Why We Are Not Going to Theodore Roosevelt This Year

It occurred to me while we are waiting for Kate that I should tell you why we are not going to Theodore Roosevelt National Park this year.  As most of you know, we nearly always finish our trips with a visit to Theodore Roosevelt.  It is a very special place for us, full of wonderful wild horses, bison, elk, deer, and prairie dogs.  This year, however, we will skip our trip there.  The park is having a horse round-up to auction off over 100 of the horses.  The auction will take place on September 28.

Of course, the round-up will be extremely stressful for the bands.  The park intends to round up nearly two thirds of all of the horses.  It will take some time for the horses to settle back into their normal routine and accept humans at close distance.  Additionally, because the national park horses do not fall under the Wild Horse and Burro act, our greatest concern is that many of our favorite horses, particularly the three-year-old stallions, will not have a favorable outcome during the auction.  There will be slaughter-house representatives at the sale.

If you would like more information about the sale of the horses, please check the North Dakota Badlands Horse Registry group's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Dakota-Badlands-Horse/199504484529?hc_location=stream.  This wonderful group is attempting to find homes for all of the sale horses.  Because six horses were lost to the slaughterhouses during the last roundup several years ago, the group has made arrangements with Mustang Legacy Rescue to adopt as many as forty of the horses to prevent them from going to slaughter.  If you would like more information or to donate to their cause, please click here:  http://www.ilovemustangs.org

From our understanding, Theodore Roosevelt National Park staff is doing a great job trying to round-up only the most adoptable horses, including weaned colts and fillies, and one, two, and three-year-olds.  My understanding is that they are trying to leave the lead stallion and boss mares with each of the established bands.  The park has worked hard to control the herd's population without too much intervention, including instituting a birth control trial for the mares over the past three years.  Unfortunately, the trial has been very unsuccessful.   In order to keep the bands healthy and keep the park from being overgrazed, they must cull the herd to bring it down to a more optimum 70-100 horses. 

Our prayers are with the North Dakota Badlands Horse Registry group's efforts and, especially, with the TRNP horses.