(Continued from Part Two.)

On June 6, 2003, forty four of the stronger horses (most of the yearlings) were transported to the Lifesavers facility in Lancaster. All the horses made the trip in good condition. This removal reduced the crowding at Fish Creek by over 25%. The horses at both facilities continued to gain weight and flourish. While some of them, especially the older ones, weren't real fleshy, they were all starting to return to reasonably healthy condition.

There still remained the issue of sorting the remainder of the pairs, many of which included newborns. The decision was made to quietly sort the pairs into small groups and hold each group separately until final sorting for loading. This significantly reduced the risk of getting foals trampled.

Ranch foreman "Chewie" and his crew had several pairs, plus a very pregnant mare, sorted for transportation on June 24. Jill Starr and Angi Keitel from Lifesavers were on hand for the sorting and loading. Volunteers from LRTC, VRWPA and Wild Horse Spirit provided trailers and took horses for the shorter run between Fish Creek and Dayton, NV, where they could be held until strong enough to go to Lancaster or be adopted from Dayton.

A priority in this effort was to sort out he weaker pairs, however any reduction in the overall population made the situation safer for all the horses that remained. Also making things tricky were issues such as new foals still being born, the corral fencing being designed for cattle (fences ony 5 ft. high) and several of the mares being rather large (16 hands high) so great care had to be taken not to send a horse over a fence or getting a foal hurt.

Views of mares and foals

Moving around quietly

This morning's new foal

Another view of some mares

Foals, yearlings and mares

Standing watch

Very pregnant mare taking a drink