HERE ARE THE PICS OF THE YEARLINGS, one of which we will choose...

One can find out where these foals come from after the adoption (through the mother)

there are a total of 115, and they all qualify to compete at the Ft. Worth Mustang Makeover

These horses are also visible on the superior video (numbers 300-415) in the previous post. When these photographs were taken they were just weanlings, had just been weaned, branded and castrated. They wore born in the facility to mothers that were captured in the 2011 roundups. (so they do not have a family upbringing and do not know anything about nature - other than the short term holding facilities, which look and operate like feedlots.

We will train a yearling for the YOUTH challenge of the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover in Ft. Worth

After training a horse for the Ft. Collins Extreme Mustang Makeover last year (COPPERSMITH TAG#900), I would like to devote this year to the YOUTH. I have found a young lady, her name is Robyn Hall, that will be training and showing a yearling colt/filly for the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover in Ft. Worth. I will be the official adopter and I will guide and sponsor her for the duration of the training period. We will be bidding at the superios Livestock auction on March 31st aired on RFD-TV and then will pick up our yearling in Canon City on May 12th. We will have until the beginning of Sept to train the youngster in hand classes and exercises and will also prepare a free-style to music to show the little one off.
Then we will travel to Ft. Worth where the Youth Division is part of the Big Makeover event and we will compete for a first price of 20 000 dollars (or something like that).

Unfortunately this is the reality of these horses, captive with measuring scale behind them...sad

Robyn is super excited, she is afraid she will not get a horse. I told her that there would be no reason to worry. Here are the pictures of the 3 and 4 year old geldings that will compete in the adult division. Unfortunately there are no photos of the yearlings but you can go to this link and they will come up numbers 300-415.

HELP FOR comments on Environmental Assessments:

Every round-up is preceeded by a Preliminary Environmental Assessment by the BLM, that is then open for a public comment period. After consideration, the BLM then issues the EIS or Environmental Impact Statement and the Roundup begins. Rarely alternatives are considered.
Here are some pointers for the comment period that could and should eventually be considered:


The current draft RMP and EIS are insufficient because no meaningful alternatives are provided and the token alternatives proposed do not adequately protect and preserve wild horses as required by federal law.

The EIS is inadequate for the following reasons:

• Lacks monitoring data upon which decisions for resource allocation decisions should be made. Indeed, Rangeland Health Assessments have been performed for fewer than half of the livestock grazing allotments within the planning area. Of those that were assessed, approximately half failed to meet standards, with livestock grazing listed as a causal factor.

• Fails to provide any data whatsoever on Herd Areas (HAs) that have been “zeroed out” for wild horses and fails to consider an alternative for reinstating HAs as Herd Management Areas (HMAs).

• Lacks data on genetic assessments of wild horses in the HMAs upon which decisions about proper “Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) and genetic health should be based.

• Lacks description and analysis of the impacts of “chemical and other population control measures” to be implemented. This vague language is unacceptable. At minimum the EIS must analyze the impacts of each of the possible options (i.e. permanent sterilization, castration of stallions, spaying of mares, various chemical fertility-control methods, etc.).

• Fails to take the required “hard look” at alternatives for wild horse management. In fact, the only meaningful difference between the proposed alternatives considered is the establishment of a wild horse viewing loop and limited removal of fencing.

With regard to the draft RMP itself, I support  Alternative B in the final RMP, only because it offers the most protections to wild horses and the environment by placing greater limitations on energy development, mining and livestock grazing. However, I endorse the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign’s recommendation that the following provisions be included in Alternative B.

Record # 4110 (Table 2.2, Volume 1) -- Appropriate Management Levels (AMLs) for Wild Horses – The AMLs of five of the seven HMAs are arbitrarily low and genetically unsustainable. Please incorporate the following management actions into the final RMP:
• Increase AMLs in all HMAs and reduce livestock grazing, pursuant to 43 C.F.R. 4710.5(a). The current imbalance in which authorized livestock use in the planning area outnumbers wild horse use by at least 23-1 must be reversed.
• Increase AMLs in all HMAs to a minimum of 150 animals, which is the minimum number necessary to sustain genetic viability, according to leading equine geneticists. BLM claims of horse movement across HMAs are unsubstantiated and do not negate the need for each HMA herd to have a genetically-viable population number.
• Evaluate the current usage of all “zeroed out” Herd Areas, and if livestock grazing currently take place, utilize 43 C.F.R. 4710.5(a) to reduce or eliminate livestock grazing in order to improve conditions and forage availability for wild horses. The relocation of healthy self-sustaining herds to these HAs or  the introduction of horses from holding facilities must be included in the RMP.
• Designate all HMAs and HAs in the planning area as wild horse ranges to be managed principally for wild horse herds pursuant to 43 C.F.R. 4710.3-2.

Record # 4111 -- Population Control Measures to Be Used on Wild Horses
• Eliminate removals as a population-management strategy in all but emergency situations. Properly utilize non-hormonal PZP fertility control to accomplish this goal.
• Prohibit all detrimental types of fertility control, including hormonal fertility control methods, castration, spaying, permanent chemical sterilization, and sex ratio skewing, all of which alter wild horse behavior.
• Establish a policy to promote the protection of predator species in an effort to restore natural population control mechanisms and restore the thriving natural ecological balance of these public lands areas.

Record # 4112 -- Dealing with Horses Outside HMAs
• Establish a policy to return horses found outside HMAs to the HMAs.  Implement range improvements to eliminate reasons for horses to leave the HMA, i.e. address water shortages by installing guzzlers.

Record # 4113 -- Selective Removal Criteria for Wild Horses
• Restrict removals to emergency situations. Conduct any roundups or catch-treat-release operations in a manner that preserves family band structures, so as to maintain the stability and integrity of wild horse social organization and establish humane policies to prohibit roundups in below freezing weather or in weather hotter than 85 degrees F.

Record # 4117 -- Year-Round Water Sources
• Install a system of strategically-placed large, in-ground guzzlers to help maintain and conserve adequate water sources year-round.  Require livestock permit-holders to keep their water improvements operating and available for wildlife, including wild horses, even when the grazing seasons conclude.
• Establish a systematic process for allocating water and accounting  across all multiple uses.
• Restore, in an environmentally-sound manner, water sources to better manage wild horses within HMAs.
• Although stated as an objective for management action, the draft RMP does not detail how the BLM would ensure a continuous supply of water for the wild horses under its jurisdiction.

Record # 4121 -- Fences
• Remove fencing to the extent possible, and minimize construction of new fencing, to create corridors for natural migration by wild horses and other wildlife species. This will minimize any impacts on the range.

Thank you for your consideration.

Also very helpful are the conclusions and recommendations in the brochure published by the Animal Welfare Institute.  www.awionline.org

1. A new agency should be formed within the government that is dedicated to the protection of wild horses and burros, modeled after other federal programs for unique species or landscapes...

2) All agency actions affecting wild horses and burros should comply with relevant laws and regulations (such as WFHBA and NEPA)

3) The BLM should implement a moratorium on wild horse and burro roundups until a comprehensive review of all aspects of the wild horse and burro management program is completed. (the USGS has not completed a comprehensive census of the horses and there have been no proper studies of range conditions - see above DOI complaint by PEER in regard to the scientific range studies that omitted cattle grazing)

4) Wild Horses and burros for whom no perspecitive adoptive homes exist should NOT be rounded up and removed from the range.Adoption pre-selection and mustang makeover competitors...no more 45 000 horses in long term holding facilities)

5) The agency should reestablish the historic ranges of America's wild horses and burros as they existed in 1971 when the WFHBA was enacted. (Then 53 million of public land now approx 32 million left).


6) The boundaries of original HAs (herd areas) should be examined carefully to ensure that wild horse and burro seasonal migratory pattern, as well as the habitat needs of self-sustaining populations, are provided for.(Checker pattern is very difficult for the animals to navigate and if arrangements to consolidate are made, they should NOT result in REDUCTION of wild horse range)


7) The agency must immediately disclose its data and rational for permanently removing wild horses and burros from over 21.5 million acres of public lands since 1971 (data it had originally promised to release in March 2009), and must reevealuate all Ha's from which wild horse and burro populations have been entirely removed to assess their suitability for the eventual return or reintroduction of these animals.

8) Wild horses and burros (especially geldings) currently in privately contracted Long Term Holding facilities and incapable or reproducing (approx. 1/2 in holding today) should be returned to the wild, thereby actualizing a huge cost savings to taxpayers.

9) Fences and gates used to rotate livestock but which prohibit wild horses and burros from roaming freely within their historical herd areas should be removed.

10) The BLM should review its forage allocation process to ensure that forage is allocated comparably to wild horses and burros, livestock and wildlife as required by regulations.

11) The agency should establish AMLs that ensure self sustaining and genetically viable wild horse and burro herds and that are based on up-to-date and comprehensive sampling of rangeland vegetation production, composition, abundance, vigor and other factors affecting rangeland ecology and health.

12) The agency should take steps necessary to guarantee that adopted wild horses and burros are protected from commercial exploitation for the remainder of their lives. Persons selling horses and burros to slaughter should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and banned from future adoptions, as should those individuals found guilty of animal neglect or abuse.

13) Nominations and appointments to the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board must be conducted objectively and -ideally- by an independent third party with the goal of identifying the most qualified individuals to serve on a diverse and active committee - one with a genuine interest in the proper management and conservation of wild horses and burros, not merely one that will defer to BLM proposals and decisions.

14) The agency should evaluate with assistance of independent scientific experts, which wild horse and burro herds offer god public viewing and interpretation opportunities, are of ecological, historical and cultural significance, and/or have unique and interesting characteristics for special designation as  "ranges" as provided for in the WFHBA

15) The agency must conduct an independent and candid review of its National Wild Horse and Burro Program and related land-management programs and policies and - pursuant to NEPA - prepare in a timely fashion and with full public involvement a PROGRAMMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT. In the interim, the agency must refrain from management actions that compromise the health, genetic viability and overall welfare or our nation's wild horses and burros

(Excerpt from "Managing for extinction" by the Animal Welfare Institute.)

7)

...This is the New York Times Article from Dec. 2011, the DOI Complaint letter by PEER (Public employees for environmental responsibility. The link follows. If you click on the highlighted words in the link you can both read the USGS Range study completed  in 2o11 as well as the DOI complaint in detail:
http-::green.blogs.nytimes.com:tag:interior-secretary-ken-salazar:
Here is an excerpt out of the article:
"....Millions of cattle graze on public lands all over the West and have done so for more than a century. But a new complaint filed by an environmental group charges that despite Clinton-era moves to examine and diminish the impact of grazing in the arid West, Interior Department employees have blocked the use of federal data on the impact in regional scientific studies.

The actions by mid-level Interior employees “seriously compromise” the scientific integrity of efforts to figure out how and why western ecosystems are changing, said the complaint, filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a Washington-based environmental group.

The complaint charges that officials of the Bureau of Land Management not only effectively prevented ecosystem scientists from making grazing a significant part of their regional analyses but also failed to inform them of data gathered by the bureau.

As a result, the discrete impact caused by livestock is ignored when scientists working for the bureau go through the checklist of human and natural forces that could cause erosion, lower water quality or cause the extinction of plants or animals, the complaint says.

Asked about the complaint, Adam Fetcher, a spokesman for the Interior Department, said in a statement, “This allegation will be reviewed under the standard procedures contained in our scientific integrity policy.”

Grazing could be called the third rail of western land-use politics. The Interior Department has granted more than 20,000 grazing allotments on more than 150 million acres of western lands.

Bruce Babbitt, a former Interior secretary, went through a fight on Capitol Hill during the Clinton administration when he proposed changes in grazing policy that would make less land available to ranchers at greater expense. He eventually pushed through some of the changes, but at a significant political cost. Even so, some critics said afterward he had not gone far enough..

This time around, the issue is not rules governing grazing, but a broader question: what is the best way keep an eye on how arid and semi-arid western ranges are affected by any number of factors, including climate change? The monitoring tool chosen, known as Rapid Ecoregional Assessments, is deployed in various regions around the West, including the Colorado Plateau.

According to the minutes of a 2010 workshop discussing these analyses, Peter Lattin, a representative of Dynamac, the Oregon-based contractor chosen to create the framework for the studies of the Colorado Plateau and then conduct them, explained to a group including Bureau of Land Management officials and government scientists that he had added grazing to the list of potential “change agents” in the model his firm was designing.

But Karl Ford, a bureau representative in charge of these surveys, expressed “concerns that Dynamac had focused on grazing,” the minutes noted. Mr. Lattin replied that there was no intent to highlight grazing, just to include it, even though Interior had not mentioned it when soliciting bids for the study from contractors like Dynamac.

Later in the workshop, Mr. Lattin said: “Grazing is a change agent over which we have control. It will not be dealt with differently than any other change agents.”

Mr. Ford of the bureau said that information gathered in the land health assessments as part of the Clinton Administration reforms “are not in a formalized database” and that “within the agency and with a group of stakeholders there are litigation worries,” the minutes indicate. The stakeholders are not named in the minutes, but environmentalists assume that the livestock industry is among them.

A chorus of objections erupted among the scientists present, the minutes show. “We run the risk of not having a legitimate assessment if grazing is not considered,” said Carmen Bailey, a biologist with the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources. “It would be intellectually dishonest to ignore grazing,” said someone else not identified in the minutes.

Tom Edwards of the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management’s sister agency within Interior, then said, “We will be laughed out of the room if we don’t use grazing,” according to the minutes. “If you have the other range of disturbances, you have to include grazing. We are evaluating all of it.”

In the end, it was decided at the workshop that the issue would “require further discussion” with the “Washington office,” although the minutes do not specify what entity that refers to, and “they will specify how it should be addressed.” In the end, the Interior Department’s decision was not to address it because the data was inadequate, according to a news release from P.E.E.R. (you can only read and click on the blue link if you click on the link on top of the article and then scroll down) based on its documents.

Yet a significant body of data was compiled by the Bureau of Land Management in 2008 on the effects of grazing. That same data was used in an unrelated scientific paper  (Very important study, go to the top link click on it scroll down to this place and then click on paper) titled “Rangewide assessment of livestock grazing across the sagebrush biome,” published this year by the United States Geological Survey, another Interior agency.

Environmental critics of the Obama administration’s Interior Department are quick to point out that the secretary, Ken Salazar, is a Colorado rancher, but so far there is no indication that he took part in this debate."

---

Millions of cattle graze on public lands all over the West and have done so for more than a century. But a new complaint filed by an environmental group charges that despite Clinton-era moves to examine and diminish the impact of grazing in the arid West, Interior Department employees have blocked the use of federal data on the impact in regional scientific studies.

The actions by mid-level Interior employees “seriously compromise” the scientific integrity of efforts to figure out how and why western ecosystems are changing, said the complaint, filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a Washington-based environmental group.

The complaint charges that officials of the Bureau of Land Management not only effectively prevented ecosystem scientists from making grazing a significant part of their regional analyses but also failed to inform them of data gathered by the bureau.

As a result, the discrete impact caused by livestock is ignored when scientists working for the bureau go through the checklist of human and natural forces that could cause erosion, lower water quality or cause the extinction of plants or animals, the complaint says.

Asked about the complaint, Adam Fetcher, a spokesman for the Interior Department, said in a statement, “This allegation will be reviewed under the standard procedures contained in our scientific integrity policy.”

Grazing could be called the third rail of western land-use politics. The Interior Department has granted more than 20,000 grazing allotments on more than 150 million acres of western lands.

Bruce Babbitt, a former Interior secretary, went through a fight on Capitol Hill during the Clinton administration when he proposed changes in grazing policy that would make less land available to ranchers at greater expense. He eventually pushed through some of the changes, but at a significant political cost. Even so, some critics said afterward he had not gone far enough..

This time around, the issue is not rules governing grazing, but a broader question: what is the best way keep an eye on how arid and semi-arid western ranges are affected by any number of factors, including climate change? The monitoring tool chosen, known as Rapid Ecoregional Assessments, is deployed in various regions around the West, including the Colorado Plateau.

According to the minutes of a 2010 workshop discussing these analyses, Peter Lattin, a representative of Dynamac, the Oregon-based contractor chosen to create the framework for the studies of the Colorado Plateau and then conduct them, explained to a group including Bureau of Land Management officials and government scientists that he had added grazing to the list of potential “change agents” in the model his firm was designing.

But Karl Ford, a bureau representative in charge of these surveys, expressed “concerns that Dynamac had focused on grazing,” the minutes noted. Mr. Lattin replied that there was no intent to highlight grazing, just to include it, even though Interior had not mentioned it when soliciting bids for the study from contractors like Dynamac.

Later in the workshop, Mr. Lattin said: “Grazing is a change agent over which we have control. It will not be dealt with differently than any other change agents.”

Mr. Ford of the bureau said that information gathered in the land health assessments as part of the Clinton Administration reforms “are not in a formalized database” and that “within the agency and with a group of stakeholders there are litigation worries,” the minutes indicate. The stakeholders are not named in the minutes, but environmentalists assume that the livestock industry is among them.

A chorus of objections erupted among the scientists present, the minutes show. “We run the risk of not having a legitimate assessment if grazing is not considered,” said Carmen Bailey, a biologist with the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources. “It would be intellectually dishonest to ignore grazing,” said someone else not identified in the minutes.

Tom Edwards of the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management’s sister agency within Interior, then said, “We will be laughed out of the room if we don’t use grazing,” according to the minutes. “If you have the other range of disturbances, you have to include grazing. We are evaluating all of it.”

In the end, it was decided at the workshop that the issue would “require further discussion” with the “Washington office,” although the minutes do not specify what entity that refers to, and “they will specify how it should be addressed.” In the end, the Interior Department’s decision was not to address it because the data was inadequate, according to a news release from P.E.E.R.based on its documents.

Yet a significant body of data was compiled by the Bureau of Land Management in 2008 on the effects of grazing. That same data was used in an unrelated scientific paper titled “Rangewide assessment of livestock grazing across the sagebrush biome,” published this year by the United States Geological Survey, another Interior agency.

OMB WATCH

www.Fedspending.org a project of OMB watch (Office Management and budget)

Following a list of contract expenses to particular LTH facilities during the years of 2008 and 2009. I understand that the circle shows there was NO competitive bidding. and 4% are unknown?
In the period from 2000 to 2009 a total of $ 18 316 457.00 were paid to the Drummond conglomerate for services rendered to the Fed. Gov. (BLM) in regard to Long term Holding of mustangs removed from the range. Initially there were only one or two "Parent" Companies involved. In 2008 a total of *8*
Drummond parent companies provided services including: Fred Drummond PHD for a screening performend in Mississippi.

6500 dollar screening paid by the Airforce dept. (but bundled under expenses for wild Horse Management) 

Recreational facility (operation of Government owned facilities - paid for by the Army Corps of Engineers
BLM makes it clear that Holding facilities are PRIVATELY Owned.
 

8 family members and parent companies involved in the government contract program

ARTICLE WRITTEN FOR GERMAN FILM MAGAZINE (pre Berlinale) MUSTANGS IN FILM (1952-2012)

                THE AMERICAN MUSTANG IN FILM AND DOCUMENTARY
A review by Gabriele Moritz

• Google the word “mustang” and the search engine produces an emotional account of a sleek, well engineered and stylish vehicle with a highly coveted hood emblem showing a racing steed, similar to the Mercedes-Benz star…

Now add the word “Horse” and the list of sad refrains and government bureaucracy litters the page. Our civilization  assigns value only to what can be utilized, explored, extracted, exploited and manipulated – a wild horse that is not for hunt, nor slaughter, nor harvest or market – holds little to no value.

The film industry has recognized the mustang for symbolizing wild and freedom: Henry David Thoreau: ”In Wildness is the preservation of the world.”
Several 2010-2011 releases address the modern times of mustang life, once a symbol of the American pioneer spirit and western heritage and the only means of transportation. I have selected 7. Most of these documentaries show the stark contrast of equine beauty opposite degradation to pest and peril with no parole to the bottom of the pole. The viewer is reminded that this is the ONLY animal that had an entire act of congress devoted to its protection in 1971 and yet the mustang is struggling to survive a ruthless persecution by the very agency that is charged with its governance, maintenance and protection. With clean cuts of horses sparring in play to drill-rigs these films expose the bureau of land management (BLM under the Dept of Interior) carving in under pressures of industry stakeholders in a grotesque display of conflicting special Interests. An accelerated and aggressive soundtrack to images of stunt helicopter flying and sweat drained horses colliding with steel panels flushes out the fairytale that all is good on the western front. Steam rises from the prairie as 45 000 horses ship to await their sentence in Federal capture corrals.
What began with the commercial slaughter of mustangs for newly introduced dog food in MISFITS (1952 , Marilyn Monroe) and the children series FURY (1960s) lead to a public outcry in 1971 when WILD HORSE ANNIE (Velma Johnson) followed a slaughter truck that was leaking a trail of blood. A nationwide letter writing campaign ensued that resulted in the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Protection act.
WILD HORSES AND RENEGADES by James Anaquad Kleinert (2010) was initially called “DISAPPOINTMENT VALLEY” and the documentation of one violent and deadly round-up in the southwest of Colorado. Then Kleinert decided to continue his research and expand and rename the film. At the ITN Distribution Film and New Media Festival in New York it won the Documentary Audience Award.
Kleinerts’ documentary examines the BLM’s controversial policies on public lands, while investigating the elimination of America’s Wild horses and burros. Recently 90 wild horses died and more than 40 mares aborted late term foals as a result of the Calico Roundup in Nevada. The BLM called the Roundup a success. Since 2001 more than 90 000 horses have been removed from their federally protected lands. More than 24 million acres have been eliminated from the original 54 million allotted in the 1971 Protection act. The removal policy is leading to the extinction of wild horses at a cost to the American tax payer of $ 120 000 each day.
Wild Horses and Renegades centers around dramatic footage of heart-wrenching wild horse roundups and interviews with Jim Baca (former director of the BLM), Michael Blake (writer of Dances with Wolves), Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortensen (Hidalgo) Daryl Hannah, Congressman Grijalva, filmmaker Ginger Kathrens and scientific experts as well as animals rights and environmental activists. The documentary examines the effects of gutting the historic 1971 protection act with the 2004 Burns Amendment, which opened the doors to slaughter mustangs. It delves into the reasons behind the roundups and current impacts on western public lands by oil, gas, mining and corporate cattle grazing. How can the wild horses roam free in the way of corporate oil, gas, water, solar and mineral extraction. It examines the Environmental Impact statements (EIS) which are the basis for roundups and questions unsubstantiated scientific liaisons and studies. With the words of Jim Baca: “Our public lands are run by the oil, mining and livestock industries and it’s their way or the Highway”.
Always ready to tackle a challenge James Anaquad Kleinert, former world cup competitor in aerial freestyle skiing states: “Killing wild horses, running brutal roundups and shipping them out the backdoor for slaughter has been going on for years. I’m grateful for people like Willie Nelson and Governor Richardson for their support in exposing the danger for the wild horses faced with the “New Energy Frontier”.
With an unreliable census of estimated 20 000 mustangs left in 10 western states on public lands, (similar to the dwindling numbers of horses in 1971)
Wild Horses and Renegades illustrates that due to an accelerated round-up scenario, horse advocates, environmental activists, whistle blowers and watchdog organizations have joined forces utilizing social media and technology to investigate document and educate the public and to stop what appears to be an effort of MANAGEMENT FOR EXTINCTION..The mustangs are an indicator species – “If they’re fat the land is fat”They bear witness to detrimental impact on water and soil by commercial interests on a continuous basis. Very different from cattle or sheep who are seasonally removed for slaughter, the horses continue to reflect the health of our ecosystem.
Adds Viggo Mortensen (Hidalgo):” Wild horses are living things who have the right to coexist in what is a vast landscape, let’s do something about this.”
Asked about a recommendation for the future, Kleinert says: “We need to remind the BLM of its original mission statement. The public lands are a viable and valuable resource but NEPA (Nat. Environmental) policies and permitting processes need to be enforced and the industries need to self regulate themselves. No longer can big extractive industries be given a carde blanche and be permitted to assume Categorical Exclusions.”
(www.theamericanwildhorse.com)
Exploring a different aspect of the Mustang Pipeline is:
WILD HORSE WILD RIDE Alexandra Dawson Greg Gricus. (2010) Here we follow the horses after capture into training. The story of the Extreme Mustang- Makeover Challenge, an annual nationwide competition that dares 100 people to each tame and train a totally wild mustang in 100 days. Under the motto: from “Wild to Willing” or “From Wild to Wow”, “Rough in the middle and dangerous on both ends” the event culminates in a spectacular Finale and the public auction of the horses. Definitely again a controversial event, since horses and riders are under extreme pressure and the results are often even more traumatizing.
Hailed by the Hollywood Reporter as a “Crowd Pleaser” with a big heart the film traverses across the United States to tell stories of the profound bonds that can develop between people and these wild horses. From the rolling hills of New Hampshire to the Navajo Nation to the heart of Cowboy Country, the film captures the journey that is at times harrowing, heartwarming and heartbreaking as these wild-spirits – both human and horse – embark on the ride of their lives.
THE LAST OF THE SPANISH MUSTANGS – Len Johnson (2008) is a highly provocative and graphic, politically charged documentary focusing on a particular herd of Spanish mustangs beleaguered by the different stakeholders in public lands, ranchers and politicians lobbying for the removal and ensuing slaughter of horses from public lands. “Through interviews, extant footage and a gonzo documentary style that owes a lot to Michael Moore, Johnson is fearless in researching and filming the plight of the horses: Their enemies mainly the “Bureau”, originally called the “U.S. Grazing Service”, which fronts for big cattle interests and their entitlements.
MESTENGO –Sonja Richins. (2008) This film extrapolates the slaughtering of horses and mustangs in particular. American slaughterhouses were closed in 2008 due to lack of USDA inspectors. Horses are now being shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter and export to Europe and Asia. The conditions are horrendous. 10 hour hauls with no stop and no water. Many horses arrive injured or dead. Mexican Slaughterhouses have still use stiletto-type knifes to sever the spinal cord, that paralyze but leaves conscious. Discussed are studies that have shown that horses cannot be slaughtered humanely and the film emphasizes the pharma-contamination of all domestic horsemeat (never meant for human consumption) which is extremely toxic. Europe since has considered a ban and is currently revising import standards.
WILD HORSES IN THE WINDS OF CHANGE –Mara LeGrand (2011) premiered at the Egyptian theatre in Los Angeles. A soulful portrait it takes a look at another angle of the Wild Horse controversy. WILD HORSE SANCTUARIES play a pivotal role in the reorganization of Wild Horse Management as it will be required in the future. Sanctuaries are private non profit organizations that either adopt, save or rescue mustangs from government holding facilities or sales. THREE STRIKERS (horses that have been offered 3 times unsuccessfully for adoption) and U-BRANDS Horses that are older than four years and deemed undadoptable) are preferred prospects for Sanctuaries. Since these horses are under SALE AUTHORITY that means they have lost government protection and can be sold without restriction directly from the BLM facility or at an auction for as little as 10 dollars. Even though the BLM states that they do not sell directly to kill-buyers and slaughterhouses, they simply sell to the lowest bidder (which is the kill buyer).
The ever peaceful images of sanctuaries can lull the viewer into the assumption that this might be the saving grace for mustangs. The film shows the broken spirit in the eye of the wild horse, but also shows the broken spirit in us. Photographer Tony Stromberg comments: “As we help or wild brethren, we are also helping ourselves.” The debate of whether Private Sanctuaries are the solution to the Wild Horse controversy is characterized through the fact that these are all traumatized broken and sterile herds, whose family and bands structures have been destroyed, a far cry from the vibrant images of mustangs roaming on Western Prairies. (the public lands)



CLOUD –Wild Stallion of the Rockies (1995-2012) Ginger Kathrens. Emmy Award-winning producer, cinematographer, writer and editor of Cloud, wild stallion of the Rockies, Cloud’s Legacy and Challenge of the stallions.

This trilogy is a scenic feast for nature and animal lovers alike. Kathrens was assigned filming a PBS special by Marty Stouffer in 1994 and at the time witnessed the birth of a Palomino Foal colt, she called CLOUD. Over the next 17 years till today she has chronicled his and his family’s life in never before documented detail. Her films capture the vast landscape of the Arrowhead Mountains in Montana and the dynamics of life and death with regard to natural predatation and environmental impacts on the 150 horses on that particular range. This is the only continuous study of wild horse behavior and dynamics on record and has therefore become a treasured witness report for horse lovers and environmentalists alike.

(www.thecloudfoundation.org)







SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES - Katie Louise (2011). Best Environmental Film – 2011 Intl North Film Festival, Best Documentary 2011 Los Angeles Intl. Women’s Festival. WFLF (Wild for Life Foundation) documents powerful equine protection campaigns together both national and international focusing on slaughter prevention and education. The film shows practices and legal issues surrounding both the domestic horse and the mustang slaughter industry.











WILD HORSE REDEMPTION (2007) director and Academy Award Winner, Canadian film maker John Zaritzky was inspired by a Federal program called WHIP (for Wild Horse Inmate Program) which portrays inmates in the Colorado Canon City Penitentiary having controlled and limited access to handling and training of some of the 2500 mustangs corralled by the BLM right next to the prison. Horses are available for adoption for $125.- before training, after training they can be purchased for $1025.

Jon Peterson, his lead character has been in prison 19 of his 42 years of life. Until he started participating in this program, he had no hope of anything better. If he is arrested again after his release, he will spend the rest of his life in prison as an habitual criminal.



John Zaritzky:” Throughout my career I have tried to raise awareness and change public attitudes…For many years I have been fascinated by stories of redemption and the idea that most people are never beyond reaching – if the right intervention takes place at the right time. When the story of the wild Horse Inmate Program came to my attention, I felt I had found the right personal story with which to illustrate the bigger issue”.





“IMAGINE A PLACE” - Christopher Crosby (2010) highlights the operation of the “Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, IRAM institute for Range and American mustang, founded in 1988 by Dayton O’Hyde in response to traveling by Federal Corrals and seeing hundreds of mustangs in deplorable condition. The 30 minute documentary explores the 11 000 acre sanctuary with 600 horses, which is dedicated to range and wild Horse preservation in a balanced ecosystem. There are currently probably several dozen wild horse sanctuaries operating differing in size and mission statement. Their role in the solution of the wild horse dilemma will increase in the future as there are currently over 41 000 horses in Government owned and taxpayer subsidized HOLDING FACILITIES in the country at a ticket price of $ 1.40- 1.70 per horse per day. The solution to this unsustainable and inhumane condition lies in the hands of our political representatives and lawmakers, that should decide to restore these horses to their rightful and dedicated WESTERN RANGES.



Strikingly absent in this list of Mustang portraits is a rendition by the BUREAU of Land Management itself. Looking at the website www.blm.gov emphasis is put on education and research and development of natural resources with ample video and film material. The WILD Horse and Burro Program is under “Ferner Liefen”.



I cannot close without mention of what was for me the dream of the Wild Horse of the West growing up in the 60’s. At the height of mustang extermination a series called FURY entered the hearts of german post war Children: The extremely lengthy opening explains it all: FROM OUT OF THE WEST, where untamed horses still roam the rugged valleys and canyons, comes Fury, king of the wild stallions. Wild as fury is there is one human voice he’s learned to love and obey.The voice of the boy who once saved his life, the boy whose unswerving devotion succeeded in taming a savage spirit where spur and lariat failed. There’s a mutual trust and affection that everyone can understand, THE ETERNAL STORY OF A NOBLE CREATURE OF THE WILD AND OF THE BOY WHO LOVES HIM…



A Hollywood production about WILD HORSE ANNIE (Velma Johnson) is scheduled to premiere in the summer of 2012, starring Wendy Malick as the woman who raised a nation on behalf of AMERICA’s Mustangs.



Other Mention:

Sable Island Wild Horses (Canada)Robert Dutesco

Wild Horse Hank (1978) after the novel by Mel Ellis, “The wild Horse Killers”

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) animated film released by Dreamworks

Touching Wild Horses (2002) starring Jane Seymor.

Hidalgo (2004) Joe Johnston, starring Viggo Mortensen

HOLDING FACILITY PAULS VALLEY OKLAHOMA

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Continue west on Kimberlin road across Int 35 and take the first right...top center of picture

This is copy out of the BLM website:

The Pauls Valley facility serves as a resting point for animals arriving from the West and being shipping to adoption locations in the central and eastern United States. With 12 pastures stretching across 400 acres of land, this facility provides wild horses and burros a natural and safe environment until they are placed in new homes. The facility can hold a maximum of 600 animals, although the actual number of wild horses and burros at the site varies throughout the year. A drive-up interpretation site situated near the pastures allows visitors to view the animals as they leisurely roam and graze on the land.

Adoption Details: Adoptions are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the Pauls Valley facility, from 8 am - noon (starting in February 2009). There is a mixed group of 70-80 animals available for adoption. Please visit the New Mexico's wild horse and burro website for additional schedule information and details. You may also call the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro National Toll Free Number at 866-4MUSTANGS. 

One can see corrals, trucks and pastures on both sides of the road all the way up to the interstate on the right. Google photos can be several months old, so it makes sense to update these aerials.

Processing center, corrals going off to the left and pastures on right and left

This is the closeup with corrals on the left that are extending further along. (Google dates pics to 2011)

AVIATION RULES FOR BLM INHOUSE AND OUTHOUSE ROUNDUPS

http-::www.lighthawk.org:newsletters:LHnews_Fall_10.pdf

BURNS AMENDMENT - REVISITED

American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign- Resources

PAUL's VALLEY OKLAHOMA LONG TERM HOLDING PHOTOS

Stephanie Graham went to the LTH Facility in Paul's Valley and returned with these photos: Thank you
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