I am hoping people will say a prayer for the wild horses in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park today! The roundup began this morning. They are using helicopters to split the herd from about 165 to 75. The roundup is closed to the public, partially due to a helicopter crash the last time they attempted a roundup in 2007. The few that they had in the corral were released. The last roundup was in 2003. The reason given by locals for closing it to the public, is that several horses will be run until they die, which is what happened in 03.
The auction for the approximately 90 horses will be in Dickinson, ND this friday Oct 23 and most may sell for little over $100 ea. The people who have come forward saying they will attend and adopt estimate homes for 40-50. If more homes are not found, "kill" buyers will buy them for slaughter! These are beautiful horses and I am told, easily "gentled". They will sell the foals (some are only 3-4 mo old and still nursing), young horses and old mares and stallions. The Park says they need to control the number of grazing animals claiming there is not enough grass. Locals and advocates for the maintaining of herds in the park say otherwise.
There is controversy surrounding methods to manage the animals. Some believe they are decendants of Sitting Bulls horses and efforts to preserve the indian pony traits should be made. Park officials don't use traits to determine what horses are removed or given the experimental birth control injection.
I spent the weekend there getting to meet a few and photographing these beautiful animals. Visitors to the Park this weekend, after nearly 2 weeks of cold weather, found the horses scarse, possibly taking shelter deeper in the Park.
the sun illuminated the chestnut horses and the hillside. I did absolutely nothing to this photo.
the filly above and the colt below will be in the auction on friday.
thank you, meg, for telling the story of these horses & for trying to find good homes for them. your photographs are beautiful! these horses are such magestic, beautiful creatures. they represent the spirit, the courage, the beauty of the west. sadly, wild horses such as this are being removed from land all over the west...land that was once protected for them by an act of congress has been slowly taken away by the blm...to the tune of nearly 20 million acres! the blm plans to remove over 12,000 wild horses & burros in the next year alone, & sterilizing as many of the ones returned to the land as they can. this will mean an end to wild horses & burros in just a few years unless we do something to stop it. please help tell people to write to their senators & representatives, contact their local political officials, write to local media, & tell all their friends what is happening. these roundups MUST be stopped! the land MUST be returned to the wild horses & burros! we need to act NOW to save the wild horses & burros...they have lived on our public lands for nearly 500 years & should remain there, protected, for our children & for generations to come.
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