The Wild Mustangs of the Little Book Cliffs Range

Hi everyone. I am happy to see a discussion here about the ways and means of wild horse managment. Mary is referring to the helicopters used by the BLM to round up the horses - often called 'gathers'. It is an incredibly frightening experience for the horses, and is often dangerous and sometimes fatal for them. At LBC, they tell me their pilot is as considerate as is possible under the circumstances. They are also beginning to use birth control on the mares, the medicine administered by dart gun, and it appears to be successful. Doing so eliminates the need for gathers every 3 or 4 years. Another raging critisicsm of the BLM is that most ranges are shared by cattle, grazing rights are very cheap for cattlemen, and the water rights are often privately owned - again by cattlemen. There are some 35,000 head of horses gathered off the range, being held in pens across the west awaiting their fate - probably slaughter houses as there not enough people to adopt them. Each of these animals costs the tax payer upwards of 2500 dollars per year to house in these miserable pens, and the dollars collected from the cattlemen for grazing leases do not come close to covering these expenses.  Do the math. This in spite of the fact that there is a woman with a vision, the willingness and the means to alleviate this problem. Her solution has largely been ignored by the head of the BLM. So there are some that say that the BLM has too much money, and cutting their budget would force them to work with the people who would find more humane and sensible methods of wild horse managment. For more information, visit "Saving America's Mustangs". To donate to the "Friends of the Mustangs"LBC herd, please visit their site. These folks work tirelessly to keep an eye on the herd. For the purpose of keeping track, they photograph and name each horse and record it's mare and sire at birth, someone from the group goes out at least once a week to check on them, check on their water supply, and report to the BLM any that are in trouble. And do all that they do in a strictly volunteer capacity. They are to be commended for their dedication to the horses at LBC. Not all herds have such champions for their cause. The LBC herd is in beautiful shape, healthy and strong as you see in my images, but I understand this is not the case everywhere. The SAM site will keep you apprised of legislation re the mustangs, give you an easy way to contact your representatives, and let you know how your elected representatives are voting. If you can help, please do so!

Debi

Thanks Todd, Paul, Gary & Karen and everyone else that had a look :) Glad you're enjoying the Orton Effect, Karen!

Thanks Laura! How are you? Hope all is well in your world!

Hey Todd & Paul! Thanks for checking in! Yes, everything is good - really good! Am working full time and still writing and shooting for Colorado's AAA Encompass Magazine, so making as many trips to as many places in Colorado as possible - and having a really good time doing it :) Have some images in the Mountain Living Studio gallery in Manitou Springs - and believe it or not, I'm even selling them, WhooHoo!  I post a new image almost daily on Facebook, and see some familiar faces from AR there from time to time, and that is always fun. So I'm doing what I love, and loving what I do. Did break my leg this summer, but that's another story.... LOL

Hope everything is great for you as well.

Debi