Federal government thins the herds of wild horses in Colorado
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government → thin → Colorado
A helicopter swooped through the bright blue sky, as a pilot scanned the high desert below for wild horses running through the dusty sagebrush, about an hour's drive west of Meeker, Colorado.
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pilot → swoop → Meeker
A small group of reporters and horse lovers watched from the cover of wizened trees, about a mile from a pen that would trap the horses.
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that → watch → horses
Horse advocate Robyn Smith spotted the first group of the day.
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Smith → spot → day
Through her high-powered camera lens, she watched about half a dozen horses of various colors galloping together.
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horses → power → colors
"It makes me happy they're living their best life," said Smith, a retired architect who has traveled across the West to photograph wild horses.
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who → make → horses
"And it's just such a beautiful thing to see when you're just wild and free like that.
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you → see → that
But she knew what would come next.
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what → know → ?
Soon the helicopter was hovering above the horses, including a baby.
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helicopter → hover → baby
They ran away from the loud buzz and toward the pen, just out of view.
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They → run → view
The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the U.S. Interior Department, oversees both wild horses and the public rangeland they call home across 10 Western states.
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they → oversee → states
When the agency determines there are more horses than the land can support, it removes a set number.
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it → determine → number
For this gathering event in rural Colorado, about 1,000 are slated for capture.
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1,000 → gather → capture
Most of the gathered horses will end up in controversial long-term holding facilities that some horse advocates equate with prisons.
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advocates → gather → prisons
As Smith watched the horses gather in the pen, she clicked her camera's shutter in rapid fire and started to cry.
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she → watch → fire
She explained that once captured, the horses will be separated.
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horses → explain → ?
The BLM reunites particularly young foals with their mothers.
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BLM → reunite → mothers
That's a family out there," Smith said through tears.
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Smith → say → tears
"It's a family broken."
Protecting the land — and the horses?
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It → break → land
The BLM currently houses about 60,000 horses at a cost to federal taxpayers of about $100 million a year.
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BLM → house → million
Rio Blanco County Commissioner Callie Scritchfield, however, said captivity is more humane than allowing the horses to roam free.
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horses → say → ?
"You never see a skinny one in there," she said of the holding facilities.
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she → see → facilities
"He's always got something to eat every day, and he's got a drink of water every day," which she thinks is better than the life many horses experience in the wild.
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horses → get → wild
Scritchfield, a former rancher, described seeing wild horses starving on the range.
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horses → describe → range
She recalled coming across one stuck in a mud hole.
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She → recall → hole
The mustang "was trying to get the last drop of water, but he's bogged down.
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he → try → water
He don't have the strength to get out," Scritchfield said, grimacing at the memory.
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Scritchfield → have → memory
Some federal lands outside Meeker have been denuded by both domestic cows and wild horses, said Troy Osborn, a range expert and former U.S. Forest Service employee.
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Osborn → denude → cows
He said that both animals have similar diets and that the range needs to be protected from all those hungry mouths.
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range → say → mouths
"We want to see the ground healthy.
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ground → want → ?
We want to see it productive," he said.
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he → want → ?
"We want to see it used by all animals, by all species."
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it → want → species
Cows vastly outnumber wild horses in the West — the BLM estimates that just over 85,000 wild horses roam federal lands nationwide, compared with millions of cows.
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horses → outnumber → cows
But ranchers argue that livestock are carefully managed, while the movements of wild horses are less controlled.
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movements → argue → horses
Horse herds can also double in size every few years without human intervention.
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herds → double → intervention
The BLM says the roundups help keep those numbers in check.
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roundups → say → check
Finding a home off the range
The BLM says about 8,000 of these wild horses were either sold or adopted last year.
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8,000 → find → horses
When Cindy Day took in her wild horse, Moses, four years ago, he was "horrifically wild," she said, but she has watched him learn to trust.
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him → take → horse
At the ranch she bought for Moses near Grand Junction, Colo., Day petted his mane as he snorted and nuzzled her.
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he → buy → her
Good boy!" Day said, as she gave him a peck on his cheek.
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she → say → cheek
…and 18 more, not listed.
