Why does the government conduct roundups that affect Cloud and his family as well as countless other wild horses? What’s at stake for the mustangs of Montana and other Western states and what happens to the animals auctioned off? Use the guide below to find out more about this longstanding controversy.

How did the roundups get started?

For decades, wild horses that came too close to cattle or sheep on public grazing lands were targets for capture or slaughter. Airplanes or cars were used to round up horses that got in the way of domestic livestock. Water holes were contaminated with poison to kill them off. Outraged by the gratuitous destruction of the horses, Nevada resident Velma Johnston (known as “Wild Horse Annie”) launched a national campaign to encourage states and the federal government to protect the wild horse as a symbol of the American West. In 1971, Congress responded, passing the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act that authorized only agents of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to gather the horses as part of their work in preserving federal lands

Why not just let the horses run free?

Some animal activists think they should run free. They argue that the West’s wild horses, which number roughly 47,000, are greatly outnumbered by privately owned cattle and sheep that also graze on public lands. They portray the Bureau of Land Management as a special interest group for ranchers.

Needless to say, the BLM disagrees. According to the bureau, the roundups, known as “gathers,” are used to keep herds from multiplying beyond a sustainable population. State BLM offices estimate that wild horses repopulate at the rate of roughly 18 percent per year. Apart from the mountain lion and black bear, wild horses have few natural predators. The BLM claims that without their intervention, wild horses would die from starvation or dehydration as they compete for limited range and water resources with other wild animals and livestock. Drought, disease, and fire are also cited as justifications for a roundup.

The Wild Horse and Burro Freedom Alliance, however, points out that wild horses have diversified grazing habits and usually only briefly enter cattle-grazing areas for water. They note that even after massive roundups of mustangs, grazing areas are not necessarily improved for cattle.

How are roundups carried out?

Since 1976, the BLM has used helicopters. Flying at low altitudes, bureau agents drive the herds for miles to an area where they are then loaded onto trucks headed for a holding center. Agents may bring in an entire herd and then winnow out adoptable horses or take in a band out of an entire herd. Depending on its size, a roundup can last for several days or several weeks.

The bureau maintains that helicopters are the most humane way of driving these wild animals across plain and mountain ridge to the centers, but animal activists disagree. The Fund for Animals argues that the sound of the helicopters can spark panic in wild horse herds and place undue stress on the animals — particularly in late winter or during droughts. Of particular concern are mares that are pregnant during the roundups. Foals, unaccustomed to running long distances, can also suffer various limb injuries that make them unsuitable for adoption.

Once at the holding area, wild horse specialists separate the animals according to sex and age. Mares with foals are kept apart. The bureau states that it makes “every effort” to reunite mares with lost foals. Agents then decide which horses are eligible for adoption, which go into a federal rest home, and which are returned to the range.

How many horses does the BLM roundup each year?

Totals and the frequency of the roundups vary according to the target area. Local BLM officers decide upon the figure based on periodic studies meant to indicate how many horses can co-exist with native wildlife and domestic livestock and still have adequate access to water and fodder. Some horse advocates question this practice and argue that the 1971 act and a subsequent 1992 regulation does not empower the Bureau of Land Management with decision-making powers about the removal of wild horses. They claim that only the Secretary of the Interior can make binding decisions on wild horse removal strategies. In fiscal 2003, the BLM removed 10,091 horses from public ranges.

Where Cloud lives, in Montana’s Pryor Mountains, 6 to 12 stallions were captured in late September 2003 to keep the herd at 140-150 animals, according to the Casper STAR-TRIBUNE. Roundups in this part of Montana occur once every 3 years.

How does the BLM choose what horse to keep or not?

In theory, it’s a question of what characteristics — sex, age, genetic stock — the BLM’s local wild horse specialist thinks will best help a herd maintain its “appropriate management level” or AML. An AML is a target population for a herd that guarantees that there will be adequate vegetation and water for livestock and other wildlife without undue stress on the environment. In some locations, these criteria are determined with the help of wild horse advocates.

Horses under five years old are sent to a facility where they are vaccinated, wormed, and freezemarked (branded with an iron chilled in liquid nitrogen) before being offered for adoption.

Horses that are over 10 years old are defined as ready for retirement and are transferred to government-run long-term holding centers to receive permanent care. Horses between the ages of 5 and 9 are returned to the range. The bureau says that “under normal circumstances,” unadoptable horses are returned to the range.

How are wild horse adoptions managed?

In 2003, about 6,185 wild horses were adopted, according to the BLM. Adoption fees are usually established by competitive bids at an auction — the minimum price is $125, the average is $185. Any person who can pay the fee, is at least 18 years old, has no prior conviction for inhumane treatment of animals, and can demonstrate to BLM inspectors that the horse will be adequately cared for within the U.S. is eligible to adopt a horse. Individuals can adopt up to 4 wild horses per year. Candidates to adopt a horse must sign a statement that says that they will not sell the horse to a slaughterhouse, for use in a rodeo, or for any commercial purpose.

Adoptions, however, may not continue for long. In November 2003, the BLM announced that rising costs may force the program to end. Instead, horses would be kept in holding centers that are cheaper to run. It costs $445 per horse per year to keep a wild horse in a holding center, while arranging for the adoption of a single horse can run as high as $1,400, the Reno GAZETTE-JOURNAL reported.

Is there any other way to control wild horse populations other than auctions?

BLM officers also use the fertility control agent PZP (porcine zonae pellucidae), a vaccine derived from pig cells. Captured mares can be injected at close range, or a dart gun can be used for those who are still free. The vaccine is effective 90 percent of the time and, according to a 2001 study by the UC Davis Center for Equine Health, does not produce any side effects in the horses. PZP, however, requires two injections, which can make using it on an entire herd a logistical challenge. The vaccine lasts for two years.

In Montana, where CLOUD’S LEGACY was filmed, a fertility control program has been in effect since 2001. Yearlings and two-year-old mares are vaccinated every year with PZP to prevent pregnancies. In 2003, the Montana BLM began to vaccinate mares that are 14 years old or older. The office says its long-term goal is to vaccinate these animals for the rest of their lives and argues that the vaccine improves their physical condition by reducing the chances of pregnancies at an age when they are less suited to give birth.

Animal-rights activists have extended a cautious welcome to PZP. The Fund for Animals argues that the vaccine is more humane than roundups, but cautions that it should not be used to delay pregnancies in young mares.

What happens to horses that are deemed not suitable for auction?

They are either returned to the range or placed in five long-term, government-run holding facilities in Kansas and Oklahoma. Stallions are gelded and pastured separately from mares. Even here, however, horses can be adopted. Postings on state BLM Web sites often feature the photos of horses up for adoption that have been placed in permanent care. Sick, elderly horses can undergo euthanasia at three centers. Privately run wild horse sanctuaries are another alternative.

Are wild horses endangered animals?

Officially, no. Currently, the bureau estimates that there are some 45,000 horses in the wild, about half of them in Nevada. By comparison, a century ago, some 2 million horses roamed the Western ranges. The BLM puts the optimal number of horses on the Western ranges at 25,000. Worried by the large costs of the adoption program (which takes up nearly a third of the annual BLM wild horse budget of $11.6 million), the BLM wants to reduce the number of wild horses on the Western ranges by half and is also reconsidering its adoption program. Equine population experts worry that reducing the number of horses in the wild could lead to a loss of genetic diversity and, ultimately, the eventual extinction of this living legend.

Several years ago, I received a telephone call from the popular host of the PBS WILD AMERICA series, Marty Stouffer. He had a documentary film assignment in mind for me. “I want to make a film about mustangs,” Marty explained. “Interested in shooting it for me?” I immediately said yes. I hadn’t had a horse since I was a teenager, but Marty thought I knew a lot about horses. I was excited but worried. In my experience, horses just stood around in fields and grazed. How could I make an interesting TV show about that? I was completely ignorant about the complex and fascinating world of wild horses.

Raven

In March 1994, I stood in the chill of pre-dawn on a red desert hilltop ready to start filming. The desert lay at the base of flat-topped mountains the Crow Indians call the Arrowheads, a wilderness home for black bears, mountain lions, bighorn sheep, mule deer, golden eagles, coyotes, and about 175 wild horses

I held my breath as six wild horses wandered from behind a hill and into a sea of blue green sage. I focused my 600mm lens on a newborn foal, with a huge diamond-shaped star, trotting to keep up with his pale buckskin mother. A grulla mare, her black yearling son, and a striking palomino filly followed. Some distance away was the stallion — black as night with a white snip on the end of his aquiline nose. When I stood up and bent back over the camera, the stallion saw me and pranced forward, shaking his head in agitation.

He stared, snorted, and wheeled. In perfect synchrony, his family ran away with the stallion galloping in the rear to protect his family from the deadly silhouette on the hill. It was a moment I will never forget. Even then, I felt a deep connection to the black stallion. I later learned his name was Raven.

After the reaction of Raven’s band to me and my camera, I believed I would need to film from a blind. So, when the snow melted, I navigated the miserable road to sub-alpine meadows atop the mountain. I stationed myself on a cliff above a water hole. Nestled between boulders, I felt confident my camera and I were virtually invisible.

Within minutes, a golden dun stallion named Shaman approached. As his large band drank, the stallion jerked his head into the air, sniffed and looked up. I did not blink. Suddenly, he snorted explosively and the entire band raced away, leaving me alone in my cliff blind. That worked well, I told myself, surveying a horseless meadow. Not only could wild horses see any movement, they could smell any danger. I needed to rethink my strategy.

Over the next few days as I sat in frustration, Raven and his family appeared. Day after day, they seemed to find me rather than the other way around. I began waving at them — something told me to be quietly conspicuous. I watched to see the direction they were traveling and set up my camera ahead of them. Over time they paid me the highest compliment a wild animal can pay a wildlife filmmaker: they ignored me.

By now there were three foals in Raven’s band, the one I named Diamond (who was turning into a blue roan), a solid grulla, and a strawberry roan colt with a huge star. In September, the two younger brothers died in a Bureau of Land Management roundup. It was a tragic loss for Raven’s family and a shocking end to an idyllic summer for me. The following spring, nothing could keep me from returning to see if Raven’s family could recover from their horrible loss.

Cloud

It was late May. I was intently filming a three-year-old stallion trying to breed his father’s newly acquired mare. When the older stallion returned, his son innocently clacked his teeth like a foal, as if to say “Don’t hurt me, I’m little.” Young stallions are usually ousted from their bands at two to avoid in-breeding, and this three-year-old was pushing his luck.

Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of white in the forest. Seconds later, Raven’s palomino mare broke out of the trees with her newborn and led him right past my camera. The colt was just hours old and he tottered to keep up with his mother. He was unlike any foal on the Arrowheads, for he was nearly white. The band was on an uphill trek and I followed. Within a half-hour, they arrived at a snowbank under dense trees. This was their water source until water holes on the mountaintop melted. The colt sniffed the cold whiteness and collapsed in a heap in the shade. As I watched him breathe I counted his ribs. I had never seen a newborn foal. Were they all this fragile? I named the colt Cloud and prayed he would live.

Two weeks later, the frail colt had blossomed, displaying the boldness that would become his trademark. His two sisters were several months older than Cloud, and targets for his teasing, especially when they were sleeping. He would nibble on their manes and pull their ears. He galloped around circular stands of firs like it was his own personal racecourse. Round and round he flew, seeming never to tire.

When Raven thought his little fillies had wandered too far from the band, he gently reprimanded them by snaking them home, laying his ears back and lowering his head. Cloud mimicked his father and, when a little filly came to visit, he laid his ears flat, dipped his head low and chased her away. Everything he did that summer led me to conclude, “One day you will become a great band stallion like your father.”

When summer ended, so did my filming for WILD AMERICA.

Return to the Arrowheads

For nearly two years I filmed throughout the world. But I was haunted by Raven, Cloud, and the family. They had captured my imagination and my heart.

Fortunately I was hired to produce another film that included wild horses, so I returned to the Arrowheads. I was better prepared this time. I had learned that their communication, so subtle one moment and broad the next, was reminiscent of wolves. Each family member had a place in the hierarchy of the band. Parental discipline was clear, consistent, and fair. And the ritual encounters of the stallions were unforgettable. From a distance their high-pitched shrieks echoed through the forests and canyons.

Cloud was celebrating his second birthday on the day I returned to the Arrowheads. I found that Raven had kicked both him and his brother Diamond out of the band. Finding them would prove to be a challenge, for bachelors roam unpredictably and for long distances.

Using binoculars, I surveyed the vast ridges of Tillet where Cloud was born, and across a deep, impassable canyon to Sykes Ridge with its hundreds of rippling fingers and shallow canyons. A white horse! It had to be Cloud. Five hours later, I was on Sykes. Cloud looked up and I waved. Remember me? I was relieved when he went back to playing with a dun bachelor, spinning and nipping at the smaller stallion’s legs. What a beauty. His coat gleamed and his body was well-developed for only a two-year-old.

Over the summer he interacted with the other bachelors on the mountain, running across flower-strewn meadows, dashing just close enough to the family bands to rile the band stallions. Like a gang of rowdy teenage boys, bachelors are freedom personified.

In the fall, another roundup shattered the tranquility of the Arrowheads. Of the bachelors captured, only Cloud was released, because of his unusual color. I searched everywhere for him over the next two months. When the snow began falling, I lost hope of finding him and feared he might be dead.

In the spring I returned to the mountain, not knowing what I might find. If Cloud were alive, he would surely follow the green grass to the top of the mountain. While I was filming a band of horses running to water, I spotted bachelors racing over the hill and Cloud was right in the middle of them. He was alive!

As a four-year-old, Cloud made an unusual decision. He began to dog one of the toughest band stallions on the mountain, Mateo, a burley bay in his prime and built like a sumo wrestler. Never mind that most stallions are at least six when they attempt to start a family. Cloud’s strategy: follow as closely as he dared and get the shorter stallion to chase him. He would eventually wear the bay down and steal his mares. The game lasted all summer. In the end, it was Cloud who wore out, and went lame.

He joined a group of bachelors living far outside the horse range. He went into winter thin, lame and listless. This time, I thought he might be gone forever.

But Cloud appeared the next spring as a five-year-old, and he had changed. He was lean, mean, and determined to start his own family. He fought the powerful blue roan stallion Plenty Coups for his mares. Cloud’s strategy was the same. During one grueling chase, Plenty Coups made a misstep. The stallion hobbled to a halt, licking the blood running down his leg. Then he continued to give chase — on three legs. Days later, when fog sealed the mountain in a gray shroud, I returned home to Colorado, not knowing the outcome of their epic struggle.

Later that summer, I rode my once-wild horse, Trace, to find Cloud. We saw Plenty Coups at a spring-fed water hole. He had lost his whole band, his mares divided among various stallions.

Only a quarter of a mile away, Trace and I located Cloud. Ironically, he was not with a Plenty Coups mare but an older grulla female named Queen. The mare had given birth to a sickly foal and when her band left, she and her yearling son stayed with the foal. Cloud found them and stood quietly by the mare’s side. When the foal died, the mare and son stayed with Cloud. And so, not in a clash of teeth and hooves but in a moment of stillness, the young stallion achieved his goal of starting his own family.

Cloud’s Legacy

Two Christmases ago at sunset I spotted a glow amongst dark junipers on a hill near the mouth of Cougar Canyon. It was my first glimpse of Cloud in winter! In March, I returned to the mouth of the canyon but Cloud was not to be found. So I hiked through the snow-choked canyon and onto the windswept ridges of Sykes. I saw a red dun with a grulla. Queen? Bachelors were dogging Cloud’s mare. If he were alive Cloud would never allow this. Once again, I was seized with fear and worry.

By early June, I had still not located Cloud. Then, near the spring-fed water hole, he appeared! He followed down the muddy slope by a blue roan mare and her yearling daughter. The mare was Sitka, Shaman’s lead mare. I couldn’t imagine Cloud taking her from the formidable stallion.

Equally startling, below the snow-fed water hole, I spotted what looked like a light-colored rock in the grass that I hadn’t seen before. I focused my long lens on the shape. It was a colt with a huge star. When the baby stood, I gasped. It had a white mane and tail. A palomino! Nearby was Plenty Coups’ black mare with Shaman. It was clear to me I was looking at Cloud’s son. Cloud had bred the black mare, perhaps in the fog after Plenty Coups was injured. Yet, the young stallion could not hold on to her.

In July, Sitka foaled and Cloud had his first foal to raise. Though not of his blood, the little grulla would become his son in every other sense of the word. I named him Flint and he would one day need every bit of toughness his name implies.

Predation was high that summer. Mountain lions preyed on nearly a third of the foals and Cloud’s light colored son was a vulnerable target. Marauding bachelors harassed Cloud’s family. A roundup separated families and a wildfire threatened to destroy all the wild horses. Through it all, Cloud survived, as bold and brave as the precocious little white colt who first captured my heart.

–Ginger Kathrens

The returning saga of Cloud, the wild stallion, finds us back in the Arrowhead Mountains of Montana. Cloud is one of two fathers who bring up each other’s sons. Bolder is his by birth, while Flint, sired by another stallion, is the colt Cloud raised. Now, Bolder has gathered some mares of his own, and Flint has joined a group of bachelor stallions. Who will rise to challenge the mighty Cloud? Buy the DVD. This film premiered October 25, 2009.

Filmmaker Ginger Kathrens

On October 25, 2009, NATURE hosted a live discussion with filmmaker Ginger Kathrens to allow viewers to ask questions about Cloud and the making of the film.

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Linda H. says:

What can kids do to help Cloud and his family and all the other wild horses so they always run free?

Ginger says:

Linda: thank you – Kids are crucial and can save the wild horses again- they did in the late 1960’s with Wild Horse Annie (you can read more about wild horse Annie on the web). Kids should write President Obama, their Senators and Congress-people — and most importantly: teach your families and school mates. Kids can share what is happening to wild horses with their clubs. There is a sample letter and more ideas on our website, http://www.thecloudfoundation.org — if 100,000s Kids write Obama maybe we can stop these ongoing roundups.

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Shelley Sawhook says:

Can you tell us which of the horses in the video are no longer free to roam with their herds? Also, in light of the proposed BLM gather schedule of over 12,000 additional horses in FY 2010 can you tell us what efforts are underway to stop these gathers or what we as average citizens can do to protect our herds? What plans do you, as an activist and a film maker, have to ensure the genetic viability of not only Cloud’s range, but all wild horse and burro ranges? Lastly, has anyone determined if the mare Baccardi and her foal, who were left on the range without herd protection during the gather, are safe and unharmed from the gather “activities”?

Thanks for all you do and my whole family LOVES Cloud, his herd and you for showing us their unique qualities. My 10 yo daughter wants to be just like you when she grows up!

Ginger says:

Shelly: In the September 2009 roundup in the Pryors, 57 horses were removed. Among those are many that you meet in Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions- the following were removed. They are in good homes but they have lost what they value most: their families and their freedom. Cloud’s daughter: Rain is now in VA; Cloud’s granddaughter, Arrow (the bay filly with a big star) is now in Colorado; Ember and Image are in Ohio together; Cloud’s dun mare (who he gets in this show) was removed, as was his brother, Sax — who I adopted and now is part of the band at my ranch with Cloud’s sisters and Trace. The massive roundup of this herd was unnecessary and costly: $150,000 to remove 57 horses. Among those were the entire bands belonging to stallions Conquistador, Bo, Trigger and Shane. These horses, along with blue roan bachelor who was traumatized in the processing chutes, are now on a ranch in Montana. The Cloud Foundation, due to an incredible amount of support, was able to rescue these horses, and keep the bands together. It is our hope that this sub-population can be returned to their home in the wild. Summer, Shaman’s granddaughter who was with Bolder, and Bolder’s only daughter over a year old, were removed as well. The black bachelor, Stiles, who you see chasing Sitka and Flint at the beginning of the film, was also removed. He has since been gelded but was rescued by a sanctuary in New Mexico. Millions of people know Cloud’s band and herd so well but the 12,000 other horses and burros being removed now are equally important and we must stop these massive roundups.

We saw Bacardi and her foal, (who were left behind while the rest of their band was driven down the mountain – the foal could not keep up) on September 25th. The foal was very footsore but he and Bacardi are back with Baja’s band now. Many foals who were just a month old or less were driven by helicopter over 12 miles down the mountain. With other great organizations such as yours
(www.saveourwildhorses.org) we are working to create a grassroots effort that demands the immediate moratorium of all roundups. The more people learn about wild horses the less they understand why these roundups are taking place. If we all and take a few minutes to call and write their Senators, Congresspeople, local media and President Obama I think we can create enough of a stir to save our horses. Right now our government is not listening as an increasingly educated and aware public demands a stop to this mismanagement.

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Katie Schultz says:

After a mare gives birth, does she make any noises to the foal? And what is her behavior to the foal?

Ginger says:

They do, as you’ll see in this show, mares often vocalize to their foals. They nicker to them and vocalizations are an important means of communication for horses. I was especially lucky to hear vocalizations to a newborn foal in the wild — and I’m glad I can share this with you in this new show!

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Here are some ideas on what you can do — I hope that Cloud and the horses of Montana have inspired you to save them all. Thank you, Ginger

1.     Send your letter demanding an immediate moratorium on all roundups to President Obama and Secretary Salazar (a copy will be cc’d to your Congress people and Senators).

2.     Follow up with faxes, letters and calls to call both your Senators and Congresspeople. Ask that your Senators support the ROAM Act (§1579) to return wild horses to lands stolen from them & end the mismanagement of America’s Wild Horses & Burros.

3.     Sign the Save Our Wild Horses Resolution petition & join the Cloud Foundation mailing list to stay informed (join us on Facebook & Twitter & check our Blog for frequent updates too).

4.     Please watch the most recent report from CBS’s George Knapp, this short news story outlines how BLM has moved from over-management to the clear destruction of our wild herds. Click here to watch his one-hour report “Stampede to Oblivion“

5.     Last but not least, contact media—this story of mismanagement of our mustangs and burros, truly living history, needs to be explored & shared. Find local media contacts here. Write letters to the editor and ask National outlets for better coverage.

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Ginger says:

Many of you have asked what is really going on with the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro program – and I’m sorry to report that the mismanagement is only getting worse. The BLM has proposed, and is currently in the process of removing, 35% of the wild horses and burros left in the wild. Please join me in calling for an immediate moratorium on all roundups before the BLM is successful in completely managing our wild horses on our public land to extinction. Take some time to call and write your senators and President Obama – the loss of our wild horses in imminent if we don’t demand a stop to these roundups. We will have a sample letter and more information on http://www.thecloudfoundation.org. There you can also sign our petition to stop these roundups. Wild horses were saved in the early 70’s by an outcry from America’s children and many adults – we need to do this again. Over 80% of our wild horse herds are now below genetically viable numbers – Cloud’s herd is now among those after last months cruel and unnecessary roundup.

Through the Cloud programs I hope that we have expressed to you how vital it is to you to keep wild horses in the wild – their freedom and families are of the utmost importance to them – as they should be to us as well. Secretary of Interior Salazar has proposed moving 26,000 wild horses to the east in preserves. Non-reproducing herds of horses are not wild horses- this $96 million plan is not acceptable.

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Alison says:

I give money to Frontline Range Equine Rescue and sign petitions to president Obama. What more can I do to keep these horses free?

Ginger says:

Alison – please write your Senators and ask them to support the ROAM act now in the senate. Ask them to stop the roundups until an independent census can be done and further investigation of the mismanagement. Tell your friends and family about the wild horses – and please write letters to the editor and ask your favorite media outlets to investigate this further. The BLM relies on few people knowing what they are doing. But these are our horses on our public lands and I do hope the American public will not sit by while all our horses are removed. Herd by herd we are losing them. Please keep writing and calling. Thank you.

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Steven Long says:

Ginger, will there be another Cloud film?

Ginger says:

Absolutely – there is nothing I love more than watching and filming the Pryor horses. I have been lucky to make this fabulous area a second home over the past 15 years – starting when Cloud’s father, Raven, allowed me to film them without running away. I will continue to document Cloud’s herd and I hope that there might be another program about Cloud in the future. The more I know about wild horses the more I am surprised by their intricate family dynamics. In my wildest dreams I never imagined a story this dramatic.

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Frank says:

Why do the BLM feel a need to keep horse numbers down in the first place? What harm do they see more horses doing to the land or their interests?

Where all the horses in the area rounded up by them?

Ginger says:

Frank — The BLM is acting not on science but on their disregard for wild horses. There mismanagement of our american wild horse and burros is becoming almost as legendary as the horses themselves. There is an excellent report out from Las Vegas CBS — there are interviews and quotes that will explain more. The BLM needs to be stopped and the situation reevaluated. We are losing our horses at a cost of millions to taxpayers who are not aware that we are losing them. It is not understandable, Frank, but we need to bring transparency to this now and demand that science and logic play a role in the management of all of our western herds.

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Emily Murdoch says:

Ginger Kathrens, you are a hero to wild mustangs everywhere. Thank you for all you do, and for your mustang heart. My question is, is there a way, presently, that land could be bought for the Pryor mustangs so that those rounded up could be “adopted” from the BLM and put back on the land to live wild and free? While I appreciate their adoption by concerned citizens, and in that, the horses avoiding slaughter and the slaughter pipeline, it saddens me that these mustangs are no longer “free”. If there were a fund to donate to for this land/sanctuary, I’d be first in line. Thank you again, Ginger, for being on the front lines of such an important issue as the Pryor Mt. mustangs.

Ginger says:

Hi Emily – Today I was with our 15 horses that were rescued at the Pryor auction of the wild horses. We were able with the help of friends in Billings, MT to reunite these wild horses families. What a wonderful experience! We hope to release them again back in their home in the Pryor Mountains or in the Bighorn Mountains across the canyon. Conquistador and the other band stallions are doing great and are with their mares. Band stallion, BO, and his little daugher are so close. It is our hope that these little bands can help the main herd survive genetically.
Ginger

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Nini says:

Please update viewers on what has happened to Cloud’s herd — and what is happening to their wild horse relatives all over the West right now. Thank you!

Ginger says:

Nini – Cloud’s herd is getting back on their feet after the roundup.  Cloud was lame upon his return to the wild, so were Bolder’s mother (now with Cloud again!) and Firestorm.  Velvet and Cloud’s 2009 daughter, Jasmine, was extremely footsore and could barely walk. 12,000 more wild horses are being removed this year — the BLM called this roundup “a model roundup”- but that only tells you how bad the others are.

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Christina L says:

Hi. My question is about Cloud. At the end of the show, you talked about what happened to a number of the horses, but didn’t mention what happened to Cloud. Is Cloud still alive? Has he been adopted or was he set free a second time? I the BLM is starting to euthanize the wild horses because they don’t have the space or resources to take care of them. I really hope Cloud is alive and well!

Ginger says:

Christina, Cloud is alive and well – I last saw him before the auction, where he and his family walked slowly to the water hole – without their usual exuberance. They released Cloud and his much smaller family band two days after they were rounded up and ran 10-15 miles down the mountain in 90+ degree heat. There is a write-up and photos of his capture and release on the Cloud Foundation blog. Cloud actually turned and faced the helicopter during the roundup – he’s been rounded up twice before and knows what is coming.

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Annette says:

I want to know what has happen to Diamond and Red Raven.

Ginger says:
Annette, during the bait-trapping operation, Diamond was injured while fighting with another stallion (Stiles – who was removed last month at age 11) and we thought he might die – he lost his entire band. However, he has since made a full recovery and has his band back. Red Raven and Blue Sioux are still together and have their 2007 daughter, Halcyon with them. Another blue roan mare, Adona, is also with them. Adona is 9 and has never foaled – she was darted with a contraceptive drug that the BLM uses to keep the population down– the same drug that caused Shadow’s out of season birth. The drug (PZP) seems to have caused the three out of season births from last year too. I oppose the use of these experimental infertility drugs because they don’t always work as designed (causing out of season births, sterile mares, mares constantly cycling etc). The Pryors can be managed naturally by nature! The mountain lions, if not hunted to such extremes, they manage the herd perfectly.

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Jocie says:

well how will (in the new film) it be a problem for clouds son and flint will they spread apart?? you’ll probably tell me to watch the movie but just tell me has anything happened to raven?? and do you think Obama will help protect the wolves or wild/endangered animals like the mustangs??

Ginger says:
Hi Jocie and Cheyenne,
Thousands have written the President to protect our mustangs but we have seen no improvement with this administration yet; in fact it has only gotten worse. This is not a reason to give up — rather: keep writing and calling the President. If he hears from tens of thousands of people than we can make these roundups stop now. The worsening situation is due not to new presidential policy but to a lack of oversight while the same people mismanage our wild horses. It would seem that the BLM is trying to manage our wild horses to extinction before any change reaches this rogue agency.

Raven, Cloud’s father, died in his mountain home sometime in the late winter of 2008. He did have one very fine day in June of 2007 when he had a band again for a few hours! Raven was an amazing horse and I will always be grateful to him. Shaman, too, has passed away. He died just a few weeks before the roundup at the age of 24.

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Brian says:

Have you ever been to Theodore Roosevelt National Park? They have a lot of Wild Horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

Ginger says:
Hi Brian – I haven’t been to Teddy Roosevelt but alway wanted to go. Now, I am hearing all the horses are going to be removed. What a shame!!!
Ginger

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Maggie Hall says:

I admire your work and you continue to inspire! How do you feel about the government’s current plan for the wild horses, and how would you feel if Cloud and his herd were removed from their own land? What about Madeleine Pickens plan – does it need improving?
thank you, Maggie Hall

Ginger says:

Hi Maggie – Madeleine is trying to do her best to protect our mustangs held in holding facilities. But, we need to focus on the horsesstill in their homes in the West with their families. 1/3 are schelduled to be rounded up in the next year. Please let your Senators know that they need to have hearings on reining in the BLM; to put an immediate moratorium on round ups and to hold hearings on the behavior of the BLM. Our horses in the wild need our help!
Ginger

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Dennis Manske says:

What does thisd mean for the BLM adoption program? On one hand I feel that this encourages the BLM to increase the gather, on the other hand, I am concerned that if the horses they have captured aren’t placed, they will suffer and or meet an untimely demise.

Ginger says:
Hi Dennis – As you know I am a wild horse adopter and am a new adopter of Cloud’s half brother, Sax, captured and removed last month. Unfortunately, only about 3,000 mustangs are adopted each year in recent years yet the BLM is removing 12,000 this year (unless we can stop them)—far too many for the adoption program. The BLM program must be revamped and Congress must call for a moritorium on round ups now, before it is too late.
Ginger

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Suze says:

Ginger, Can you let us know how badly Cloud and his mare are injured? With winter already settled upon the Pryors, I am so concerned for their welfare. They need to be perfect to survive. Thank you for what you are doing for OUR mustangs!

Ginger says:

I think Cloud will be fine, and I am hopeful his lameness will go away. People who have seen him since I have reported that he is fine as are his mares. I look forward to being up there with them soon.

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Michael says:

Ginger, Are there any large influential groups working on this issue who can get to the administration & congress? I am working as creatively as I can nationally & locally, tried to contact someone at AWHPC but got no response. There must be some large organization such as Sierra club who is willing to take this on. Please let me know if I can assist any actions your group is taking besides the letter, editorial activities. Thanks,

Mike

Ginger says:

Hi Michael – You can find out more at The Cloud Foundation. Hope you will sign up on our email list so you can get all our updates and learn what to do. Thanks so much for your concern.
Ginger

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Pam says:

The horse’s herds seem to be a pretty complex social structure. Doesn’t it stress the horses to separate the herds, like it would stress people to be pulled out of a family unit? Why can’t the BLM keep the herds together when they thin them? Thank you for the wonderful film/story telling work you are doing.

Ginger says:

Pam, you are absolutely right, the horses have an amazing and complex social structure that is literally shattered when the helicopters arrive. The individual bands are torn apart during roundups but it is advisable to only remove younger horses if a herd does really need to reduced in population size. The Cloud Foundation recommended that no more than 20 young horses (aged 2 and younger) be removed from Cloud’s herd this year if a roundup was to take place. When the BLM failed to listen to the public and even to their own science, and when our temporary restraining order was denied in DC district court, the helicopter took to the air.  On the first day of the roundup we were informed that the BLM planned to remove whole family bands off the Pryors. Bands like the one led by 19-year-old stallion Conquistador, who Cloud challenged in the fog nearly 10 years ago; the family led by 13-year-old Trigger, who I’ve been filming since he was just a few days old; and the band belonging to the stallion Shane, who we rescued after he rolled under a barbed wire fence as a foal.  Even 21-year-old Grumpy Grulla (Raven’s first mare) was removed. In the end, BLM stopped the roundup early. With so many of us watching, I think they feared a horse would die in the extreme heat during their long run down from the mountaintop.

Two weeks later a total of 57 horses were auctioned off, including four of Cloud’s grandchildren, his daughter, Rain, and his brother, Sax.  With an amazing crew of volunteers we trailered Shane, Bo, Trigger and Conquistador with most of their mares, as well as the traumatized blue roan bachelor stallion, Floyd, to their new home north of the Pryors. Watching Conquistador and Cavalitta walk calming off the trailer together brought tears to our eyes. Seeing the greeting that Bo gave to his mare, Chalupa, and their filly foal made this entire effort worthwhile.

Only with the help of our many supporters and immediate action on behalf of volunteers were we able to mobilize and adopt these horses and keep them together in their family bands. It is our hope that our lawsuit against the BLM will be successful and these four bands, along with the bachelor, can return home. Until then they are under our care although they remain as close to wild as possible. With the BLM planning on rounding up a staggering 12,000 wild horses and burros this year we can’t stop fighting for the freedom of all.  We so
appreciate your support and ask for your continued work on behalf of all our wild horses and burros. The BLM is rounding up a 1000 horses in Wyoming this month and next month. Half of Nevada’s horses (over 25% of the total number left in the west) are to be removed in the coming months. The BLM is acting illegally and if they are not stopped we won’t have any horses left in the wild. In 1974 there were some 54,000 wild horses in the wild- by next September there will be only 22,000 or so. And over 40,000 in costly government holding pens, pastures and “preserves.” This is not the way to manage an icon of the American west.

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Larry says:

While watching your program, it looked like there were acres and acres of open land. What is BLM’s problem with these horses?

Ginger says:

Larry, Cloud’s herd lives on a nearly 40,000 acre designated range and in addition to that, they “illegally” live and move in and out of another huge area in the Custer National Forest (where they have lived for centuries). The BLM has determined that only 120 horses over one year of age can live on this 40,000 acre area – despite the fact that anything less than 150 is not genetically viable. We’ve been working to get the range legally expanded to allow for a 200-300 horse herd that would preserve these unique Spanish genetics into the future. The BLM could have managed this herd at 170-200 horses if they had spent money on range improvements rather than rounding up 146 horses and removing 57 of them at a cost of over $150,000.

Further investigations into the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro program are called for. Secretary Salazar’s recent plan to move 26,000 wild horses to expensive eastern preserves in sterilized and segregated herds is not the answer. The west is the home of the wild horse and 54 million acres of public lands were set aside primarily for their use as free roaming wild animals in 1971. Nearly 25 million acres have since been taken away from them and it is time lands were returned. Less than 33,000 wild horses remain on our public lands, down from an estimated 54,000 in 1974. Meanwhile, over 3 million head of livestock graze on public lands – many owned by huge companies, not by family ranchers. Federal public lands grazing is estimated to be a $123 million/year net loss and the true cost to our environment is much higher (estimated upwards of $500 million to $1 billion per year in damages). We would save money and wild horses by simply paying legitimate ranchers not to graze. Wild horses are outnumbered on the range and yet are blamed for any damage. If there is no damage they are removed. I would encourage you and all interested to watch the recent investigative report “Stampede to Oblivion” which is now online.

This morning, the Today Show on NBC ran a story on the controversy surrounding these round-ups, which are set to continue.

The third installment of the Cloud saga, Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions, premieres on NATURE Sunday, October 25.

Cloud’s band. Photo by Ginger Kathrens

The agency in charge of managing wild horses, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is planning on rounding up all the horses in Cloud’s herd and removing 70 of them, plus some foals, beginning September 1. All mares that have foaled before will be given a two-year contraceptive drug, PZP-22, which is still in the experimental phases in the wild. The Cloud Foundation, which I started in 2005 to protect Cloud’s herd and all wild horses in the west, is opposed to this massive roundup. Noted geneticist Dr. Gus Cothran has written that the minimum population for this herd to maintain genetic viability is 150 to 200 horses. With this removal, Cloud’s herd would be left at only about 120 horses plus some foals.

In order to remove 70 horses the BLM will roundup older horses. I am fearful that many of the horses I have known since birth, which have lived their entire lives in the wild and that you have seen in the Cloud programs, will be removed. Many of the horses you’ll meet in the next Cloud program, Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions, may be gone from the wild by the time this program airs.

At this time the wild horses in the Arrowheads are healthy — some are even fat on the abundant grasses and wildflowers in the Arrowheads. The BLM states that the horse range can only support 120 horses and is being degraded. At this time about 40 horses live exclusively off the range, in the adjacent National Forest lands, where they are considered trespassers. In reply to the Cloud Foundation’s legal appeal, the Forest Service has postponed the building of a fence that would keep horses out of their historical range in the Forest Service lands.

I hope that Cloud and his family and herd will continue to live free in their wild home.

Please visit www.thecloudfoundation.org for more information, photos and action alerts if you are so inclined.

- Ginger Kathrens