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This is Part Ten in a series on the Virginia Range horses and the Nevada Department of Agriculture. To understand the context of this report, please start at Part One.
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ANOTHER 30 HORSES RECOVERED
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The wild horse advocates, led by the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund, returned to the Fallon Livestock Auction on Wednesday, September 26. The Nevada Department of Agriculture had captured 30 more of the historic Virginia Range horses and had hauled them off to the livestock sale.
A couple of kill buyers had shown up but once again the advocates found themselves apparently bidding "against the house" when the Virginia Range horses came up.
Nonetheless the groups persevered. Shannon Windle (Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund) organized the activities. Laura Bell (Starlight Sanctuary) bid on the horses for the advocates. Least Resistance Training Concepts (LRTC) handled logistics. 30 horses are a lot of horses to move at one time so HorsePower and some volunteers from the Douglas County Mounted Posse provided some much needed additional transportation.
It was well after dark once the bidding and paperwork were completed.
Given the late hour, the horses were transported to the Camelot Arena in Stagecoach to be fed and watered for the night. The next morning the advocates returned to sort the horses back into small groups for transporting to a pasture that was rented short-term.
Sorting the horses into loading groups required time and patience to prevent the foals from getting hurt. Plus the foals sometimes didn't follow their parents into the correct sorting corral, so the advocates had to make sure the right foals were with the right mares before loading.
(Even though all of the horses would be released onto the same pasture, foals can be greatly stressed and are more likely to get injured when separated from their dams during transport.)
By mid afternoon the horses had been delivered to their temporary pasture.
The Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund greatly needs qualified adopters and appropriate sanctuary opportunities for these horses. In addition to this group of 30 horses, Hidden Valley and its allies have acquired over 30 additional horses from previous sales and the Nevada Department of Agriculture is expected to strip even more horses from the range. Financial support for Hidden Valley and the allied groups is critical in order to carry out this mission. Any help in finding appropriate permanent homes for these horses would be greatly appreciated.
The AOWHA would like to acknowledge the combined efforts of the following groups in support of this continuing effort. In alphabetical order they are: The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund, HorsePower, Least Resistance Training Concepts, Let 'Em Run, Lifesavers, Protect Mustangs, Return to Freedom, Wild Horses in Need and Wild Horse Spirit. (If we've inadvertently left out any group that helped with funding, logistics and/or placement, please
email us and we'll edit this page.
Meanwhile you can help try to end this onslaught on Velma "Wild Horse Annie" Johnston's historic herd by contacting the officials listed at the bottom of this page and expressing your views.
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