Wild Adobe Town Mares with Radio Collars Released in BLM and University of Wyoming Study

On a cold Saturday morning, a significant event unfolded in Adobe Town as wild mares fitted with radio collars were released. This initiative, part of a study by the BLM and the University of Wyoming, aims to track these majestic creatures in their natural habitat.

I joined the BLM, a researcher from the University of Wyoming, and a BLM ranger as we headed out to Adobe Town to release wild mares that had been fitted with radio collars on Thursday. Some mares had been held for several weeks at the Rock Springs corrals, and I was relieved to see them finally released. As usual, I was the only member of the public attending.

We turned off at Bitter Creek Road and started down the road, which was in good condition until we passed Eversole Ranch. Then, as we continued south, more and more large drifts of snow covered the road. The big truck towing the horse trailer in front was breaking through the drifts for the rest of us. After about 10 miles, we stopped and let out the first collared mare, a light grey color, whom I am calling Meryl. She jumped out, followed by her friend, a bay mare.

Even though she was being released about 20–25 miles from where she had been captured, at least she had a friend with her, unlike most of the mares who had been released before, all alone. They went a little way from the trailer, then turned around and looked at us before casually strolling and exploring. They did not seem alarmed.

We got back into our vehicles and then stopped after 2 miles. After checking with the researcher, we got back in—despite the worsening road conditions, he wanted us to go further away—they want these mares’ collars to be “spread out.” We kept going another 2 miles until stopping at a big snow drift—the truck and trailer were stuck in a huge snow drift! So they decided to let the remaining mares out there just past Cow Camp, a collection of old derelict buildings.

This time the horses were a bit confused, so the contractor had to wave the flag a bit to get them to come out. First was one of the mares without a collar, then the collared mare and another mare came flying out of the trailer and into deep snow by the side of the road.

There is no way to tell if these mares were from the same family—no one kept track of that important fact, but I was told that they were captured in the same area. Certainly, the collared mare, whom I am calling Sunny, looks very similar to the other sorrel mare, so perhaps they are related. At any rate, they left the area where the trailer was quickly, pausing briefly by the old buildings.

Then I saw them head out, and they were soon out of sight. Again, I was very happy that this mare had two friends with her, and they were all released about 20 miles from where they were captured.

So now they had to get the truck and trailer out of the snow drift. I was very glad it was not my vehicle that was stuck. Soon we all turned around and headed back on the long trek toward the highway.

On the way home, I thought about the mares with radio collars, 10 so far out of the 20 that they want to put these collars on. I hope that the collars are not too tight, digging into their necks, and also hope that none of these mares gets hung up on a post or fence or her own hoof. Eighteen months is a long time to wear these old-fashioned, bulky, and dangerous collars. I hope that if any of these mares do run into trouble, the researchers at the University of Wyoming are actually able to release the collars before the mares die. I still firmly believe that the best way to study wild horses is in the field, without capturing them and removing them from their families, without endangering their lives with these dangerous radio collars.

Originally posted by Wild Hoof Beats