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December 2016

1,430 Wild Horse Lose Freedom in Owyhee Roundup

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The following is an update from the American Wild Horse Preservation.

November and December have proven to be rough months for the wild horses living in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Owyhee Complex in central Nevada. The BLM office in Washington D.C. even authorized the round up of 220 more horses than originally planned in this largest BLM roundup in two years. In total, 1,832 wild horses (704 studs, 773 mares, 355 foals) were captured within the Complex, and 1,430 of these beautiful mustangs were permanently removed from their homes on the range. At least 17 horses died in the roundup, and 402 were returned to the range. 

The unreleased horses — more than 1,400 of them — were loaded onto semi trailers and trucked away from their high desert homeland to BLM’s holding pens near Reno, NV. These horses will never be free again. They — along with the nearly 46,000 other wild horses and burros warehoused in BLM holding facilites — face an uncertain fate.

AWHPC staff and prominent wild horse photographer Kimerlee Curyl were onsite at the round up last week. Check out our pictures, video and report on the roundup by clicking below.

AHC Update: Congress Set to Pass Bill to Fund Government

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The following is an update from the American Horse Council.

This week Congress set to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to provide funding for the government until April 28, 2017.  The CR is an extension of last year’s omnibus appropriations bill that originally expired September 30, but was extended to December 9th.

Congress normally should debate and approve several separate appropriation bills for each federal agency including those important to the horse industry like the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior.  However, Congress was unable to pass any individual FY 2017 appropriations bills.

The CR maintains current funding levels for all government agencies and programs including USDA, which is responsible for responding to contagious equine disease outbreaks and enforcing the Horse Protection Act. The CR also extends the language that prohibits USDA from using any funds to provide inspectors at meat processing facilities that slaughter horses, continuing a policy that began in 2005, except for a brief period in 2012 and 2013. No horse slaughter facilities are operating in the U.S. and this CR would prevent any such facility from opening until April 28, 2017.

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The CR does not include an H-2B returning worker exemption.  This provision was included in last year’s omnibus appropriation bill and exempted from the 66,000 cap on H-2B visas, workers who had complied with past visa requirements and worked in the program during one of the preceding three years. However, the bill does extend several beneficial provisions that make the H-2B program less burdensome for employers including:

  • A requirement that wages be based on the job category and experience level required, rather than an artificially inflated median wage;
  • Defines seasonal as ten months, as opposed to nine months;
  • Prevents the Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing the provisions of the 2015 H-2B rule related to corresponding employment and the ¾ guarantee of work days; and
  • Prevents DOL from implementing the new and burdensome DOL enforcement scheme in the 2015 H-2B rule related to audits and the Certifying Officer (CO) assisted recruitment.

The H-2B program is used by members of the horse industry, principally horse trainers and owners who cannot find American workers to fill semi-skilled jobs as grooms, exercise riders, and stable attendants at racetracks, horse shows, fairs and in similar non-agricultural activities.

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Horses Need Homes or Face Slaughter Auction

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The following is from WHMentors.org. This adoption is a joint effort of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund, Least Resistance Training Concepts and the Virginia Range Sanctuary.

sdoptThe Virginia Range horse herd, managed by the Nevada Department of Agriculture, is believed to be the largest publicly owned horse herd currently remaining in the US. The horses are managed through the cooperative efforts of the department and various qualified non-profit horse groups. While the emphasis of this management is passive population control (fertility control,) horses do occasionally spread out into the outskirts of urban areas and onto busy highways. Those that present a clear and continuing danger to motorists, and that return to busy areas after relocation attempts, do have to be removed.

State law requires the Department to dispose of any horses that are not placed with in a proscribed time at the livestock sale. Therefore every effort is being made by all parties to get these horses placed.

TAA Accredits 27 Thoroughbred Aftercare Groups in 2016

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This article is featured on theHORSE.

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) has announced that 27 Thoroughbred aftercare organizations were awarded accreditation in 2016. The organizations include 19 reaccreditations and eight first-time accreditations. The TAA now has a network of 64 accredited organizations operating at more than 180 facilities across the United States and Canada.

Accreditation is awarded for a two-year period, after which organizations must reapply for accreditation. All organizations currently accredited by the TAA are eligible to receive financial grants to support the care of their Thoroughbreds. Grant applications are currently being reviewed, for grants to be awarded by the end of the calendar year.

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The full list of all 64 TAA-accredited organizations can be found at thoroughbredaftercare.org. The 27 organizations that received accreditation this year are:

  • After the Races;
  • Bright Futures Farm;
  • CANTER Michigan;
  • Equestrian Inc.;
  • Equine Advocates;
  • Final Furlong;
  • Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program;
  • Friends of Ferdinand;
  • Galloping Out (Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association Thoroughbred Rescue Fund);
  • Harmony and Hope Horse Haven;
  • Heaven Can Wait;
  • Hidden Acres Rescue for Thoroughbreds;
  • Illinois Equine Humane Center;
  • Los Angeles Pet Rescue (Farralone Farms);
  • Oklahoma Thoroughbred Retirement Program;
  • Our Mims Retirement Haven;
  • Out Side In;
  • R.A.C.E. Fund;
  • Remember Me Rescue;
  • RVR Horse Rescue;
  • Second Chance Thoroughbreds;
  • Second Stride;
  • Square Peg Foundation;
  • The Foxie G Foundation;
  • Thoroughbred Athletes;
  • Tranquility Farm (The Harry A. Biszantz Memorial Center); and
  • War Horses at Rose Bower.

“The organizations accredited by the TAA represent the top echelon of aftercare services, ensuring that the horses retiring from racing are receiving the best possible care and opportunities to find new careers or retirements,” said Jimmy Bell, president of the TAA and Godolphin America.

All accredited organizations undergo a thorough application and inspection process prior to accreditation being awarded to ensure they meet the TAA’s Code of Standards covering five areas: operations, education, horse health care management, facility standards and services, and adoption policies and protocols. Site inspections are conducted at all facilities housing horses for each organization. On-going updates and reinspections are required of all organizations throughout the term of their accreditation.

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AWHP: We Did It!

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The following is a special thanks from the American Wild Horse Preservation.

Photo: Kimerlee Curyl Photography

We Doubled Our Giving Tuesday Goal…Thanks to You!

Dear Meredith:

WE DID IT! Thanks to you, we doubled our Giving Tuesday goal, raising $30,000 to Keep Wild Horses Wild and Free! This means that we secured the matching grant, so you doubled your money to support our work! 

On behalf of the AWHPC Team, thank you for sharing the holiday spirit and making our Giving Tuesday campaign a huge success… We are honored that you are part of our herd! 

In Freedom, 

Suzanne Roy, Executive Director

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What’s New with Roll? White Line Disease Update

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Roll’s bout with White Line Disease began on December 31, 2015 and did not look very promising considering we were dealing with a 3000 lb. animal with two-thirds of his hoof wall detached and full of fungus.

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Dean Geesen, our farrier dug out all the fungus from the compromised hoof and cut away the seriously detached hoof wall.

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Roll has recovered in record time with our due diligence and willingness to change up the program as needed. There is no cure-all for White Line Disease. It does have some protocol, but if you look back at our postings about Roll’s battle on my Facebook pages and in “What’s New?” on our website, you will see that things can change abruptly in a day.

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When dealing with something like this, one needs to think “outside the box” to keep up with the changes and keep the foot on the right track to grow back properly. It takes a whole team: the owner, the handlers, the vet and the farrier working together. We were constantly assessing the shape of the foot, tissue condition, pressure points and balance in the affected foot and hid overall mental and physical health.

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We watched the way he moved carefully each and every day. We had to assess how much he was compromising with weight distribution to his healthy feet and trimmed and shod them so they did not become damaged in the healing process.

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We did supplement his feed with Hoof Power and would recommend it above all other hoof supplements to help accelerate hoof growth. Dean Geesen, our farrier was certain that it would take better than a year to grow back the foot, if it could even be done. After the first three months, he wasn’t sure that Roll would actually make it.

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After today’s trim and a sound diagnoses, Dean admitted that he really didn’t think back in the beginning that he would recover like this. Thankfully, with the conscientious and diligent help from his management team, Roll got full hoof growth back in exactly one year and is now sound with four healthy hooves!

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AWHP UPDATE: Owyhee Roundup Continues in Eastern Nevada!

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The following is an update from the American Wild Horse Preservation.

Since November 2nd, the Bureau of Land Management has been conducting a costly helicopter roundup to capture and remove 1,100 wild horses from the Owyhee Complex in eastern Nevada. So far, 737 wild horses have been captured and, of those, 7 have died. The BLM has returned 193 horses to the range after treating mares with the PZP birth control vaccine. Hundreds of captured Owyhee horses have been shipped to the BLM’s Palomino Valley holding facility, where they languish in feedlot pens awaiting an uncertain fate.

AWHPC is currently pressuring the BLM to provide public observation during each day of the roundup. Currently the agency plans to restrict access to the final portion of the capture operation to just two days per week.

Perceptions of Donkeys Need To Change!

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Despite the increase in mechanisation, donkeys are still well deserving of the name “beasts of burden”, as they play an important role in carrying loads in rural areas.

The following is an excerpt from The Herald.

Zimbabweans need to change their attitudes towards donkeys and embrace the protection and care of the working animals, which have been at the centre of rural economic growth and development for decades, veterinary experts say.Animal and Wildlife Area Research and Rehabilitation (AWARE) director, Dr Keith Dutlow told Zimpapers Syndication at an event to open an education centre for children at the Lions Park in the capital that even though donkey usage is wide spread and extensively adopted in many communities across the country, their use has been masked in negative perceptions and attitudes.

“Donkeys play a significant role in the livelihoods of local communities especially in arid regions, where conditions are harsher. But our perceptions towards donkeys are still negative,” he said.  “Those who use donkeys are seen by their peers in society as primitive, backward and people of low status. Even among the donkey owners and users, the donkey image is not to be held highly and as a result they abuse and mistreat them in the process of working the animals.  We need to change our perceptions and appreciate the economic value of the working animals. Donkeys are a big asset to combat poverty and hardship in poor communities, and if you were to transfer the benefits — transport, draught power, hiring and all, this can run into thousands of dollars.”