Any horse lovers watch Martin Clunes "Heavy Horses"?

[thistlebloom]

I'm not up to speed with the BLMs rules for wild horse adoptions these days, but 30 years ago you had to own them for a year before you were allowed to sell them.

 

[ducks4you]

Ken McNabb had an EXCELLENT program about Mustangs two years ago, probably available online. It destroys the romantic notion that they roam millions of contiguous acres. He showed how your Nevada ranch is rare, and most live in small groups in very small pockets. They usually eat bc ranchers take pity on them, feed them, and provide water. People who think that the BLM is doing a great job don' know how helicopters frighten them, and foals will break legs trying to keep up with a scared, galloping herd. McNabb recommends the old time herding with cow horses, and to keep them at the trot, which is the gait that an horse can maintain for miles at a time. No rider is gonna run their own horse into the ground chasing a herd of Mustangs, either.
People who don't know these things have been spending their lives in the suburbs and haven't ever seen the fences put up to let pronghorns get through. A horse cannot use these and will be trapped by fencing, bc SOMEBODY owns a LOT of land out west and there is fencing everywhere, and a lot of it has barbed wire. That scene in "War Horse" with the horse running through 3 barbed wire fences is a fantasy bc that horse would be dead. They also don't know that this economic depression has hit domestic horse owners, too, and some of them have dumped their horses on what they think is public land. Granted, initially a horse has something to eat and a dumped dog may not know how to hunt, but herds don't readily accept any new horse without a fight, and injured, wild horses aren't medicated by the BLM.
Big Government just makes me sick. They are bloated, anonymous and unaccountable.

 

[bobm]

That " economic depression " that you are refering to is the law that was passed through the uninformed bleeding hearts to stop horse slaughter in the US. So, this caused a glut of old, decrepid and otherwise unwanted horses then add the drop in the economy, while the cost of feed jumped 2-3 times and the Vet. bills to rise as well which in turn caused the value of rest of the horses to drop to something like $0.02 on the Dollar. People could no longer afford to care for these horses like they did before. Many small horse owners and breeders went out of business So, People DUMPED their horses as fast as they could trailer them to the hills and other open range lands as well as other ranches. One unlucky rancher with 10,000 acres of land in the Sierra Nevada Mountains just 15 miles from my ranch in Central Cal. rounded up 37 horses that didn't belong to him after they crashed though the fence surrounding his barn where he had stored 75 tons of grain for his winter cattle feed as well as 200 tons of alfalfa hay under roof. These horses got into the grain and spilled tons onto the ground, pooped and urinated on it making them useless. Also, they started to eat the alfalfa at nose level which cause the higher bales to drop onto the ground get pooped and urinated on again spoiled not to mention the labor to clean it all out . All this damage caused thousands of Dollars in damage. Next , he called the Sheriff to take them... NO GO. He then called several rescue groups....are you KIDDING... again NO GO. Then he contacted an attorney to get legal ownership of these horses , court date, etc. which cost more thousands. When he won legal custody after 7 months of feed and care, he then hauled them to Mexico . Again more money . Someone cut my ranch fence and dumped a 2 year old colt onto my pasture where I had several mares. When I found this colt the next morning, he had a very severe cut that was crusted over with maggots in the wound, Vet bill was $800. Next I had to have the Vet. do a palpation for pregnancy at 20 days after exposure to the colt. 5 mares at $ 50 each. = $250. NO RESCUE GROUP would take him or offer any help. Sheriff... NO GO. Attorney , court costs , feed and care for him was $2,500. As soon as I got legal custody. I gave him away as his wound and limp made him of NO VALUE. These increased costs and this illogical law forced me out of the horse business after 37 profitable years . The range lands are overflowing with these types of now unwanted feral horses and they are now overgrazing the land causing all other local wildlife ( many of which are endangered species) to become malnurished and subject to disease, starvation and death. The BLM is doing the best they can to round up these feral horses, care and provide feed, provide Veterinary care as well as implant birth control injectables before releasing many mares plus their stallion for protection for them at a cost of MILLIONS of our hard earned tax $$$s. One can go to any of the BLM sites and buy any of these feral horses for $ 25. Yea, the Big Government bloated, anonymous and unaccountable types are listening to these bleeding hearts groups who know what is best for US, then let US pay for their irrational ideas and deeds. These bleeding heart groups are constantly brain washing the public with their irrational and uninformed ideas such as NOT putting any horse to work, be ridden , pull a wagon, be shown etc, but should be out in the pastures eating green grass, romping and reproducing as they please, then solicit for our hard earned Dollars since they won't pay for their illogical ideas themselves.

 

[valley ranch]

Well, horses are able to crash through fences in movies. Never had a wild horse breach a fence.
The is plenty food for free wild horses, that's where they roam. Feral horses, I don't think so. The bachelor bands, males that have no herd of their own are not feral. The horses that the BLM sent to the action were free and wild like deer not feral.
If a human being or bleeding heart sees a limping horse and contacts the league, the horse can be moved to a property where they can be taken care of and released not killed.

It was good of you to spend $800 on a vet for a colt you didn't own, I think I would have taken care of the wound myself. We give all our own shot, a vet only when when needed like checking an animal we just brought into the state or verifying for registration, or drawing a sample to be tested at UC Davis.
The BLM has a great budget and want to keep it.
If anyone has a ranch in the Sierra they know that rodents are what will damage their grain and deer will get into their hay if they by jumping the fence not horses.

We've found bear to be a big problem causing lots of damage, killing farm animals. I've had to stay in the barn overhead several nights, when a bear zeros in on our place. The big help has been electric fence chargers.

Aside from that I agree: Too much is spent driving, gathering, culling and feeding horses that should never have been rounded up.

 

[seedcorn]

IF I had those problems, a piece of metal flying at an intense speed would solve the problem. Thus a win-win as problem solved and scavengers have a job to do.

It's a horse, an animal. Make them into food.

 

[valley ranch]

I'm with you on this one. The girls earned their fire stick by the bounty paid them for helping solve the problem.
Years ago I had a range out back, as time went on people began to move into the valley. One day I popped a round and a carpenter yelled: I'm gona call the Sheriff! Sound carries a long way in the valley.

 

[bobm]

I spent over $3,000 and countless hours of my time on this nondescript horse and GAVE it away. Since I have 3 attorneys in my family , I took their advice to the letter as I documented every move and paid the price. This is so that the humane society wouln't accuse me of animal cruelty even though the wound was older, infected as well as having maggots in it. NO help whatsoever from the bleeding hearts animal rights groups... NOT their problem, you go pay for it . Oh yea, I worked at UCD for many years so I know how to doctor, perform surgerys , necropsy, and butcher all manner of animals. At UCD, we brought in 32 head of "Mustang" mares from a range in Montana, and guess what... nearly a third of them had draft horse characteristics, 3 mares had ranch brands on their rear ends that were rounded up in a wild herd. I also did some original research on the DNA testing and made antibodies for DNA testing for the Interior Department . While rodents and deer do damage to the grain and hay, but when one sees over 30 head of horses eating the grain and hay and horse poop and urine stained feed doing the actual damage to tons of feed, one would come to the reasonable conclusion that horses that you do not own did the actual damage. I have been and seen BLM holding facilities and a few neighbors bought some of these so called "mustangs " from there for $25 each... yes quite a few are fairly recent feral horses. Oh and for your information, since there were NO wild horses in the Americas before some escaped from the Spanish as well as escaped horses from the Settlers and their descendents are feral horses. Our biggest pest problem in central Cal. are coyotes and more coyotes that kill and maim all manner of livestock, everyone shoots them on sight. Next are cougars, I had one kill one of my yearling fillies. A neighbor had a 6 month old QH colt killed by a cougar and stored in a Oak tree. etc..

 

[baymule]

This will make me unpopular, but horse slaughter should have never been outlawed. I know lots of otherwise good horses went to slaughter, but also old horses, lame horses and horses at the end of their useful lives went to slaughter. It is now "cruel" and illegal to shoot your own horse to put it down. Now you must pay the vet to euthanize it, then you are left with 1000 pounds of poison meat to dispose of, which can cost upwards of $600, for a horse that probably wasn't worth $200. This is one of the reasons why people dump horses, in addition to rising price of feed and vet care.

Lest you think me heartless, I have two geriatric horses, both of which will die with me. I myself, would probably never carry a horse to sell for slaughter. I could never doom my friends to such a fate. But many don't have the luxury that I have of keeping old horses because I love them. And many don't have the love of horses that I do. I also don't cruise the sale barns, collecting broken down old horses because I am "saving" them. Reality is real.

Now horses are loaded up for a long ride to Mexico. I doubt that it is a joy ride for them, the slaughter houses are not as nice as the ones here. So horse slaughter did not stop, it just got harder on the horses. Way to go animal activists!

 

[valley ranch]

Greetings, I've seen only one cougar, seen lots of bear. Coyotes no longer come close to the corral fences which are hot wired. Bear are the worsted. I've never seen a wild horse at above 5000 feet.
The horses descended from the Spanish in America, these beautiful creatures are our wild animals, they were here before many of us, God love em.
I don't mean that some of them can't get in your way, but most are not a problem and should be left alone. We never get tired of seeing them. There's plenty of food out there for them, but I might toss them a cut if they ask real nice.
Fillies can be stolen by a alert stallion, not many people throw their horses away, it has happened.
I agree baymule.
I think horse owners should be able to do with them as they do with their cattle if they wish.

How the heck did your friend store his grain that horses can befoul it?

You have a lot under your belt. Do you happen to know Bill Wattenburg?

Palomeno Valley horse holding facility, lot of money goes through there. If they leave the horses be,I guess they would might have to close that.

 

[baymule]

@valley ranch your place sounds beautiful. Wild, rugged and surrounded by predators LOL. Coyotes and the occasional cougar, we have here, but not bears.