Report: Tour of Fallon Lakes Wild Horse Facility

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hosted a public tour of the Indian Lakes Off-Range Wild Horse and Burro Corral in Fallon, Nevada, on October 27, 2023. This event provided attendees with a unique opportunity to observe wild horses gathered from overpopulated herds in Nevada and Oregon. The facility, typically closed to the public, opens its doors for tours twice a year.

Tour Details

The privately owned and operated corral is located in Fallon, Nevada, approximately a 90-minute drive east of Reno. Two public tours were offered, starting at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., each lasting about two hours and accommodating up to 20 people.

Report from October 29, 2023

We arrived at the Indian Lakes Off-Range holding facility at 9:00 a.m., where 11 members of the public, including News 8, were present. The facility spans 320 acres of pens and can hold up to 7,600 wild horses. Currently, there are approximately 3,700 horses, including 200 foals, with no shelter structures in the pens, although some new pens have trees for shade.

There are still 1,300 stallions from the Antelope N roundup awaiting gelding. Older horses with hip brands will be shipped to long-term holding. Additionally, horses from the Pancake complex gather, Calico, Antelope complex, and Desatoya roundups are present. Only 12 wild horses from Desatoya are currently at this facility, as others await fertility control and release.

Additional Facilities

During the tour, it was mentioned that Nevada has four holding facilities: Palomino Valley near Reno, NNCC holding facility, Indian Lakes, and the off-range facility in Paradise Valley near Winnemucca. Initially, we were told the Paradise facility was not open, but later it was stated that 1,000 horses are currently held there. Official information about the facility's status was not found online.

The Paradise Valley holding facility is designed to hold 4,000 wild horses in 40 pens on 40 acres, which seems to exceed the appropriate management level (AML). Towards the end of the tour, we visited pens where sick horses are held.

While passing the corrals, a BLM representative mentioned uncertainty about the specific illnesses affecting the horses, possibly related to surrogate mares nursing orphaned foals. One mare was observed with a cyst on her underbelly. Currently, the only burro on the property is in the sick pen.