Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Tuesday the l8th.

Another big buck out at the hospital. Not the same one, he was larger than this one. It is the height of rut and he didn't have time to stop and wonder what we were doing. Didn't so much as wiggle an ear at us. We drove thru there after we took our recycling to Medical Lake. It was such a nice day.
Bob messed with Rusty some and put the surcingle back on her. She though "Oh well" and just stood there. He did not try the saddle pad with it today like he thought he might. That is reserved for tomorrow I guess.
Friday, noonish, Bob and I are going over to Rathdrum and help Jenn with her mustang Riley. So many on the Yahoo site have given her a lot of information but she needs some hands on help. We certainly are not experts but we do have a lot of experience. Have never met her except on the i/net but she needs help and we are close. As in closer than Kansas or California. Actually its about 35 or 40 miles and will do that happily. So we will go with our boots for the mud, gloves, a flag and a 30' rope.
I am glad the horses got a reprieve but will feel better when I know where this lady is going to put 30 plus thousand horses. I am trying to respond with reason and not emotion but its tough when you love them all so much.

6 comments:

  1. It does make you wonder where they'll go. The bigger issue is what is the BLM going to do to insure that the herds in holding don't get that big again. There won't be another person stepping up to take another 30,000. I think they need to seriously consider sterilization or birth control of some sort.

    I wish I knew more--like are they taking too many off the range?? Do you know the answer Lea?? I heard that the number in holding in 2001 was under 10,000---now it's 30,000. Actually, that was in the article. Is that right??

    Could we allow more to stay on the range and they wouldn't starve?? Maybe it would be cheaper to feed them a little bit out on the range during the bad months than to bring them in--or maybe, since they're wild--starvation is a natural process to keep herds down--like in the movie about Cloud--some were hit by lightening, etc. and nature culls out the weak. Maybe the BLM shouldn't interfere at all and let nature do it by itself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the BLM was spending about 30 million a year to take care of these 30,000 horses. The Pickens family are so rich that 30 million is chicken feed.

    I have a feeling she'll put them out on a private range somewhere. I also think that they are thinking about the long term solution for all the wild horses.

    I often think about how it was Nixon who signed this wild horse protection bill into law 36 years ago, yet NOW they are saying there are too many wild horses.

    I think it's a lot to do with the cattlemen getting greedy and really working over the Republicans while they were in power and running thing's. The GOP tradionally supports the cattlemen and visa versa. I think it's incredible that even though Bush has been president for 8 years there has been no mass slaughter of the mustangs. This goes to show they know there would be a huge public out cry if they started shooting them.

    I think there is hope for our horses now and I'm so moved the Pickens family stepped in to help. There are so many good people out there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have wondered about that too Linda. I seriously think they need to consider birth control. That way there will be fewer mares bred and fewer babies. I think sterilization would mess up the hers genetic viability. I think they are taking only enough to keep their range feeding them. That is what I think anyway. Have you ever been down there and seen any of the wild horse ranges? I have and I wonder how it supports any. The Pryor horses in Montana have much better feed than the ones in Oregon I think. Part I think is people whose heart overrules good sense and yes nature does its own culling. I think before people came and built towns, and ranches and roads there was more feed for them than now but they multiply pretty fast too. Nevada has the same problem with range disappearing too. Its not cattle. They do not eat the grass down like the horses do. And they are not on the range year round either. I don't know the answer Linda but I know the BLM and all concerned want what is best for them. Those folks, and I personally know quite a few love the horses and don't want to end their lives any more than we do but their hands are tied too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Arlene - I know you love your mustangs. I hope this will work for now but I don't think its a fix for all times. AND again I say its not a Republican or Democratic issue but an issue with the horses and all of us who love them. There are so many because they multiply, quickly. And so many of their natural predators have been scared off. Their range is slim pickings at best. I have been their and walked the ground. Our horses would starve on it. They are a hardy bunch and we need to do what we can.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lea,
    I copied this reply I gave to your comment over at my blog. I hope it explains my position concerning politics. But I would like to add that the horses have been protected for 36 years (Nixon signed it into law) yet now the horses have become a huge issue that has to be acted on right now??? That doesn't make much sense to me. Why now?? Could it be because the cattlemen see this as a chance to rid the ranges of what they consider 'vermin'? It's about politics.

    Below is the what I wrote to you on my blog:

    Lea it is about politics. Our family are Democrats. So much so that Brad was the Democratic nominee for Congress 10 years ago (right here in the 5th district). The biggest reason I agreed to go along with his decision to run and spend tens of thousands of our own money was because of my love for animals and the enviroment. Democrats in Congress tend to be more pro wildlife and pro enviroment issues.

    What happens to our wild horses depends on how our representatives vote in Congress. BLM is controlled by the Dept of Interior. The Secretary of the Interior is Dirk Kempthorne (wild horse hater and pro-cattlemen) and of course appointed by the current president, Bush.

    Here's an example of how our nine congressmen from Washington State voted during the (2005-2006) 109th congress concerning the wild horse and slaughter issues. The three bills up for vote where; The Final Passage of the Horse Slaughter bill, The Horse slaughter amendment bill and The Wild horse Vote.

    Brian Baird (Democrat) voted in favor of horses on all three bills.

    Norm Dicks (Democrat) voted in favor of the horse on all three bills.

    Doc Hastings (Republican) voted against the horse on all three bills.

    Jay Inslee (Democrat) voted in favor of the horse on all three bills.

    Rick Larsen (Democrat) voted in favor of the horse on two of the bills.

    Jim McDermott (Democrat) voted in favor of the horse on only one bill.

    Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Republican, OUR DISTRICT) voted against the horse on all three bills.

    Dave Reichert (Republican) voted in favor of the horse on two bills.

    Adam Smith (Democrat) voted in favor of the horse on all three bills.

    I know you love your mustangs. Remember I've met you and have read your blog. I know how you'd vote if your were in Congress.

    I hate the way Democrats in Congress sometimes vote and I let them know how I feel. Having Dirk Kempthorne as secretary of the interior has been like a fox guarding the hen house. I stand by every thing I have said concerning that I believe we are lucky to be finishing up the 8 yr Bush term and we avoided a wild horse blood bath. It was horse lovers such as yourself that stopped that from happening.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lea I must add something (as you can see this topic is very interesting to me lol);
    You said that cattle don't eat down the range like horses do, but I find the opposite is true here on our place. We had 60 bulls along our creek and they turned it to dust in less than 30 days. I keep Dandylyons out of the horse pasture because she will clean it bare in no time yet Foxsun can keep eating on it all summer. I'll have to ask Brad in the morning, he's got a BS in Animal Science from WSU.

    Also, I understand the BLM workers love the horses but it's the congresss who tell them what to do. That's the problem...we have to watch them all like hawks! I don't trust them to do the right thing so I look to see how they vote on matters dear to me. I avoid the koolaide.

    When the BLM guy brought Echo here I asked him about Beaty's Butte where Wildairo, Echo, Rusty and Beautiful are from. I asked him if he'd been there and he said he was very familiar with it and described it to me. He said it's vast, wide open with a big nob in the middle and then he added there's plenty for them to eat there. That surprised me.

    I think we'll come up with a humane solution for these wonderful creatures.

    ReplyDelete