Colt killed after injuring leg escaping BLM roundup, event captured on video
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Video showing a colt hurting its leg as it fights to get away from wranglers is the latest flashpoint in advocates’ criticism of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundups on Nevada ranges.
The colt was killed after the injury, one of two horses that died on Saturday, Jan. 6, the 10th day of the East Pershing Complex roundup. So far, 11 wild horses have died during the operation. The colt’s death is classified as one of three “acute” deaths, with eight others due to chronic conditions that would prevent a horse from surviving in the wild. The horses are “humanely euthanized” according to the BLM.
The roundup will eventually take nearly 3,000 wild horses off the 2 million-acre range between Winnemucca and Lovelock. So far, 934 horses (408 stallions, 441 mares and 85 foals) have been gathered, according to BLM reports posted online.
“A mare and her colt escaped. The colt is now dead,” according to an account on Wild Horse Education’s website. “Our observer is extremely far from trap.”
A mare and the colt tumbled through a fence as a group of horses were being driven toward the trap area by a helicopter, video provided by Wild Horse Education shows. The advocacy group has a lawsuit pending against the BLM over the 2023 Antelope Complex gather.
Fighting to escape after it was roped, the colt kicks its legs and falls at one point. Then it gets to its feet and walks, still struggling against the rope. At that point, the colt begins to favor one leg, trying not to put its weight on it and stopping. Eventually, the colt goes down and wranglers close in.
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Wild Horse Education’s description of the event accompanies several videos that show what happened on Saturday. The group argues that there was no need to pursue the mare and the colt once they went outside the fence line. They say the roundup wasn’t intended to remove every horse, and wranglers overstepped by going after the two horses.
“In our view, escape should have been allowed. This is not a zeroing out (all horses removed),” according to the website. BLM’s target for the roundup was to leave a population of more than 600 horses on the range.
“You can see in the videos above (even though it is really far away and not clear) the extent of the injury, that they try to walk the colt in even with the injury. The colt goes down for good. Then they load him on the back of an ATV, and he almost slides off,” Wild Horse Education reported.
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The website also takes BLM to task for the restrictions on observers during the roundup. The group said, “You can also see the absurdly far distance we are placed for observation at temporary holding. No observation of handling at temporary corrals has been facilitated. Horses are then shipped to an off-limits facility where no assessment is possible.”
Wild Horse Education’s video shows a horse it identifies as the same mare looking out the back of the trailer — presumably for the colt — as the horses are carried out of the roundup site to pens near Winnemucca.
The group also points out that as horses are driven to the trap area, cattle are grazing in the area. A separate lawsuit by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) criticizes BLM for its failure to review grazing permits. Wild horses are blamed for damaging habitats as the population has grown.
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