“Don’t Take My Home”

Many thanks to my friend Mary Ann Kennedy for allowing me to use her powerfully moving music (www.MaryAnnKennedy.com). Please feel free to share…

From a fellow advocate: “Please send a note to the President through this easy link (posted below) and ask that the Calico (Nevada) wild horse roundup be stopped. This huge last stronghold of nearly 3,000 of America’s wild horses will be taken from us in the worst possible conditions starting Monday…..(Dec 28). It takes just a minute. This national icon and symbol of freedom needs a miracle…we have Saturday and Sunday. PLEASE pass it on.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

Pryor Mountain Roundup – 9/9/2009

We made it out to the McCullough Peaks HMA around 6:30 AM and saw many bands. It was like visiting old friends so it was hard, but we left the Peaks around 11:00 and headed back up to Lovell and Britton Springs. We were hopeful that we hadn’t missed anything but the morning briefing (which we knew we’d be updated about).

When we arrived at the facility, no one was around. It was about 12:30. One of the BLM folks came down to the covered area where we were waiting and explained that everyone else was watching/photographing the release of the horses. She told us that the roundup had been suspended. ??!! We were told before we left that releases would most likely occur on Thursday the 10th or possibly even Friday. What had changed we wondered? Tom and I felt a huge wave of disappointment that we missed witnessing the horses reclaiming their freedom, but that was followed by equally strong feelings of relief for the horses that were now going home.

About 20 minutes after we arrived, the BLM employee walked over to us again to let us know there was a break in the schedule of releases and the group of observers was headed back. Once they were back, we were filled in about all the changes.

The horses had been chased around quite a bit on top of the mountain and basically, the BLM feared they might have some (more) injuries if they continued, so the roundup up was ended early. Good and bad. Some horses slated for removal were never gathered. Some that were to be released, but were still in the holding pens, were substituted for the ones not gathered. In total, 57 horses were removed from their home.

Fellow observers also told us a little bit about the releases – how Cloud’s family didn’t want to leave band members behind. How heartbreaking that must have been to watch, but I was saddened that Tom and I hadn’t been able to. That’s why we had come back – to see the releases. Again, we took comfort in knowing that at least for many of the horses, the day had brought them back their freedom.

Ginger Kathrens prepares to film the last of the releases for the day.

Ferdinand, Galaxy, and Fiesta are released

Fiesta

L-R: Galaxy, Ferdinand and Fiesta

Galaxy

The last horses to be released for the day were Sam and Hightail

And then they were gone – headed back up the mountain to their home.

We all went back to the parking area. It was early enough that there was talk about driving up to the top of the mountain since restrictions had been lifted when the roundup had been suspended. Ginger Kathrens, Carol Walker and Ben Susman left and went on ahead while Tom and I stayed behind to catch up a bit with Matt Dillon and his Dad, Tom (from the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center). This “gather” had been tough on them as well. Matt knows every horse and monitors them year round. He did an awesome job of documenting and reporting the daily activities on his Blog. Half jokingly, I asked him when he slept (figuring he probably hadn’t – and I was right). I hoped this day had brought him some kind of relief.

Having said our good-byes, Tom and I left Britton Springs and headed up Crooked Creek. When we were almost at the top, we ran into a guy in a 2-wheel drive van who had wanted to see the horses, but felt he must be lost (as he never reached the top) and was on his way back down. We told him where we were headed and that he could follow us if he liked. We were about half an hour from the top. Out of his rear view mirror, Tom watched that poor guy bounce around like crazy in that van. I guess he was determined to see the horses.

Once we made it to the top, we ran into Carol who said Ginger and Ben were on foot looking for horses. Carol had driven up and down the length of the road (from Krueger Pond, to Burnt Timber and down by Penn’s Cabin) and not seen any horses. It was disappointing and worrisome. We wanted a closer look at the horses and we wanted to know that they’d made it back to the top safely after their ordeal. Mike (the very nice guy in the van who turned out to be a fireman and photographer from Michigan) was getting ready to make the drive back down the mountain when he noticed horses off to the left. They were headed towards Krueger’s Pond so we all grabbed our cameras and ran that way as well. (It was obvious Mike was thrilled by his first sighting of wild horses).

It was Doc’s band. They had managed to evade the helicopter and had not been gathered.

A member of Doc's band

Band stallion Doc

Doc's band at Krueger's Pond

Just about the time that Ginger came walking out of the woods after searching for horses, we saw a band coming in from the Burnt Timber area. It was Bolder – such a wonderful sight. He’d made it back to the top of the mountain with his family.

Bolder and one of his mares

Bolder's band on the way to the pond

Bolder's family at Krueger's Pond

After a dip, there's nothing better than a good roll

Bolder's turn

And then the little filly

Shaaake!

Bolder and his filly

Handsome Bolder - son of Cloud

We went back down to the pond and Two Boots had brought his family in for a drink - they hadn't been gathered either

And then we heard more hooves running in our direction. We went to the top of the hill, waited and watched to see who would come through the trees next…

It was Cloud and his family making their way to the pond

Cloud called out several times looking for his missing family members

Two Boots' band moves off as Cloud's band arrives

Cloud and his band walk by Ginger Kathrens as she films them

Two Boots leaves the pond area with his family

Shoulder striping

Phoenix - Cloud's mother and a member of Diamond's (aka Teton) band

Band stallion Diamond - his family showed up shortly after Cloud's

Lovely Phoenix

War Bonnet, Diamond and Phoenix

Phoenix

Diamond (aka Teton)

Diamond rolling

Turns out, seeing the horses back on their mountain top home is what Tom and I really needed. Bittersweet for sure, but it also provided us with continued/renewed motivation to see an end put to these roundups. I have shared the pictures and stories in hopes that the public will feel the same way. It’s time to come together to save these amazing wild horses before they are completely removed from our lands. We just can’t allow the photos and stories to be all that remain of these magnificent animals.

Note: All of the captured horses were adopted/saved. You can read more about the adoption at the links below:
From The Cloud Foundation
From The Pryor Wild Blog (click on September 26th on the calendar at the right)

Pryor Mountain Roundup – 9/7/2009

Having made it through our first day with a decision to commit to a second, Tom and I arrived at Britton Springs at the designated time for briefing. Briefings were held to present the plan for the day’s activities/goals. At the end of these briefings, we were allowed to ask questions (specific to just that day’s operations), but it was clear queries were to be kept to a minumum. There were times when the Independent Humane Observer was cut short with her questions and requests for more and closer access to the horses. Elyse (The IHO) was persistant, but she was often met by less than cooperative attitudes by some of the BLM personnel. I was told that her admittance to the area had been better earlier on (when the press was there), but shortly after the media left, so did most of Elyse’s access.

BLM personnel delivering the morning briefing

R.T. Fitch, Elyse Gardner (the Independent Humane Observer) and Ginger Kathrens at the briefing

At the conclusion of the briefing, we were allowed another walk through to view the captured horses.

Exhilaration with Chino in the background

Bolder's band

Horses tagged for adoption

Flint - who is also known as Blue Moon

After going through the corrals, we were told that they were going to begin processing horses – putting them in the squeeze chute, taking hair samples, shaving necks, freeze branding (for those going up for adoption) and PZP’ing the mares. We were escorted to an area where we could watch, but it was from a pretty fair distance.

The squeeze chute is an incredibly loud device. It has to be a very frightening experience for a wild horse.

Horses to be processed

Processing a horse through the squeeze chute

And then there was quite a commotion – a terrified young stallion was trying to escape from the chute.

They did finally get the stallion through the process, but I’m sure he was quite shaken. It was very hard to watch and feel helpless to do anything.

With the processing complete, we were escorted to the viewing ridge.

Looking down at the holding corrals from the viewing ridge

Ginger Kathrens, Ben Susman, Sandy Elmore, Terry Fitch, me and Elyse Gardner at the observation ridge

Behind the jute fence

Bringing in Morning Star's band

As we listened to the helicopter approaching with more horses, we started to hear radio chatter going on behind us. Most of us had our lenses pointed towards the direction of incoming horses and when they finally came into view, the reason for the increased radio communication was clear. It was Cloud. Apparently, there was some concern that our little group might go ballistic or something at the sight of Cloud being captured, so our escorts were being forewarned. I remember hearing one of them relay back to the base folks, “they already know.” With that, the radios were silent and we watched the powerful, pale-colored stallion direct his band from one side of the valley to the other, giving the pilot a run for his money trying to save his family. Just before reaching the end of the jute driveway, Cloud did the most amazing thing – he turned and faced the helicopter. One last defiant gesture by the courageous stallion before he was forced to continue down the capture chute with his family.

Cloud and his band - several family members were about to lose their freedom forever

Shortly after Cloud’s family came in, Jackson’s band followed.

Walking back from the ridge at the end of the day

As we walked by the holding corrals on our way back from the viewing ridge, I looked over and snapped my last photo of the day. His eyes spoke volumes and mine filled with tears.

A captive Cloud

(More to follow…)

Pryor Mountain Roundup – 9/6/2009

Tom and I were not at this roundup from the beginning. We arrived Sunday morning, September 6th, 2009. My posts will focus on the four days we were actually there and what we witnessed first hand to the best of my memory.

We left Worland, WY (near the Fifteen Mile HMA) before dawn in hopes we wouldn’t miss much of the day’s activities if we managed to get to the Britton Springs facility by 7:00 AM. However, at 7:00 AM, there was no one else in the parking lot when we arrived at the corrals. A BLM employee met us at the entrance and informed us that nothing would be happening until the “morning briefing” at 9:00 AM. She explained that we needed to stay behind the barrier, handed us a map with printed instructions and said we were free to use the porta-potties before she left and headed back to the main building.

I had read on Matt Dillon’s Pryor Wild Blog that most of the Dryhead (lower area) horses had already been processed and released. We decided to head over to Bighorn Canyon in search of some of those horses until time for the briefing. There were some wildlife sightings along the way.

Sandhill cranes

Wild turkey

We drove the entire length of the horse range through Bighorn Canyon. We didn’t see a single horse. On the return trip, we spotted Seattle’s band high on a hill. Though they looked fine, they appeared very lethargic. None of the horses moved while we were there. I snapped a few photos and then we headed back to Britton Springs.

Band stallion Seattle

Yearling colt

Mare and foal with the distinctive blue dot that indicates they were processed and released to the helicopter pilot

Briefing began and we learned that operations had been underway since early morning to transport captured Forest Service horses to the holding facility. They were to be permanently removed from their home. The news was both sad and frustrating. The BLM employee who spoke with us in the morning did not provide us with this information. Tom and I had time to get up to that area had we known anything was going on. A deliberate effort to mislead us? Not a day into the experience and we’d already been subjected to less than forthright tactics? It was a very disappointing notion to say the least.

We started up Crooked Creek towards the Forest Service area. We didn’t get very far before we ran into other observers coming down the mountain. Things had wrapped up on the Forest Service side and the helicopter was set to start gathering horses from the Burnt Timber area. We all went back to Britton Springs.

While we waited for the helicopter to bring the horses down, we were allowed a walk-through of the corrals to view horses already in holding.

We waited for hours while the helicopter was at Burnt Timber. The pilot would have to chase the horses down approximately 10 miles of steep and rocky terrain to reach the holding facility. All the while the horses would try to dodge, circle back or outrun the loud and scary machine overhead. Who knows how many miles that added to their trip down the mountain.

The small shaded area was where we were to wait until we could be escorted to the viewing ridge.

BLM personnel got the call that the helicopter was close by. Our group of observers was escorted to the ridge where we could watch the horses being manuevered down by the helicopter. I wasn’t sure how I’d react to the sight, so I tried to mentally prepare myself. The first band of horses to come in was Chino’s, a buckskin stallion easily recognizable by his scarce color in the Pryors.

Chino's band

The helicopter pushes the weary, frightened horses to the holding area

Emotions were evident - Author and advocate, R.T. Fitch

Filmmaker Ginger Kathrens, Ann Evans - The Cloud Foundation Board Member and Ben Susman - Intern for The Cloud Foundation

Tom takes it all in

Then it was Bolder’s band being herded towards the corrals. (Bolder is the dark palomino-colored son of Cloud)

Bolder's band

Running with the Judas horse

Diamond's band - Cloud's blue roan brother

The day ended with an escort out to the parking area, through the gate and out onto the road. No one from the public could remain on the grounds past 5:00 PM. It was evident that for us, the roundup would take place between the hours of 9-5:00. Strange to maintain such normal working hours for an event that was anything but business as usual.

(More to follow…)

Trip Highlights – Stories to Follow

Just a quick note with the highlights of our week-long trip and the day by day updates to follow as I get images processed.

Meet Donnie – a Pryor Mountain Mustang owner I recently met who uses his mare for trail riding, working cattle, roping and as a Pony Express horse on the NPEA Re-Rides. (From their website: NPEA is the National Pony Express Association – an all-volunteer, non-profit historical organization for the purpose of identifying, reestablishing and marking the original Pony Express trail through the eight states it served: California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri).

Donnie and his Pryor mare Maggie.

An update on “Nub Ear,” the stallion from Fifteen Mile HMA near Worland, WY (scheduled for roundup next month).

Band stallion Nub Ear from the Fifteen Mile HMA - September, 2009

Follow our experience at the Pryor Mountain Roundup (Tom and I were there for 4 days – from September 6th through the 9th).

Pryor Mountain wild horses being rounded up - September, 2009

Cloud and his band are rounded up - September 7, 2009

A visit to the McCullough Peaks wild horses outside of Cody, Wyoming (scheduled for roundup next month).

Small band at McCullough Peaks - September, 2009

Photographing the wild horses at Dishpan Butte, Wyoming (the North Lander Complex of wild horses, which includes Dishpan Butte, was gathered earlier this summer – 1053 horses were rounded up, 804 removed and 245 returned to the 4 different HMA’s within the Complex)

Bachelor band - Dishpan Butte HMA, Wyoming - 2009

Band at Dishpan Butte - September, 2009

Going back to the Green Mountain HMA near Bairoil, Wyoming (scheduled for roundup next month). It’s been about 3 years since we’ve visited these wild horses. Unfortunately, we found them midday (harsh lighting) and just ran out of time to be able to go back later in the day. They’re beautiful horses even though photographed in unflattering light. Stewart Creek HMA (scheduled for roundup next month) overlaps the area and we saw many horses there as well.

Two bachelor boys - Green Mountain HMA, 2009