2020 is burning away.

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2020 is burning away.

December 27, 2020

By Kristy

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December 27th

2020 is burning out with hopefully the last fire for a long time in the Tonto National Forest. Appropriately named the Christmas Fire it currently does not endanger any wild horses.
We are keeping an eye on it however, because should it jump Bush Hwy, which we have seen so many fires do this summer, then all of their habitat would be in danger once again.

U.S. Forest Service-Tonto National Forest
December 27th 9pm

WILDFIRE ALERT: The Christmas Fire is burning east of Bush Highway in the Rolls OHV area near the FS Road 1808/FS Road 1863 junction on the Mesa Ranger District. The fire is currently 60 acres, burning in grass and brush with 0% containment. There are no structures threatened, and no evacuations are in effect. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Firefighters will remain on scene into the evening, working towards containment. There are no closures associated with the Christmas Fire, however, please use extreme caution if recreating in the area. Fire crews will be traveling in the area performing suppression operations.

Please be careful with all fire ignition sources when recreating in the forest. For tips on responsible recreation, please visit our website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/tonto

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UPDATES

Our supporters keep us going 👏 Monday, 18, Jan
Hay! We need your help. Monday, 18, Jan
We are so saddened by the continuous roundup and removal of thousands of wild horses by the Bureau of Land Management Monday, 18, Jan

UPDATE: Thank you MCSO! This driver was just arrested for DUI and felony endangerment to one of our volunteers. Lynda is shook up but ok and was soon joined by the rest of our fencing team to fix the section of fence so no horse would get on the road. Thank you Fencing Team! We also want to thank the bystanders for their eye witness accounts and for stopping to check on Lynda.

Posted earlier: Our Fencing manager Lynda just nearly got run over by this car when she was working on fixing a fenceline at mm 30 on Bush Hwy. (While wearing her bright safety vest) The car missed her by one foot, ran over her fencing supplies and took out 30 ft of fenceline. Then it kept going.

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1 day ago

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So glad Lynda is safe and that the driver was caught. quick thinking to get that license plate shot.

So glad your ok, Lydia. How scary that had to of been.

Most importantly, very glad Lynda is ok. Also, thank you MCSO for apprehending the driver.

Really happy Lynda is okay. So terrifying. And glad to here the person has been arrested. Thank you MCSO

Thank God Lynda is ok. Maybe you can put those orange cones out there but in this case it wouldn’t have mattered. I hope they find that guy soon!

So glad they caught the one who did it and that Lynda was not hurt. Thank you MCSO!

It's impossible to take a leisurely drive anywhere anymore. I've tried many times to take that drive and just take in and admire the beauty. Nope. Everyone's in a hurry on that road. So disappointing.

Wow that’s must have been scary! Glad Lynda is okay and the guy was caught.

Well I'm glad Lynda is ok, yet I seriously hope this driver is found.

Oh my gosh. So thankful she’s ok. She must be so upset! I hope they locate the driver before someone is not so lucky. ❤️❤️❤️

Thanking God for his protection. Thankful that one more drunk driver(potential killer) is off the streets. Thankful for each volunteer and the work you do.

So glad Lynda is ok! How scary! I hope this person is found soon.

I’m glad Linda is ok and wasn’t hurt 😳

O M G. I’m so glad she was not hit. I sure hope they can track down the driver and give him a hefty fine.

The vest still could of been her saving grace. Are we allowed to put up a folding caution horse with a blinking yellow light or something like that for fencing along highways? If not I got a small folding saw horse we could hang a cow bell on. Seriously. Whew. Close call.

Oh my! Possibly was texting too! Glad she is okay.

Hope they are caught soon. Glad she is ok. You see that kind of stuff on t.v... but don't expect to see it in real life.

So glad Linda is okay! Hope the driver is found and held accountable. I dont understand why people need to drive so crazy along Bush Hwy. It is a beautiful drive and people should slow down, pay attention and enjoy the drive

On NO. So relieved to hear Lynda is safe. What a frightening shock it must have been for her. Praying they find this driver and get them off the road.

So glad that Lynda is alright. Glad MCSO caught this person. Glad that no volunteers or horses were hurt.

Great job keeping your Wits about you, and getting a good photo of the car and plate, Lynda! Glad you're OK!

What a scary thing to happen. I hope they catch the driver. Definitely something is not right, who hits a fence and keeps on driving. Prayers for Linda and All to be safe.🤗🌹❤🙏🙏

So happy to hear you were not critically injured, you are an amazing lady to keep your wits about you and get a clear picture of the plate on the car !! Hope for a happy ending !!

So glad Linda is OK. I hope they got him. That is the type that also runs over the horses. He needs to permanently be off the road.

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Adoptive homes are very hard to find for equines that just need to retire, but this is one lucky mule who found one!

Frankie Fourpeaks, the abandoned mule we rescued from four peaks road, has arrived at his forever home in beautiful Southeast Arizona, at the foot of the Chiricahua Mountains and his new name is Tucker!

We want to thank Sharon Good and Rob Smith, for providing this lovely home, where Tucker has everything an equine could hope for, new friends, great healthcare and lots of room to explore, and best of all, he can stay there forever and will never be abandoned or end up in a bad place again.

It was a 4 hour trip for our volunteers to take him one way, but they said it is absolutely beautiful there. Sharon has an Airbnb on the property which is a lovely getaway for anyone interested in going to hug on Tucker! See comments for the link to the airbnb!

We are looking for more good retirement homes for 3 more abandoned stray horses we rescued from the Tonto National Forest! Please share for more good homes. Message us if you can provide one!

#goodhomes4horses
Thank you! SRWHMG. ... See MoreSee Less

1 day ago

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Rocky Preston😊

I did not see it! Missed it! How are you doing? Getting better, I hope. See you soon!!!!!!

So happy to hear he has a good forever home..💜🎉 Thank you SRWHMG for all you do for the Salties and beyond.. You all are amazing.❤️

Great news! Thank you for finding a good home for him. He deserves it.

He couldn't be in a more beautiful place with wonderful people to care for him! And he has a few horse friends too! ❤️

Yay Tucker! So glad he has his forever home and how beautiful it is there

great news, I was wondering what happened to him. thanks for the update and saving his life!

Chelsie Lee Crewse

Thanks to everyone involved in giving Tucker his forever life. 💜

Thanks! You awesome to take Tucker in! Thank you SRWHMG! You rock

What a kind thing to do! Bless them for helping him!

So glad he found a home. ❤️

Wonderful!!! 😍

Amazing and AWESOME. To the adoptive parents of this fella ... bless you 🙏🏽❤️

We are going to Bisbee this fall!!!! Would love to visit. I can not find the town they are in though. Anyone know?

Tucker is settling in well. The horses are staying close to him, waiting until he can be let out and join them. We thank the wonderful ladies who made the trip to bring him to us. .We loved getting to know them and they seemed to think Tucker would be happy here. A match made in heaven. Maybe he can forget about the bad things that might have happened to him before SRWHMG rescued him. We will keep you all posted.Thank you again!

So glad he has a home rather than the ? Canyon....,not saying it is a bad place, but I had a feeling because of his friendliness, he wasn’t a wild soul. Happy Trails there Tucker!.... 💕😘💕

Sharon & Rob adopted a dog I fostered for Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue of Arizona a few years ago. They are wonderful people and Tucker will have an excellent life with them! ❤️❤️❤️

I've been to Sun Glow! It's an amazing place to go. I highly recommend it. Horseback riding, pool, tons of birds, peace and quiet.

Wonderful! Thank you SRWHMG for rescuing him and thanks so much to Sharon and Rob for loving him and giving him the best forever home.

Such a wonderful story! ❤️

Congratulations to Tucker, his new family and everyone at SRWHMG!! Sharon Good and Rob Smith are my new heroes ❤️❤️

Yay!!! So happy for Tucker!!! The video of him broke my heart so it's great to know that will never happen again.

So happy for him! His forever home is beautiful and he will have fur friends to hangout with! Thank you Sharon Good and Rob Smith for providing him a home. sunglowretreat.com/?fbclid=IwAR3bl9nDcNDNtu8B381ioqrVlNFG1zloVC4-CdEnM_IaNptRzNrOHjZ_eNY

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A story of humane wild horse management, by Simone Netherlands, picture by Maile Alday.

This is Serena in the middle, with her offspring Sergeant on her right, and Soldier on her left, living happily ever after in the Tonto National Forest, against all odds.

We all know that nature can be cruel sometimes, and little Soldier is one of those foals who would not have made it, if we, SRWHMG let nature have it's way.

If you have not heard the story previously, here is the short version:
While soldier was being born, Serena had no protection from her lead stallion who was incapacitated with VSV. She became the subject of a battle between a dozen bachelor stallions, who were trying to conquer Serena. Soldier, not even two hours old, was in the midst being thrown and kicked around in the process, and while Serena put up on the most amazing mare maneuvers to protect her newborn, she was losing the fight. (We published the dramatic footage by Drew Hastings right after it happened)

We could not watch this go on, so together with our Ag liaison Makenzie, the decision was made to save the fragile foal, by making a protective human circle around him and his mom. Many people helped and we picked up sticks and yelled at the stallions, it was quite the spectacle, but it worked.

Serena seemed in tune with the fact that we were protecting her, and finally Soldier could get up and drink his vitally important first milk, in the middle of our circle, a heart touching moment for everyone involved. We then continued to stay with them the entire day and the next, until the bachelors finally gave up on conquering Serena.

Is that messing with nature? It certainly is.
But I've seen enough suffering at the hands of nature (as well as at the hands of government roundups).

However, the tiny foal's battle for survival was not over. He had an injured hock, from being thrown around, but he bravely kept up with his protective mom and sweet brother. It was hard to monitor him hopping around on mostly 3 legs for what seemed to be forever, but we knew that he would eventually recover, and now, he has.

Had we not messed with nature, this would have been one less horse in the herd. Serena would have just produced a new foal the next year, and the next and the next, that's how nature fixes that. Likewise, during a drought, a large percentage of the herd would just die off, because that is how nature balances the numbers the other way. It's harsh, and not exactly what the public wants to see when they are on a relaxing outing in the national forest.

So while we have prevented some deaths and suffering, it's only responsible to prevent births also. We have effectively found a way to balance the numbers, but in a more humane way than nature would do it, and a much more humane way than the government would do it.

Serena is a fabulous mother. Every year, her body conceives and is pregnant for 11 months, while she feeds a foal plus a yearling at the same time. That is 3 mouths to feed, which is very taxing on her body. She has 8 surviving offspring; good job Momma, you can now retire. Thanks to our succesful PZP program, Serena is not pregnant and will not conceive again, as long as we give her her yearly booster.

Is that messing with nature? It certainly is.

Serena is now much healthier and has time to raise her two boys. Instead of a new foal, it is Soldier who gets to live happily ever after, a more than fair exchange with nature, we think.

The deeper meaning of this story is that without this form of safe birth control, Serena and her family might not have been here at all.. This herd had no legal right to live on the forest and were unprotected by the free roaming Wild Horse and Burro act.

Without question, it was thanks to our PZP humane management proposal, that this herd's fate was turned around. Through the cooperation of government agencies and politicians who did the right thing, and with the premise that we could stop the herd from growing out of their boundaries, the roundup was canceled in December of 2015.

But even today, there are no solid guarentees of no removals. That is why we work so hard to stabilize the population in this manner, so that all of them can stay wild and free, in the place they have called home for centuries.

On both sides there are many people who still do not understand that there are better ways, and that they are available right now, not in the future.

Preventing suffering, while also preventing births, doesn't make wild horses any less wild, it makes them humanely managed, and that is a beautiful thing.

Many of you helped to hope and pray for the best outcome for Soldier. Many of our volunteers were taking turns monitoring them. When you are hoofing it through the desert in 112 degree heat and you can barely go on, it is this exact picture that you keep in mind and hope to take or see one day.

There is real blood, sweat and tears involved in managing wild horses and trying to make change. All I have to do is look at these three faces to know we are doing right by them all, and I am so thankful that we can.

Therefore I thank our supporters for the undying support for our work, I thank our dedicated and compassionate volunteers for the blood sweat and tears, and all of us should thank the USFS and the AZDA for their partnership in this novel cooperation for the humane and responsible management of the Salt River wild horses.

May they live happily ever after.

📷Picture by supporter Maile Alday who was part of the effort to protect Soldier. ... See MoreSee Less

3 days ago

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Thank you for what you do. Love these horses.❤❤

A great big Thank you to the SRWHMG and all the volunteers,blood, sweat, and tears.You all are doing an amazing job. Thank you to the AZDA and the USFS for the partnership and cooperation to allow the PZP humane management plans to be so successful.. All of us Wild horse lovers appreciate getting to go out to the River and see the Beautiful Salt River Wild Horses running wild and free and looking so happy and healthy. Thank you to all the wonderful donors and supporters as well for without you all none of this would be possible.. It's a Win, Win partnership that allows the Salties to remain wild and free.. 💜🐎🐴👋

Thank you all for helping Serena and her family so that Simone could tell us this beautiful story. SRWHMG works so hard to keep the horses wild and safe. This is just one of their stories. Thank you so much! 💘 💘 💘 💘

This family is what we want for all the family bands. This is one tightly bonded group with the fortitude to thrive in difficult situations. May they always be blessed and watched over.

How I wish everyone would see the truth and logic in what you're saying and permanently cancel roundups in favor of this 'humane human management' of herds. I'm so distraught hearing of the new BLM appointee. I so wish this new administration would put an end to BLM doings and make this a priority. I so understand what you're saying. I'd have been part of that human circle protecting the little one, given half a chance <3

Every story within this herd is just as amazing as the last!!! Thank you to all who work so very hard to keep them safe and healthy!!!!!

It's also so much better for mares, and any animal, not to conceive each year. It's much too depleting on the moms :'(

Thank You SRWHMG for all your hard work & efforts & Thank you AZDA & USFS for working in partnership for the greater good. And thank you to all the public who supports as well. Amazing story!!

Thank you for helping save Soldier. Such a wonderful little band.

Beautiful story and I say thanks for all you do SRWHMG Beautiful photo Maile

This is the way it should be! Thank you #USFS and #AZDA for working with SRWHMG to keep these beautiful wild horses in the only home they have ever know ❤️

You all do an amazing job of protecting them!

You know you will Never get everyone to agree with what your doing no matter what. People always have opposite opinions, although not better solutions. All you have to do us go on a BLM web page and disagree with something they've posted, you Will have a hundred people commenting on how great The BLM is and what a great job they do. While there is no perfect solution, I would hope others would realize you are doing what's in the best interest of our wild horses. Its seems so much better than some of the alternatives!

I'll take birth control over roundups n slaughters.. .......

I saw the video of mom trying to save her baby. I didn't know that the two leggeds came to her rescue! You all have the hearts of lions! Standing ground to one stallion let alone five is a heroic feat! Thank you from the depths of my heart ❤

So well written Simone! Without SRWHMG, all the wild ones would now have been rounded up with a bleak future, if any future at all. Thank you for all you do. All I could contribute to Soldier's survival was ferverent prayers and asking about his status when we could not find him or his band. I do know prayers work. 😁

Thank you for everything you do! I know you only do this in certain situations and I surely agree. Y'all did an amazing job and thank the Lord you happened to be there. Your are greatly admired for all you do for these horse's💕

Absolutely beautiful photo; and many thanks for telling this incredible history! Huge thanks to you and all the other heroes (imho) for your actions that day! I’m a firm believer in the PZP program!!

There are no words — your dedication for the Salt River horses is beyond belief - and my admiration and awe for your organization is the same as when I see one of these majestic horses living - because of this organization -thank you!

Grateful for all your valiant efforts in keeping the Salties safe and loved and when necessary fed. ♥️😇♥️😇♥️😇♥️

Great work! I hope every wild herd can begin to be managed this way. Wild horses may not be native, but they are truly American!

Most things in life not black and white,, are complicated and involve compromise abd tough decisions with mixed results. They made compassionate decesions that were compassionate and as ujntrsive as possibe given what they were dealing with. Thank you for sharing this stiry...

And finally under President Joe Biden's new cabinet head of the Bureau of Land Management we have a Native American who hopefully will work with us to end the round-ups, rewild the thousands of wild horses and burros in government internment prisons, and develop more programs like the Salt River wild horse program. There is hope!! Thank you God.

You all do such an amazing job. Got to meet three of your most hard working volunteers today when they delivered the Mule to us. We immediately loved them and Mr. Mule, now Tucker.

Simone, beautifully written and truthfully profound. I, for one, will fight for the rest of my life to "mess with nature" as SRWHMG does. It is from deep protective love and unique understanding to what nature and wildlife needs. What the opposition, abusive government agencies, naysayers, and the naive forget is that humans put this wild herd and all wild horse herds across the nation in the position they are in. It's not their fault their land is diminishing, being sold off to housing communities or given to ranchers. It's not their fault their grazing grounds or water sources are dried up, redirected, siphoned off for cattle, crops, or surf parks. Humans put them in this position, the horses are innocent. We...ALL....have a responsibility to keep them safe, happy, healthy, and FREE. Thank you SRWHMG, you are a blessing in every regard. xox

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2020 is burning away.

2020 is burning away.

December 27th

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Our supporters keep us going 👏

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