We were thrilled and energized by the turnout and energy present at the San Francisco rally today, supported by IDA, The Cloud Foundation and the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, in front of Senator Diane Feinstein’s office.

Rally in San Francisco, CA

Over 75 people participated in the rally, including famed children’s author Terri Farley, whose wildly popular Phanton Stallion book series tells the stories of the Calico horses.  The San Francisco protest drew lots of press coverage, and Senator Feinstein’s office is interested and actively engaged in finding a solution to the BLM’s wild horse mismanagement problem.

The event coincided with other events today in London, Colorado, Idaho and Chicago, organized to call attention to nthe tragedy that is befalling the beautiful wild horses on the Calico public lands complex.

Our observer, Deniz Bolbol, witnessed this tragedy first-hand when, today, she visited the Calico horses who have been captured on Monday.

Stallions bunch together near the gate closest to the mares.

This is the only mother/foal pair who were kept together, as the foal, estimated age 3 months, was too young to be weaned.

These are some of the mares, separated from their foals by an iron fence.

Less than 48 hours ago, these horses were free on the range, living peacefully in the Calico complex with their families. Stallions led their close-knit family bands, protecting their mares and foals. But then the helicopters came and the horses were stampeded over snow and ice into BLM capture pens.  Families that had been together for years were torn apart.

According to the BLM, 74 horses were captured on Monday; 73 were transported in two trailers to the new BLM Falllon “Broken Arrow” holding facility. (BLM says that the 74^th horse was killed due to old age and emaciated body condition [rated 2]).  An additional 22 horses were captured Tuesday and will soon be trucked to Fallon as well.

The photos you see here show the Calico horses within 24 hours of arriving at the Fallon facility.  The things that are most  important to them — freedom and family — have just been taken away.  Foals have been torn from their mothers and are kept separated from them by an iron fence. Stallions are held together in separate pens across a driveway from the mares.

The Fallon holding facility is brand new, constructed in the last 60 days on land purchased just a few months ago. According to the BLM, the Calico horses were brought here, instead of the open-to-the-public Palomino Valley facility near Reno because they are prone to develop a highly contagious bacterial infection called “strangles.”   The stress and trauma imposed on the horses by the BLM roundup, compromises their immune systems, making them more susceptible to this potentially fatal illness.

The private contractor who operates the new Fallon facility is a rancher from California who has never before managed a BLM horse facility.  Thus we have a situation where the BLM takes horses off the range to allow for ranchers to graze more livestock, then pays ranchers to house the horses both at short-term facilities in the West and long-term pastures in the Midwest. The ranchers are the clear beneficiaries of the BLM’s multi-million dollar wild horse program; the horses the innocent victims, swept off their rightful lands like the Native Americans were so many years before.

Tomorrow, our observer Deniz travels to the Calico Complex to witness the roundup. Stay tuned for more updates.