Wild Horse Tails: They Kill Horses, Don't They....
12/13/09.....I went off road into the deep snow, up into Spring Canyon of the Flowerys in the Virginia Ranges Quadrangle yesterday, looking for wildhorses. I could see in th edeep snow that it looked as if several vehicles had been up here in the show over the last two or three days. But no matter to me as I was looking for the wildhorses to observe and photograph, as I have been doing as part of my research into the plight of the wildhorses and those that oppose their existence and would bring them harm....
...............This isn't alway the easiest of tasks and interests, because though there are many many people who love the symbol of the wild horses running free, there are also many many whom oppose that they exist at all. Only to make this article sound more peaceful, I will not mention the names of nationally known organizations that wish the wildhorses all gone or dead....
..............so driving up into the high desert mountain canyon to where I know there are several springs that attracts the wildhorses to drink, I was looking all around to see if I could spot any. Not always the easiest thing to do as the canyonis quite large and about ten miles deep by ten miles wide, and with many sub-canyons evolving from the many ravines, and drywashes, and also the many ridgelines coming down off the many high slopes of the mountain peaks here. It is a large mostly undisturbed natural area, that has been popular to deer hunters during hunting seasons, and campers and four wheelers throughout the years, and there are many old springs flowing here and there throughout the canyon. It is very pretty right now with the two to three foot of snowcover except in areas where it had drifted five and six feet deep, and all the deep green of the Pinyon Pines, and bluish-green of the Alpine Junipers growing quite profusely throughout the canyon also.......
..............As I continued up into the higher areas of the canyon, I started to see sign of wildhorses here and there, an dfinally saw some of them, mostly grazing on east facin gslopes where the little sunlight of the last week had melted down some of the snow depth making it easier for the horses to paw their hooves throughit, and find bits of anything they could eat. These wildhorses really are amazing that they can survive at all in the ten year snow storms that are cyclical here throughout my life anyway. They will eat just about anything when they have to, including winter dead Sagebrushes, and bark and boughs from the evergreens. That is the most amazing part that they survive this, because the evergreen boughs are so acidic and very hard for any grazing animal to digest that I know of.......
.............As I drove along negotiating the slippery snow covered dirt tracks, and looking for horses, I saw something dark ahead in the snow, and as I got closer, I could see it looked like a downed dark horse, and it wasn't making any movement, so I knew what I was going to find. As I approached what looked to be a two or three year old mare, I could see a exposed bone in a rear leg that was very broken, and could make out signs that this near fullgrown horse had been dead about 24 to 48 hours, and had been hit by a 4x4 jeep or truck by the ruts in the snow cover, and the blood spatter, and that the belly had ripped open exposing organs. There was no way I could discern whether the horse had been killed instantly upon being hit, or was made to suffer and die of exposure following the acute injuries. It was clear that many little varmints and scavangers had as quickly as death came to the horse, that they began to feed and draw life from the death. That is the law of nature..........
..............I sadly took a few pictures, and tied a note to the front hooves for the BLM ranger I would call and report the killing to. He would come soon and make a futile investigation that would go cold. Most governement here doesn't care about the horses and their vulnerability to those advocating killing them, and reducing the need for the costly ineffective government management of them at all. As I drove out of the canyon, the incident rememinded me of a movie I had seen many years ago starring Jane Fonda in which many horses were slaughtered, but that was a different time...........
...............This isn't alway the easiest of tasks and interests, because though there are many many people who love the symbol of the wild horses running free, there are also many many whom oppose that they exist at all. Only to make this article sound more peaceful, I will not mention the names of nationally known organizations that wish the wildhorses all gone or dead....
..............so driving up into the high desert mountain canyon to where I know there are several springs that attracts the wildhorses to drink, I was looking all around to see if I could spot any. Not always the easiest thing to do as the canyonis quite large and about ten miles deep by ten miles wide, and with many sub-canyons evolving from the many ravines, and drywashes, and also the many ridgelines coming down off the many high slopes of the mountain peaks here. It is a large mostly undisturbed natural area, that has been popular to deer hunters during hunting seasons, and campers and four wheelers throughout the years, and there are many old springs flowing here and there throughout the canyon. It is very pretty right now with the two to three foot of snowcover except in areas where it had drifted five and six feet deep, and all the deep green of the Pinyon Pines, and bluish-green of the Alpine Junipers growing quite profusely throughout the canyon also.......
..............As I continued up into the higher areas of the canyon, I started to see sign of wildhorses here and there, an dfinally saw some of them, mostly grazing on east facin gslopes where the little sunlight of the last week had melted down some of the snow depth making it easier for the horses to paw their hooves throughit, and find bits of anything they could eat. These wildhorses really are amazing that they can survive at all in the ten year snow storms that are cyclical here throughout my life anyway. They will eat just about anything when they have to, including winter dead Sagebrushes, and bark and boughs from the evergreens. That is the most amazing part that they survive this, because the evergreen boughs are so acidic and very hard for any grazing animal to digest that I know of.......
.............As I drove along negotiating the slippery snow covered dirt tracks, and looking for horses, I saw something dark ahead in the snow, and as I got closer, I could see it looked like a downed dark horse, and it wasn't making any movement, so I knew what I was going to find. As I approached what looked to be a two or three year old mare, I could see a exposed bone in a rear leg that was very broken, and could make out signs that this near fullgrown horse had been dead about 24 to 48 hours, and had been hit by a 4x4 jeep or truck by the ruts in the snow cover, and the blood spatter, and that the belly had ripped open exposing organs. There was no way I could discern whether the horse had been killed instantly upon being hit, or was made to suffer and die of exposure following the acute injuries. It was clear that many little varmints and scavangers had as quickly as death came to the horse, that they began to feed and draw life from the death. That is the law of nature..........
..............I sadly took a few pictures, and tied a note to the front hooves for the BLM ranger I would call and report the killing to. He would come soon and make a futile investigation that would go cold. Most governement here doesn't care about the horses and their vulnerability to those advocating killing them, and reducing the need for the costly ineffective government management of them at all. As I drove out of the canyon, the incident rememinded me of a movie I had seen many years ago starring Jane Fonda in which many horses were slaughtered, but that was a different time...........
