I took these pics the weekend before last in a place called Spar Canyon, not far from my cabin. We counted roughly 50 or so overall, but I only had my iPhone with me, so there were only a few decent pics.

Enjoy:


These are wild Mustangs that roam about 10 minutes from my cabin.

The last bit of daylight and phone camera really do not do the horses and scenery justice.

Any idea how many are in the area?

That's pretty cool.

Back in the day, ranchers would kick a bunch of horses out on the range, occasionally introducing a new stallion for better bloodlines. Whenever they needed new stock, they just rounded up what they needed, leaving the rest to breed. there is a bunch all over the desert west left over from days before auto's. It was a cheap way to raise replacement horses.

In Oregon there is a herd of Kiger mustangs left over over from the original Spanish bloodlines. I guess the indians hid them in a box canyon and they never bred with local ranch stock. Pretty neat to see, even if they are a bit of a pest.

As far as I know, there are roughly 250 in the general area.

They generally keep their distance. I noted a couple of skeletons in the area, when my dad I and went for an evening jackrabbit safari.

Winters in this country are brutal. The wind is almost always blowing, and it gets COLD. A few years back during a December elk hunt, the radio station said the wind chill factor was minus 41 to minus 45 degrees.

Hard life for range ponies.

Sometimes I come out to my car and there's 6-8 in my front yard. There's chit piles all over my neighborhood from wild horses.

Beautiful animals.

Going up that way this weekend, last time I tried that road it was so muddy I made it up the first slope and had to turn around. Seen some of the Mustangs to the north a little. Going to soak my old bones and listen to the river!

24,

These guys were just north of where you start up the first hill (Heading west, off of Hwy 93). The 2 track goes for miles back there. They usually hang in that general area. It has everything they need.

Pretty good looking horses for wild Mustangs.

Yep they are darn healthy.

The country is pretty rough, and I don't think the weak survive long, especially in winter.

There is a sign in the area that states something to the effect, that many of the horses originated from the late 1800s mining era.

When the mines played out, many horses were turned loose, and they have been roaming the high desert and mountains of the area for over 100 years.

Destroying native wildlife habitat all over the West.

Should have a hunting season on them for proper management.

Neat Pictures.

True that.....it's not the horses fault though....it's the BLM doing what gubment does best.....f*cking up everything they touch....

Funny how people bitch about horses ruining habitat, but the same hunters insist on driving their ATV's all over the country side and think nothing of it.

Great pictures by the way. There is a group of wild horses that roam all over up here on Vermejo Park ranch. We used to see them as kids, they're very majestic animals.....

Thanks for sharing

You won't get any argument from me on that...

As for the horses...I lived with em all my life in No. NV and unlike allot of folks there I didn't hate em....I just hated BLM's mismanagement and waste of money rounding then up in area's that they actually did some good and then holding them until they died of old age in pens that weren't any better than a puppy mill while letting their numbers grow until they depleted the grass and ruined every water hole for miles in another....

it's the BLM doing what gubment does best.....f*cking up everything they touch.... [/quote]

To the tune of $77million per year for the care of mustangs. Not unusual to see 50-60 a day here driving for an hour on any highway. Rarely a lion will kill a colt, more are hit by vehicles, other than that they have no natural predation.

Wouldn't hurt my feelers if I never saw another.

Sorry for the thread derailment, MS. Great pics nonetheless.

1000 pound rats...

Very cool Mack.

Remind me sometime to tell you about the time they spent god knows how much money rounding up a bunch of mares and sterilizing them....or another time when they tried controlling them with fencing just to find out they wouldn't follow a fence to where the open gate is like a cow will but instead about 200 of em stood there at the fence and died of thirst...

Currently the guberment spends $1 billion per year to house 40,000 wild horses to keep them from overgrazing the range. There's no legal way to dispose of them.

KC

Thanks for sharing, beautiful country.

Dogfood.

Source?

The brutally cold winters tend to keep the population in check with the Challis herd. I've seen plenty of other wild horses, ranging from northern Nevada, to Jordan Valley Oregon. These high mountain horses seem to do well, with very little interference from the outside world, which is not the case with the horses out on the Great Basin.

BTW, Jordan Valley has long been known for it's rodeo, named the "Big Loop". The main event is the roping of wild mustangs. Contestants have to throw a 20' loop, when roping the mustangs.

It can get pretty sporty.

I actually met my now wife at the Big Loop. It used to be mostly a buckaroo rodeo, with guys from the ranches bringing all the tack and leather gear they made over the winter. Eventually it became more and more commercialized, but it is still a fun time.

The western culture is still very much alive and well in that remote part of the west.

Like KC said..."can't it's illegal"....years ago they held round up's in over populated areas and sold em to slaughter houses in Canada where they were processed for animal and human consumption but those days went the same way as common sense and the DoDo bird....

That's apparent....they dang sure don't look anything like NV's inbred jug heads.....which again "was caused by overpopulation due to mismanagement"...

Funny how these horses survived so long w/o .gov interference..

How much are tags for a NR?




Clark

Cool pix, as usual, Mackay.

I've noticed that quite a few of the "wild" horses in the Owyhees are very tame and have shoes. I suspect that the herd numbers went up more than usual after 4q 2008.

Around alfalfa fields, I suspect they may be dirt cheap.

I have no doubt that the same financial issues that caused folks to turn horses out in the late 1800s/early 1900s, may happen again in the near future, as the Republic slides into the abyss.

Great pix. Tks

that black one is a pretty fine looking piece of wild horseflesh. Id like to see the feet on it, might be a good endurance horse (not that I'm into that kind of thing, but grandpa was and he had a mustang or 2, along with his Arabs)

They look like they are within range of a 30/06.

Regarding the comment that some guys who complain about the
feral horses damaging the land than ride their quads all over the same land;
I've spent a lot of time in that area (mostly to the south out of Birch Creek). If you ride a quad off the trails, you will get it trouble. It never happened to me (we were careful to follow the rules), but I've seen people lined up getting tickets before and know guys who have gotten in trouble.

My daughter loves that white stallion, but he sure is a pain when there are mares in season.....

I bet that these would make some great horses for hunters, and pretty hardy breed stock.