Shunned Colt is Fenced from his Buddy.
Driving from Colorado through Nevada on Higway 50, “The Loneliest Highway” I spotted what I first thought was a ranch horse grazing on the south side of the road. Then I saw a band of wild horses. I had to turn around. A story unfolded there, told here in pictures.
Co-incidentally, and specifically to this point, Dr. Kirkpatrick in his recent interview stated, “Public grazing isn’t the problem: only 1-3% of America’s beef cattle, for example, are grazed on public land. The problem is that we no longer have any free-roaming wild horses in this country: they are blocked by fencelines and man-made barriers. The horses cannot migrate to avoid natural challenges, like blizzards or drought.” Case in point. For full article with Dr. Kirkpatrick on PZP immunocontraceptive, click here.
The colt is watching a band of wild horses on the right who locked onto me the minute I raised my binoculars. Skittish, the second time I glassed them, they dropped into a draw leaving only dust. This yearling stayed up near the road, next to the fence, watching them disappear into the distance.
At first I thought he was muddy. Closer inspection with binoculars revealed that he was very beaten up, unusual for such a youngster.
Here he goes back to the fence where a good looking bachelor stallion grazes on the other side.
This guy was grazing in a depression that holds seasonal water, now grass.
Turns out all the horses are supposed to be on the side where the bay stud is.
The colt keeps looking off into the distance too where his band disappeared.
Back and forth. Back and forth.
Perplexed.
The older bachelor moves south, still on the east side of the fence line.
The yearling moves off along the fence line, pacing the older stud.
Clearly known by the older stud, they continued like that, with the fence between them, until they dropped out of site.
Seems that the problems that wild horses and burros face are endless.
More to come…
11 Comments
Cindra
July 29, 2015Beautiful pictures, Kerry! The colt looks pretty spare, too, compared to the older horse. Wonder how long this situation has been going on. The battle scars could be from his attempts to get through the fence rather than going over it. Seems unlikely, but perhaps… Poor guy.
Cindra
July 30, 2015I hope they get the issue fixed quickly. Thank you for what you’re doing, Kerry. This is an issue so many of us have not even been aware of. I am grateful you’re bringing it to light for us.
Lisa Maynor
August 5, 2015Beautiful imagery to accompany and document the story. Touched my heart. Kerry, you have really become attuned with these animals.
Taylor
August 6, 2015Perhaps this colt was relocated in the same way Sarge was.
Kerry O'Brien
August 7, 2015Taylor, not sure what you mean by relocated.
Lisa Bedell
August 6, 2015If you were so concerned, why didn’t you open the gate? One is clearly shown.
Kerry O'Brien
August 7, 2015Not my land. Not my horse. Not my call. I reported it to BLM. Not that hard.
Lea
August 7, 2015What this article didn’t state was that the fence ends several miles up the road, the wild band travels that fence line & he had gotten on the other side of the fence with another older stud that damn near died. That stud was rescued by a rancher.
Kerry O'Brien
August 7, 2015Please re-read the article about the colt. When I have seen the colt, he has been with the bay bachelor. Not Sarge. He has been seen on both sides of the fence. He may have first come from the band on the west side of the fence, in a different HMA, and having been kicked out, joined the Fish Creek horses. I am not addressing every aspect of this in one post. There is more to come. Also, the stud, “Sarge” was illegally removed from an HMA, when the proper procedure is to report any animals in distress to the local WH&B Specialist. When a wild horse is removed and has contact with domestic stock it is exposed to diseases, such as equine influenza, it has no immunity to, and then must be quarantined, compounding the issue.
Brian
August 7, 2015How stupid! Wow. Get the facts straight and don’t project your feelings on to the horse. He does not process like we do, cause, he’s not human!
Kerry O'Brien
August 8, 2015Brian, no where do I ascribe human “feelings” to the colt. You seem to be confusing anthropomorphism with behavior.