed, there's a surplus of offspring correct? Half of them - the colts - end up on a one way trip to Ft. McLeod.

Locally we're having increasing issues with feral horses which have wandered off of the First Nations Federal Reserves. Since the horses technically belong to the bands or to individual band members, non band members are not really free to shoot them on sight. That doesn't mean that doesn't happen, but if one is caught there are consequences for doing so.

At the same time, there's a FN rancher I know who used to and still might do a pretty brisk business catching "surplus" or unclaimed band horses and shipping them to Ft. McLeod. He's quite a character however so he might be unique in doing that, I can't say.

Lastly, I'll agree with my cyber friend to the north ironbender that they are most certainly feral, not wild. Words matter or at least they used to and need to again in my view.

Anyways just a few thoughts from north of the medicine line and not much more.

All the best.

Dwayne

Ain't no beans in chile hippy.