tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post676653222129809393..comments2024-03-26T05:15:39.663-07:00Comments on Equestrian Ink: Chicken Drama and Wild HorsesJami Davenporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05259390150273030284noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-91173177747286738762014-08-20T16:01:04.506-07:002014-08-20T16:01:04.506-07:00Linda, the LTHs are huge, so they run as freely as...Linda, the LTHs are huge, so they run as freely as they can. I don't know about the public access to LTH, but I know that several HMAs (herd management areas) have "loops" that people can drive around and watch the horses. One is the Sand Wash Basin in Colorado, where they actually have groups of volunteers who go out, observe the horses, and take pictures.<br /><br />http://sandwashwildhorses.blogspot.com/<br />GunDivahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-1882464948707892442014-08-19T20:10:16.401-07:002014-08-19T20:10:16.401-07:00GunDiva - Thank you so much for that information. ...GunDiva - Thank you so much for that information. I was not aware of any long term holding facilities. According to the second link you posted, they are located in Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, with quite a few of them in Oklahoma. It appears that the horses are separated into facilities for either geldings or mares. Has anyone visited these long-term facilities? Are they set up to welcome the public, and can you actually see the horses? Of course separating them out like this is much different than the family groupings they would establish in the wild, but I imagine it's much better than languishing in those smaller corrals. I certainly wish they could find a way to keep them all running free.Linda Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17948970237555890150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-83154520106365369602014-08-19T18:17:13.396-07:002014-08-19T18:17:13.396-07:00Here is the list of all of the long-term and short...Here is the list of all of the long-term and short-term holding facilities. Mustang adoptions are typically done out of short-term holding.<br /><br />http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/Planning_and_Renewable_Resources/wild_horses_and_burros/statistics_and_maps/holding__adoption.Par.3899.File.dat/Facility%20Reports%2010-10%20-%201-13.pdfGunDivahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-28867569073700087002014-08-19T18:11:10.291-07:002014-08-19T18:11:10.291-07:00The BLM does have long-term holding facilities, wh...The BLM does have long-term holding facilities, where horses are rounded up and sent "out to pasture" in a safe environment. I believe these LTH facilities are open to the public, as are the Herd Management Areas (HMAs).<br /><br />http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/media/blm-expands-long-term-holding-montanaGunDivahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02965363044411500380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-7255528450408764392014-08-19T16:16:15.222-07:002014-08-19T16:16:15.222-07:00Linda--You are so right about bobcats eating chick...Linda--You are so right about bobcats eating chickens. My poor chickens are no longer allowed to roam the property as the bobcat got too many of them. They have a run, and I give them all our organic veggie scraps, but I wish I could let them out. However, yeah, bobcats love chicken.Laura Crumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15200878892304748308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-431853539977554742014-08-19T15:18:11.255-07:002014-08-19T15:18:11.255-07:00Thanks for your comments, Laura. I haven't liv...Thanks for your comments, Laura. I haven't lived near wild horses, but have lived several places where there were elk on adjoining property. And I know that some of the farmers did not like them, because they broke down fences and occasionally made a nuisance of themselves. Private property and wildlife just sometimes don't mix.<br /><br />But the kind of thing I was thinking of was a huge fenced pasture (hundreds, or perhaps thousands of acres - and there is this land in the west) where the horses would be supplementally fed (as they are now, although in useless holding pens.) Perhaps even a drive-through wild horse park would be a good way to see them. And possibly there would have to be some domestication involved, such as gelding or selling off the excess foals (such as done with the Chincoteague Island ponies.)<br />Lots of people have a desire to see wild horses, and I believe they could be a tourist attraction. Why not?<br /><br />As for chickens, gosh I'd love to see a bobcat one day, but I'm glad I haven't. I'd be afraid they'd eat some of my cluckers!Linda Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17948970237555890150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-68328220848424679482014-08-19T13:15:07.031-07:002014-08-19T13:15:07.031-07:00Like you, Linda, I enjoy watching animals. I just ...Like you, Linda, I enjoy watching animals. I just finished watching my newish family of chicks for many minutes, fascinated by their interactions over a corn cob. I watched a bobcat march down my driveway at horse feeding time this morning. But the wild horse question is a little more complicated.<br /><br />I have a good friend who lives twenty miles from any other house. His unfenced meadow is adjacent to an area where wild horses live. A band of 70 or so horses has visited his meadow a couple of times. He does love observing them and takes many photos. But...they trash his meadow, which he is trying to restore (after many years of being overgrazed by sheep due to the previous owner) as a habitat for the endangered sage grouse and the native animals of the region. He both enjoys the horses and dreads the the effect they have on his meadow.<br /><br />I think I would feel the same. Sure I'd like to watch them on public land or someone else's land, but if I had a little ranch and they came in and ate the meadow to the ground, no I wouldn't care for that. Also, having horses of my own, I'd be protective of them.<br /><br />Anyway, there's a few thoughts on your topic.Laura Crumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15200878892304748308noreply@blogger.com