Corralled Wild Mustang Pictures

By GENE PRAAG
Special to The Desert Independent

January 15, 2010

A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER: I received an email from a friend of Gene's with a link to his website. I asked for permission to share his words and pictures with you which he granted. I reprint some of them here; however, please follow the link at the end of this article for some pictures of BLM corrals. Robert Winkler

ONAQUI HERD, Wyoming – Today I went to the BLM wild horse and burro center to see the Onaqui herd. I saw a lot of horses I recognized in the wild, they rounded up a total of about 200 horses. This includes the General, the paints, the roans, Praire Roses greys, and my favorite Marv.

The BLM has informed me out of the 200 horses only 25 will be returned. All the females will have a two year contraceptive shot and the BLM assured me that in three years there will be 200 horses out there again. The BLM informed me that the horses that they could not capture during the roundup have been scattered approximately within 100 square miles and it will take them 3 months for them to band together again. They also informed me that the amount of horses in this horse management area which consists of 48,000 acres is only 200 horses. I talked with three different BLM officials and could not a consistent answer of why they were rounded up. They told me the horses that don’t get adopted will be shipped to Oklahoma to live their lives in a beautiful green pasture with flowing rivers. He told me with conviction that a healthy horse in never euthanized. He told me that this is totally against there policy. A policy I am still looking to find! I have taken the time to sign many petitions, contact the local news and sent a letter to the white house and governors. Please take the time to do the same! On a lighter note as my wife and I were leaving one of the wild horses actually walked up to the fence and let me pet him. It tore my heart out!

VIEW PICTURES ON GENE PRAGG'S WEBSITE