Please Comment to Stop BLM’s Plans to Remove Most of the Iconic McCullough Peaks Herd
January 13, 2023Introducing Freedom for Wild Horses with Carol J. Walker!
March 6, 2023
By Carol J. Walker
By Carol J. Walker
I first met Washakie in the summer of 2007. He was a young stallion, 7 years old, and he had just won his first mare and her foal, and he was so proud of them! I was captivated by his gorgeous black and white markings, his pride and his magnificent presence. I watched him posture and prance and strike out at a rival bachelor stallion, and it was a beautiful dance, full of power and grace.
I did not know then how much a part of my life he would become. He has been my favorite stallion for over 15 years, and I have been visiting the McCullough Peaks Herd 2 – 3 times a year since 2004. Every time I went after 2007 I would look for Washakie. His bold black and white markings made him easily stand out, and he was never one to avoid a scuffle or a fight.
The wild stallion Indigo had no tolerance for this young upstart, and would chase him away when he got too close to his family. Later on, Washakie and Indigo’s families spent time together, the two stallions respecting each other, a situation which would continue until they both lost their families in 2017.
Washakie’s family grew, and he had some gorgeous pinto foals, including a colt who looked so much like him. It was a difficult job keeping all those family members in line.
In a cold October of 2009 the Bureau of Land Management had a helicopter roundup to remove horses from McCullough Peaks. They drove the horses into the trap, and I saw Washakie and Indigo’s families together being herded into the trap. The horses steamed, sweaty in the cold. His entire family was removed.
I was worried about Washakie, asking the BLM several times if he would be released, until 2 days later, the BLM released the mares and then the stallions back into the area. I was not at all surprised to see Washakie leading the way out of the trap, followed by Medicine Hat and Indigo and they ran as fast as they could to get away.
The BLM decided to skew the sex ration of the herd, which ended up being approximately 33% mares to 66% stallions, with their reasoning that it would decrease the numbers of foals born. What it did accomplish was a tremendous amount of fighting between the stallions. The most vicious fights I have ever witnessed have been in this herd. A normal herd has a 50-50 ratio of mares to stallions. When I found Washakie in the summer of 2010, he was hanging out with other bachelors and had gotten fat, not having to look out for a family.
In 2011 he had won some mares and apparently some were domestic mares who had been dumped into the HMA.
In 2012 the BLM decided to do a smaller bait trapping to remove some of the horses in the herd because they had not started birth control after the 2009 roundup, and in February 2013 Washakie lost all his foals and the domestic mares. Once again, he lost his family and had to start over. I can only imagine how hard this was for him and continues to be for all the wild horse families separated by roundups. The mares become close to each other, and with the stallion, and losing family members forever is devastating to these beautiful sentient beings whose families are their entire lives.
Washakie’s new family after the bait trapping consisted of Adobe Girl, the buckskin mare with the wide blaze, Cheyenne another buckskin and Sanita a grey mare. Since the BLM was darting the mares with birth control every year, Washakie never had another foal.
In 2016 a bay stallion named Watipi started dogging Washakie and his family. “Dogging” is when a bachelor stallion follows a family band and tries to get the mares away from the stallion. It is a very unpleasant hing to watch. He was relentless, and Washakie was severely injured by the younger and stronger stallion, who tore a huge piece of hide from his side. I was infected, and Washakie became thinner, and I was concerned that he might not pull through.
But he recovered, much to my tremendous relief, and then unfortunately lost his mares in the fall of 2017 to Watipi who did not manage to keep them either.
After Washakie lost his family it became more difficult to find him when I visited the Peaks. He would often be in places that were hard for me to get to.
He was often in the company of other bachelor stallions, but sometimes he was alone. In summer of 2021 I thought it might be the last time I would see him. He was in the company of Medicine Hat, another aging stallion who had lost his family and a younger bay stallion. He looked tired to me. I said goodbye, in tears when I left them, not sure if I would see him again.
However, in 2022 Washakie had a new lease on life – in the spring he had taken under his wing a new young mare Kenai and her filly Klondike Girl, and he was very protective of them and gentle with the filly. Another stallion Chaco was always with them, and I saw them together in the glowing sunrise in July. That was the last time I saw Washakie.
I went back to McCullough Peaks in September, hoping to see him one last time, but when I arrived he had disappeared, leaving Chaco to take care of Kenai and Klondike Girl. Wild horses will go off by themselves to remote locations to pass, and this was his time to go.
Washakie was a legend in the McCullough Peaks. People came locally from Cody and from all over the country and all over the world to see him. He was a dominant, proud, stunning and strong stallion, yet a gentle and loving leader of his mares and foals. He showed me all the best qualities of a wild stallion and inspired me again and again to keep fighting for the freedom of all the wild horses on our public lands. He lived out his life wild and free, on his own terms. All of our wild horses should be able to do this.
Your comments are needed to keep most of the McCullough Peaks Herd from being removed in November by the Bureau of Land Management. Please read my talking points below and submit your comments by February 7 at 4:30pm. I know Washakie would want you to.
UPDATE: the comment period is now over and over 4100 people submitted comments which is terrific. There will be another public comment period when the Environmental Assessment comes out, most likely over the summer. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted comments.
Most of the images in this blog post are available on my website: https://www.livingimagescarolwalker.com/
Let me know if you have a favorite that is not there, and I will be happy to upload it for you.
70 Comments
Pleace don`t remove McCullough Peaks Herd.
Really sad that this is happening to these beautiful mustangs. They should be allowed to roam freely.
Thw last of what made America great… For years they had freedom and survived life hardships… Nut man feels they know better, and destroyed their freedom, their lives… Take heed, the same is happening to us…
Let these beautiful horses be free! How would you feel if your family was taken from you over and over again. Horses are herd animals, let them live long happy lives without humans interfering.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Please leave this herd of horses to run free. It is so sad that you are doing this.
Please don’t remove the McCullough Peaks herd
They need to be able to roam the hills like they were born to do. What are they hurting. Nothing more beautiful than a wild stallion. Hope you win the argument and keep them free.
Thank you so much for the Story of Washaki and the fantastic photos. He was wonderful and i miss him very much. I hope so that we have a good end by the BLM for the Horses of McCulloughPeaks and they can live wild and free.
Leave the wild horses be! Remove the cattle and sheep instead.
The Wild Horse is a Beautiful part of our Heritage as a relatively young Country.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
From have horses I see first hand the bond they form with each other. Ours often run the 10 acre as till the others return. They come up front to welcome their family back. I watched them morn the loss of their lead mare. Standing on her gravel for several days. The McCullough peaks herd have been reduced enough. Allow the oldest ones to live out their lives on the range. Allow new foals to be born to help replace those older ones that will not probably make it through the winter. Different mare need to goal to keep good genetics.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
BLM I ask that you leave the wild horses alone there are majestic and need to stay where they are. As someone already has commented take the sheep and cattle off the land these horses have been there much longer and they deserve to be there for all of us to enjoy the majestic wild horse. Thank you for listening
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Please stop decimating these beautiful herds of horses. They are the soul of your land and bring not only revenue to your people but love and hope for a better future. The suffering this causes them is unimaginable, only you can stop this from happening. Do the right thing leave them on their land.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Please leave these animals in their home. They helped to develop this country and our future generations need to see them and understand what they did for this great country.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
PLEASE PLEASE stop torturing the herds with these ridicules roundups that fracture the families and disrupt the nature of the horses and herds. It seems the people who are making the decisions know nothing about horses, and their needs. Putting them in these pens in horrible! Against their nature, and then given to people who just take them to slaughter. This is NOT management. Please stop these methods, it hurts us all that cherish our Wild Horses!
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
This is horrifying! Why are we destroying these beautiful free creatures! LEAVE THEM ALONE!!
Please, please leave these beautiful horses alone to run free. It is a travesty and heartbreaking to watch what humans do to these beautiful souls.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
The BLM needs to truly take a harder look at their “management” efforts. Horses domestic and wild are making their way through auctions and yo the slaughter houses. Why would you round up more horse just for them to end up in a slaughter house? Let them be!
What an amazing animal. Beautiful and majestic. I will never understand why they can’t be left to live their lives in peace. This story has brought me to tears at the loss of his family so many times.
Please leave the herd in tact, it’s healthier this way to keep this Beautiful Band of horses the way they should be.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Thank you for such a wonderful story of Washaki. He was truly spectacular.
Please leave these horses alone, it is more than traumatizing for the horses to be rounded up and then mares and foals separated.
Let them live peacefully on the plains.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Why can’t we as humans just let nature be nature? We all deserve a place here on this earth. Why is a human more important than any other animal? Why keep killing and removing and making the earth and the animals on it disappear and die. Any animal deserves a place on this planet or they wouldn’t have been there to begin with. We are animals too, so should we be rounded up and separated from our families or sent to slaughter houses? Please just leave these horses alone. If we deserve to live so do they.
I had read that Washakie doesn’t have any offspring on the range and I wondered how this is possible. After reading your blog now I know. His large family was removed in a roundup . Although he was released back it took time to have mares and due to the PZP treatment every year his mares didn’t have foals. I am so much hoping that his last mare Kenai might carry his last foal. Time will tell. It is so sad that the bloodline of a great stallion like Washakie would disappear from this HMA. I wrote a comment earlier last week but there were not even 1000 comments submitted at that time.
Please leave these McCullough Peaks wild horses alone BLM officials.chilandnpb@yahoo.com
I read this story and balled my eyes out. So heartbreaking and heartbroken over these roundups.
The wild horses of McCullough Peak and wild horses everywhere are national treasures and icons of this nation and are vestiges of the old west. Please don’t interrupt or attempt to put restrictions on these magnificent creatures of God. If their way of life was meant to be disturbed, then it would handle itself.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
The pictures that you posted of Washakie and the other horses are absolutely stunning. Am sad to hear of his passing. I am extremely angered by what the BLM is doing, to these wild horses, it is so wrong. These horses are America’s treasures the round-ups are brutal and cruel. The BLM which is government run does not care, we need to continue speaking out for the freedom of these magnificent horses
Breathtaking images! I knew he was aged but hadn’t realized he passed. You told such a beautiful story of his life through photos. Thank you for sharing.
great pictures and beautiful horses, they should remain wild and free
The relentless attacks on Americas wild horses is i not acceptable and should be stopped. The wild herds should not.be terrorized in order to please the elite few who want their land for monetary gain . Does the greed in America never stop? Does everything wild and beautiful have to be
destroyed
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Please leave these wild horses be wild. No human needs to interfere.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
BLM…. Please leave these beautiful animals alone. They should remain wild and free.
Thank you for your passion to help our beautiful wild horses. I wrote and submitted to the land bureau defending your views❤
Thank you!
Please leave these beautiful creatures alone.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
How wonderful that he got to pass wild and free. I can see how his absence would be deeply felt. Beautiful boy
PLEASE LEAVE THESE BEAUTIFUL ANIMIALS THAT GOD OUR CREATOR GAVE US TO LOVE AND ENJOY THEIR BEAUTY ALONE..Leave them Free to live out their lives . You are so wrong in what you are doing..It is not your right to Round up these beautiful animials..They have beautiful souls and we as HUMANS have no right to take them away from their homes and families. It is not your right to Round them up and treat them like they are nothing. Their souls will hunt you forever..Dystroying Gods magnificent creations will never be forgiven and will hunt their destroyers till the end.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Thank you so much for your wonderful tribute to “The Legend “, Washakie. I’ve only been following him, thru Sandi from Wild at Hearts, since July of ’22, but love hearing stories from people who followed him for all the years you both have. I submitted my comments to the BLM weeks ago and I hope all your followers will do the same. Let them line WILD & FREE!!
You captured Washakie in such beautiful photos and thank you for sharing this tribute. It is truly sad that these amazing wild horses are being removed from their homes. I feel like there has to be another way to fix the problem. It should be that the wild creatures get the land but I know the love of money can make people do crazy things. Please remove the domestic grazing animals first. They can reduce their numbers because they are only there for income to humans!
It breaks my heart to see the last of our wild heritage being stolen away so wastefully. I understand the need to keep the herds manageable for the land and each others safety, but let them be. They have been roaming those hills for generations. It’s all we have left. Give the birth control to a certain # of mares and rotate from year to year. Round up every few years if you absolutely have to but don’t take all the mares from each stud that has a harem. Round the bachelor groups.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
What a beautiful story and amazing pictures of this horse’s life. Thank you for posting.
Wow that story really touched me to the point of some tears and I really love horses RIP Mashakie Brave Stallion you are in my heart
Really sad that this is happening to these beautiful mustangs. They should be allowed to roam freely.
Wonderfully written and thank you for sharing Washaki’s story and photos. Long may the mustangs roam wild and free.
Please allow the wild horses to live their natural lives at McCullough’s peak!
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
What a beautiful story! Thank you for all you do to keep them free, the way it should be!! God Bless
Leave the wild horses of McClulloughs peak be to live out there days free. These horses have been there before we were. Stop harassing them and let them live free. Thanks for all you have done for them.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Such a symbol of strength, power, and grace. To have family taken away…human or animal…is tragic. Especially for these stallions who watch over & care so much for their families. The only control that should be used for these beautiful creatures should be for humane reasons…such as irreversible injury or pain. Please spare the wild horses of McCullough’s Peak.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Please stop rounding and separating families, the BLM “ responsibilities lie in enduring the wellbeing of the horses , making sure the wild herd continues to live for generations to come. They are a cultural heritage and should be protected.
Please send your comments to the BLM using this link: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2022012/570
Carol, with your amazing photographs and tribute to Washakie you bring tears to my eyes…. What a beautiful soul.
I left my comment to the BLM, despite the fact that I am not living in the US.
The BLM has to give up these roundups and the AIP program….
So really sorry for all the wild ones, it’s breaking my heart.
Greetings from Germany