Ep #56: A Win for Wild Horses and a Roundup
July 28, 2025
Ep #57: The Bitter End: How to Zero Out the Adobe Town Herd
August 25, 2025
The Adobe Town roundup for the portion of Adobe Town managed by the Rawlins BLM office ended on 7/31/2025. I was there for days 3, 4 and 5, and for the last two days, the bitter end. Lasting 17 days, the BLM captured 1677 wild horses, and since their goal was 1675, they released two stallions at the end.
The BLM was far more concerned with “getting their numbers” than with did they take too many horses, possibly taking the herd below the low Appropriate Management Level of 259. I repeatedly asked if they were going to do a count at the end to ensure that they did not take too many horses, as was done last August in the White Mountain Herd roundup.
This was a very bad time to roundup wild horses in Wyoming. It is hot and foaling season is not over. There were dozens of very small foals that I saw running – foals that should never be running from a helicopter. Some died. And I am certain that many more will have died in the month following the roundup. Because the contractor Sampson was in such a hurry and shipping all the horses to short term holding within a day of their capture, those deaths will not be counted in the gather related deaths. A Freedom of Information Act request will be needed to find out how many died after the roundup.
Here is the link to the Daily Gather reports:
Foals died from “capture myopathy” which really means they were run to death. On the second to last day of the roundup, a blaze faced sorrel foal fell behind its mother by about a mile. The wranglers went out to capture it, and it was supposedly reunited with its mother and given electrolytes and seen by a vet, but was found dead the next morning. Such needless suffering. This is a common occurrence for roundups in July because it is the wrong time of year to do this.
On July 21 the BLM took a foal death out of the totals for some unknown reason – clearly having low numbers of deaths is the priority. I asked about this but was not given a reason or reply:
“*A deceased bay foal was determined to not be part of gather operations. The matter is under investigation. Death not included in total numbers.”
The BLM used an infrared survey to come up with the numbers of wild horses in the herd and their targeted number for removal, and they included an estimated 20% foal crop to arrive at their numbers. But by BLM’s own guidelines in their Wild Horse and Burro Handbook, they are only supposed to include adult horses, not foals, and by doing so have overestimated the herd size. Their target goal of 1675 horses removed would most likely take the herd far below the AML of 259 and effectively zero out the Herd Management Area. The BLM was completely non-responsive to queries about this.
Over half of the horses captured were in the far southern part of the range near the border of Colorado, around Powder Wash. I was frankly astonished that they were able to catch as many horses as they did. Then I remembered that in 2021 they did not capture horses in this area – the last time was in 2017, and I can only think that this was a pocket area that had not been as horribly affected by the killing winter of 2022-2023 when so many elk, deer, pronghorn and horses died.
The last two days of the roundup the observation location was terrible. We were placed 1.5 miles from the trap and because of the brush and terrain and the route the pilot took the horses, they mostly showed up as little dots. We had no view at all of the trap. When our Public Affairs person who was with us tried hard to get a different, closer location where we could see something, we were told no, after the helicopter was already flying and we had no time to get to our bad location. So we climbed a hill and could at least see some of the horses in the distance crossing the road. There is no meaningful observation when we cannot see the trap and can barely make out the horses.
Unfortunately, the two families we had seen driving in the last day were only 3 miles away and they were captured immediately.
Among these horses were a family I had spent time with on my last trip.
I went to the last opportunity to observe the horses at Temporary Holding. With the thick tarps covering the pens it was difficult to see anything even from on top of a small hill. We could see heads of mare and foals, and only through one lifted flap could we see any of the foals. The horses were crowded incredibly tightly together – no wonder there were wounds on the heads of the stallions and some of the mares.
The BLM called the roundup finished when they captured 1677 and told us we could go watch the two stallions they would be releasing. We hurried to get to the trap, and a grey and a buckskin stallion were being released. They approached the open door of the pen cautiously almost like they did not believe it, then trotted out, the lone horses to have survived the roundup and been released back into their home.
Although the Adobe Town roundup for the portion of Adobe Town which is still a Herd Management Area is over, the lasting effect of possibly, likely taking the herd down below the low Appropriate Management Level of 259 horses will last for many years to come. The BLM needs to do the right thing and immediately do a count, and if they have taken the herd below this level, they need to immediately return horses to their home.
The stallions were sent to Wheatland, which is a private facility that does not allow the public in to see the horses. The mares and foals went to Canon City, Colorado and Rock Springs, Wyoming. It will be spring before any of these horses will be available for adoption.
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15 Comments
I’ve seen WHE’s pictures and videos AND descriptions of these current roundups – No words, Carol!
Of course I’ve commented everywhere I could and will continue but as bad as the Democrat’s administrations were, this bunch of boobs? Like I said at this point looking at these pictures of these beautiful animals taken away from everything they have known? no words
Maggie
I really feel for you having had to witness this horrific removal of families that you knew so well. The whole thing is heartwrenching. To add insult to injury they have been whisked away to a facility like Wheatlands. Where these horses go from here is what has to be followed as they cannot be keeping them indefinitely there. As for the over 10 year olds…they will not be going to long term holding, where are they going? BLM needs to answer some of these questions.
This has got to be stopped one me way or the other!!! This is cruel and unnecessary. The Salt River Wild horses are managed amazingly with the team and volunteers through birth control measures. There is NO excise for this to continue. To be honest I’m very upset right now with our government that allowed this to happen!!! It actually boils my blood! We have to take a stand and fight this!!! Also we need to fight the selling off of our lands. Money psnthe root of ALL EVIL and it’s these people that are billionaires throwing around their weight and money to have anything their hearts desire. Enough is enough!!! #FIGHTFORTHEIRRIGHTS #LANDS #HORSES
This stinks.capitalism as Barbaric human cruelty and greed
Ohhhh, Carol so heartbreaking for you to have to watch the horses you love so much lose their freedom in such a horrific way and lose their families as well. Thank you for selflessly being there for them when I can’t even imagine the heartbreak you are going through . Horrendous! I don’t understand these holding facilities that don’t allow anyone to see the horse’s. What are they hiding. My heart breaks for the tiny foal that died and wasn’t included. I can’t thank you enough for being there with your boots 🥾 on the ground to document this tragic round up. My heart breaks for you and the horses.
Blessings ~Joanna Chinzi Osentowski
We write our politicians, over and over. We donate to organizations. Yet, all that we do nothing changes.
I’m learning more about the BLM and these roundups. Cruelty is beyond belief. I can’t imagine participating in this but thank you for making it public. BLM must be poorly run and I question who really benefits. I thank you for the info
I can’t imagine many horses taken from their environment will survive through until spring with the conditions being as they are and the numbers taken being so high. The resources to feed and care for this many in confinement seems astronomical, and given the cuts to all areas of management, I would expect many to be sent to slaughter. Perhaps, and I say that with the heaviest of hearts, that is their best case scenario. We as humans have created so many horrific problems on this planet, and we seem to only be able to compound them, to rarely solve, mend, fix, repair. Thank you for bearing witness. I can only imagine the heartbreak of watching this in real time and seeing those foals run down that way. The resources it takes for a mare to bring a new life forward, each foal’s determination and persistence, the odds against them…only to be ground down in the dust. Hell is right here on earth in these beautiful treasured lands, in the treatment of animals that have carried history on their backs and in their DNA. In the ways horses have made so much possible for cruel humans. Nothing is sacred to this country.
This is so heartbreaking to know the stuff they endured from the sweltering heat alone in all the corruption. My tears fall to know what they’re going through. BLM needs to do the count immediately! The foals that were killed should have been included in there overall count. There needs to be accountability! Thank you for all your support, Carol. Also to all those who are able to be feet on the ground. May God help us in this fight to save our wild horses & burros. 🐴🫏
So sorry this is slaughter. I’m in the UK, and have never seen a wild horse. My comments are useless but I feel so bad for all of you who try to stop this nightmare and for the horses.
This is not slaughter. Slaughter will be if the BLM decides to kill the horses in holding. That has not yet happened.
I’ve seen many horrible picture and video of Our wild horses being violently rounder up but this has to be one of the worst. They stand there in shock and bleeding standing on top of one another. It made me breakdown and cry with anger and pain for them! Can We as taxpayers Do anything to the monsters who viokently took them Off of our public lands?? And, thank you Carol for your work and strength.
That was animal cruelty to the helpless horses, running them down, stealing them from there family and home. It’s very upsetting to know what the horses have to go through. There making them suffer. And it should be stopped permanently and never happen again. BLM is careless.
I am a new reader & subscriber, and I try to follow you absolutely! I may be & sounnaive, but I’m far away in Massachusetts. I have a question; Why must they capture all of these beautiful horses. It seems to me that they are a symbol of sorts, for the Old West. Please straighten my thinking on this, so that I will understand. Thank you.
It is because of the livestock ranchers who have grazing leases on our public lands. They do not want to share the lands with wild horses, and their organizations have a tremendous amount of power in Congress and over the BLM.