Saturday, November 3
Summary: The contractor and equipment arrived today and the temporary holding facility was constructed. Three trap locations were identified and the first trap, the Tin Cup Trap, was set up. This trap is located in the Muskrat Basin Herd Management Area.
Animals gathered: 0
Animals shipped: 0
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Sunday, November 4
Summary: Gather operations commenced this morning at the Tin Cup Trap in the southern portion of the Muskrat Basin Herd Management Area (HMA) and ended at approximately 3 p.m. A total of 124 horses were gathered.
Animals gathered: 124
Animals shipped: 0
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Monday, November 5
Summary: Gather operations began this morning at the Gas Hills Trap in the east-central portion of the Muskrat Basin HMA. A total of 166 horses were gathered, including seven horses from outside of the HMA.
Animals gathered: 166
Animals shipped: 42
Total Deaths Today: 1
Acute: 1*
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
* A three-year old stud died today in the chute at the short term holding facility. The APHIS veterinarian on site performed a necropsy and determined that the horse suffered from a genetic defect which, with the additional stress of the gather, caused an aortic aneurysm. The APHIS veterinarian will complete a full report.
Tuesday, November 6
Summary: Gather operations continued this morning at the Gas Hills Trap in the east-central portion of the Muskrat Basin HMA. A total of 59 horses were gathered.
Animals gathered: 59
Animals shipped: 104
Total Deaths Today: 1
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 1*
* A two-year old bay mare came into the trap today with a previously broken and deformed left front leg. The leg was fractured in three places and badly twisted and curved. The mare’s body condition was also very poor and she likely would not have survived the winter. Because of the pre-existing injury and poor body condition, the mare was humanely euthanized.
Wednesday, November 7
Summary: Gather operations moved this morning to the Signor Ridge Trap in the Muskrat Basin HMA. A total of 62 horses were gathered. Gathering from the Muskrat Basin HMA is complete.
Animals gathered: 62
Animals shipped: 44
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Thursday, November 8
Summary: Gather operations continued this morning at the Signor Ridge Trap. A total of 51 horses were gathered from the Rock Creek HMA. Gathering from the Rock Creek HMA is complete. A total of 96 studs were released back into Muskrat Basin HMA.
Animals gathered: 51
Animals shipped: 32
Total Deaths Today: 1
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 1*
Animals returned to home range: 96
* A bay stud with no teeth that was more than 30 years old came into the trap today. The horse’s body condition was extremely poor with a Henneke Score of less than one. It was determined, in conjunction with the APHIS veterinarian on site, that the horse would neither survive the trip to Rock Springs nor many more days out on the range. The horse was humanely euthanized.
Friday, November 9
Summary: Gathering was cancelled today due to high winds. A total of 77 mares were treated with PZP-22 fertility control and 105 horses, including the treated mares, were released back to their home ranges in the Muskrat Basin and Rock Creek HMAs.
Animals gathered: 0
Animals shipped: 13
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Animals returned to home range: 105
Saturday, November 10
Summary: Gathering was cancelled today due to heavy fog and mild blizzard-like conditions.
Animals gathered: 0
Animals shipped: 0
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Animals returned to home range: 0
Sunday, November 11
Summary: Gather operations moved this morning to the Carmody Lake Trap in the western portion of the Dishpan Butte HMA. A total of 43 horses were gathered. Five horses were released back into the western portion of the Dishpan Butte HMA.
Animals gathered: 43
Animals shipped: 0
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Animals returned to home range: 5
Monday, November 12
Summary: Operations moved this morning to the Cedar Rim Trap to gather horses from the eastern portion of the Dishpan Butte HMA. A total of 55 horses were gathered. High winds shut down gathering by noon. Nine mares were treated with PZP-22 fertility control and 13 horses, including the treated mares, were released back to the range in the Rock Creek HMA. A total of 28 horses were shipped to the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility.
Animals gathered: 55
Animals shipped: 28
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Animals returned to home range: 13
Tuesday, November 13
Summary: Operations continued this morning at the Cedar Rim Trap, gathering horses from the eastern portion of the Dishpan Butte HMA. A total of 44 horses were gathered and one released, completing gather operations in the Dishpan Butte HMA. A total of 27 horses were shipped to the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility.
Animals gathered: 44
Animals shipped: 27
Total Deaths Today: 1
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 1*
Animals returned to home range: 1
* A 21 year old bay stud that was blind in both eyes came to the trap today. Coupled with his blindness, the stud had a degraded body condition with a Henneke Score of less than three. It was determined, in conjunction with the APHIS veterinarian on site, that the horse should be humanely euthanized.
Wednesday, November 14
Summary: This morning, 24 horses were shipped to the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility. Twenty-nine mares were treated with PZP-22 fertility control and 65 horses, including the treated mares, were released to their home range in the Dishpan Butte HMA. A trap was set up in the Conant Creek HMA this afternoon and 70 horses were gathered, including 20 horses from outside the HMA.
Animals gathered: 70
Animals shipped: 24
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Animals returned to home range: 65
Thursday, November 15
Summary: Gathering was completed in the Conant Creek HMA today, which completes gathering in the North Lander Complex. Eighty horses were gathered from the Poston Ranch Trap. In addition, 34 horses were shipped to the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility. A total of 33 studs were released to their home range in the Conant Creek HMA. Tomorrow, mares from the Conant Creek HMA will be treated with PZP-22 and released, and horses will be shipped to Rock Springs, completing gather operations in the North Lander Complex.
Animals gathered: 80
Animals shipped: 34
Total Deaths Today: 0
Acute: 0
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Animals returned to home range: 33
Friday, November 16
Summary: Operations are now complete in the North Lander Complex. Today, 55 horses were shipped to the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility. In addition, 28 mares were treated with PZP-22 and released to their home range in the Conant Creek HMA.
Animals gathered: 0
Animals shipped: 55
Total Deaths Today: 1
Acute: 1*
Chronic/Pre-existing: 0
Animals returned to home range: 28
* A seven-year old appaloosa stud from the Dishpan Butte HMA that had escaped the temporary holding facility earlier in the week, died from the stress of being re-captured.
Final Gather Summary: During two weeks of operations, 754 horses were gathered from the four HMAs in the North Lander Complex, 403 horses were shipped to the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility, 143 mares were treated with PZP-22 fertility control, and 346 horses, including the treated mares, were returned to their home ranges.
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A death labeled as "acute" is when an animal dies or is euthanized due to acute injuries or medical conditions brought about by the gather and removal process including those that occur during capture, sorting and holding at the gather site. This term will include animals that die for known or unknown reasons thought to be related to gather activities.
A death labeled as "chronic/pre-existing" is when an animal dies or is euthanized for reasons related to chronic or pre-existing conditions such as body condition, lameness, serious physical defects, etc. This term will include animals that are euthanized for conditions not brought about by the gather activity.