Say No to Federal Fundinf for Wild Horse Salazoos!

Below is a press release just issued. Here is a link to the release -

February 28, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

Laura Allen

Animal Law Coalition and Equine Welfare Alliance, general counsel

607.220.8938

Vicki Tobin

630.961.9292

vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

Say No to Federal Funding for Wild Horse Salazoos!

CHICAGO, (EWA) - The funding testimony for the planned sanctuaries dubbed by wild horse supporters as "Salazoos" outlined last October by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, will be heard by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Energy and Natural resources on March 3, at 10am.

The outcome of the testimony will decide if our wild horses belong on their western public lands or in "zoos" in the East and Midwest and whether the BLM will commit millions upon millions of future dollars to warehouse wild horses and burros that would otherwise live without cost to the taxpayers in their natural habitat where they have lived for centuries.

The requested funding would increase the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) budget by $42M to purchase one of the seven planned "Salazoos." The Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) and its over 100 member organizations, Animal Law Coalition, The Cloud Foundation and numerous Mustang advocate and welfare organizations are vehemently opposed to increased funding for the BLM for this incredible financial sinkhole.

America already has a management program in place for our wild equines. It's called the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act. It was inspired by a heroic Nevada woman, Velma Johnston, who as "Wild Horse Annie" gave these horses a sanctuary BLM has been trying to destroy ever since it was passed.

A management program for wild horses and burros on public land has yet to be proposed by the BLM or DOI that is compatible with current law. Their answer is to remove wild horses from the land, permit grazing by millions of cattle at below market rates and move our horses to a zoo like setting far from their home. In fact, the BLM was given appropriations to care for the wild horses in holding pens but has appeared to use the funding to round-up more horses. When citizens complained, they were denied access as armed guards prevented them from even viewing horses in captivity.

With no viable management plan in place, it is a disgrace and waste of critical tax payer dollars to increase funding to yet another mismanaged program. The 1971 law calls for wild horses and burros to be managed on their (OUR) public lands - not in holding pens and not in zoos.

The BLM spent approximately $2M gathering a mere 2,000 animals at its Calico wildlife management area, a cost of $1,000 per horse. Once in holding, the animals will each cost the government approximately $500 per year to warehouse. Worse, the government charges ranchers only about 20 cents of every dollar that program costs taxpayers. "The Salazoo plan is yet another raid on the public funds by special interests", says EWA's John Holland.

BLM has spent more than $2 million in 2009 on a firm that stampedes wild horses with a roaring helicopter. At the Calico Nevada round-up, more than 98 have died as a result, including unborn foals and two babies who lost their hooves after a multi-mile run of terror.

The wild horses and burros represent a mere .05% of animals grazing on public lands. When the 1971 law was passed, wild horses were present on 54 million acres. Since then, over 200,000 horses have been removed along with 22 million acres of public land. Many herds have been zeroed out leaving public land available to return wild horses to their land. Congress should replace the lost acres with good grazing land for the animals BLM wants to place in its Salazoos.

The livestock grazing on public lands alone outnumber the wild horses and burros by over 200 to 1 and are subsidized by taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Neither the BLM nor DOI has yet to explain how millions of privately owned livestock are sustainable or how neither agency can find room on the 262 million acres of public land it manages for less than 50,000 wild horses and burros. Neither has explained why the wild horses and burros are being blamed and removed for range degradation when the government GAO studies reflect the livestock are ruining the ranges.

The EWA and ALC call on Congress to deny additional funding and specifically defund wild horse and burro round-ups until the DOI and BLM can provide independent current range population counts, current range assessments and a viable management plan that upholds the 1971 law.

Both Sen. Mary Landrieu and Sen. Barbara Boxer have posed serious questions to the BLM on its management practices. Those questions should be answered immediately with facts, not spin.

Additional details on defunding the BLM for "Salazoos" can be found at Animal Law Coalition , article number 1188 .

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 100 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids.

www.equinewelfarealliance.org

www.animallawcoalition.com


Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses


Equine Welfare Alliance

If Citizens Ran the Feet Off Wild Horses..........

if citizens ran the feet off of wild horses they would rot in jail.

http://www.barndoorstudio.com/id25.html

Hope Springs Eternal (A Eulogy) By Laura Leigh
written 2/1/2010
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – On January 22, 2010 I was given a tour of the Fallon holding facility after my observation days (Calico gather) had been cancelled by weather twice.
I had witnessed the gather on January 16, and met Gene Seidlitz (Winnemucca district manager) and Heather Emmons, both of the Bureau of Land Management. Both appeared to be very willing to accommodate and provide access in as transparent a manner as possible Gene spoke to me many times about the concept of finding areas for dialogue and co-operation. I had hoped to write an article based on that concept.
On January 22, Seidlitz and Lisa Ross, BLM public relations coordinator for Calico gather met me at the agency’s Fallon facility. John Neill is acting BLM manager at Fallon. I was given free access to photograph and ask questions. I was also allowed to videotape the “hospital” facility at Fallon. I soon saw a row of small pens near the entrance to the facility next to the area being built to process horses. The plywood for windbreaks was stacked but not installed.
The pens held mostly foals and a few mares. Each horse I saw demonstrated some form of lameness. Many had bandages on their legs. Of particular concern was a foal that would not rise when approached.. His eyes were glassy.
Over the next few days I made several attempts to gain information about that foal. I sent e-mails to Gene, Lisa, and John. I was told the foal was up the very next day and doing well. Information I found hard to believe because I did not think he would even make it through the night. I requested a vet report and was told I would have it as soon as one was available. I requested that the foal be released to me and I would facilitate his placement into a facility that could properly care for him. The request was denied, the BLM saying it was not needed.
I named him “Hope Springs Eternal.” I began to make inquiries to find a facility to bring him to. He would have a home.
Several more conversations with John Neill continued to assure me the foal was fine. John said he was busy and if I did not get the vet report to please call him again.
I called today. I was told the vet report is online. It’s not. He was euthanized Saturday because his hooves had begun to slough.
My emotions are many:
So much for a timely exchange of information. So much for the concept that the “guys on the ground” are any different than the guys in DC, something they want you to believe. So much for the idea that co-operation toward problem solving with the best interests of the horses at its heart will ever be a reality. So much for “ Hope Springs Eternal.”
The baby I saw on January 22 was in incredible pain to the point that, as a wild animal, he could hardly lift his head as a strange human, a potential predator, approached. All the others rose and limped away. This baby languished in that facility with no windbreak in agony. A baby that had a chance if the humans involved could have attempted to create an opportunity to work together. Releasing that foal would have cost the BLM nothing… and maybe created the sensation that somewhere in this madness a spirit of humanity could overcome this battle of obstinate adherence to outdated bureaucratic protocol. I had “Hope.”
Little spirit you are now free of this administration’s unwillingness to recognize your worth. “Hope Springs Eternal,” rest in peace. You are loved.

262 Million Acres and Salazar (BLM) Can't Find A Place for Wild Horses?!?!?

262 Million Acres and Salazar Can’t find a Place for Wild Horses?
CHICAGO, (EWA) – The Los Angeles Times printed a guest column today by Department of Interior (DOI) chief and former rancher, Ken Salazar, aimed at rationalizing the unnecessary removal of America’s wild mustangs and burros from their vast ranges.

Equine Welfare Alliance’s (EWA) John Holland commented, “The opinion piece is an attempt to spin the growing outrage and coast to coast demonstrations which have taken place over the past few weeks.”

An EWA announced protest will take place on January 17 in New York City from 1pm-3pm at Columbus Circle (59th St at Central Park S-corrected address). Two other protests are planned for January 18 in Reno from noon-3pm at South Virginia Street and South McCarran Boulevard and January 21 from 11am-1pm at the California State Capitol building.

Salazar falsely states that in the 1960s, the wild herds of the American west were on the verge of extinction, prompting Congress to pass the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. In fact, much like today, legislators in Washington tardily passed the law after the heroic work of a Nevada woman named Velma Johnson and hundreds of thousands of protesters applied enough pressure to get the Congress’ attention.

Today, it is the DOI on Salazar’s watch that is entrusted to protect the wild herds but instead, is now the driving force managing the wild herds to the verge of extinction. Why? Because Salazar’s rancher friends need more land to graze their 7.5 million cattle which now have to compete with only 30,000 wild horses.

Many herds have been zeroed out, rounded up and are now held captive in pens on private land that the American public, who pays for their upkeep, are not allowed to view.

The small numbers of horses that have been returned to their lands after round-ups have received birth control and with such small numbers are destined for extinction. There are currently more wild horses being held captive than remain free-roaming with those remaining in the wild rapidly becoming genetically bankrupt and unable to create future generations.

Salazar states, “Without natural predators, wild horse populations have grown beyond the carrying capacity of the sensitive and sparse lands on which they live, causing damage to ecosystems and putting them at risk of starvation.” Pictures and video footage from the gathers tell a different story. Unfortunately, the primary predator is Ken Salazar and his pals at the cattlemen’s associations, meat producers, and the America Farm Bureau. Also not mentioned, is how those sensitive and sparse lands can sustain millions of privately owned livestock? Wild horse advocates have likened America’s public lands to that of a giant private feedlot for ranchers.

Salazar’s plan to move wild non-reproducing herds to seven new preserves in the East and Midwest will ensure their extinction. Even he is at least honest enough to call them tourist attractions. Climate, habitat and range changes coupled with birth control and separating sexes is the beginning of the end as they disappear in zoo like settings. The estimated initial cost for these preserves is $96 million which doesn't include the cost of gathering or transporting the horses. The cost for the gather underway at the Calico complex in Nevada alone will run taxpayers over $1.9M.

Glaringly missing from Salazar’s editorial is the Ruby Pipeline and the California Heliostat project that will rip through the wild horse ranges.

Mr. Salazar has asked for ideas from the public. EWA will be issuing a position paper on wild horse and burro management within the next few days and full proposal within the next few weeks.

Salazar’s invitation for public comment rings hollow when every time the public attempts to speak to the BLM wild horse board they are cut off and not heard. Moreover, the agency’s director, Bob Abbey, has repeatedly dodged interviews with respected journalists about the wild horse issue.

“The future of our wild herds is dependent on working together,” commented EWA’s Vicki Tobin. “Future generations should be able to enjoy wild herds in their natural habitat, not read about them in history books.”



The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 90 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids.

BLM Always follows the Money - to Hell with the Horses!

In an " emergency" gather 325 horses were removed and four semi loads of sheep were unloaded on the Sulpher Range last Nov.. The allotments are not separated by fencing. BLM say they are finally down to AML with less than 200 horses remaining on 225,000 wild horse herd area. Last we heard, the water was still turned off at the solar panels. Somewhere in my cybespace are the pics I took.
kat

----- Original Message -----
From: TerryW
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 11:08 PM
Subject: From a couple years ago......


Hundreds of sheep brought in after wild horses removed: a supporter contacted us to report that, after 200 horses were removed in December from the Dry Lake Complex in Nevada, he was shocked to see about 1,000 sheep trucked in to that very area, less than two weeks after the round-up. Questioned on the issue, BLM confirmed that the area includes a grazing allotment for 2,200 private sheep, whereas for horses the “appropriate management level” is set at only 128 head, or one horse per 5,500 acres! What BLM failed to address is why substantially more forage is consistently allocated to private livestock on the very areas that should be “devoted principally” to wild horses under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.

The Science Behind Wild Horse Roundups
2007, KTVN
Rounding up wild horses carries inherent risks for the animals, so presumably, there should be a good reason for capturing them. In early September, a BLM roundup captured 900 horses in Nevada's Jackson Mountain Wilderness Area, supposedly because there wasn't enough forage to support them. When the horses got to the Palomino Valley holding facility, they started dying because of the feed they received. What bothers wild horse advocates the most is that while the BLM felt there was only room for 200 or fewer horses in the 280,000 acre Jackson Range, they said it was still okay to have 8,000 cattle and sheep grazing in the same area.

Scroll below the following response for press release

All agencies have failed and refused to answer the simple question....what is the cost of managing genetically viable herds on their native ranges vs the cost of removal, holding, and adoption???

Where is the legal authority to transport non excess wild horses and burros across state lines for sale and adoption, or in holding facilities?

Restoring the millions of acres of Congressionally designated (vacant)herd areas may be a huge savings to our Herds and the taxpayers. Its OUR Heritage...ya know...like the loss of our inheritance without the benefit of probate.

The land management plans that vacated these herd areas are legally defective/ technically flawed, and politically motivated. They can be corrected/remedied as BLM Tom Pogacnik stated. But BLM won't do it until Congress tells them. BLM Don Glenn suggested we sue. Since when it is OUR DUTY to sue the Guvmint to make them do their fiduciary duty?
kat



Alliance calls for suspension of wild horse musters
October 31, 2009

Wild stallion Cloud, whose herd was recently mustered.
An alliance of more than 60 organisations has called for a suspension of all wild-horse musters in the United States, saying roundups have intensified and some herds have been removed entirely.

The group also voiced its concern for the ongoing genetic viability of some herds reduced in Bureau of Land Management musters.

The Equine Welfare Alliance said it wanted an immediate moratorium on the gathering of wild horses and burros by all government agencies.

Its call follows similar demands by The Cloud Foundation, The Animal Law Coalition, wildlife ecologist Craig Downer and Mustang author Deanne Stillman.

The moratorium call comes just three weeks after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a raft of proposals for future wild-herd management, including up to seven new herd areas further east and more aggressive use of long-term contraception.

Salazar admitted "The current path of the wild horse and burro programme is not sustainable for the animals, the environment, or the taxpayer."
More than 30,000 wild horses are held in captivity, only a few thousand fewer than still inhabit the western rangelands.

However, the alliance, an umbrella group comprising more than 60 member organisations, voiced its disapproval of Salazar's proposals.
"The Salazar plan would simply throw the herds off of their historical Western lands set aside for them in the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act and put them into long-term holding facilities which it renames 'refuges'," spokeswoman Vicki Tobin said.

The alliance said deficiencies in the current herd management programme had been pointed out to Bureau of Land Management boss Bob Abbey in an August letter from Congressmen Raul Grijalva.

"To date, none of the deficiencies have been corrected and until range studies can be completed, there is no scientific evidence justifying the removal of wild horses and burros from the land," alliance representatives John Holland and Shelley Sawhook said.

Following an independent report in 2008 that found the bureau did not have funding to support the estimated 37,000 horses held in captivity, Congress increased their budget.

"Instead of using the funding for its intended purpose, the bureau has intensified round-ups and has zeroed out many herds while leaving the remaining herds genetically unviable as a result of reduced numbers and mares that were given birth control," Holland and Sawhook said.
"The increased round-ups are coming at time when there are more wild horses in holding pens than on the open range at a cost of millions of dollars to tax payers."

Holland continued: "The huge number of horses being gathered is effectively guaranteeing a new and worse budget crisis in the immediate future."
The alliance said many wild horse advocates suspected the Department of Interior and bureau were on a course to exterminate America's wild horses and burros.

It cited a bureau ecologist, saying: "Wild horses do not belong in western ecosystems," and that "The 1971 Horse and Burro Act was based on emotions, not science".

"In a comparative analysis of free-roaming wild horses and burros in relation to habitat, wildlife and livestock populations, wild horses and burros populations pale in comparison," Holland and Sawhook said.

"In most cases, the wild horses and burros are being removed in record numbers with no scientific evidence justifying the need for these removals.
"According to the BLM schedule, another 12,000 wild horses and burros are targeted for removal in 2010."

The group argued that removing horses without scientific justification is in violation of the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act.

"The 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act is a law and Americans are demanding that instead of ignoring the law, the bureau enforce it. An immediate moratorium on round-ups must be issued until the range studies are completed and the discrepancies are resolved."




Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses

We Can All Kiss our Asses Good-bye!

This is so sad......

"Dear Supervisor Mitzenfelt

You may remember me from the small group that brought the RS 2477 resolution before Supervisor Postmas when you were on his staff and my subsequent testimony before the US House Resources committee.

Please read the plea below and this suggestion to declare San Bernardino's Heritage Herd of wild burros that date back to mining by the Spanish before statehood.

San Bernardino County could declare the Mojave Burros a local and National Heritage Herd and set aside their herd areas as Heritage Herd Areas for their maintenance. This is consistent with existing law. The skewed management plans resulting from The Desert Protection Act and management agreements between the Desert Managers Group are responsible for the destruction of our National Heritage.

Thank you for your consideration.

Kathleen Hayden

Coyote Canyon Caballos d' Anza Inc.

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: end of the California wild burros
From: "Chrys Anderson" <chrysteen@tds.net>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chrys is an officer in the California Donkey and Mule Association.

I have been making calls to the BLM and literally sat and cried this
afternoon. There is no plan to save any of the California desert herds of
donkeys. Between the BLM, National Park Service, California Desert
Protection Act, etc., business lobbyists got everything they wanted. The
last 40 burros at Clark Mountain will be removed to make way for a solar
farm. The National Park Service is adamant that all burros will be
removed or shot. The BLM doesn't control enough desert land in California
to save a burro gene pool even if they wanted to, which they don't.

They will leave 108 burros on the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation and 121
burros at the Chocolate Mule Mountains near the Colorado River. They will
leave some burros at Big Bear, but that is not a desert environment. The
unique genetic qualities that were the result of natural selection will be
gone forever. They say elections matter, and I believe eliminating burros
on public land was a Republican agenda. I don't know if it is possible to
force the NPS or BLM to set aside an area to preserve a least one group of
California desert donkeys, but it is worth a try. I have been writing
letters on behalf of the wild burros for years and have always been
disappointed. My only other possible suggestion is for CADMAN to form a
registry for California Wild Burros. Rescue groups don't breed and 350
Mojave burros will soon be shipped back east to genetic oblivion. Four
hundred Death Valley burros were shot and most of the rest were removed
and dispersed 10 years ago. If the unique qualities of the desert donkeys
are going to be preserved for future generations of donkey people,
something will have to be done soon. It is unfortunate that people who
care about burros tend not to be wealthy or politically savy. Wild horses
have more fans and get more publicity and even they are headed for genetic
extinction on public lands.

I don't have a clue what we can do.
Chrys "

Any fans of the wild burros out there?!?!? Time to make your voices heard!!

BLM and National Cattlemen's Beef Association Partner to dispose of Wild Horses!!!

"In what could be its most absurd and cynical move yet, the Bureau of Land
Management is partnering with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association,
the American Sheep Industry and the Association of National Grasslands
(represented by the Public Lands Council), in a campaign that promotes the
purchase of wild horses and burros by public lands ranchers. View their
joint press release at Beef USA


The very people who lobby tirelessly to remove wild horses from our public
lands at taxpayers’ expense are now urged to purchase these same horses at
bargain basement prices. Ranchers did not want to share their public land
allotments with these horses in the first place; do we really think they
are now going to let them graze these same allotments out of the goodness
of their hearts? Who better than the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
to funnel wild horses to slaughter? In fact, it is disturbing that this
announcement should come on the heels of the USDA's decision to allow horse
slaughter to continue despite Congress overwhelmingly passing an amendment
banning such practice for one fiscal year; the horse slaughter ban was
vehemently opposed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

Without independent oversight and incentives to ensure the ranchers will
provide long-term care for these horses, we can’t help but see something
sinister at play and need your help to fight another attempt by the BLM to
dispose of our wild horses by any means available. PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW
to protest this latest maneuver by the BLM and the cattle lobby: voice your
concern and outrage to Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior, Department
of the Interior,1849 C Street, N.W., Washington DC 20240 - fax:
202.208.5048.

We are in the process of investigating all the implications of BLM’s new
campaign. Be sure to check the News Briefs section of the AWHPC site for
further information as we uncover it.

On behalf of the horses, thank you for your support.

The AWHPC Team.
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign "

All I can say is....WTH?!?!

Investigative Report - "Stampede To Oblivion"

The Las Vegas I-Team and veteran reporter George Knapp's Special Investigative Report, "Stampede To Oblivion", is now available on line with a link to the show in its entirety.

http://www.americanherds.blogspot.com/

PLEASE URGE EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO WATCH THIS TIMELY AND IN DEPTH REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THE WILD HORSE & BURRO PROGRAM!

ALSO

*BLM's Sally Spencer responds to questions about National Wild Horse Adoption Day.

Her response, as well as an Anonymous Rebuttal, has been posted at the bottom of the 10/03/09 post, "National Wild Horse Adoption Day".

Shame on the BLM!! (But you knew that....)

"Dear Director Abbey,

Following is the U Tube connection link to the recent Pryor Mt gather.

Explain exactly WHO is responsible for this gather? What tail is wagging this dog??

16 USC 1332 c defines range as the amount of land necessary to sustain an existing herd or herds of wild free roaming horses and burros, which doesn't not exceed their known territorial limits and which is devoted principally to their welfare but not necessarily exclusively, in keeping with the multiple use management concept for the public lands.

Isn't this the same principle as an ACEC?

Clearly the agency does not do this to other free roaming wild life.

Are we to be our lying eyes or BLM spokesman Tom Gorey who stated “The Cloud Foundation is not a credible source for information.”

Please reply.

Yours truly,

Kathleen Hayden

PO Box 236

Santa Ysabel, Ca. 92070"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eH6g4x4CKs

The Big Story Click Here for More Breaking News Video Shows Cloud Limping, Foals Possibly Vulnerable to Lion Attack Film Maker Release New Footage of Injured Mustangs By Steven Long HOUSTON, (HORSEBACK) - Despite repeated denials by the federal Bureau of Land Management, horses including the iconic mustang Cloud, were injured in a hasty Labor Day weekend round-up. Video evidence shot by Emmy award winning PBS filmmaker Ginger Kathrens show graphic images of horses limping, including Cloud, immediately after their release back into the wild. “All of the babies are clearly footsore,” Kathrens told Horseback Magazine late Saturday. “Some of the adults seem to me as if they are really tired and are a bit foot sore.” Kathrens returned to her ranch from Montana Friday after observing the horses on the mountain Thursday night. The foal most footsore was Cloud’s offspring filly Jasmine, she said. The horse is a baby. “She was really hobbling,” Kathrens said. Some members of the Cloud herd were not allowed to leave BLM pens to return to Pryor Mountain and will be sold on September 26. The herd’s normal grazing area is 5,000 feet above the pens which they were stampeded to by a low flying helicopter. Repeated queries by Horseback Magazine have all received the same answer from the agency which manages the nation’s wild horses on public lands. “There were no injuries or deaths resulting from the gather, to the best of my knowledge,” said BLM Washington spokesman Tom Gorey late Friday when he disputed Kathrens veracity saying, “The Cloud Foundation is not a credible source for information.” Observers from the foundations and press were not allowed at the upper elevations during the chase to the base of the mountain at Britton Springs. Jim Sparks, the BLM field manager of the Billings, Montana office also told Horseback that no horses were injured as they were chased into a trap and then herded into pens. Sparks conceptualized and spearheaded the Pryor Mountains "gather." He acknowledged it was his decision alone to capture and thin the herd because he believes there aren't enough natural resources on the mountain to sustain the horses through winter. Currently the horses all appear to be fat and healthy. Pryor Mountains mustangs have lived through hundreds of Montana winters. Kathrens has spent much of the last decade chronicling the wild horses of Montana’s mountains, a line of animals that is believed to be genetically pure dating back to the 15th century. The next installment of the “Nature” series featuring Cloud and the horses of Montana’s Pryor range will be shown on PBS, October 25, 2009. The special is titled “Cloud Challenges the Stallion.” Two horses featured in the new film are now held in the BLM adoption pen. Makendra Silverman, assistant to Kathrens said some of the horses are now vulnerable to predators because of their inability to move rapidly to escape attack. “When you have foals run for 10 to 15 miles they are much more prone to mountain lion attack.” Kathrens said that during the run down the mountain the Pryor Mustangs may have burned up much needed fat that would help them make it through the fierce Montana winter. In the video all of the animals appear well fed and healthy. Silverman said it is doubtful older horses such as Cloud, bachelor stallions, and mares would fall victim to cougar attacks but very young horses are at risk. Kathrens says she has left messages for BLM director Bob Abbey but has yet to hear from him. Abbey also declined an interview with Horseback.