Steve and Sam at the Auction
It was a chilly Friday, June 5th on the New England coast, where fog, mist and occasional rain marked the arrival of the enormous BLM ( Bureau of Land Management) caravan of tractor trailer trucks loaded with 70 wild mustangs and burros to the Hilltop Equestrian Center in Somersworth New Hampshire. At least that is what I understood from the review in the Eagle Tribune the previous week in terms of their numbers. The makeshift “pens” used to control and divide the horses and burros up by age, size and I believe, gender, were a sorry excuse for shelter or even containment, too small and inadequate spaces for the animals to really stretch their legs after a long road trip, and not nearly enough room for all to get to the soggy hay, which was all that was afforded to them. It was difficult enough to witness this humiliation first hand, but almost impossible to imagine what it must feel like to these once regal, roaming spirits to be in this broken place, in this broken condition. Their ribs shown through, especially the “yearlings”, from lack of proper nutrition, and lack of room to move for most of their young lives. They tangled in their small spaces, trying to get to food and water, many having open gashes from trying to defend themsleves in too small a space, no where to run, trapped in a corner of the “pen”.
Present were a trainer, offering demonstrations and discussion as to what works with reaching and gentling these wild creatures, however, I did hear her talk of their fear of humans, their first experience with Man having been their often brutal capture, traumatic tagging, shots and freeze branding procedures. Also present were two BLM hands responsible for moving the animals to New England. I spoke with “Steve” and met “Sam” his mascot mustang, to learn more about their travels. It was documented as to where the horses had been captured, their approximate age, and the process of the auction taking place the next day was explained with enthusiasm. I looked hard at all the “previewers”, searching their faces to try to determine whether they were truly there to adopt, or would these babies go over the border to Canada? Surely a possibility with bidding starting at only 125.00. Photos from the paddock where they were held will be posted shortly, along with any record I can recover regarding the results of the auction the following day, which I was unable to attend. I was told by Steve that 46 of the horses had been adopted via the internet prior to their arrival. How does one screen for qualified adoptees on the internet, I wondered?
Would that I had enough land and a place or the resourses to adopt them all and turn them out to pasture, for that is the least of what they deserve, being stolen from their “herd families’ where they have the best chance for survival.
According to the Eagle Tribune, it has been 7 years since mustangs were brought into New England for auction, as there had been a hiatus on transporting the animals from their BLM pens. If the BLM pens are anything like what I saw, these horses will lose their health and weight and spirit in a nanosecond. Surely we can do better with our tax dollars.
Please write your legislators and tell them how you want your tax dollars spent, by restoring protective lands that rightfully belong to the herds and were established for the protection of these beautiful animals, so the herds can grow and be humanely managed back to the level which was originally earmarked by the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971. That number is 50,000 ( although I believe it could and should be higher than this).
Currently, there are more mustangs in BLM holding pens than there are in the wild. This is not right!! Further, petition your legislators to pass laws that make sense towards humane herd management. There is important and relevant legislation pending at this time, which begins to address fairly some of the issues at hand, and which restores some of the protection originally afforded the American Mustang. Check the links on my earlier entry to see what your legislator has done! Ask them to petition the BLM to release captive horses back to their natural habitat, and to have their lands be restored in areas known to be home to the herds, lands that may harbor natural predators, where natural predators ( such as the grey wolf) are being restored. In doing so, allow the balance of nature work towards natural populations that will balance themselves. To the extent this cannot address all the needs of humane herd maintenance, ask them to restore humane slaughter within our borders for the sick and disabled, rather than force them to suffer needlessly on long hauls to other countries where they meet an even more sordid and cruel fate. Thank you for your help.
Please, help by going to the links in this blog and contacting your legislators, let them know how important it is to preserve our national heritage in humane and sensible ways. Tell them to please… Help Save the American Wild Horses from annihilation oversesa, and further suffering over our borders.
Gina
Thank you for your blog on wild horses. We don’t often hear what is happening on the East Coast, and the story of the wild horses’ journey is horrific. In case you don’t know, I wanted to tell you about a book that was released in June. Deanne Stillman is the author of “Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West.” Stillman writes about the origins of the wild horse in North America to the present time–when, yes, more wild horses exist in government holding facilities than in the wild, roundups, shootings, the remaining beautiful herds with tails and manes flying, and more.
This exhaustive research has led her to call for a moratorium on government roundups (see LA Times Op-ed at bottom of message/http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-stillman2-2008jun02,0,6121393). We should all join her on this.
You can learn more at http://www.deannestillman.org (critically acclaimed author, book reviews from Michael Blake, “Dances With Wolves” author and William Nack, “Secretariat: The Making of a Champion” author).
A big question Stillman explores in her book is “why we, a cowboy nation, are destroying the horse we rode in on.”
She is on a west coast publicity tour at this moment, wrapping it up this Thursday 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver. Not that you can attend but you never know how the word gets out! I wish she was going to the East Coast, too; maybe you could forward information about her book to your local media. At least now you have research numbers/sources in one place.
I’m not a publicist. I met Deanne when I was traveling in Nevada, viewing the remaining wild horse herds, which eventually led to my husband and I adopting two wild horses.
Thanks so much for spreading the word!
Patricia Roth
july@sonic.net
Hi Patricia;
Thank you for your comment, and taking the time to register your personal experience and concern for the presrvation of the American Wild Mustang. I will do what I can to bring Deanne’s book to the attention of local media, and I look forward to getting a copy as well.
I would love to meet your 2 horses, if you are close to Maine or in New England for that matter.
I will be adding to and updating this blog as information becomes available, as I plan to link to some larger organizations to keep current with important developments both with pending legislation as well as ongoing care, transport, adoption and restoration of vital public lands needed for the horses’ preservation.
Best to you and your horses! Enjoy them!
Gina Stoll
I am going to assume you just have no education about Mustangs since your blog is only a month old. So please let me educate you a bit about Mustangs and adoptions.
I am the man interviewed in the paper you mention. I did several interviews for the papers, radio and TV getting the word out about the adoption so we would have the best possible turn out. It must have worked as you came, along with hundreds of others to either adopt or just see wild horses. I have invested countless hours promoting Mustangs to everyone that I can. I have had to deal with breed snobs that think Mustangs are worthless and should just be killed like before 1971. I have also been able to educate them and show them they are wrong about Mustangs.
I am a volunteer and work very hard to get Mustangs into good homes. I am one of thousands who work hard for no pay because we love Mustangs and want the horse loving world to know just how good these horses are.
I was at the adoption and worked all 4 days in the rain, and heat from 6 in the morning until we had finished for that day. Normally around 5 or 6 PM. Along with a dozen other volunteers that came from as far away as NJ. If you botherd to spend some time there, you would have learned a few things.
Such as your comment about these horses heading to Canada. If you would have taken a few minutes to find out the rules of adoption, you would never have made that comment.
In order to adopt a person must apply and be approved by the BLM. One must show proper facilities to include a 20X20 6ft tall pen with at least a 3 side duck in shelter. You have to have a small pen until the animal is gentled or you will never catch it for training.
The animal does not belong to you after the adoption. It is federal government property for 1 year after being adopted. After that year you can apply for title. You must have the animal examined by a vet, who must sign off on the form. Then you send the form to the BLM and once approved, they issue title to the animal and it is yours. During that first year you can not sell, give away, or mistreat the animal in any way. The BLM can take the animal back or assign someone like me to take the animal into foster care until it can be adopted out again. Lastly you can only have 4 untitled horses in your possesion so buying for kill would not be worth the time nor trouble. It would cost more to feed it for the year than you could sell it for at a kill auction. So now you know about that.
As for their condition. Again I assume you know nothing about Mustangs or you would never have said this either. Wild horses live on very little food in the wild and the quality is not good either. They will have a body condition of 3 or 4 which is just below average which is 5. This is 100% normal for Mustangs in the wild. All of the horses there looked great to me and I spent a lot of time with them. Not just a little while on Fri. like you.
Once they are conditioned to domestic life, they will fill out, but you must be careful as all they are used to is scrub grass and hay. You can not feed them grain, cookies, or carrots and the like. In fact they will normally just turn their noses up at such food. At an adoption you have to be able to look past what they look like now and imagine what they will look like in 2 years once on good quality hay. They will look a lot better than they would in the wild and will live much longer too.
You say you met Sam. Well Sam looked just like all those Mustangs at 1 year old too. So did my Vinny. If you can say Sam and Vinny look bad, then I know you have no clue about horses at all.
As for the pens. They have to be the size and shape they are for several reasons. If there is an alpha, and there will always be an alpha in every pen, it is better that they are closer together than far apart. That way the alpha can’t get a running start and really harm another horse in the pen.
These horses really do have a herd mentality as they have lived in a herd unlike domestic horses that have human contact and a stall the minute they are born.
They are also made the way they are for the saftey of the people that have to cut out the horses for loading.
Long term holding is quite different than the temporary adoption penning. These horses only spend a couple of days in the adoption penning.
You asked for the numbers so here they are.
70 animals came. 12 were being delivered from the internet adoption. 58 were up for adoption, 51 were adopted by noon on Sat. and the remaining 7 went into foster care with volunteers like myself. All trucks went back to the BLM EMPTY! It was a real succes and there are now many Mustangs living in the New England area in good homes.
I have been in contact with several of them since the adoption and their Mustangs are coming along well. They have emailed me photos of their progress and they are all looking fine and happy. As a volunteer I make myself available to new adopters to provide any help I can during the gentling process. Again free of any charge.
Also please do not lie here. It will not help Mustangs out at all and will make you look like a fool when the truth is told.
There were no gapping wounds on any of the horses PERIOD. I checked them all out myself several times during the weekend. There were a few minor scrapes on a few where they rubbed up against something on the way out to NH and this is normal. There was also a vet on call 24 hours a day during the adoption in case anything came up.
If you want to help Mustangs I am with you, but to sit back and do nothing but complain and lie without even having basic facts is not going to help anything.
Those of us that spend time and our own money working to get these great horses into good homes do not need people that do not know what they are talking about making it harder for us to spread the word about just how good the Mustang is.
There is another adoption coming up in Jul. in PA.
I invite you to come out and work the entire weekend as a volunteer and see just how far we go and how hard we work for the Mustangs. If you do this, you will see just how it all works and how dedicated we all are, volunteers and BLM staff alike, to putting these fantasic animals into good homes. I will be going there on my own dime like all the other volunteers do. Taking time off from work to help Mustangs. I will work in heat, rain, snow, flood, you name it and I will not leave until the last corral panel is loaded up.
I will not show up for a few minutes, go home and write lies. In the end I will have made a difference, and you will have done nothing to help Mustangs.
If you really want to help, learn about Mustangs and use your blog to promote them. Help educate people about them and tell of the virtues of the Mustang. The more people we have on the Mustangs side, the better.
Gina….I can honestly say yours is the first ‘blog’ I’ve visited…if that is what it is called…and it will probably be my last. It is amazing to me that someone can post 1/2 truths and misquotes so others can think its the real deal. The facility in NH was a satelite adoption not an actual holding facility. Most of the horses & burros were there for less than 48 hours…they arrived at around 10 am on Friday and most of the 15 +/- ‘internet’ adoptees were picked up on Friday, while the rest of the horses & burros ( there were a total of 58 including the internet animals ) were adopted and trailered out to their new homes on Saturday. The balance were either adopted or fostered out on Sunday. The BLM and volunteers work extremely hard to get these horses & burros placed in good adoptive homes and your comment hinting that they were headed for Canada was so far from the realities its not funny. I have personally adopted 4 horses & 2 burros from BLM as well as having been given a 3rd burro since 1999, I am an active volunteer at adoptions as well as being hired by BLM to go out and perform compliance inspections on horses & burros adopted in New England states…I also deliver horses & burros from the adoptions to their new homes for the cost of my gas and if I get to a location that is non-compliant I DO NOT DELIVER THE HORSE OR BURRO, I bring it back to the BLM adoption site until the adopter changes the situation or the horse or burro is offered for readoption. PLEASE check your facts and do more research…you do more harm than good when you toss out incorrect information via the internet. There have been other adoptions in New England in the last 7 years, just not in NH and I have been to most of them. The condition of the horses & burros offered in NH was very good…and no there were not alot of animals with ribs showing…horses no matter whether wild or domestic can and do show some ribs while growing. In a perfect world we would all be free…horses , burros & humans alike, but there is such a thing as the real world and its not always pretty or perfect.
I too attended the BLM auction held in Somerworth NH in June. I also returned the next day and did personally speak with the local trainer that was present, as well as the head of operations for the Eastern States Division. As a lifelong horseperson and owner I can tell you that these horses are not mistreated. I think you are missing a very important point in your general criticism of the BLM program. Every four years the herd size doubles in the wild. This means that there is not enough natural habitat to sustain the horses. This program does its best to ensure that they are adopted by qualified suitable homes with requirements, such as the pens you referred to at the auctions site for their own safety as well as that of the humans caring for them. There is a method to what you have described and led the public at large to be perceived as madness. I visited our local Mustang rescue/adoption center at their Open House yesterday in Biddeford ME, Ever After Mustang Rescue to learn even more. Please educate yourself as to the needs of horses and the facts before you lead people down a misconstrued path.
Greetings, Hans, Stephanie & Kim;
I want to thank you for your comments and enlightening information on the wonderful work you are doing for displaced American Mustangs and Burros.
As this blog was created as a forum to bring awareness to the current plight and decimation of the American Wild Horse in it’s natural habitat, your overview or your experiences with the adoption program are most helpful and insightful. The purpose of bringing awareness, in this independant format is to do just that, independently discuss and relate one’s perspectives on a matter that is truly important to them, as you have done. I commend you for your candor, and will not attempt to defend my perception, for it is in a larger sense I am attempting to create awareness, a larger sense that I hope to create activism around saving the legacy of these regal and intelligent animals, whose lives have been marginalized and whose home and inherent freedoms, their “protection”, as it was meant to be, has disappeared, long gone from view.
I invite you to read the original entry written to help people in general understand that action steps need to be taken.
The commentary, or entry, regarding the auction was not a judgement or meant to address the adoption program in any way, (it is seriously divine intervention for these horses in my humble view), rather it was written from a place of observation and sadness that these beautiful animals find themselves there in the first place….
I also invite you to truly familiarize yourselves with the history of policy that has created this dilemma for all of us, adoption program included. These horses were here before us, and my effort is to save them from extinction in their natural habitat, to use our tax dollars more wisely towards effective and sustainable herd manageent, rather than removal and adoption. I do not, or did not at any time question the dedication of the volunteers, for without you all, where would these animals be? Yes, it is very important to get all our facts staight…I could not agree more, which is why you may wish to consider reviewing the size of the cattle population at present on former mustang lands, public lands, and the elk population roaming the same areas. There is so much more to the equation than you might think…so, I am doing my homework there.
Having said that, there are no guarantee as to what their fate will be, once they leave your care. As far as I can tell, the adoption program is the only ray of hope, but it has its limits, as you well know. This is why I focus on fundamentally changing policy, so the horses can be restored to their rightful place on the range, where they have dwelled successfully for centuries before we arrived. Hardly a misconstrued path…
Clearly this will require effective herd management policies, which are relatively non existant at present. It has been more of a removal campaign, not based necessity, but on the land they need to live on being removed from access to them over the past 35 years, thereby creating the appearance of “necessity” and selling this concept to the public on a wholesale basis. Then you have herds that cannot be sustained. It is not natural, it is man made.
As for myself, I have been a horsewoman since the age of 5, and would like to recommend the following read on understanding herd life, and the nature of the Wild mustang: The Soul of a Horse “Life lessons Learned from the Herd”, by Joe Camp. I think you love it!! It includes a forward by Monty Roberts, who wrote the NYTimes bestseller ” The Man Who Listens to Horses”. ( Known as the horse whisperer.).
Thank you for reading, and thank you for caring. I would have responded sooner, but as you pointed out I am new to this blog thing…and need my daughter’s help to figure out how to do anything!!
One thing I do know, it is seldom productive or useful to make assumptions because of virtually anything. This is an open forum for people who care about the fate of the horses, really care…to express their views, whatever they may be, and to learn from each other. I, for one, am very grateful for all the work you do and help that you provide on behalf of the horses’ welfare, and my views are my own, not a personal note on your contributions. As I said…would that I had land and resources enough to take them all in….
Please do watch JamesKleinert’s documentary, see the May blog entry for more info. Thank you.