Wild Horse Mentors
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Thirsty horses getting a drink
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Years of drought, a rolled over tanker truck and the extended Fourth of July weekend
could have dealt a fatal blow to the wild horses of Cedar Mountain. When BLM's
water contractor had an accident that took the water tanker out of commission
the horses were in a serious predicament. All the springs had dried up and their
very survival depended on water that was regularly trucked in.
Another tanker truck would not be available before the following Monday at the earliest, so BLM contacted LRTC volunteers Cliff and Janet Tipton for help. A plan was hastily organized where the volunteers agreed to make numerous trips into the rugged Cedar Mountain wild horse range with a one ton pickup and small trailer tank in order to preserve the herd. On their first trip Janet Tipton reported, "We saw two to three hundred horses, all patiently waiting for us to fill their tank so they could have a drink. We went over to check another tank and Cliff noticed a yearling struggling inside. It had laid down inside and gotten wedged in the cross supports. Cliff quietly worked his way up and was able to move the colt's head back under the cross bar and free him. He was cut up a little but ran away easily once up. Thank goodness we decided to look at the other tank before leaving otherwise it might not have been such a happy ending." On each trip they have seen different horses, with the exception of one old battle scared stud affectionately nicknamed "Grandpa" and a band of three roan bachelors who were regulars near the emergency water troughs. |
Horses watching from a bluff
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A stallion keeping watch while his mares get a drink
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Old "Grandpa" patiently waiting his turn at the trough
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The following Tuesday night Cliff and Janet headed down to the central part of the
state to provide assistance in a BLM wild horse gather in the
Range Creek HMA.
More photos of Cedar Mountain Wild Horses2002 Cedar Mountain Emergency Horse GatherClose-up of the Cedar Mountain HMAReturn to "Wild Horse & Burro News"Return to KBR World of Wild Horses & BurrosGo to other Wild Horse LinksGo To
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