The Number

The Number

It was a beautiful day in October 2021…I thought about not going to the local Wild Horse & Burro BLM adoption event happening in our county, but as always, when one was more or less local, I attended… you see, since the 70’s, I have been active in Wild Horse and Burro advocacy , the overwhelming drive and something in my soul just said go.. go... go... go... to this event today. I got up before the chickens with my cats and coffee, got dressed that morning early, my usual jeans shirt boots and off I went. Oh, how I wished I had enough acreage and money to take the ones left unadopted home with me, you see, since the 70’s, I think half the USA has been active in Wild Horse and Burro advocacy, thousands of us are rallying for humane range treatment and an end to the overcrowded corrals used by specific agencies on Wild Horses and Burros , and if you like, you can be an advocate as well ! Doing all we could in the legal arena for advocacy for Wild Horses and Burros to be left alone, to end the horrible helicopter holocausts that leave so many injured, or worse…so many sent to slaughter, so many in overcrowded pens on privately owned ranches…awaiting their fate, or an adoption event.

I finally got to the BLM event, walking in slowly so as to absorb and take note of every little nuance concerning horses, from entrance to exit…all of my senses were heightened to be among these beautiful Equine, once wild and free. Somewhat apprehensively at the sight of all those beautiful Steeds just made my heart pound louder. Did you know a horse can hear a human heartbeat up to 4 feet away…Something welled up inside of me and I just wanted to cry, these beautiful beings had lost their freedom and now here they are at the whims of an agency, and adopters...I walked around the entire event center a few times, full of pens of mares, pens of geldings and some separated, pens full of horses and beautiful grey and brown Burros. It's sad in my heart to see at least two dozen Burros loaded up in a trailer that

look like it might Shake apart on the highway. I was wondering why this was allowed by BLM…I realize they wanted to adopt out as many as possible, but this was risky life-threatening transportation. Many of us attending made quiet comments for safety, ears were closed…. if you knew the perils and horrible deaths burros face nowadays, you may not wonder….

But sad in my heart more so, it's the way many adoption personnel and individuals seem to not know to handle the situation, I observed carefulness, and I observed cruelty. One such instance BLM Personnel we're trying to separate a couple horses, they use flags, pole Flags, if anyone knows anything wild horses are ultra-sensitive, they are not domestic horses that are used to various types of Western or English or other Tack and have been raised around humans, they are not used to cues and aids, they are still pretty much a flight or fight animal and usually choose flight. In this instance a little mare ran down the end of the alley hitting the steel gate so hard she broke her neck and fell over quivering; nothing could be done but wait. Some of us stood there and watched as she was still breathing but could not get up. One of the BLM guys came up and started poking her to which I immediately hollered at him “ she is still alive can't you see she is breathing, be decent.” I was backed up by others nearby, a pleasant surprise. About five of us gathered around and said “leave her alone until she is fully gone “and we stayed there until she quit breathing. During her last breaths the horses from nearby pens put their heads down to sniff her and it looked as if to say goodbye…BLM staff asked us to please leave, we knew her body would be hauled off to the trash pit out back. 10 minutes later they came to haul her off with a chain.

All the horses have a number assigned to them, on the roster and on the rump tag, it is assigned to them according to where they came from where they were rounded up, the tag number for identification, it is a BLM (Bureau Land Management) number. They are no longer beautiful and Wild and free in the eyes of BLM; they are numbers only... Unfortunately, many of these horses end up going to slaughter in Canada or Mexico, some even to Japan to be on someone’s overpriced meal ticket...just one of the reasons horse slaughters should be outlawed. Speaks for itself doesn't it. Many Americans have been Advocates of wild horses since the 1970s these beautiful creatures who are indigenous to the North

American continent have been assaulted by Big Money Ranchers, blood money investors gas and oil, Wild Horses booted off their indigenous ranges, used as an excuse, called a pest, rounded up and killed to make money so some ranchers can put their livestock on Wild Horse lands, for a couple cents an acre. The same goes for Burros... if you haven't read about the legend of the burro and why it has a cross on its back you might find it interesting whether you are religious or not, that is all I will say at this point in time, too many religious & spiritual naysayers, but does not change the fact the Legend of the Cross on the Burros back has been a story of its own for centuries, before the naysayers…      

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If anyone knows anything about Burros, they are excellent water locaters, Burros will find water, sniff it out, genetic memory and centuries of survival have taught them much we could learn from.

Burros will dig holes with their hooves in the desert ground, wherever they smell/feel/find water when water is

scarce in streams or ponds or other sources; and many Wildlife has been spared and lives saved by the inherent smarts of Burros ... even an occasional human has been saved by burro water savvy.

We have centuries of debt and gratitude owed to our Wild horses and Burros, they literally shaped a Nation north to south and east to west and in-between, the burdens they have carried and the hundreds of thousands, even millions of people around the world they have carried, pulled in wagons, assisted in building cities, towns across continents, worked in the mines, pulled loads beyond belief….if it were not for the horse so much so called progress and development would not be, including fields, acres and acres and acres of crops, helping build the railroad, wartime ponies, hunting and gathering, the list is endless for the debt of gratitude the human being owes to horses and burros... the number of horses lost in battle, the number of horses lost to human cruelty, they never complained. Seems like humanity owes them a protected status around the globe…it is the least we could do.

Referring to the BLM adoption event, it is not unusual for me to feel drawn to specific beings, in this case, horses and burros, of which I have pictures of during this adoption event. As I walked around the burros’ pens, I couldn't help but notice how they turn and just look at you and had one walk up to me with the exception

of leaving about a 4 ft distance. Yes, I talked to them, and I wished I could have taken each and every one home. You could see in their eyes the questioning the wondering, “where am I - what's going on- why are some of my herd friends being loaded up”.

Usually, I’m a person that cottons to Mares for whatever reason. However, on this day I walked around the horse pens several times just telling myself to be open to see who comes to you. In one of the pens a beautiful little red line back Dunn mare. Curiously, she would come up and do a little snort, of course you didn't dare touch her or spook her…I just talked to her softly and let her smell my arm and jacket, so intelligent and I so loved to watch the wild natural horse in her discern her surroundings, and bit by bit find a safety spot in her pen, a spot she felt best in for the time being while people were milling about looking at horses….

 I walked around to the far side of the building, and I couldn't help but notice a pen of three Bay geldings and one Sorrel mare... I felt drawn to this pen for some reason and it didn't take me long to figure out why. He was a yearling, the males had all been recently gelded… he walked beautifully with his head low and even and ears listening, in fact all the horses in this pen seem to be semi-adapted already to these surroundings and it made me wonder how long they had been on the adoption trail. I looked at his number and found him on the roster sheet. The number is 7240.

This yearling bay gelding with the star on his forehead picked me out and I him…he was sweet and gave me his nuzzle, I gave him my palm to sniff…then I spied some hay in the pen they were in…I picked some up and to my sweet surprise, he took it from my hand…It was instant love, at least on my part….I gave him the name of Nevada…this is where he was form…an Onaqui wild horse….the number 7240 I had now dubbed “Nevada”…..

It broke my heart, I could not take him home, although I used to have a place for horses, I no longer did…. Kristy my new horse friend, whom I had just met at the BLM event, we continued to walk around the horse pens and building…I told her I had to go back to his pen, just had a feeling I needed to…. There was one hour remaining in the adoption event. Lo and behold, a stately young woman and her teenage daughter had come in to look at horses a tad bit earlier…she came up to me and said, I noticed you have helped a couple other people with horses and asked BLM to look at one of the trailers…. she also mentioned how she was looking at the mares…I showed her the beautiful line back Dunn mare who was so restless, yet gently curious. She mentioned she did want to have to get the males cut, I immediately told her they were already gelded per BLM guidelines for adoption, and would she please come with me to the other side of the building, there were some horses she may be interested in….all the while in my heart of hearts, I was praying she would take #7240-“Nevada” home with her, what a beautiful fit it would be, in fact that whole pen of horses would have been a good fit for her and her family. They all seemed used

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to people and not a one seemed spooky…after all they had been through, and Lord only knows if this was their second or third adoption event of being trailered across states…

She was extremely interested in the geldings in Nevada’s pen…. She watched them walk and react to voice and Nevada came up to her teenage daughter and took some hay out of her hand also, this sealed the deal! I hugged her neck and could not Thank her enough for saving # 7240…. Not only did she adopt Nevada, she adopted the other little bay gelding in the same pen also, another yearling full of promise that also seemed to yearn for a soft voice

and re-assuring hand. I also like to think “Horse intuition” played a huge part in this, the horses know, it is us humans who must learn to listen…. the lady, who will remain anonymous, also adopted a black mare from the other side of the building …what a joyful day for all concerned!

Her daughter stayed with me and Nevada’s pen while she went to get the truck and trailer…we had a great horse chat; she was thrilled about Nevada and her other adopted horses. My heart was full of joy, I felt, I knew, a prayer had been answered. Although I could not take Nevada home, I knew he was going to have a loving home with two other Mustangs.

My prayer is for all America’s Wild Horses and burros who have been captured, to have a name and not a number. The biggest wish is for Wild Horse round ups to cease and may we all support our Wild/Natural Equine. They are our predecessor, our redeeming feature, a National Icon, a living soul as well as indigenous to the continent.

This may just be a short version of many horse stories that are true … but it is the one in which I hope encourages humans to see what is happening to America’s Wild Equid…we can do something grand when we pull together.

One at a time, such is the case with the Number 7240, now named Nevada, and his two herd buddies, Night and King.

Americas Wild Horses now face a crisis…if anyone is interested in Wild Horse advocacy, please go to Wild Horse education at https://wildhorseeducation.org

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