A Day with SWAT

SWAT Rendevous, September 2016

We anxiously anticipated what we would find when we visited the Sand Wash Basin wild horse herd.  The Sand Wash Basin area appears to be the largest Horse Management Area (HMA) in Colorado, including 157,000 acres and nearly 600 wild horses.  TJ from the Spring Creek Basin herd had invited us to the SWAT Rendevous…. a work day with the Sand Wash Basin Advocacy Team.  We were interested in finding out more about their work with wild horses, particularly after a dear friend texted me that a Colorado newspaper had just reported the BLM had voted to euthanize 45,000 wild horses.

We spent Friday afternoon traveling the wildlife loop.  The loop was gravel, rutted in many places, and required a high-clearance vehicle.  Within minutes, we discovered our first wild horse band.  

Sand Wash Basin wild horse band

Sand Wash Basin foal

Sand Wash Basin stallion

Invited by photographer and SWAT member Patti Moseby to join her at their camp.  Once we settled in, Patti invited us over for a fajita dinner… what hospitality!  It was a wonderful time and great food.  We spent the evening overlooking the Little Snake River and watching a full moon rise over the mountains. 

Camp at Sand Wash Basin

Little Snake River Overlook

Moon rise over Little Snake River

The next morning, we headed to the Rendevous.  Nearly 50 folks joined us, hailing from Colorado to Canada to Kansas to Texas (us).  Several other advocacy groups also joined the group, including TJ representing the Spring Creek Basin herd, Ginger representing Wyoming’s Pryor Mountain herd, and Michelle from Great Escape Mustang Sanctuary.  Representatives from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) also attended the event.

We began the day with a local park ranger speaking about the archaeology that could be found in the Sand Wash Basin.  Next, the group added a brochure box to an informational kiosk.  We then caravanned to and removed the remains of an old corral, cutting and gathering barbed and woven wire.  We learned that removing wire has become a tradition with SWAT after a beloved stallion named Greasewood became entangled in wire, resulting in injuries that required his being put down.  We gathered and compressed two pickup loads of wire from the old corral.

BLM truck loaded with recovered barbed and woven wire

Our next task was unexpected.  We came upon a mare that had managed to cross outside the HMA fence during winter.  The group decided to try to herd her back into the HMA.  Our first attempt failed miserably.  We were able to herd her in the right direction, but she bolted at the sight of too many people near the gate.

Sand Wash Basin mare bolts from capture

Another attempt… another failure.  The mare ran along the fence line, hundreds of yards from the gate.  One of the volunteers found a weak spot in the fence and dropped it.  Several of us fanned out, attempting to form a line to keep her along the fence, hoping to drive her into the opening.  She again broke the line.  We made one last attempt.  I watched as David and Steve dipped over a rise, trying to herd the mare back again to the fence opening.  Several of us fanned out, attempting to look like a formidable line to prevent her bolting again.  The majority of the group, however, must have felt that the task was impossible.  They began leaving.  Now only five of us remained. 

The mare came over the rise and bolted away from the fence.  It was obvious that she had no intentions of being part of our rescue plan.  We bid her farewell, fixed the fence, and walked back to our vehicles.  Already plans were being made to find a better way to reintroduce her into the herd.

Sand Wash Basin mare outside HMA

SWAT ended the event and evening with a wonderful hamburger cookout.  One member even brought skewers of rattlesnake, mushrooms, and green peppers to place on the grill.   (Tastes like chicken!) 

The local BLM branch manager spoke after we ate.  He reassured everyone that in spite of newspaper reports, the BLM had voted against euthanizing the 45,000 wild horses held in corrals.  I leaned over and asked the lady sitting next to me if I had heard the numbers correctly.  Yes.  The BLM currently holds 45,000 formerly wild-roaming horses in corrals.  This number was more than a shock to me. 

We also learned that the Sand Wash Basin herd, which numbers approximately 560, has a 360-horse limit for current management levels.  Rather than a “gathering,” which we learned was driving horses by helicopter… a traumatic and dangerous reduction method… the BLM branch manager said that they planned their first bait trap in October to capture approximately 200 SWB horses.  The bait trap method uses pens that surround watering holes.  Once penned, the BLM planned to dart mares with fertility control and remove about 50 young horses and place them with the Great Escape Mustang Sanctuary for gentling and, hopefully, adoption.

The evening ended on a positive note.  The BLM folks thanked SWAT for their continuing efforts to work with them, including the volunteers who dart mares with fertility drugs, those who help maintain the Sand Wash Basin HMA, and for their efforts in finding homes for displaced horses.  It appeared to us that the Sand Wash Basin Advocacy Team and the BLM were working closely together to solve a complex and challenging issue to preserve these wild horses.

Wild horses… a symbol of the American West.  We had no idea about the controversy, about the numbers of wild horses in holding corrals, about the challenges facing those trying to save them and the BLM trying to care for them.  Our wild horse tour is definitely not turning out as expected.  It was turning out to be so much more. 

The next morning we took another tour around the Sand Wash Basin.  This will definitely be an area to return to.  We made new friends, learned so much, and best of all, have seen wild horses.  Wyoming is next!

To read more about the SWAT Rendevous, please click here:  http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2016/sep/18/wild-horse-advocates-improve-range-everyone/