2 special needs wild horses escape death at roundup

Day 2 of Devil's Garden Roundup courtesy Devils Garden Wild Horses FB Page

Day 2 of Devil’s Garden Roundup courtesy Devils Garden Wild Horses FB Page

Protect Mustangs will help find homes for 2 wild horses who would have been killed at Modoc Forest roundup

ALTURAS, Ca.(September 27, 2016)–Last week Anne Novak, founder and director of Protect Mustangs reached out to U.S. Forest Service staff with an offer to help find homes for any wild horses rounded up with pre-existing conditions–who would be killed–not offered a chance at adoption. Tonight Novak received the first call from Forest Service staff.

“It’s always bothered me that after wild horses heal from injuries and survive in the wild, they are chased by helicopters, rounded up and killed upon capture because they don’t seem like they would get adopted,” says Novak. “Some people don’t want a riding horse. Some people want to save a life.”

So far, two wild horses from the roundup have pre-existing conditions. One is believed to be pigeon toed due to a broken foot that healed in the wild. The other mustang’s condition is unknown at this time.

“They need to go to loving homes to become pets–not riding partners–or go to sanctuaries,” explains Novak. “They have survived in the wild and that’s a harsh life. They deserve our compassion after the roundup and they deserve to live.”

After the mustang protectors make an assessment of the wild horses with pre-existing conditions, a sanctuary might be a more suitable forever home. It’s too early to tell.

These two California wild horses from Modoc County will join their herd-mates at the Bureau of Land Management’s Litchfield holding Corrals near Susanville. There they will be prepared for adoption with the others.

Adoption applications are here: Protect-Mustangs-BLM-facility-adoption-app

    • Cost to adopt is $125.
    • Adoptions by appointment only, call (530) 254-6575.
    • Open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Summer hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. The facilities are closed on federal holidays. Please call for current information.
    • Information is available 24 hours a day by calling 1-800-545-4256.
    • Completed adoption applications can be sent to Videll Retterath by e-mail vrettera@blm.gov or fax (530)252-6762.
    • The Corrals are located 21 miles east of Susanville , CA on US Highway 395.
    • Adopters receive title to wild horses after one year

Protect Mustangs will post photos as soon as we get them. Tax-deductible Gas donations are always needed to help us help the wild ones.

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Photo by the US Forest Service

Members of the public with questions about the BLM’s requirements for adoption, questions about the wild horses with pre-existing conditions, who want to help network homes for wild horses who would be killed for pre-existing conditions, need trainer referrals, or want some tips on how to build an inexpensive shelter are invited to email the mustang protectors at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

“I pray we can change the trend of killing special needs wild horses at roundups,” says Novak. ‘Someone’s going to fall in love with them. After all they’re still American mustangs.”

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org




Day 2 Devil’s Garden Roundup Update

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Wild horses at Litchfield Corrals near Susanville © Anne Novak

September 27, 2016

The second day of the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse roundup resulted in approximately 48 wild horses captured from private land where owners requested their removal. They were then transported safely to Willow Creek Ranch temporary holding facility. This makes a total of 94 wild horses removed from the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory in 2 days. The Forest Service is removing 200-240 and putting some back after giving the mares pesticide PZP. Are the planning on skewing the sex ratios too?

After the wild horses were counted and sorted by age and sex, members of the public were allowed to view the wild horses from a closer vantage point. Observers saw light and dark grays, red roans, bay roans, sorrels and blacks.

The roundup from private and tribal lands will continue tomorrow morning and through the rest of the week.

The Modoc National Forest is seeking commitments for adoption of wild horses older than five years of age. Wild horses ages six and older will be held at the temporary holding facility at Willow Creek Ranch for public viewing and commitment for adoption. Public viewing of wild horses rounded up is available from 3-5 p.m. at Willow Creek Ranch approximately 20 miles north from Hwy 299 on Crowder Flat Road (Forest Road 73).

Older wild horses with adoption commitments and all horses ages five and younger will be transported to the Bureau of Land Management’s Litchfield Wild Horse and Burro facility and adopted through their normal process.

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org




Indigenous people called area the “Smiles of the Gods” but settlers named it Devil’s Garden

Ponderosa Pines in spring on Devil's Garden.

Where the wild ones live

The Devil’s Garden lies in the heart of the Modoc Plateau, according to the Forest Service. The Modoc Plateau is a mile-high expansive prehistoric lava flow, with areas of sparse vegetation, rough broken lava rock, juniper trees, and sagebrush flats in a semi-arid region covering about a half-million acres. The plateau is thought to have been formed approximately 25 million years ago. The name Devil’s Garden was given to the area when the first European settlers traveled to this region in the 1800’s. In contrast, the Native people called the area, “The Smiles of Gods”.

While it’s dry most of the year, in the early spring the Garden often looks like the “land of lakes,” as all of the water holes fill. In the spring, after the snow melt, the rocky Devil’s Garden produces a veritable carpet of wild pink pansies, pink and red owl clover, yellow primroses and pink shooting stars. Purple lupine, yellow mules ear and the shiny green leaves of manzanita complete the rainbow of color that lasts well into the summer.  The farther north you travel, the Garden’s dryness gives way to conifer forests and is home to some of the biggest mule deer in the area.

Ducks on the water of Beeler Reservoir with treelined shore in the background aThe Devil’s Garden lies directly under the Pacific Flyway. During their migration from Alaska and Canada to Mexico, hundreds of thousands of waterfowl use the wetlands as rest stops. Several of the reservoirs on the district are stocked by the California Dept of Fish and Game with bass or trout. The Garden is also shared by Rocky Mountain elk, pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, turkeys, coyotes and wild horses.

A herd of mares and foals graze the dry, late summer grass.

The Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory is well known across the US for the wild horses it produces. Historically, horses have run on the plateau for more than 140 years. Many of the early horses escaped from settlers or were released when their usefulness as domestic animals ended. In later years, like many areas throughout the west, local area ranchers released their domestic horses out to graze, and then gathered them as they were needed. Not all were ever captured. Learn more about Devil’s Garden wild horses at http://bit.ly/2aGcCsu.

With the passage of the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act (PL 92-195), private horse roundups ended. In 1974, as an initial step toward management, the Forest Service inventoried the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse population for the first time. The Devil’s Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory Management Plan, completed in 2013, set an Appropriate Management Level (AML) of a maximum of 402 total horses.

Four of the five developed campgrounds on the Devil’s Garden charge no fees for camping, day use or boat launching. Even so, these facilities rarely fill to capacity and are considered the perfect getaway by the few who venture there.

Information provided by the Forest Service.

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org