Wild Horse Gather

We were blessed enough to be able to attend a wild horse gather. There were a lot of firsts for us there. I saw my first real cowboy and there were actually 6. They went out a few times to try and get a horse that goes astray before it gets to the corral. They are very good at what they do and they bring the horse is at it's pace and very gently.

We saw our first wild horses of course. There were many in varying corrals that depended on whether they were to be put in the adoption program, sent to a long term care facility or released back out in the wild. They were going to treat the females with fertility drugs to reduce the number of offspring. This is a necessity because there just is not enough space and food for them if they reproduce every year. Then their fate would be worse as they would die a slow death from starvation. Damn selfish humans!

I learned so much about the process and program and cannot wait to get back here permanently so I can become a volunteer. We plan to adopt a foal so it would be best for me to volunteer and learn more about these beautiful creatures. We got to see 6 come in; one first then four then one more. The last one took a long time. They are aged and checked for health status. The foals are so cute. We got to see one let into the foal corral and all the other foals circled around him to welcome him. He was the tallest one and quite beautiful.

The process is time consuming and it can take a few hours for any to be gathered toward the corral. While waiting it was my opportunity to learn all about it. Shawna, the person in charge of wild horse gathering, was so informative. She told us just about everything you could need to know to understand it. She is extremely passionate about what she does and cares very much for every single horse. The rest of the team there are the same.

I also learned about how people who disagree with the gathers twist just about everything the BLM does and I find that very sad. If they were to attend one and learn all that we did they would not be ignorantly trashing the process or the BLM.