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▲"Taffy" and Betty's first
ride |
▲"Whisper" and
Bobbi. Left eye removed at vets.
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Wild
Horse Spirit Ltd. presents...
"the
Palomino Band"
 
Free-Roaming
in the Virginia Range -August
1989
©
Photo by Wild Horse Spirit, Ltd.
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"As
It Should Be, Wild Horses (forever) Running Free"
The "Palomino Band"
was a
well-known and beloved Virginia Range band of wild horses photographed while free-roaming in August 1989.
On this early Sunday morning, this band has been the
third wild horse band to drink from Lousetown Creek during the summer drought. Very
orderly and courteously, each band waited and allowed each preceding band distance and
time to drink. Then each band resumed their precious free-roaming migratory journey.
This beautiful family of wild horses was removed
from the Hidden Valley community in February 1991 to protect them from harassment, abuse
and slaughter-for-profit by a few unkindly and unenlightened humans. If the saga continues
as is continuing on both public and private western ranges, soon the last wild horse will go
with Pegasus.
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Riparian Areas and Wild Horses
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Below
are a series of photos taken on that summer morning in August 1989.
The photos demonstrate that during droughts, wild horses know the
preciousness of water. We observed them drinking quickly and leaving without disturbing
the riparian areas or the surrounding forage. The MYTH that wild
horses destroy riparian areas is false but
continues to be propagated by the private vested interests of public lands livestock
industry and uninformed people..
See for yourself below and you decide.
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| (ABOVE)
That early August 1989, Sunday morning, we waited quietly on the
mountain side hoping to see the Palomino band that we had observed
in early spring near the developing Hidden Valley community just east of Reno NV. While we waited,
(LEFT) the first band appeared from
the left. They drink from Lousetown Creek then moved
up the mountain road. (RIGHT) Then the second band appeared. They, too, courteously and orderly,
drank from the
creek then continued on their free roaming migratory journey. |
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| (ABOVE)
August 1989. We had almost given up, when suddenly,
the Palomino band appeared to our right on Lousetown Road. They,
too, waited quietly for the 2nd band to drink. Once they left, they
proceeded down to the creek. They were the third wild horse band to drink from the creek
that early Sunday AM. The Palomino stallion is seen far right just above
the green sagebrush. The palomino filly is Yellow Fox and the
sorrel paint filly is Echo. |
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(RIGHT) August 98-
Palomino stallion, "Skip", is to the far the
right. The dapple gray mare is Whisper's mother. The
dark foal to her left side is Whisper's brother. Whisper was born
the next year in 1990. By that time, Whisper's brother had turned a
dapple gray like his mother. The Palomino band, along with Whisper,
returned to Hidden Valley in 1990, the drought still on-going. To the far left is a
reddish-brown foal. That is Taffy. By February 1991, the Palomino band was
removed for reasons given above. It was then that we adopted Whisper,
our first wild horse, to save her from slaughter because of a
blinded left eye. Whisper was considered "unadoptable". But
WOW what a horse she turned out to be.
Taffy was our 2nd
wild horse. Both
still "Spirits" at Wild Horse Spirit. |
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| (ABOVE)
Now the Palomino band is at the creek, quietly and quickly drinking from
the creek before continuing on their precious free-roaming migratory
journey. This was the only water source around during the
drought. As you can see, the MYTH propagated that wild horses
destroy riparian areas is entirely unfounded. In time of drought
and unlike livestock, wild horses drink then leave, hardly disturbing
the creek and surrounding forage. |
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After drinking from
Lousetown creek on this early Sunday morning in August 1989, the Palomino
band's precious daily free roaming journey continues.
Taffy
is the sorrel foal bringing up the rear. The dark foal is Whisper's
brother.
Whisper was born one year later in 1990.
The dappled gray mare behind the palomino stallion is Whisper's mother. |
Where
are some of these wild ones
now!
Taffy, only a few months old in the August 1989
photo at the top & in the photo on right behind Whisper,
born the next year to her dapple gray mother, are both "Spirits"
at Wild Horse Spirit. Skip, the Palomino stallion is
in Missouri and
Goldie, a palomino filly, lives in Reno.
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HISTORICAL
NOTE: The
Virginia Range wild horses (Northern Nevada) are the very horses that
spurred Nevada's Wild Horse Annie, Velma Johnston,
 on a long grueling
political journey, beginning in the 50's, to stop cruel atrocities
inflicted upon wild horses by unenlightened humans who saw them only as an
easy cash crop for slaughter (mustanging); only objects to satisfy their need for cruel
excitement, pests, etc. Annie's journey ended in the passage of the
federal 1971 Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Children were
instrumental in helping to pass this Act. The Virginia Range was
the on-site location of the movie, "The Misfits" (1950's), starring
Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. The "Misfits" graphically
documented the cruelty inflicted upon the innocent wild horses of the
Virginia Range.
Ironically,
the Virginia Range wild horses were excluded from the Act, as were many
other wild horses across the western states. Mustanging
continued in Storey County (NV) and surrounding counties until late 1993 when
Storey County finally passed an ordinance prohibiting mustanging because of
public outcry and zero tolerance for this senseless tradition.
In
December 1990 which is the shortest and coldest days of the year, a
mustanger with the approval of Storey County officials and brand
inspection certificates issued by the Nevada Department of Agriculture, captured 391 wild
horses through a grueling helicopter chase and trucked them directly to auction for slaughter
in Idaho, North Platt NB and Texas. These 391 horses included
stallions, mares, and foals. Today, there remains only two horse
slaughterhouses for human consumption in America...Beltex and Dallas Crown
in Texas. Both are foreign owned and horsemeat is shipped and consumed
abroad as a delicacy. Click on
Texas for more information and what is
being done to stop this atrocity.
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More
to COME! |
Wild
Horse Spirit, Ltd.
25 Lewers Creek Road
Carson City, Nevada 89704
(775) 883-5488
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