Report: Broken Arrow Tour - A Glimpse into the Lives of Captive Wild Horses
Broken Arrow (aka Indian Lakes) was recently awarded an expanded contract. New pens are being built to warehouse even more wild horses and burros behind closed doors. This is a facility where wild horses get hoof care maybe three times a year, get fat on cheap high-calorie food with little to no exercise, and languish for years with few opportunities for adoption.
After the last tour of Broken Arrow, members of the public tried to circulate tag numbers and photos in hopes of getting some of the horses adopted. However, this caused tempers to flare at the additional workload created for BLM employees. Instead of working on a mechanism for efficiently getting information to potentially interested adopters, at this tour, attempts for adoption were discouraged. Only approved applications will be given any information. No timetable or schedule has been arranged.
Row after row, pen after pen, are the faces of nearly 3,000 wild horses. The vast majority of these wild horses have sat in that facility largely unobserved by the public for years now.
The entire experience is one of frustration.
This tour was part of an agreement with myself and the BLM. If the facility is used as intake, a tour will be arranged. The agreement came after years of fighting for access to wild horses and burros during capture and in facilities. We are still working actively on refining the parameters.
The "intake" that triggered the tour was Fish Creek. The Fish Creek mares are literally prisoners in that facility, held hostage by Eureka County and a handful of ranchers, and are showing signs of stress. Heavily pregnant, these mares should be preparing to give birth to their babies free on the range. Instead, they sit awaiting the ruling on an IBLA Appeal filed by the county on behalf of ranching interests to stop the release. Two mares have reportedly aborted.
The Fish Creek operation was done under a full force decision by BLM. The plan is in full compliance with the law. We, and all the horses that should be free in Fish Creek, await the ruling of an IBLA judge. The ruling is expected soon.
Photos by Wild Horse Education
More information on the standoff at Fish Creek: