McCullough Peaks July 2020
Every Wild Horse Herd Matters
The McCullough Peaks Herd in Wyoming
I let myself through the makeshift barbwire fence gate and close it back up again. I start down the dusty roads eagerly searching for the horses, driving though a couple washes, up over a hill and back down again, keeping my eyes peeled in every direction. On a faraway hill to the West I see a large group of horses and I keep driving hoping to find a road that will take me closer to them. I come across a waterhole and as I start to drive past it I glance in my rear view mirror.
Behind me is a group of 9 horses is coming over a hill I had just driven past and they are headed to the waterhole. I move out of their way, then shut the truck off, grab my camera and get a few photos. The group splits up and 4 of them head West towards the larger group on the faraway hill. I get back in the truck and continue down the dusty road.
Still looking for a road to take me West, I glance over and see a horse pop its head up. I stop again, grab my camera and make my way carefully over the dry ground and past the low-growing cactus to get a closer look. A couple more heads pop up and I realize the horses are in a gully, having found some greener grass to munch on. I stop and wait to see what they will do with me there. One by one 11 horses come up out of the gully, a beautiful group of paints with one foal. I snap photo after photo as they walk away, and as I turn to head back to the truck, one more horse, a gorgeous brown and white paint stallion pops up out of the gully. He eyes me carefully then moves on with the group.
Back in the truck I head another half mile up the road, finally find a road going left but it ends at another water hole. I park hoping the group of 12 I had just seen were headed this way. I see some dust from the West and then my heart jumps a beat as the large herd I had seen from a distance starts coming over a hill towards me. I look back and the group of 12 are headed this way too. In mostly single file, following the well-worn path they had created long ago, the wild horses make their way to the water in groups, one band after the other. They take quick drinks and a few have a quick dip in the cool water. The stallion from the paint group wanders around greeting a couple other horses then walks back over to wait with his band for their turn to drink.
As fast as they all came, they were gone again. The group of 12 joined the large herd and they all headed back over the hill.
I drive West and back South, saw the horses moving up over another hill and back down again. I found a road to park and sat on my tailgate enjoying the silence, watching the horses from a distance. It was a large herd but I watched as each band stuck together. Some of the horses would greet each other, do some much needed grooming, then stand quietly while a few of the younger stallions played. A few squirmishes broke out between a couple band leaders and a stallion who was trying to get a mare of his own. I waited and watched and photographed.
Then it happened. The entire herd began to make it’s way toward me. I sat quietly taking photographs then put the camera down. Taking a few bites of grass now and then, the herd surrounded my truck as they walked over the dusty road to the West. A gorgeous brown and white paint and a solid white mare stood near me and watched for a moment before moving on.
I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Such a beautiful rare sight. Wild mustangs who have no reason to trust humans were willing to come near me, let me look them in the eyes, and quietly move on. Living together on land that is dry and filled with few grasses, these horses find a way to survive with nature. I make a promise right then and there to do what I can to protect them, to join the fight to protect our wild horses and burros, to find a way to let them live free on the lands they were born on.
The McCullough Peaks Herd in Wyoming
I let myself through the makeshift barbwire fence gate and close it back up again. I start down the dusty roads eagerly searching for the horses, driving though a couple washes, up over a hill and back down again, keeping my eyes peeled in every direction. On a faraway hill to the West I see a large group of horses and I keep driving hoping to find a road that will take me closer to them. I come across a waterhole and as I start to drive past it I glance in my rear view mirror.
Behind me is a group of 9 horses is coming over a hill I had just driven past and they are headed to the waterhole. I move out of their way, then shut the truck off, grab my camera and get a few photos. The group splits up and 4 of them head West towards the larger group on the faraway hill. I get back in the truck and continue down the dusty road.
Still looking for a road to take me West, I glance over and see a horse pop its head up. I stop again, grab my camera and make my way carefully over the dry ground and past the low-growing cactus to get a closer look. A couple more heads pop up and I realize the horses are in a gully, having found some greener grass to munch on. I stop and wait to see what they will do with me there. One by one 11 horses come up out of the gully, a beautiful group of paints with one foal. I snap photo after photo as they walk away, and as I turn to head back to the truck, one more horse, a gorgeous brown and white paint stallion pops up out of the gully. He eyes me carefully then moves on with the group.
Back in the truck I head another half mile up the road, finally find a road going left but it ends at another water hole. I park hoping the group of 12 I had just seen were headed this way. I see some dust from the West and then my heart jumps a beat as the large herd I had seen from a distance starts coming over a hill towards me. I look back and the group of 12 are headed this way too. In mostly single file, following the well-worn path they had created long ago, the wild horses make their way to the water in groups, one band after the other. They take quick drinks and a few have a quick dip in the cool water. The stallion from the paint group wanders around greeting a couple other horses then walks back over to wait with his band for their turn to drink.
As fast as they all came, they were gone again. The group of 12 joined the large herd and they all headed back over the hill.
I drive West and back South, saw the horses moving up over another hill and back down again. I found a road to park and sat on my tailgate enjoying the silence, watching the horses from a distance. It was a large herd but I watched as each band stuck together. Some of the horses would greet each other, do some much needed grooming, then stand quietly while a few of the younger stallions played. A few squirmishes broke out between a couple band leaders and a stallion who was trying to get a mare of his own. I waited and watched and photographed.
Then it happened. The entire herd began to make it’s way toward me. I sat quietly taking photographs then put the camera down. Taking a few bites of grass now and then, the herd surrounded my truck as they walked over the dusty road to the West. A gorgeous brown and white paint and a solid white mare stood near me and watched for a moment before moving on.
I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Such a beautiful rare sight. Wild mustangs who have no reason to trust humans were willing to come near me, let me look them in the eyes, and quietly move on. Living together on land that is dry and filled with few grasses, these horses find a way to survive with nature. I make a promise right then and there to do what I can to protect them, to join the fight to protect our wild horses and burros, to find a way to let them live free on the lands they were born on.
Every Wild Horse Herd Matters – The Cerbat Horses of Arizona
My visit to the Cerbat wild horses of Arizona in February 2021 is a sad reminder of many of the challenges our wild horses face today. A beautiful, sturdy, Spanish bred herd, these horses are small in stature and live in a harsh desert environment that is overrun with cattle and human presence.
The area these horses live in is no longer a herd management area but is now known as just a herd area. Turning onto the dirt road that leads into the herd area, I immediately see a wooden corral with a small band of wild horses, some cattle, and salt or protein buckets. While taking a few photographs, a ranch truck drove up to the corral. I struck up a conversation with the guy who turned out to be the local ranch manager who runs cattle in the HMA. I asked him about the horses and his reply was: “I don't much care for them. They eat all the protein the cows need. But if we grazed our cattle in the forest, we'd have the elk to compete with. So we just can't win.” He shrugs his shoulders and tells me that someone in the area feeds the horses.
We watch as the band stallion sees a nearby bachelor stallion and at a full run chases him away. Fifteen minutes later that band stallion had still not returned so it must have been a long chase! I did see him with his band again later in the day. As the ranch manager leaves, one of the mares and her young filly come within 100' of me, a sign they are somewhat used to humans who feed them, but my experience with the rest of the horses I find farther into the area is that they are very wary of humans and bolt for the hills at first sight.
I head up the dirt road passing several houses, all built within the HMA, then the road narrows and becomes more primitive. I pass the first 'waterhole' which consisted of a water trough being fed by a large water container and a hose, a few buckets with salt licks in them and a handful of cows and calves. Farther up the road is another 'waterhole'; this one had about 5 horses at it, four who ran away the moment they saw me. This 'waterhole' had an old pickup bed as the water source, more buckets with salt licks in them and a very skinny cow. The area was all dirt with cow pies everywhere and nearby in a tree was a ladder and platform (a hunting blind?). The fifth horse proceeded to 'hide' behind a bare tree hoping I wouldn't see him.
A bit more driving up the mountain let me to a third 'waterhole', this one fed by a hose coming from a windmill pumper and a corral with a few cows in it. I did see a group of four horses here who took off the moment they saw my truck, but they stopped on a hill and eventually made their way back to the water trough when they realized I wasn't going to approach them.
The Cerbat herd area is very dry and there are no natural water sources that I could find. This means the wild horses never get the opportunity to take a bath and cool off in the hot summer months. Along the entire length of the road was a black pipe taking water from the springs up the mountain down to the houses below. I pick up some empty cans, a red foil balloon, and a paper cup along the way.
The Cerbat wild horses are a beautiful herd with direct Spanish ancestry. They are smaller in size, around 14 hands. Most of the horses I saw were bay colored with black markings. Their coats shined a gorgeous copper red color in the sun. I did see a couple grays and a couple blacks.
After three trips to the herd area, I managed to get some great photographs when the horses weren't running away from me! I saw just two foals; one is a filly whose shiny coat was at least 3-4 inches long. Her band stallion, the one who chased the bachelor away, kept a close eye on her when I was nearby. I love the affection many stallions show to their foals.
Our wild horses deserve better than the conditions the Cerbat horses have been given. If the area had been left to nature, there would be ponds and springs for the horses to drink from. The banks and plant life along the washes wouldn't be trampled and damaged by cattle. And there would be more grasses for the horses to eat as they wouldn't have to share with the grazing cattle. Such a beautiful and unique herd who live among canyons, mountains, and cactus. Making my way out of the herd area I come across a band of ten who head for the hills the moment they see me. I watch as they slow to a walk, taking their well traveled single file path up the side of the mountain and disappear into the canyon nearby. What a beautiful sight it was.
The area these horses live in is no longer a herd management area but is now known as just a herd area. Turning onto the dirt road that leads into the herd area, I immediately see a wooden corral with a small band of wild horses, some cattle, and salt or protein buckets. While taking a few photographs, a ranch truck drove up to the corral. I struck up a conversation with the guy who turned out to be the local ranch manager who runs cattle in the HMA. I asked him about the horses and his reply was: “I don't much care for them. They eat all the protein the cows need. But if we grazed our cattle in the forest, we'd have the elk to compete with. So we just can't win.” He shrugs his shoulders and tells me that someone in the area feeds the horses.
We watch as the band stallion sees a nearby bachelor stallion and at a full run chases him away. Fifteen minutes later that band stallion had still not returned so it must have been a long chase! I did see him with his band again later in the day. As the ranch manager leaves, one of the mares and her young filly come within 100' of me, a sign they are somewhat used to humans who feed them, but my experience with the rest of the horses I find farther into the area is that they are very wary of humans and bolt for the hills at first sight.
I head up the dirt road passing several houses, all built within the HMA, then the road narrows and becomes more primitive. I pass the first 'waterhole' which consisted of a water trough being fed by a large water container and a hose, a few buckets with salt licks in them and a handful of cows and calves. Farther up the road is another 'waterhole'; this one had about 5 horses at it, four who ran away the moment they saw me. This 'waterhole' had an old pickup bed as the water source, more buckets with salt licks in them and a very skinny cow. The area was all dirt with cow pies everywhere and nearby in a tree was a ladder and platform (a hunting blind?). The fifth horse proceeded to 'hide' behind a bare tree hoping I wouldn't see him.
A bit more driving up the mountain let me to a third 'waterhole', this one fed by a hose coming from a windmill pumper and a corral with a few cows in it. I did see a group of four horses here who took off the moment they saw my truck, but they stopped on a hill and eventually made their way back to the water trough when they realized I wasn't going to approach them.
The Cerbat herd area is very dry and there are no natural water sources that I could find. This means the wild horses never get the opportunity to take a bath and cool off in the hot summer months. Along the entire length of the road was a black pipe taking water from the springs up the mountain down to the houses below. I pick up some empty cans, a red foil balloon, and a paper cup along the way.
The Cerbat wild horses are a beautiful herd with direct Spanish ancestry. They are smaller in size, around 14 hands. Most of the horses I saw were bay colored with black markings. Their coats shined a gorgeous copper red color in the sun. I did see a couple grays and a couple blacks.
After three trips to the herd area, I managed to get some great photographs when the horses weren't running away from me! I saw just two foals; one is a filly whose shiny coat was at least 3-4 inches long. Her band stallion, the one who chased the bachelor away, kept a close eye on her when I was nearby. I love the affection many stallions show to their foals.
Our wild horses deserve better than the conditions the Cerbat horses have been given. If the area had been left to nature, there would be ponds and springs for the horses to drink from. The banks and plant life along the washes wouldn't be trampled and damaged by cattle. And there would be more grasses for the horses to eat as they wouldn't have to share with the grazing cattle. Such a beautiful and unique herd who live among canyons, mountains, and cactus. Making my way out of the herd area I come across a band of ten who head for the hills the moment they see me. I watch as they slow to a walk, taking their well traveled single file path up the side of the mountain and disappear into the canyon nearby. What a beautiful sight it was.
Every Wild Horse Herd Matters - The Salt Wells Creek Herd in Wyoming
In May of this year I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with the Salt Wells Creek wild horses in south central Wyoming. Including 724,000 acres of BLM land with grassy flats, sage brush, groves of Aspen trees, canyons, and mountains, this herd management area (HMA) is partly atop a high plateau along Aspen Mountain and the views all around are incredible.
These horses are well-known in the wild horse photographers community as having rare curly coats and manes, and the stallions have massive, muscled necks. Colors included palominos, roans, blacks, buckskins, and bays.
I made a few trips out to see this herd. The HMA entrance on the NE side is directly across from a Simplot plant and their mine is across the road. There is a small neighborhood about 1 mile in and on my last trip out there, new asphalt was being laid on the road up to the neighborhood. The road then turns to gravel and heads up the hill to the top of the plateau. The gravel road is wide to make room for the cattle trucks, radio tower construction trucks, and natural gas trucks. It takes about 4 miles into the Herd Management Area (HMA) before I start to see signs of the horses along the road in the form of stud piles (stud piles are created by stallions to let other stallions know they were there). There are pronghorn antelope everywhere I look, such a lovely sight to see.
What isn't such a lovely sight to see are all the natural gas platforms and pipe signs everywhere, but I understand we need natural gas. There is no reason to remove and push out wildlife and wild horses where we are extracting natural gas as neither gets in the way of the other. The pipelines are put in, grass grows back over the top of them, and then platforms are rarely attended to.
My first trip out to the HMA, I take a side road to the east and find cattle grazing and an area with a toxic gas warning sign. I turn around, head back to the main road, and take another road east a bit farther down. This time I pass more cattle, a gorgeous hawk sitting on a wooden fence post, a homestead, and then see my first small band of Salt Wells Creek horses. Upon seeing me, this band immediately heads for the hills. I drive a bit further and come upon a group of 4 bachelor stallions. This group lets me spend some time with them before heading for the hills as well.
I head east exiting the HMA, head down the highway a bit, then re-enter the HMA about 4 miles down. This is where I find extensive signs of cattle having been in the area: cow pies, broken and trampled sage brush, empty water ponds and troughs, dirt where native grasses should have been. This area is fenced in and is very dry compared to the portions of the HMA I had seen already. I continue driving several miles, exit the fenced in area, and then spot a large group of horses at the base of the mountain. I park the truck and make my way on foot to see if I can get closer. Most of the herd just watches me as I approach but a small band of three buckskins, a stallion, mare, and their foal, run toward me snorting and prancing. They give me quite the display of courage for several minutes before riling up the rest of the herd who then begin to move away from me even though I am still a few hundred feet away. I return to the truck not wanting to upset the herd and make my way down the road.
I take my husband with me on my second trip to the HMA. We had some great sighting of horses including a band of about 12 horses including palominos, strawberry roans, buckskins, and bays. This band let us approach and walk with them as they grazed. I remember this band had 2 foals who were resting and the band had moved a distance from them. Suddenly the stallion had realized the foals were away and he whinnied to them. Both him and one of the mares ran over to the foals to collect them whinnying more while the foals clicked their mouths. Though only one foal was theirs, they made sure the second foal came along too and found its mare. Wild horse bands are tight-knit families who watch over and care for each other and stallions can be especially affectionate with foals; it's really a touching thing to see.
Horses are active grazers never staying in one place for very long and before we knew it we had walked quite a ways from the truck. We spotted some horses just across the valley and made our way over there only to find a fenced in spring area filled with cattle. Suddenly we were greeted by a large white, skinny dog who followed us up the road. He had a collar on but no tags, took food we put on the ground for him but wouldn't approach closer than around 8'. Sheep ranchers are known to leave their dogs behind if they are unhappy with the dogs performance or just because they don't care about the dog. If we had been able to take the dog with us we would have, but ranchers dogs are considered livestock and we would have been charged and possibly jailed. I let an acquaintance who is doing a documentary on ranchers dogs know about this dog so she could contact the rancher to make sure the dog is cared for.
The weather began to change with rain and wind so we made our way down another road and across a cattle guard with a closed gate blocking off access to another large portion of the herd management area. Very shortly we came up on a lone palomino stallion with an injured back leg. He kept looking around, I expect hoping to see some herd members. But with the gate closed at the cattle guard, this stallion is on his own to fend for himself. It's possible he injured his leg while trying to cross the cattle guard to return to his herd; if that's the case he's lucky since so many horses die when getting their hooves caught in cattle guards. I will never forget this gorgeous palomino stallion who may find himself living alone for quite some time until the BLM or a rancher decides to open the gate.
On my last day visiting the HMA I was greeted by a small band atop the plateau, a group of three bachelor stallions who put on a show for me practicing their fighting skills, another small family band and I was so fortunate to be able to see two large herds as well. The small family band included a young palomino foal who was being watched over by his older brother while the rest of the band grazed. One of the large herds was at the base of mountain. I parked the truck and walked a half mile through sage brush and into and out of washes to see if I could get closer. The herd was spread out over another half mile and not wanting to disturb them I sat among the sage brush and watched them for over an hour. As I made my way back to the truck, another truck came up behind mine and a woman asked if I was out there for the wild horses. I said yes and she waved and made her to another smaller group down the road. This is something I see often: other Americans driving out to HMA's hoping to see wild horses and wildlife.
Before leaving I decided to make my way down the road where I had seen another herd a couple days earlier. I got lucky and spotted them on the other side of the valley; by the time I got there they had already crossed the road and were making their way to the foothills. I did spot a large, black, curly stallion who I knew from other photographers to be Bubba, the son of Goliath who now calls Skydog Ranch home. Goliath is known worldwide so to see one of his sons still living wild and free is very special.
As I left the HMA for the last time I took a different road towards the Flaming Gorge Highway. I found a few more water springs and more views of the HMA showing me just how vast it is. The Salt Wells Creek herd in Wyoming is scheduled to be rounded this fall as part of the Red Desert complex roundup including White Mountain, Divide Basin, and Adobe Hills. Having spent three beautiful days with this herd watching the different tight-knit family bands, seeing the relationships they have with each other, I teared up knowing what is to come for them. The BLM intends to roundup what they say is 3500 horses on over 1 million acres throughout the four different HMA's. Ultimately they will zero three of the HMA's, leaving the nearby Adobe Hills area with a herd smaller than the stated 'appropriate management level' at the request of the Rock Springs Cattle Association, one of the largest cattle groups in the country who want the horses removed simply so they can add hundreds more cattle and sheep to each HMA.
When the Wild and Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 was signed by Richard Nixon, there were 339 wild horse and burro HMA's on 53.8 million acres of public lands. Today the BLM says there are 177 HMA's on 26.9 million acres but that number is reduced ever year. Numerous HMA's have less than 50 wild horses on them and the BLM has plans to zero out additional numerous HMA's within the next 2 years.
Soon the Salt Wells Creek wild horses will be chased with helicopters into makeshift pens and separated from their family bands forever. The stallions will be sent to one facility where they will be gelded. The foals older than 4 months will be separated from their mothers and shipped to another facility, mares to another, and horses around 3 years of age to another to be adopted out under the BLM's faulty Adoption Incentive Program. Once the horses are removed, the BLM will allow the ranchers to replace the few horses with hundreds and hundreds of cattle and sheep.
Wild stallions and mares have been known to spend as much as a decade or more together, caring over their foals and yearlings. To know these tight family bands will never see each other again is heartbreaking. There are documented cases of wild horses who were adopted spending many hours looking out at the horizon and whinnying hoping to hear their band return the call. Once such case is Ember, Goliath and Red Lady's foal they had while living wild and free in Salt Wells Creek. A nice lady had adopted Ember and spent many hours training her, but Ember always seemed distracted looking out as if searching for something. The lady contacted Skydog and asked if they would take Ember and reunite her with Goliath and Red Lady...and they did. All 3 horses immediately recognized each other and the band is now living free once again on Skydog's 9000 acres in Oregon.
When Richard Nixon signed the 1971 Act he said 'We need the tonic of wildness'. I couldn't agree more. The Salt Wells Creek HMA is one of the most beautiful areas I have seen, graced with antelope and gorgeous wild horses. But not for long. At what point are we going to preserve our beautiful areas for future generations? Every single time a wild horse and burro HMA is zeroed out, we lose more of our wilderness to cattle grazing. It's so heartbreaking knowing the day is coming within a decade, per the Path Forward pushed by the cattle industry, the state of Utah, and organizations who profit from our wild horses being rounded up and/or darted with PZP birth control injections, that we will no longer have bands of wild horses to go visit in the wild.
Before last year I had no idea what was happening on our public lands with our wild horses and burros. Now I do and it's heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time. I am not an advocate, I do not profit off of our wild horses, and after seeing the extensive damage done by cattle to our public lands I quit eating beef just last year. I was oblivious but not anymore.
The Path Forward plan pushed onto Congress by groups with major conflicts of interest is why the Salt Wells Creek wild horses will not be available to see in the wild anymore after this Fall. I ask you to please consider a better way, a way to help America keep its wild places for so many to enjoy. Protect the wild horses HMA's now reduced to less than 26.9 million acres as sanctuaries for the horses and burros and all of the wildlife that live there. No more roundups, no cattle, no sheep, no hunting, no camping, no new OHV trails, no more damage to our public lands on at least this 26.9 million acres.
We need the tonic of wildness now more then ever, before it's too late.
These horses are well-known in the wild horse photographers community as having rare curly coats and manes, and the stallions have massive, muscled necks. Colors included palominos, roans, blacks, buckskins, and bays.
I made a few trips out to see this herd. The HMA entrance on the NE side is directly across from a Simplot plant and their mine is across the road. There is a small neighborhood about 1 mile in and on my last trip out there, new asphalt was being laid on the road up to the neighborhood. The road then turns to gravel and heads up the hill to the top of the plateau. The gravel road is wide to make room for the cattle trucks, radio tower construction trucks, and natural gas trucks. It takes about 4 miles into the Herd Management Area (HMA) before I start to see signs of the horses along the road in the form of stud piles (stud piles are created by stallions to let other stallions know they were there). There are pronghorn antelope everywhere I look, such a lovely sight to see.
What isn't such a lovely sight to see are all the natural gas platforms and pipe signs everywhere, but I understand we need natural gas. There is no reason to remove and push out wildlife and wild horses where we are extracting natural gas as neither gets in the way of the other. The pipelines are put in, grass grows back over the top of them, and then platforms are rarely attended to.
My first trip out to the HMA, I take a side road to the east and find cattle grazing and an area with a toxic gas warning sign. I turn around, head back to the main road, and take another road east a bit farther down. This time I pass more cattle, a gorgeous hawk sitting on a wooden fence post, a homestead, and then see my first small band of Salt Wells Creek horses. Upon seeing me, this band immediately heads for the hills. I drive a bit further and come upon a group of 4 bachelor stallions. This group lets me spend some time with them before heading for the hills as well.
I head east exiting the HMA, head down the highway a bit, then re-enter the HMA about 4 miles down. This is where I find extensive signs of cattle having been in the area: cow pies, broken and trampled sage brush, empty water ponds and troughs, dirt where native grasses should have been. This area is fenced in and is very dry compared to the portions of the HMA I had seen already. I continue driving several miles, exit the fenced in area, and then spot a large group of horses at the base of the mountain. I park the truck and make my way on foot to see if I can get closer. Most of the herd just watches me as I approach but a small band of three buckskins, a stallion, mare, and their foal, run toward me snorting and prancing. They give me quite the display of courage for several minutes before riling up the rest of the herd who then begin to move away from me even though I am still a few hundred feet away. I return to the truck not wanting to upset the herd and make my way down the road.
I take my husband with me on my second trip to the HMA. We had some great sighting of horses including a band of about 12 horses including palominos, strawberry roans, buckskins, and bays. This band let us approach and walk with them as they grazed. I remember this band had 2 foals who were resting and the band had moved a distance from them. Suddenly the stallion had realized the foals were away and he whinnied to them. Both him and one of the mares ran over to the foals to collect them whinnying more while the foals clicked their mouths. Though only one foal was theirs, they made sure the second foal came along too and found its mare. Wild horse bands are tight-knit families who watch over and care for each other and stallions can be especially affectionate with foals; it's really a touching thing to see.
Horses are active grazers never staying in one place for very long and before we knew it we had walked quite a ways from the truck. We spotted some horses just across the valley and made our way over there only to find a fenced in spring area filled with cattle. Suddenly we were greeted by a large white, skinny dog who followed us up the road. He had a collar on but no tags, took food we put on the ground for him but wouldn't approach closer than around 8'. Sheep ranchers are known to leave their dogs behind if they are unhappy with the dogs performance or just because they don't care about the dog. If we had been able to take the dog with us we would have, but ranchers dogs are considered livestock and we would have been charged and possibly jailed. I let an acquaintance who is doing a documentary on ranchers dogs know about this dog so she could contact the rancher to make sure the dog is cared for.
The weather began to change with rain and wind so we made our way down another road and across a cattle guard with a closed gate blocking off access to another large portion of the herd management area. Very shortly we came up on a lone palomino stallion with an injured back leg. He kept looking around, I expect hoping to see some herd members. But with the gate closed at the cattle guard, this stallion is on his own to fend for himself. It's possible he injured his leg while trying to cross the cattle guard to return to his herd; if that's the case he's lucky since so many horses die when getting their hooves caught in cattle guards. I will never forget this gorgeous palomino stallion who may find himself living alone for quite some time until the BLM or a rancher decides to open the gate.
On my last day visiting the HMA I was greeted by a small band atop the plateau, a group of three bachelor stallions who put on a show for me practicing their fighting skills, another small family band and I was so fortunate to be able to see two large herds as well. The small family band included a young palomino foal who was being watched over by his older brother while the rest of the band grazed. One of the large herds was at the base of mountain. I parked the truck and walked a half mile through sage brush and into and out of washes to see if I could get closer. The herd was spread out over another half mile and not wanting to disturb them I sat among the sage brush and watched them for over an hour. As I made my way back to the truck, another truck came up behind mine and a woman asked if I was out there for the wild horses. I said yes and she waved and made her to another smaller group down the road. This is something I see often: other Americans driving out to HMA's hoping to see wild horses and wildlife.
Before leaving I decided to make my way down the road where I had seen another herd a couple days earlier. I got lucky and spotted them on the other side of the valley; by the time I got there they had already crossed the road and were making their way to the foothills. I did spot a large, black, curly stallion who I knew from other photographers to be Bubba, the son of Goliath who now calls Skydog Ranch home. Goliath is known worldwide so to see one of his sons still living wild and free is very special.
As I left the HMA for the last time I took a different road towards the Flaming Gorge Highway. I found a few more water springs and more views of the HMA showing me just how vast it is. The Salt Wells Creek herd in Wyoming is scheduled to be rounded this fall as part of the Red Desert complex roundup including White Mountain, Divide Basin, and Adobe Hills. Having spent three beautiful days with this herd watching the different tight-knit family bands, seeing the relationships they have with each other, I teared up knowing what is to come for them. The BLM intends to roundup what they say is 3500 horses on over 1 million acres throughout the four different HMA's. Ultimately they will zero three of the HMA's, leaving the nearby Adobe Hills area with a herd smaller than the stated 'appropriate management level' at the request of the Rock Springs Cattle Association, one of the largest cattle groups in the country who want the horses removed simply so they can add hundreds more cattle and sheep to each HMA.
When the Wild and Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 was signed by Richard Nixon, there were 339 wild horse and burro HMA's on 53.8 million acres of public lands. Today the BLM says there are 177 HMA's on 26.9 million acres but that number is reduced ever year. Numerous HMA's have less than 50 wild horses on them and the BLM has plans to zero out additional numerous HMA's within the next 2 years.
Soon the Salt Wells Creek wild horses will be chased with helicopters into makeshift pens and separated from their family bands forever. The stallions will be sent to one facility where they will be gelded. The foals older than 4 months will be separated from their mothers and shipped to another facility, mares to another, and horses around 3 years of age to another to be adopted out under the BLM's faulty Adoption Incentive Program. Once the horses are removed, the BLM will allow the ranchers to replace the few horses with hundreds and hundreds of cattle and sheep.
Wild stallions and mares have been known to spend as much as a decade or more together, caring over their foals and yearlings. To know these tight family bands will never see each other again is heartbreaking. There are documented cases of wild horses who were adopted spending many hours looking out at the horizon and whinnying hoping to hear their band return the call. Once such case is Ember, Goliath and Red Lady's foal they had while living wild and free in Salt Wells Creek. A nice lady had adopted Ember and spent many hours training her, but Ember always seemed distracted looking out as if searching for something. The lady contacted Skydog and asked if they would take Ember and reunite her with Goliath and Red Lady...and they did. All 3 horses immediately recognized each other and the band is now living free once again on Skydog's 9000 acres in Oregon.
When Richard Nixon signed the 1971 Act he said 'We need the tonic of wildness'. I couldn't agree more. The Salt Wells Creek HMA is one of the most beautiful areas I have seen, graced with antelope and gorgeous wild horses. But not for long. At what point are we going to preserve our beautiful areas for future generations? Every single time a wild horse and burro HMA is zeroed out, we lose more of our wilderness to cattle grazing. It's so heartbreaking knowing the day is coming within a decade, per the Path Forward pushed by the cattle industry, the state of Utah, and organizations who profit from our wild horses being rounded up and/or darted with PZP birth control injections, that we will no longer have bands of wild horses to go visit in the wild.
Before last year I had no idea what was happening on our public lands with our wild horses and burros. Now I do and it's heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time. I am not an advocate, I do not profit off of our wild horses, and after seeing the extensive damage done by cattle to our public lands I quit eating beef just last year. I was oblivious but not anymore.
The Path Forward plan pushed onto Congress by groups with major conflicts of interest is why the Salt Wells Creek wild horses will not be available to see in the wild anymore after this Fall. I ask you to please consider a better way, a way to help America keep its wild places for so many to enjoy. Protect the wild horses HMA's now reduced to less than 26.9 million acres as sanctuaries for the horses and burros and all of the wildlife that live there. No more roundups, no cattle, no sheep, no hunting, no camping, no new OHV trails, no more damage to our public lands on at least this 26.9 million acres.
We need the tonic of wildness now more then ever, before it's too late.