Wild Horses

[Dave]

I read an interesting story that happened on my place. It occurred back about 1927. That was not too long before the end of the free open range. The author of a book I have was a young cowboy at the time. They had been gathering wild horse out of the hills. They shipped them to Portland by rail where they got paid $1.50 a head. He said that one time they shipped out 32 car loads.
So they had about 1,400 head of horses gathered. They came down out of the hills by way of Big Rock canyon (my place). Two cowboys on the right and two on the left and 4 more in the rear. He says they were strung out for a mile. Some time previously the Oxman ditch had washed out. Making a cut between the Oxman and Banks ditches 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide (again on my place). After they came out of the canyon about 300 horses broke off and crossed the Oxman ditch. They were running like hell between the ditches about 20 abreast. When they got to that wash out they couldn't cross it. The ones in front stopped short but the ones behind pushed them over the edge and then got pushed over in turn until the cut was dead level with horses. The tail end ran across the top of the pile. A few on the downhill side were able to roll out and escape but he said there were darn few of them. The rest were dead within ten minutes. He said it was a ghastly thing to witness. They figured 125 horses died there. They were just happy there wasn't a rider in front of them when they went over the top.

 

[Bigfoot]

Awesome story. I enjoyed that.

 

[Silver]

That would haunt a fella's nightmares for the rest of his days.

 

[Dave]

That would haunt a fella's nightmares for the rest of his days.

That is kind of what the guy who wrote the book said.

 

[gcreekrch]

There are about 5000 feral horses in the Chilcotin. Indians claim them so Government won’t touch them. They make good bait.

 

[Dave]

Actually these were wild horses, saddle horses, work horses, and brood stock. They were gathering them out of the hills as there were just too many of them. Once they had them in the pens people came and claimed what was theirs. The rest were sold by the cowboys. A lot of years of people just kicking out horses they weren't using. Some were never recaptured and went wild. This resulted in a lot of horses in the hills. According to the book this effort to capture them was started by the humane society because so many horses would winter kill as a result to the range being over grazed.
There are a lot of wild horses on BLM ground in southern Oregon and into Nevada. They are doing a pretty good job of destroying the land. The do good horse lover people wont let them be controlled. They need a good hard winter to take control of the population.

 

[Nesikep]

There are about 5000 feral horses in the Chilcotin. Indians claim them so Government won’t touch them. They make good bait.

There's apparently like 150 of them in the 25 miles between me and the town of Lytton
Mountain lions seem to prefer horse to cow, so I don't mind too much.. the entire area is absolutely overgrazed, upside to that is it reduces fire hazards..
Poor critters are covered in ticks, and by this time of year are pretty much starved to death, How weak does a feral (not wild) horse need to be to let you do this?


I figure she was about 2 years old

 

[CG1]

There are about 5000 feral horses in the Chilcotin. Indians claim them so Government won’t touch them. They make good bait.

There's apparently like 150 of them in the 25 miles between me and the town of Lytton
Mountain lions seem to prefer horse to cow, so I don't mind too much.. the entire area is absolutely overgrazed, upside to that is it reduces fire hazards..
Poor critters are covered in ticks, and by this time of year are pretty much starved to death, How weak does a feral (not wild) horse need to be to let you do this?


I figure she was about 2 years old

Oh man! That's sad! We go up to tunkawa (near Kamloops I believe) every winter for ice fishing...I think that's near Lytton. I assume they are wild, but when I take the snowmobile and go up in the hills I always see them kicking the snow off the ground to try and find some food. I bring those big bags of molasses treats and leave them in the hills for them, because I am a sucker. But I keep my distance from them. I have heard they can be very aggressive...

 

[Nesikep]

Tunkwa is by Savona I think.. about an hour and change from Lytton

 

[Bestoutwest]

The government does the "Adopt a Horse" thing in the Boise area every year. They have to check out your background, handling facilities and transportation before you get one. We went one year. They're WYLD!!! It's not anything I'd buy.

 

[Bright Raven]

Interesting account. I saw lots of wild horses on the Great Red Desert of Wyoming. I enjoyed exploring that big country. I camped in my pickup truck. Some of the herds are pretty calm. I had a young colt wake me up one night rubbing on the corner of the camper shell. It is amazing they survive country like that.

An excerpt from Wikipedia on the Red Desert of Wyoming. It seems to be a little known geographic area:

The Red Desert is a high altitude desert and sagebrush steppe located in south central Wyoming, comprising approximately 9,320 square miles (24,100 square kilometers). Among the natural features in the Red Desert region are the Great Divide Basin, a unique endorheic drainage basin formed by a division in the Continental Divide, and the Killpecker Sand Dunes, the largest living dune system in the United States. In the 19th century, the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails crossed the Continental Divide at South Pass, just north of the Red Desert. Today, busy Interstate 80 bisects the desert's southern region while gas field roads cross the desert.

 

[cfpinz]

The government does the "Adopt a Horse" thing in the Boise area every year. They have to check out your background, handling facilities and transportation before you get one. We went one year. They're WYLD!!! It's not anything I'd buy.

They have the same program here. My wife and I would love to have a mustang, but we're too cheap to pay for a finished one and have no interest in training one. From what we've seen, they either make the best horse you'll ever own, or the worst. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground.

 

[Dave]

There is a huge set of pens in Burns, Oregon full of wild horses that the BLM has caught. About like a horse feedlot. Except you and I are paying to feed all those animals. They just keep adding to it. Some get adopted out but most aren't fit for anything but dog food. However government regulations won't allow them to be slaughtered so they just keep feeding them. A bunch of very vocal do gooder horse lovers have prevented the BLM from actually managing the horse herds.