A wild foal was rescued from a gravel island on the Red Deer River late last week.  You can read more about this dangerous venture on their blog.  We are pleased to report that a week later the foal is doing fine, slurping back his bottles of milk and travels with the couple when they leave the ranch for more than a day.  They don’t leave him with staff, instead they take him along like they would a child.  The devotion his human care-givers show the little fellow is remarkable, he is in excellent hands.  We will kee you updated on his progress.  www.northernhorse.com Thanks, Doreen.

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A package containing the hair samples from eleven Alberta wild horses was mailed to the University of Texas, Equine Genetics Lab on March 4th, 2007. The samples included six of the horses that had been shot earlier this year and five live colts. The colts were the four featured in the last blog and Wyley, WHOAS rescued colt. Due to the fact that all the wild horses west of Sundre look remarkably the same as a Spanish mustang, we believe they are one of the same. Their features include the roman nose, or Iberian head, their height is around 14 hands with the muscular build and weight is around 800 - 900 lbs. Included in a mustangs descriptive features includes an unusually long mane and tail, color patterns such as black, bay, chestnut and dun with some buckskins, palimino’s, roans and a few paints. A primitive dorsal stripe is often found down their backs (see the picture of the mare that was shot with the two foals, she has a dorsal stripe). If these horses were mere mongrels of the equine species then they would come in all different shapes, sizes, colors and features, would they not? Interestingly though some American Mustangs that have been genetically tested have bloodlines that include a few breeds of domestic horses, yet they do not deprive their mustangs of protection because of this, unlike Alberta. Conversely though, many domestic North American horses include Spanish Mustang bloodlines, not the other way around, an example of this is the prized Quarter Horse whom has the mustang in his gene pool, as do many other North American created breeds. Which breed came first? The mustang. Furthermore, American mustangs enjoy legal protection and so does the Sable Island Horses which inhabit a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker passed a law in 1961 which allowed the wild horses to remain there unmanaged not interfered with and unharassed. They are still protected today. The Sable Island Horses are comprised of many different breeds, as their ancestors were abandoned on the tiny island a few hundred years ago. It will be interesting to find out the results of the DNA testing of the Alberta Wild Horses near Sundre. Some wild horses in the Brittany Triangle in British Columiba have also been tested and found to be of Mustang descent. Two wild horses of the Lloyminister Alberta/Saskatchewan in the Bronson Forest have been found to have bloodlines dating back to the days of the conquestador. I will attach pictures of a Sundre area wild horse, one from Bronson Forest, and another from Nordegg, Alberta. It’s not all that easy to tell them apart. I will locate and post pictures of the Sable Island and the Brittany Triangle horses at a later date, along with a photo of a domestic North American horse for comparison as well. It will take several months before we get the DNA test results back but when we do, we will post the report on this site, ASAP.

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These two framed photo’s to the left are of Bronson Forest Wild Horses of Lloydminister, Alberta/Saskatchewan, courteousy of Ray Sproull.

This photo below is of Nordegg Alberta Wild Horses sent in by Darren Smolski of Kilam, AB

 

The horses from the Nordegg area are probably the same type of mustang as the ones in the Sundre area, as they are in the same general locale.  Their height and weight and physical characteristics appear simular.   

Whereas the Bronson Forest wild horses are around 12 hands high and six hundred pounds.  They are approximately the size of  a Welch pony.  Their terrain includes heavy brush which makes it much easier to get around in with their smaller size.  It would be difficult for a larger horse to get through and survive in theses particular conditions.  Hence they have evolved to survive in their surroundings.  Â

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A police sergeant of Vancouver by the name of Steven Gibson contacted WHOAS on behalf of the 24SevenCop2Cop News, requesting a story about the wild horses.   This newspaper is distributed free of charge to 40,000 police officers in 36 US states and across Canada.  Sgt Gibson would like to help try to catch this suspect, which he refered to as a coward.  That terminology is highly appropriate to describe the horse killer(s).   I submitted an article to him along with pictures of the horses before and after being gunned down.  We look forward to seeing the article in print and receiving input from possibly hundreds of officers sharing their ideas on who commited these attrocious acts.  We have also had emails from a half dozen officers both currently on the job and retired wanting to assist us.  They were with the RCMP, City of Edmonton Police Service, City of Calgary Police Service and one officer from Florida.  It is indeed  tremendous and heartwarming to know that so many people are wanting to put a stop to the wanton killings of our mustangs, our animal of heritage.  

Submitted by Doreen Henderson 

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February 25, 2007 Mustang Sally was brought to her new home after spending three months at the Bear Valley Rescue Centre.  WHOAS had received an email back in November about a four year old Alberta mustang mare that needed to adopted out to a new home.  Sally had been captured as a yearling from the foothills near Sundre and sold to a gentleman who found himself in a position of being unable to take her with him when he moved.  He was afraid that if she went to the auction she would surely go for slaughter.  For the past three years Sally had lived comfortably and quietly in a very large pasture with other domestic horses but had not been handled or halter trained.  Sally was brought to the rescue centre a week after we received the emailed request for help.  WHOAS arranged and assisted in moving Sally to the Centre where she has since waited for a suitable adoption placement to be found.  Today a man’s dream came true by adopting Sally and bringing her home to her new location.  This fellow is a WHOAS member and a very experienced horseman and farrier, and has worked with all kinds of horses for over thirty years.  He is looking forward to working with  Mustang Sally who’s intelligence seems to surpass most of her domestic pasture mates.  This afternoon while he got the mare settled in her barn stall, Bob and I were thrilled to discover four mustang colts that had been rescued by the people who own the horse boarding ranch.  The only other bidder at the auction was the meat buyer on these four little angels.   The little fellows were extremely thin, dehydrated and in need of lots of TLC.  In the past two weeks these colts have been halter trained, dewormed, had their hooves trimmed and supplied with excellent feed and care.  The owners of the colts will adopt them out in a few weeks after having received further training & handling and when their health is completely restored.  The foals are still a bit shy of strangers but have come along way in a short period of time.  Two little bay colored colts are named Reno and Rascal and are likely 1/2 brothers.  Anyone interested in adopting any of these four little fellows can contact bob1603@telusplanet.net We would like a brief description of your experience and training of horses, the type of facilities you would provide, along with pictures of it and why you think you would make a suitable candidate to take on a mustang.  Name, address and phone number should be included as well.  All candidates will be screened.  The price for one of these foals is $650 which does not include transporting.  The owners of these beautiful colts naturally have the final say as to whom the foals will go.  They have spent a lot of time in caring for and training these wee ones.  WHOAS is merely offering advertising and assistance in screening of possible adopters.  There will soon be other adoptions advertised on our website of other displaced adult mustangs and foals in need of new homes.  Pictures of the four colts will be posted shortly.

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The illegal shooting of wild horses is a travesty, but so is the legal capture and sale of wild horses to the horse slaughterers, an enterprise, which is sanctioned by the provincial government.   Justification for this practice is based on the flimsy contention that these horses are not “wild” but merely “feral”.  The dictionary defines feral as “having refered to the wild state, as from domestication”.  and wild as “living in a state of nature;not tamed or domesticated’.

The free-roaming horses in the Clearwater Forest Reserve are most definitely living in the state of nature and are not tamed or domesticated.  They exhibit the classic social structure of wild horses with each band having a stallion and a group of mares and this season’s foals.   The stallions run their own progeny out of the herd before they reach breeding age.  The fillies are picked up by another mature stallion and added to his band or by a young stallion just starting to build a band.  The young stallions join together to form bachelor bands until they are mature enough to start their own band. 

You need only need catch a glimpse of some of these wild horses to know that the suggestion they have descended from horses used for logging is ridiculous.  Horse loggers use draft horsess, which usually weigh around 1800 to 2000 lbs.  The prefered working animals are geldings, which obviously can’t reproduce.   

Wild horses are small by domestic standards, even a mature stallion is unlikely to weigh more than 850 to 900 lbs.  In fact, these wild horses most closely resemble the horses the Spaniards brought to North America back in the  1500’s.  Those Spanish horses formed the seed group for the vast herds of wild horses, which eventually populated all of the Great Plains.  I believe that our wild horses are some of the last reminants of these wild herds. 

At least one of the early explorers of this area refers in his journal to the existance of wild horses in the foothills North of the Red Deer River.   So there is documented evidence that wild horses have been indigenous to the area for more than two centuries.  Certainly, there would have been some instances of feral horses joining the wild herds, but virtually all of the free-roaming horses currently inhabiting the Clear Water Forest were born wild. 

These horses are imperiled because they have almost no legal protection.  They are not covered by wildlife legislation, and the Stray Animal Act is clearly inappropriate.  What is needed is specific provincial legislation which will protect wild horses on public lands and ensure that Alberta will always have wild horses.  The legislation would also provide for a means of managing the population of wild horses through a selective culling and adoption program.  The wild horse is symbolic of the spirit of Alberta and the preservation of wild horses would be a tremendous legacy for this province.Š Published with written permission from the author Robby McHenry of Innisfail

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The observation of the dying horse was made by RCMP Corporal Dave Heaslip with the Northern Alberta Livestock Investigation Unit in the Olds Albertan Newspaper, January 30th, 2007 edition. 

Whether you like wild horses or not, agree with their existance in the Eastern Slopes or not, we should all agree on one thing, that was a pretty cruel way to die.  All seven wild horses died a few feet from each other, at the two different locations and spent slugs were found at both crime scenes.  From what I understand, very large predators, even in packs, such as the wolf, don’t take down several prey at a time and side by side.  Unless however, the predator happens to be of the two legged variety, weilding a rifle.  It has been the observation of not only WHOAS members but the general public as well writing on this blog that the wild horse numbers are down.  Reporters came out to the foothills West of Sundre from CBC, television and radio, CTV, Global Calgary, The Globe and Mail, The Sundre Round Up and the Olds Albertan to the two kill sites.  Along with this,  the journalists spent several hours covering at least 100 square miles in search of live Alberta wild horses to film.  So where are all the horses? Why wasn’t the large area they went over teeming with horses?  Even the government’s 2006 aerial count using trained observers and researchers showed the horse numbers down, from 225 in 2005 to 191.  The government, in their reports admit to the declining numbers.  It is a fact that the buffalo, antelope and other species were driven to near extinction due to unscientific negative attitudes.  History tends to repeat itself, one species at a time.  Why wait until it is too late for the wild horses?  The reputable scientists and biologists continue to warn us of this danger.  Indeed THE SKY IS FALLING…  Doreen

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We just received word late this afternoon that four more horses were found by one of our WHOAS members. He brought the SRD out to the killing site. The deceased herd is that of a white stud, a mare and their two offspring, a yearling and a foal. This is within a few kilometres of where sixteen other horses have met the same horrible fate. Bob drove out there as soon as he got the call, however, it was dark before long, and he was unsuccessful in locating them. However, he will find their remains. It is chilling to think that the perpetrator is showing his contempt not only the horses, but society in general by killing again. It could be the work of a copy cat killer, however, I think it is the same psychotic, trigger happy individual, lifting his perverbial middle finger at everyone.

Doreen Henderson

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During a meeting with the Government officials and other stake holders almost two years ago now Wild Horses of Alberta Society had requested a moritorium on the capture season for at least one year. This was requested in order to study the herds as we felt the foal mortality rate was unusually high.  Instead the government listened to a few horse capturers present and big industry representatives and whereby ignored all the tax paying public’s letters supporting wild horses and all of our recommendations.   Furthermore, the Sustainable Resource Development extended the capture season an extra month to March 1st, when the mares are heavier in foal and included the month of November just for the running down and roping of Alberta’s wild horses.  We had specifically asked for this practice to be banned, as we feel it is totally inhumane.  A wild  horse is chased across terrain full of hidden obstacles and it is usually very icy and or snow covered.  The fleeing wild horse if roped, is suddenly jarred to a stop by being strangled and in its terror often will fight the rope to death by either breaking its neck or a leg in the struggle.  It is also extremely dangerous to the riders mount as we have personally seen.  We heard of an incident from a couple of years ago, where one of these so called cowboys ran his horse right into a tree branch, impaling it into the horses chest and killing it.  Wild Horses of Alberta Society had also requested that the number of wild horses removed during any given capture season be limited.  To date there is no limit on the number of horses that can be removed, the ratio is supposedly one mare for every three studs, but no limit to that combination.  Hence the wild horses of Alberta are quickly being aniliated, and our heritage wiped out.

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It was horrific to say the least to find the bloodied and scavenged remains of horses we had just visited a few months earlier.  The two  foals I had nicknamed Double Trouble because they were almost identical and were romping and chasing eachother amongst the adult horses, just like you might see children at play in a park.  The sire of these spunky youngsters was a handsome bay and was naturally protective of his family. We hope that this stud and the other mare (mother of one of the shot foals) managed to escape.  However, its possible that they too had been shot and ran into the cover of trees before perishing some time later. In the past we have discovered other horses that had done just that.  It is truly sickening.  I wonder about the sadistic perpetrator of this henious act, how demented and cruel he is likely to be with his own family as well.   Animal abusers are usually human abusers too.  Submitted by Doreen.

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[2007-01-04] -

The wildies in this photo are with us no more. Somebody decided they wanted to shoot them and our government and law enforcement agencies seem to have no problem with that. They get the same protection as rats.

The photo shows the two foals and the mare, the one closest to them, that we found shot and left on January 01,2007 . The picture was taken on Oct. 16/06, just a short distance from where we found the remains.

They were a herd of 5. We do not know if the stallion and the other mare made it. This makes it four horses this year, seven last year and five the year before, all shot and left within a mile radius. It is obviously the same sick individual commiting these atrocious acts.

We are offering a $4500.00 cash reward for information that leads to the identification of the person responsible for these needless inhumane acts. The two foals that were shot were born in April/May 06 and the mare was only 5-6 years old.

We also hear that the traps are back up and in use including on the Red Deer River Ranch. Many of the trapped horses are sold for slaughter.

Locals remember seeing the wild horses in the west country for over a century now. They certainly have potential for adventure tourism. It isn’t hard to find people who would like to go out and see a herd in the wild. If you have never had the privilege of seeing them let me assure you it is thrilling. It makes your spirit soar.

Regardless of how we feel about the wild horses they deserve more respect than what is happening. Please contact us and let us know what you think we should be doing to stop this cruelty. With more voices speaking for them, they may at least receive the basic rights that every animal deserves.

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