Horse Advocates Pull for Underdog in Roundups More than 1,200 wild horses have been captured during the current roundup.
By JESSE McKINLEY
September 5, 2010
nytimes.com
The current roundup in northeastern California and neighboring Nevada has been going on for a month. On one side are nearly 40,000 horses spread over 10 states, whose presence on the range is a last vestige of the Old West. On the other is a group of crusty cowboys whose chosen method of roundup involves rotors more than wrangling, using high-tech helicopters to drive galloping mustangs into low-tech traps. “When they get in here, they know something’s going on,” said Dave Cattoor, 68, a straight-talking roundup expert who has been herding horses since he was 12. “The chips are down.”
Over the last month, Mr. Cattoor and his feral quarry have been doing battle under the dry, horizon-to-horizon skies of northeastern California and a neighboring Nevada county, with humans the inevitable victor. More than 1,200 horses have been captured during the current roundup, much to the chagrin of people like Simone Netherlands, an animal rights advocate who says that the roundups — part of a nationwide push to take some 12,000 horses off public lands — are cruel, expensive and unnecessary.
“They’re running at full speed for miles and miles for hours, with babies, little babies, and they don’t let up on them,” Ms. Netherlands said. “They’re stressing them out to the max.” The Bureau of Land Management, which is overseeing the roundup, disputes that, saying that the roundups are humane and that it must reduce the wild horse population to more sustainable levels, both for their health and for that of the other animals that live in this harsh terrain. “Some advocate groups would like us to leave the horses out there and let nature take its course,” said Bob Abbey, director of the bureau. “We don’t believe that’s a sound option.”
The debate over roundups dates back decades, to the passage of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, a federal law that protected what was then a faltering wild horse population and made it illegal for cowboys like Mr. Cattoor to round up horses on their own for sport or profit. “A cowboy really wasn’t a cowboy if you didn’t rope a wild horse,” Mr. Cattoor said. “But they stopped that. They stopped the maintenance, which costs nothing, and turned it into a multimillion-dollar deal. It’s crazy.”
Questions about the roundups have intensified in recent years as costs have mounted, both in dollars and in dead horses. Seven horses have died in the current operation, and last winter, a roundup in Nevada resulted in over 100 horse deaths, prompting more than 50 members of Congress to ask Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to look for independent analysis of the bureau’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. Late last month, the bureau did just that, asking the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a technical review of the program.
Horses that are captured are offered for adoption, but with demand for horses low and the cost of feed high, the government often ends up quartering them on large private ranches, primarily in Kansas and Oklahoma. In 2009, about 70 percent of the entire program’s $40.6 million budget was spent holding 34,500 horses and burros, a system that the Government Accountability Office has concluded will “overwhelm the program” if not controlled.
“They are a symbol of the American West,” said Nathaniel Messer, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Missouri and a former member of the federal Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Committee. “But do we need 35,000 symbols of the American West?”
For critics like Deniz Bolbol, the pattern of roundup, removal and stockpiling is an example of the bureau’s catering to private interests on public lands, namely by favoring livestock ranchers — who pay the government for the right to graze and who can sell their animals — over wild horses, which cannot be sold for slaughter. “We remove wild horses from the public lands so private livestock can graze, and then we ship the wild horses to private ranchers in the Midwest where we stockpile them and pay private ranchers,” said Ms. Bolbol, a spokeswoman for the group In Defense of Animals, which has sued to stop the roundups. “This is what you call a racket.” And while Mr. Cattoor calls Ms. Bolbol and other protesters “fanatics,” he does not think the government’s reliance on big, periodic roundups makes much sense either, saying the bureau needs more steady maintenance of the wild herds, which can double in size every four years.
Perhaps the only other thing the two sides can agree on is that the horses — whose estimated populations range from about 120 in New Mexico to more than 17,000 in Nevada — are magnificent. Art DiGrazia, the operations chief for one of the bureau’s wild horse and burro offices in California, said that some of the mustangs on the range were descended from Army cavalry horses, which were bred for size, speed and strength and left here or given to ranchers. “They have the intelligence and endurance to work out in this country,” said Mr. DiGrazia, a bearded New Jersey native who speaks in a hoarse whisper. “They’ll know before you know that there’s something out there going on.”
The method of capture is simple: horses are located from helicopters, which have been used in roundups since the mid-1970s, and pushed toward the trap site, essentially a funnel shaped by two netted walls that lead into a temporary corral. Once the herd runs into the funnel, Mr. Cattoor lets loose a so-called Judas horse, which is trained to lead the rest into the trap, where — uncombed, unshod and often stomping and biting — they slowly settle into their new lives as kept animals.
The aim of the roundups is to reduce the horse population to more sustainable levels. All of which is more humane than the old days, said Mr. Cattoor, who recalls cowboys using rope and brawn to bring in a herd, often injuring horses and horsemen alike. “You have to really put the pound on them,” he said. “You’d have to get them sore footed and tired, and there’s a lot of problems with getting them really tired. Today, at this point, this is the best we can do.”
One recent morning, Mr. Cattoor and his team conducted several successful runs — 10 horses in one, a handful in another — before a small herd of four horses, their black manes and wild tails flying, came running full-tilt across the desert. The helicopter was close on their heels, whipping up curlicues of dust in the horses’ wake. They were headed straight for the trap, when suddenly the herd broke, with three horses escaping across a field, while a single stallion — the leader — galloped in another direction. The pilot, perhaps 50 feet up, chose to follow the larger group, but horse sense had its way; the three headed into a patch of trees, where helicopters cannot pursue. The stallion, meanwhile, disappeared up a ridge and back into the wild.
Mr. Cattoor watched it all, standing near his Judas horse with a resigned smile, as roundup opponents watched happily from a public viewing station several hundred feet away. “These wild horse advocates love it when the horse beats the helicopter,” Mr. Cattoor said. “And they do sometimes win.”
Horse race on busy road probed by police
23 September 2010
Belfast Telegraph
Police in the Republic of Ireland have launched a search for a gang that raced two horses and carts along a busy main road in a race that was then posted on YouTube. The footage showed several four-wheel drives and vans behind the carts -- known as sulkies -- and their drivers on the N4 near Ballinacarrow, Co Sligo.
Gardai from Ballymote are studying footage of the video, which shows a convoy of vehicles belonging to the Traveller community spread over more than half the road behind the horses. At least two vehicles drove on the other side of the road, against oncoming traffic, during the race between horses named 'Limerick Lady' and 'The Duck Filly'. Traffic behind the race was held up for at least 10 minutes and vehicles travelling in the other direction were forced several times on to the hard shoulder.
The horses were running alongside each other for much of the race, but when one gained advantage and went a couple of lengths in front of the other, a driver and a passenger in one of the 4x4s could be seen sticking their heads out of the windows to cheer on the driver of the cart. The race took place on June 26 but was only posted on YouTube earlier this month.
The section of road where the race occurred is a long and straight one. However, a few kilometres further on, it runs into an area where there have been several fatal accidents in recent years. At least 10 vehicles were behind the horses and the video camera was in front. The cameraman filming the race can be heard urging his driver to speed up.
A senior garda spokesman at Ballymote said: "We have a copy of the footage and are studying it. All the digits on the number plates are not readily discernible, but we are hoping to identify members of the party. It's a very busy road, the main one from Dublin to Sligo, and much serious delay was caused to other vehicles." He added: No doubt, the law was broken."
Man visits McDonald's drive-thru on a horse A mysterious man, known only as the 'Lone Rider', has been captured on camera making a late-night stop at a McDonald's drive-thru in Swansea. On a horse.
The clip shows the man queuing up to order his Big Mac and fries at the drive-thru window, mounted on his trusty stallion. The men filming the 'Lone Rider' are heard questioning the man, cheekily asking if his steed 'has a cupholder'. Bemused staff at the McDonald's restaurant in Morriston, Swansea, remain professional, serving up a Big Mac and fries with tried and tested speed and precision.
While waiting at the food counter, the horse owner is even given a free bag of carrots for his horse, before the 'Lone Rider' trots away from the window to 'park up', leaving the cameramen to quickly grab his McDonald's.
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Not bad, but it doesn't beat the HORSE earlier in this thread who gets driven to the burger joint and snarfs one down!
Blind student saves for three years to buy a guide HORSE because her strict Muslim parents consider dogs unclean
As a blind Muslim woman, Mona Ramouni has had to make do without a guide dog her whole life.
The 28-year-old's strictly religious parents would not allow a dog in the house, considering the animal unclean.
But then Miss Ramouni stumbled across a website article about miniature guide horses in April 2008.
'It was something that I never thought about for myself,' she said.
Leading the blind: Mona Ramouni has bought and trained a miniature horse, Cali, to be her guide
The psychology student used three years of savings from her job at a Braille proofreading company to pay for a horse to be trained to act as her guide.
measures about 2ft 6in tall and has been taught to stand still indoors. She also helps Miss Ramouni get out of vehicles and move through crowds.
Her proud mistress said: 'She is an awesome little horse. What I really want is to be able to take her places neither of us would have been able to go without each other.
'Before Cali, I had given up. I got to the point where I thought, 'I'm going to get nothing out of my life'. Cali has given me the confidence back I used to have as a kid.'
Born three months premature, Miss Ramouni lost her sight shortly after birth.
Among the challenges she had to overcome in order for Cali to stay at her home were getting a permit to place a large shed in her family's garden and to find a farrier to look after the horse's hooves.
Her friends warned her it would be a difficult thing to do.
But Miss Ramouni said: 'The more everybody told me "No, don't do it," the more I wanted to do it,' she said. 'I got to a point in my life where I thought... "Why should I settle for something less than I can have?"
'There have been so many obstacles. People said 'You'll never find a vet. You'll never find a farrier." I found them all.'
She added: 'More than even the independence, I found that Cali showed me that there are possibilities.'
Horses for courses: Miss Ramouni and Cali attend a seminar at Michigan State University
Cali helps his proud mistress cross the road. Miss Ramouni spent three years saving to buy the 2ft 6in tall horse
it seems a shame to me that her parents wouldn't let her just get a guide dog - and i'd have thought of dogs as cleaner than horses - but its quite incredible that a horse can be trained to help!
The amazing festival where they celebrate the patron saint of animals... by riding horses through FIRE
17th January 2011
To the sound of drums and bagpipes, horses leap through flames. But what appears to be a scene from a film about the apocalypse is actually an annual tradition in the small Spanish village of San Bartolome de los Pinares.
In honour of the patron saint of animals, men ride their horses through bonfires every year on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day as part of the Luminarias religious celebration.
Despite the danger such an activity might pose to the animals, the riders actually take part in the fiery festival for reasons of purification and protection. Locals insist that the animals are never hurt, and instead they are protected for the coming year by the smoke and flames. One man took a tumble though as his horse tried to skip the fire dance and he was thrown from the animal.
The tradition dates back about 500 years.
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St Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals... what they're talking about is beyond me. I wonder who should be the patron saint of HORSE! though?
Riding a HORSE while drunk deemed legal in US state of Montana
Drink driving might be banned the world over, but in one US state drink riding is allowed and positively encouraged, as this recent advertising campaign shows.
The Montana Department of Transportation started a legal debate with an advert urging drinkers to get a lift home. The public safety video featured a horse picking up a rider at a bar. It was meant to act as a metaphor to encourage drinkers to seek alternative means of getting home.
But in a state well known for its horse culture it is being taken literally. Curious residents calling Helena Police have been told that riding a horse while under the influence is legal. The law in Montana carefully defines a vehicle, and excludes those running under real horse power.
The video shows a savvy horse carefully obeying traffic laws on a night-time journey through town before stopping in front of a bar to pick up a rider who has enjoyed a drink or two.
Welsh town overrun by 250 gypsy horses A town is being overrun by a pack of 250 wild horses abandoned by gypsies who can't afford to feed them.
27 Feb 2011
The horses are believed to belong to gypsy families who have moved on from the area and were unable to pay for their feed and upkeep. Five of the horses have been killed when they were hit by cars and others are starving because they are not being fed. RSPCA inspectors were on the scene at Bridgend, South Wales, after calls from worried animal lovers.
Hundreds of people have posted messages on a Facebook page set up by the Society for the Welfare of Horses and Ponies. Chairwoman Jenny Macgregor said: "The horses are everywhere, we've had reports of them getting onto the M4 motorway and being killed. We have found at least five or six dead and they are dying of starvation and lung infections. The situation is out of control."
Residents in the town say they have been woken up by small groups of horses galloping past their homes in the middle of the night. Animal lover Pat Jones said: "They have apparently been wandering around for the last few days. One of my friends has spent the morning trying to keep them from running into the road. There are around 250, but they have split up into groups and they are absolutely starving. I've heard that at least five or six have been found dead. It's really sad."
An RSPCA spokesman said: "We are assessing the situation."
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