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Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Ghost Dancer: this mustang mare survived First they took her freedom and family. Then, they put her in the stallion penI was on the range in January 2010, not far from the home land of Wovoka, the Paiute prophet whose vision began the Ghost Dance movement, when an ivory and adobe-colored Medicine Hat mare was taken from her home by a BLM helicopter round-up.
I saw her transferred to a government facility called Broken Arrow -- an ironic symbol for peace -- where she was accidentally penned with young stallions.
At this time, the Broken Arrow facility was open to the public. I visited the mare whenever I could and  brought her sage leaves, the scent of home. On days I couldn't go, friends checked on and photographed her (photos by Cat Kindsfather)  The mare bonded so quickly with a black and white pinto, I wondered if they'd known each other when they both ran free. Maybe their reunion, in captivity, was a bittersweet surprise. 
Eventually the Medicine Hat mare was moved to BLM's Palomino Valley facility and put up for sale. She was
not eligible for adoption because she was over 10 years old. This meant
she could be sold “without limitation”. That meant she
could have gone to a kill-buyer, but I was fortunate enough to outbid
everyone in an online auction. She was mine, but a bidder in Texas won her best friend, and the mares parted again.
The Medicine Hat mare was captured not far from the lands of the
prophet Wovoka. Inspired by the Ghost Dance religion and poem “Ghost Dance” by Sara Littlecrow-Russell, I named this resilient mare Ghost
Dancer.
The history I've read -- always iffy when it documents the lives of Indians -- says a dream showed him a circle dance which would cause the disappearance of the Whites and return the land to the way it was before their invasion, Wouldn't a wild horse, captured and ripped from her home, have the same dream?
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I freed Ghost Dancer in a 5,000 sanctuary with a young sorrel mare captured on the same day, in the same place.
 Labels: BLM, Broken Arrow, Fallon, Ghost Dance, ghost dancer, Medicine Hat, Nevada, sale authority, wild horses, Wounded Knee, Wovoka Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 9:43 PM 9 comments  
Saturday, March 31, 2012  Dear Readers, Yesterday, I saw one good reason you must insist on viewing your captive wild horses. BLM took reservations from the public, then opened the Indian Lakes/Broken Arrow mustang holding facility in Fallon, Nevada, for four hours. Good news: corrals were cleaner and less crowded than before. Feed was within reach. Horses look less frantic and traumatized. As they should. Many were born here. To them, sagebrush is no more than a scent on the wind. Many born in the wild have been penned in soul-deadening sameness for 2 years. We sat in our truck-pulled trolley. Our tour quieter was quieter than a fun park ride, but no less choreographed. BLM staff -- John and Heather -- were friendly, responsive and shared loads of stats. Yes indeed, BLM has learned to handle the tax-paying public. First time visitors would find it hard to imagine the nightmare that was Broken Arrow. For every wild horse facility open to the public, there are a hundred where you are locked out. We must insist of access, because it wasn't a bad dream. photo by Cat Kindsfather Labels: Broken Arrow, Fallon, Indian Lakes Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:01 AM 1 comments
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 Why Are We Paying to Kill Our Wild Horses?  photo by Cat Kindsfather Dear Readers, Here's a list of 18 wild horses that BLM admits have died at the Indian Lakes wild horse corrals in Fallon, Nevada in just two weeks. Press and public are locked out of Indian Lakes, which is located on a private ranch. • 9 month old colt was euthanized for a broken leg • 10 yr died due to spinal/neck injury • 2 yr died due to spinal/neck injury • died due to spinal/neck injury • 10 month old colt was euthanized (down and unable to stand on its own) • 10 month old colt was euthanized (down and unable to stand on its own) • 15 yr died reason unknown • 20 yr died due to spinal/neck injury • 25 yr was euthanized (down on truck upon arrival body condition 2) • 2 yr old died due to colic • Unbranded foal born at facility was euthanized due to club foot • 2886 1 yr old euthanized due to club foot • 2876 1 yr old euthanized due to club foot • 2849 1 yr old euthanized due to club foot • 2 yr old found dead death cause unknown • 2 yr old euthanized due to double cryptorchid • weaned foal died due to upper respiratory infection • 2457 weaned foal died due to upper respiratory infection Euthanized is the term used here, but most horses are shot. To met, these look like round-up and transportation injuries and the odds of 3 mustangs surviving for one year in the wild with "club feet" so debilitating that BLM destroyed them, is hard to believe. We are paying for this. Best, Terri Labels: BLM, Broken Arrow, Indian Lakes, wild horse deaths Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 4:52 PM 3 comments
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