In June of 2021, I was able to visit the Onaqui Wild Horse Herd Management Area in Utah, It’s South of Tooele, which is also south of Salt Lake City. My Friend Cindy B., a Local Nurse invites me to come with her in exchange for help with her photos and computer. We spend several days out in the heat and the sun, just following them around, snacking & snoozing in between times. It’s relaxing, exhilarating and quite emotional. They are majestic, Wild and Free. Over the last 5 years we’ve learned so much about the wild horses in America, enough now to see the heartbreak of being a wild horse in this time. We learned of helicopter roundups, herd size limitations, Livestock overgrazing and water & food shortages related to drought. There are so many people who have a healing connection with the animals, their fire to help these horses can be so emotional, even believed to be a spiritual connection with them. So many that get close to these animals find themselves at odds with each other because of their passion on how care for them sometimes varies. These horses in this area right now are approximately 475-500+ head depending on who you ask. The government’s solution is to remove them from this area and place them in “government housing”. They essentially lose their freedom, some are auctioned off to private owners and some are sold and used for an unspeakable demise. But for the most part, they have food and water, at the expense of the BLM. The BLM is planning to use a helicopter, to roundup 400 of these horses, 85+% of this herd, and remove them at the end of July 2021. These roundups are not always safe for the elderly or the youth in the herds. They also split up families, restructure family groups known as bands. It’s funny that these horses who are often thought of as “Wild and Free”. But some may argue that they are actually be Feral and Fenced. No matter what happens, for this moment of time, right now, they are wild and free and I hope I’ve captured that exact thing. May God know our hearts by how we’ve loved those who can not help themselves.
