Terri Farley

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Calico Horses on the run

It was a bittersweet day on the Calico range. The sage smelled spicy-clean and the mountains soared to meet the skies, but never, all day, was there silence.
Wildlife trails have been graded into roads for huge trailer trucks and the incessant beat of helicopter blades sliced through me.
People who think horse lovers anthropomorphize these animals should have been there today. These creatures have strong family bonds.
>Stallions battle minutes after they were forced from thousands of acres into tiny corrals.
BLM staffer: They're just fighting because they're crowded.
No, they're doing what they know; protecting a few square feet of ground and their families.
>Mares and foals are separated, able to see each other, but crying back and forth, wondering why they can't nuzzle or touch.
BLM staffer: They're a poor looking bunch.
>Hills resound as horse flesh slams metal corral bars and then, from a ridge, a black horse moves stiffly and calls to his family. They call over and over again, but the black hesitates.
BLM staffer: Don't worry, they'll get him in the next load.
Not band, not herd, or even bunch, but these wild creatures are named by the way they're transported away from home. And there's no attempt at understanding the confusion of this horse who's always know safety is with the herd, until today.

I'll tell you what, though, you all: I am more fired up than ever to fight for these horses.
This can't be allowed to go on.
Pictures soon.
Terri

Labels: BLM, Calico Complex, round up, terri farley, wild horses