Hello and Happy Sunday to everyone!

I have been sifting through the reports the park has given us and not surprisingly, I have more questions than answers. 

Theodore Roosevelt National Park owes us THEIR key for the birth order ID.  It should not be a puzzle and guessing game for us to KNOW with certainty what they did to our wild horses.  We CAN piece together younger horses from 2015—present, but as many of you have noted, there is an error somewhere with the 2021 birth order.  This is why it is important that the park release the key to the public that allows all of us to read the intended “data”.

But then, THAT would mean TRANSPARENCY on the part of the park.  By now, we all know how they feel about being transparent with the taxpaying public!

I CAN tell you that on this report, 199909 is without question Mare Frosty.  I CAN tell you that 200326 is Mare Pretty Girl.  I CAN tell you 201522 is Stallion Grady.  The problem comes really when there are so many horses in multiple years.  How can we tell who they are for sure and how can we KNOW that we are using the same birth order as the park is? 

Yes, the park has used this numbering system forever.  We also know that there were volunteers at the park during the round up that were positively identifying the horses for them.  It should be EASY enough for the park to take the microchip number and give us the name that goes along with that number and their birth order ID.  In fact, since they had volunteers at the roundup for the sole purpose of positively IDing the horses, THAT info should now be part of the information on each horse that is on their microchip.

The park gave us 3 reports that do not require the degree that some hold in “reading scientific papers”.  They are pretty straightforward.  They are data dumps.  The park gave us some data but conveniently left some out, leaving us with more questions than answers.

One report lists all of the horses that were not brought in during this roundup. 

I have it on good authority that Stallion Circus was the 17^th horse born in the year 2000.  That would make his Birth Order ID 200017. 

Now, NO ONE has had eyes on Stallion Circus for YEARS!  After many of us have taken the time to hike out to look for him and after YEARS of NO ONE seeing one of Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s most iconic wild horses, we all accepted by 2023 that he had passed away. 

But

The park seems to have information that we don’t!  They have listed Circus as one of the horses NOT brought in during the roundup!

Did their eye in the sky the days of the roundup see something that NONE of us have been able to for YEARS?

Certainly, someone with such data rich research skills as Dr. Blake McCann would NEVER have signed off on a report that gives less than factual information.  He is, after all, The Chief of Resource Management.  He was in charge of the roundup, and we would believe he is also responsible for the information given within these lovely reports the park released last week before he left until November 4th.

Soooooo

IS 2000 Stallion Circus still alive?

Theodore Roosevelt National Park ABSOLUTELY owes the taxpaying public an answer to that question. After all, the park is charged with the management of our wild horses.  It is the responsibility of the park, NOT those of us who document the horses, to know the status of these wild horses.

And if, Stallion Circus is NOT alive, like all of us who follow this herd believe, HOW did such a HUGE mistake make it into the official reports that Dr. Blake McCann signed off on and fed to the tax paying public? 

And IF the park made that one small “mistake” – how many other mistakes did they make in the reports they released last week? 

We will NEVER know for sure without the key to unlock the Birth Order ID on the horses.

Please, feel free to email Dr. McCann yourself and ask him if Stallion Circus is alive and what his staff is doing to confirm this for the tax paying public.  You can also ask him to release the park’s official Birth Order ID report so we can all read the report the way the park intended us to.  You can email Dr. McCann at: blake_mccann@nps.gov

Since Dr. McCann is out until November 4^th, we also know that Superintendent Finley would also have to have signed off on these important documents that they fed to the taxpaying public.  You can email Superintendent Finley here: Nancy_Finley@nps.gov

This small disputable “fact” the park gave us in this report shows why we cannot trust information coming out of the park in any way, shape or form.  It would seem that they made a huge mistake with the information they released on Circus.   If we are wrong, the burden of proof is on Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  If we are right, what other mistakes can we expect to find in the “Horse Management Data” that summarizes the roundup actions on our wild horses?

Thank you for your support and have a great weekend!

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