Hello and Happy Wednesday! 

We have a few updates for you:

Week #2 postcards – THANK YOU to everyone who let us know there were 2 repeats on the list from the week before.  If you sent them again, no worries, it doesn’t hurt.  If you didn’t send yours already, Mark Amodei and Michael Cloud are the duplicates that you can take off this week’s list.

You also MAY have received more than 100 postcards.  That is ok!   Please just fill out the names we give you every week.  We will have direction next week on what to do with any extras.

Next week we will give the list of the week #3, our final week, of postcard mailing.  Be sure to check our blog on Monday. 

Don’t forget to post your photos of you mailing and/or writing out your postcards on social media in a public post with the hashtag #wildhorsepostcards!

Alluvium’s story continues to unfold…

Yesterday, North Dakota local reporter, Joel Porter, sent us an email sharing a response he received from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request he sent into GSA auctions about Alluvium.  We have worked hard to establish relationships with the press in North Dakota over the last two years.  These relationships have been extremely important as we fought to save the TRNP wild horses.  They will continue to be pivotal as we move forward to gain state and federal legislation for the TRNP wild horses.  We are grateful to Joel for sharing this information with us!

The report states:

Horse Description:

Male feral horse, aged 5 years, flaxen red roan with star, strip, and snip that is crooked over the right nostril. 14.2 hands, 1050 lbs. This animal was born April 18, 2019. Because this horse is untrained and has had little direct human contact, recipient corral facilities must be a minimum of six feet in height throughout to prevent escape. Extensive experience in gentling and training horses will be required to handle this animal. The buyer must make arrangements with park staff for pick-up of the animal at corral facilities near Medora, North Dakota (zip code: 58645). The buyer must provide transportation from park lands to the receiving location. Vet exam on 7/2/24, Health Certificate and Coggins issued.

Intended/Preferred Disposition: Placed with owner capable of providing care, shelter, and high quality of life for the horse, as working or hobby stock.  The horse was re homed to a private individual’s home and will be used for riding according to the Statement of Intent.

Bid amount: $25.00

The FOIA Document is here for you to review:

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has been clear on our feelings about the entire situation with Alluvium.  We feel that from start to finish, this whole situation was handled poorly, and we are hoping this does not set a new precedent for the wild horses that call the park home. 

As we have said many times, we didn’t win this one.  There is nothing more we can do for Alluvium.  If you have more to say about his situation, or have additional questions, they should be directed to Theodore Roosevelt National Park through their horse portal.  You can submit your questions here: https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/nature/feral-horses.htm

Sidekick and Guardian

We have received more questions about the shocking deaths of Stallion Sidekick and Stallion Guardian. 

Deaths of our beloved wild horses are extremely hard.  Personally, these horses have been a part of my life for 8 years now.  I do feel like I lost a couple of good friends.  It seems very surreal to me – especially Sidekick.  He was a bit more visible regularly than Guardian.  It will be really hard to see Mare Mist without Sidekick by her side. 

I also feel that I have an obligation to all of you as the head of this organization.  As I have said many times, I never claim to have all the answers, and what I don’t know or understand, I reach out to people who can help me understand the situation. I have said before that I do take seriously what our non-profit lawyer told us when we incorporated: Non-profits belong to the communities they serve.  While CHWHA does have our own board members, we feel that each one of you is equally important to the success of our organization. 

First, both bodies were found.  Neither showed any signs of fighting as the cause of death.  We also can obviously only see one side of the body.  We do NOT believe that there is any foul play involved. 

Since so many of you had concerns you were sharing about the deaths of these two stallions, I reached out to a well-respected veterinarian in our area and asked her some questions.

Regarding a necropsy

Necropsies can be done by her office.  They do them in the field and she said they really need to be done within a day otherwise there is too much degradation. 

When Sidekick died, we all assumed it was because he was older and accepted that easier.  When it was discovered that Guardian passed away too, it was already too late for a necropsy for Sidekick and we believe that Guardian actually died a few days before Sidekick did, so it was too late for a necropsy for him by the time his body was found. 

NO ONE sees every single horse in the park 24/7 or even daily.  We may see them from a distance, but we have no way of knowing how they may have been acting in the days or even hours leading up to their death.  NO ONE knows the cause of their deaths – for all we know they were fighting with another stallion and had a literal heart attack. 

The vet also said that toxic weeds, lightening strikes, contaminated water sources, strangles or even West Nile virus can all kill native horses – most of those would show signs days beforehand.  Again, unlike domestic horses, no one sees these horses every single day to notice things we would have needed to know to be alerted to a problem.  Also, if there were things like toxic weeds or contaminated water sources, we would see deaths from more horses and also other large ungulates, not just these two horses, in the park as well. 

For now, we simply have to accept the loss of these amazing stallions and truly be grateful that they lived their entire lives – no matter how short or long – wild and free. 

The vet did say that if there is another sudden unexplained death in a short amount of time, we should notify the North Dakota State Vet so that they can look deeper into the situation.  I am also sure that there is a protocol for that within the NPS policies and procedures. 

While I hope that this helps some of you have closure to this situation, I know some of you still have questions.  You are always welcome to ask your questions directly to Theodore Roosevelt National Park through their wild horse portal: https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/nature/feral-horses.htm

Thank you for your continued support and have a great rest of the week!

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