Terri Farley

Monday, June 27, 2016

Where's Mama? : What Happens to Foals After a Wild Horse Roundup

WASHINGTON, DC (June 23, 2016 ) Republicans on the Federal Lands Sub-Committee launched a plan for the extinction of America's wild horses. Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming purred that euthanasia is "such a lovely way to die." An alternate strategy? Round up 100% of America's wild horses so they won't suffer on the range.

Here's what happens to wild foals if they survive roundups. I was at Palomino Valley Wild Horse corrals with photographer Karen Hopple a few years ago when these foals arrived.
The first filly out of the contractor's truck tumbled out backward, but kept her balance. Most horses were sorrels, but there were also bays, duns and paler horses, including a palomino.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZWDI8spqRRO4F4xoZWUVggDcWgJTbVn-r8yxu23D3oINu692CgRWNyq0SDzMxZU_GhVLjsueEYI7Ub-tWmjLXmr3oZZSZeMIITSnws32P5TUhTaQZnpXATL_XBj0-u5Govc5/s1600/Antelope16foalswaitmoms.jpg

Bodies huddled together as close as possible, the foals stared at the truck which still held their mothers. Only a few pairs were reunited.

The red chestnut foal with blaze, pictured at blog-top, was so traumatized by roundup, shipment and loss of her family, her face was frozen in this expression the entire time I was there.
She and a few others tried to nurse from other foals.
This method of self-soothing indicates these babies are too young to be separated from their mothers, even though they met BLM's guidelines for weaning.
This is a perversion of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and if you're an American tax-payer, you're paying for it.


Too young to be taken from her mother, a foal tries to nurse another baby (Photos by Karen Hopple)

Labels: BLM, BLM roundup, contractors, euthanasia, filly, foal, mares, mustang, Palomino Valley, Rep. Cynthia Lummis, weaning, wild horses, Wyoming

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Posted by Terri Farley @ 3:00 AM 10 comments

Sunday, August 03, 2014

BLM Cowed into Eliminating Wyoming's Checkerboard Horses

Checkered Horse by Leslie Trewyn

WHO: The Bureau of Land Management

WHAT: hopes to bypass the National Environmental Policy Act to roundup nearly 1,000 wild horses as part of a plan to eliminate ALL wild horses from two million acres of land

WHEN: August 20, 2014

WHERE: Wyoming Checkerboard lands

WHY: request from Rock Springs Grazing Association of Wyoming

What are Checkerboard lands?

Though Congress mandated the protection of wild free-roaming horses and burros “in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public land,” BLM declared millions of acres “unsuitable for management."

The largest percentage of these “unmanageable” lands – 7,522,00 acres according to BLM’s most recent (2011) statistics – were dubbed checkerboard lands. This meant that private and public lands shared boundaries that BLM found “infeasible” to manage. (read more here: BLM Myths & Facts)

Checkerboard lands may also include treaty lands which have not yet been transferred to Native American tribal holdings.

Hope for Wild Horses

A lawsuit filed by Carol Walker, Director of Field Documentation for Wild Horse Freedom Federation seeks to halt this roundup.

Labels: BLM, BLM round ups, Carol Walker, cattle, checkerboard lands, natural resources, public lands, Rock Springs Grazing Association, Wild Horse Freedom Federation, wild horses, Wyoming

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Posted by Terri Farley @ 12:06 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

HORSE VANDALS?

Dear Readers,
Okay, I know I wasn't there.
And I didn't answer the call from the anonymous tipster.
But please read this story and tell me if it rings true to you.
Running wild in the cemetery?
Here's the thing: what would a horse get out of kicking over tombstones?
Use your heads and tell me what you think, ok?
Best,
Terri

Labels: cemetery, getting a kick out of vandalism, wild horses, Wyoming

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Posted by Terri Farley @ 10:23 PM 7 comments