"A Mother's Love" (Elyse Gardner 2009)
Pryor Mountains, Montana 2009
A week before the Bureau of Land Mangement gathered the wild horses of the Pryor Mountains a small group of humans had the honor of witnessing a new mother and the new life she had delivered into the world. Halcyon, a young filly and daughter of the band stallion Red Raven and his mare Blue Sioux, allowed visitors the priviledge of sharing a special moment between mother and child.
The wild horses that occupy the Pryor Mountains are often referred to as "Cloud's herd," for the Palomino stallion made famous in the documentaries by Emmy-award winning film maker Ginger Kathrens.
"A Mother's Care" (Elyse Gardner 2009
A small group accompanied Kathrens up into the mountain that day. Elyse Gardner was among the members of the group. She speaks of this moment with strong emotion:
"A Mother standing guard" (Elyse Gardner 2010)
"Such a blessing to see this young mother and the obvious love she feels for her baby. This is a wild horse and to share that moment is one of my greatest treasures."
The humans present felt Halcyon had given them a gift.
Broken Arrow BLM facility, Nevada 2010
"We've had about 100 foals born so far. It is not an exact number, just a mental toll."
John Neill acting Bureau of Land Mangement (BLM) manager at the Broken Arrow said.
"A couple haven't made it, a couple were euthanized."
"The Best I Can" (Elyse Gardner )
Captured from the wild this new mother does her best to protect the new life she has just given birth to. In the "feed lot" style holding facility it is not an easy task.
Babies born daily (Elyse Gardner 2010
Births are occurring almost daily now at the Broken Arrow among the captive population of horses gathered from the Calico Complex this winter. Over forty late term miscarriages were repoted by advocates. Those miscarriages do not count in the death toll numbers collected on the BLM's daily update report.
Births and deaths are not counted in facility "inventory" until they are freeze branded at 4 or 5 months old.
Comments
The BLM is a wicked wicked agency!! They are not telling the truth about the herds. Get involved and stop the roundup of our national treasures-the wild horses!!!
This horses are family of wars heros ...they carried armys in many wars ...an died for they country...they should be trated as war heros....not sent to be meat..
In a 22 page transcript obtained by the Equine Welfare Alliance through the Freedom of Information Act, a meeting of BLM officials took place from July-September of 2008 to ratify and decide the fates of Wild Ones on the range and in captivity. A particular sentence has been branded into my brain for eternity:
Under the sub-heading "Adjust Sex Ratios Within Herd Management Areas" (on Page 4), the first response:
'Does it affect behavior and DO WE CARE'.
I think that says it all.
The entire document details various methods and scenarios of chemical & physical neutering, euthanasia and disposal (of the living and the dead) but nowhere within the document were either Wild or Captive Wild Horses spoken of as anything other than an infestation to be dealt with by whatever means deemed necessary.
These animals shouldn't be left unsupervised anywhere near this agency.
"Under the sub-heading "Adjust Sex Ratios Within Herd Management Areas" (on Page 4), the first response:
'Does it affect behavior and DO WE CARE'." Chlling, Lisa, just chilling
In a 22 page transcript obtained by the Equine Welfare Alliance through the Freedom of Information Act, a meeting of BLM officials took place from July-September of 2008 to ratify and decide the fates of Wild Ones on the range and in captivity. A particular sentence has been branded into my brain for eternity:
Under the sub-heading "Adjust Sex Ratios Within Herd Management Areas" (on Page 4), the first response:
'Does it affect behavior and DO WE CARE'.
I think that says it all.
The entire document details various methods and scenarios of chemical & physical neutering, euthanasia and disposal (of the living and the dead) but nowhere within the document were either Wild or Captive Wild Horses spoken of as anything other than an infestation to be dealt with by whatever means deemed necessary.
These animals shouldn't be left unsupervised anywhere near this agency.
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