Horse Sanctuary Rescues 73 Mares from Nevada

Return to Freedom has achieved a significant milestone by rescuing 73 Calico Mountain mares from Nevada. This marks the largest single rescue in the sanctuary's 13-year history. The organization aims to reunite these mares with 20 wild Calico stallions previously rescued, allowing them to live naturally in a spacious habitat.

The horses were initially delivered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to temporary quarters in Fallon, Nevada, before being moved to Return to Freedom's site near Lompoc on December 15, according to Jill Anderson of Return to Freedom.

The goal is to recreate family bands for the horses, enabling them to live as naturally as possible at a preserve in northwestern Nevada.

The mares are classified as “sale authority” horses, meaning they are older and could have been sold for as little as $10 each or sent to government holding facilities in the Midwest, where they would not have had the opportunity to live as wildmustangsin family groups, according to Return to Freedom.

The horses were captured between December 28, 2009, and February 4, 2010, during one of theBLM’s largest and most controversial helicopter roundups in years.

The majority of capturedmustangshave been transported to long-term holding facilities in the Midwest, where maintenance will cost taxpayers an estimated $800,000 per year over the 20- to 30-year lifespan of the horses, DeMayo said.

In addition to creating a preserve on private lands adjacent to and within theCalico Mountains Complex, Return to Freedom is partnering with Soldier Meadows Ranch to propose a pilot program for on-the-range management of the wild horses in the threeBLMHerd Management Areas.

“We are hopeful that theBLMwill accept our proposal to create a pilot program to maintain healthy herds on healthy ranges in the historically unique and beautifulCalico Mountains Complexin Nevada.”

Return to Freedom Sanctuary, incorporated in 1997, is dedicated to preserving the freedom, diversity, and habitat of America’s wild horses through sanctuary, education, and conservation.

The sanctuary has rescued and relocated about 1,000 horses over the past decade and manages intact bands representing various strains of America’s wild horse herds at its 310-acre sanctuary near Lompoc.

Originally posted by Santa Ynez Valley News