Wild Horses on the Cal/Nev border

[erb]

I was going through some pics on my camera and thought I would share some photos of wild horses shot this summer. My family and I have been going into this area for the last 5 or 6 summers on our ATV's to find these guys. We went in a couple times this year and were lucky and found some both times. For us it is an incredible feeling to see them in the wild. We got very close to an old stallion that probably at one time had his own herd judging by the battle scares on him. We found a second bachelor stallion not from the first one. He was a little more standoffish but not much.

[comanche]

Beautiful Animals

[Trask]

and amazing country..Very nice.

[arrow719]

Cool pics!

[Mojave]

Is that Adobe Valley?
They don't look like the typical brown scruffy inbreds.
I guess the BLM is doing a decent job of managing the gene pool.

[erb]

Originally Posted by Mojave

Is that Adobe Valley?
They don't look like the typical brown scruffy inbreds.
I guess the BLM is doing a decent job of managing the gene pool.

Yes, the bottom 3 pics are Adobe Valley. We had just parked by the stone corral when we saw this group. We have seen groups here on the valley floor in the past but usually far off. The other groups where were found further into the hills. I have seen Wild horses up off the freeway right by the Montgomery pass casino.They are pretty much scattered all over the area.

[DesertWalker]

I have a friend that works for folks that round up "wild" horses for the BLM. They have been shut down by the animal rights activists somehow. I also have heard that many "wild" horses are not wild at all, but turned loose by folks that can't take care of them. Also, for you city slickers, many horses are allowed to free range, and are usually mistaken for "wild" horses..lol

[erb]

Originally Posted by DesertWalker

I have a friend that works for folks that round up "wild" horses for the BLM. They have been shut down by the animal rights activists somehow. I also have heard that many "wild" horses are not wild at all, but turned loose by folks that can't take care of them. Also, for you city slickers, many horses are allowed to free range, and are usually mistaken for "wild" horses..lol

I don't think you would want to free range your horses in this area if you wanted to keep them. Lots of bad things can happen out here judging from the horse remains I find.. I imagine a horse released into the wild would turn feral pretty easily.. Especially when they have other horses to band with. Although these horses can often be approached on horseback.

[Wildhorse]

We saved one of these a few years ago off the BLM land. It was on it's way to the meat market. It is not hard to tell the difference between a true Wild Horse and one turned loose by someone. Ours was the typical short stocky with the black stripe. Large feet and one of the best mountain horses we ever had. He could carry me for hours in the mountains and never get winded. He also never slipped or lost his footing as did our Quarter Horses we road with. And from what we have seen of the wild horses they are not scruffy inbreds. They are beautiful wild Horses and need to be protected.

[Mojave]

These are not Mustangs but might have a little Mustang blood in them. Most of the ones in that area are descendants of Morgan horses from the 1800s mining activities. Back in the 80s we had several herds of at least 5,000 on the ranges. Occassionally there was a good one but a majority of them had "issues." At the Wild Horse and Burro Facility in Ridgecrest they would pick the best males to geld and return to the wild. The next best were put up for adoption at $125 each. I assume they did the same up at Elko and other facilities.
The populations were completely out of control. They destroyed the grasslands and prairies. Ranchers went out of business. I'm all for "protecting" some wild animals. But you could argue those aren't REALLY wild animals. The BLM screwed that situation up completley by over-protecting them. They had guzzlers everywhere, fed them, and severely punished ranchers for shooting them. They were the scourge of Nevada.
The day I saw a stampede of 20,000 mangy destructive horses kick up a cloud of dust you could see three valleys over, my feelings on "protection" changed a bit. Seeing a group of a dozen frolicking in a meadow is one thing, but that is not the whole reality.