June 14th @ 4PM: We are ok! We watched as the Forest Service airtankers were preventing the Fire from jumping the highway at our SRWHMG property yesterday. That would have been a disaster (so it was a tense moment), but Mick's band, who are close by, showed no concern whatsoever. This reminds us of when ...
On a daily basis our volunteers pick up tons of trash. There are also great organizations like Natural Restorations who organize cleanup days, and the tubing company has employees who also pick up daily. But we really do have a real problem with the trash all along and in the precious Salt River. We wish ...
After arriving on scene, @Arizona Equine Rescue and Dr. Leo Egar assessed the burro and sadly, his injuries were too severe, there was just not any way to save little guy. It is one of those sad times when the best thing you can do, is to help the poor animal out of misery as ...
"Why is there a foal on a fanboat?" Rosy's rescue one year ago was a great example of how, here on the Salt River, authorities and our non-profit work together to make humane wild horse management a success. This is the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) and the Salt ...
Salt River Wild Rescues on a really hot day! ; ) These fun loving, silly and gentle souls were once dealt a very unlucky circumstance in the wild, and needed rescue. When they had zero chance left in the wild, with your support we were able to change their fate. We've never had to say ...
We are going into our 3rd year under contract with the AZDA for the humane management of the Salt River wild horses. Here is an update from the AZDA. Please thank them for everything they do to make this great program possible. SRWHMG.
With a bit of a stiff hip and his left eye half closed, the beautiful old stallion definitely looks like he has been in a battle. We are glad that he chose retirement, before he hurt himself worse (wisdom), as we have seen that too. We all loved seeing the little family of three within ...
While there may be more important news in our country right now, we do want to give you the news tonight that Shadowfax is alive. However, it appears that he has been chased away by a stronger younger stallion- away from his mare. 📸 Picture by SRWHMG Rick Blandford It's fairly safe to say that ...
This is a NO picture post on purpose. Dear photographers and advocates, Let the subject of your photography be more important than the photo itself. Keep the focus on their well being, not on the many awwws and ohhhs you get, for posting a foal first. The average survival rate for Salt River foals to ...
When recreating on the lower Salt River there's a chance you might run into some wild horses, literally. This week, the theme has been about harassment. The guy aggressively chasing a band of wild horses (with a foal) out of the river upset thousands and thousands of people so much so that it made the ...
BREAKING: Closure Order in effect restricting equestrian recreation along the lower Salt River, starting at 6 am today May 29th until June 29th 2020, or until rescinded. Map attached. We have identified additional suspected cases of VSV, while not confirmed, the symptoms and lesions are consistent with the disease. There are 13 suspect horses at ...
We the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG), keep the Salt River wild horses free by: 1. Continuously advocating for their rights since 2010. 2. Monitoring and keeping accurate data on every horse in the herd. 3. Working with the authorities, not against. 4. Implementing solutions at no cost to the government. 5. Promoting ...
Respect wild horses by maintaining a 50 ft distance from them at all times. Help us protect wild horses by sharing this video, thank you! SRWHMG.
ALERT! Bush Hwy is CLOSED! Never in our lives have we seen so many people in the Tonto National Forest and on Bush Hwy! All Rec Areas are filled to capacity, there is stand still traffic everywhere. Authorities have had to shut down Bush Hwy from all sides, from the Beeline, from Power Rd and ...
These are the signs we have posted at all main entrances to the Forest. Horse riders please beware. We have already discovered 4 more suspected cases. Please share with your horse back riding groups and friends. This is the press release from the AZDA: NOTICE : Suspected VSV in Salt River Horse Herd PHOENIX, Ariz. ...
Can you tell which horses are the same and which are different? In these pictures you can see how similar some of the face markings can be. Yet we need to know exactly who is who, especially with the mares, because they are all on a different PZP time schedule and they each have their ...
Our hotline rang at 11 pm; two wild horses had fallen into the South Canal and were struggling and floating toward the deadly transfer dam. It made the national news at the time, this was 2018. With a huge effort from our volunteers plus 18 firefighters, Felicity and Iggy were hauled out in the nick ...
Our rescued Salt River wild horses can’t have the river, but they can have their own waterpark! They are simply fascinated by water. All of these sweet souls would have died slowly in the wild, had it not been for our rescue program. These are orphan foals, and horses with detrimental injuries, horses hit by …
If you cannot get enough of the Salt River wild horses, (or if you cannot find them) this is the page where you can see amazing pictures, live videos, GoPro videos and updates every day: Salt River Wild Horses - Advocates. We post updates there, too, like this post about the Butcher Jones bands who ...
Update on June 16th, 1 month later: We got the truck! We are in dire need of a truck for pulling the water trailer, the horse trailer, the hay trailer, and for our field fencing maintenance. We are relocating Mick's band and they need water every morning and night. We are calling on our supporters ...
Wild horses of Butcher Jones Beach are now at the Salt River this year. On any hot summer day at Butcher Jones Beach, it is tricky to manage your way between a thousand people, loose dogs, coolers and barbecues, if you want to reach the cool water. Yet this small stretch of not even 800 ...
Tomorrow the recreation areas in the Tonto National Forest will re-open. The horses have had a reprieve from people for a while and with Salt River Tubing opening as well, we are expecting a whole lot of people all at once. The only way that people and wild horses will be able to peacefully co-exist ...
Success! It has taken a while to find him and bait trap him, but we have reunited straggler boy with his band. With a little patience and natural horsemanship, he was very cooperative. Once released on the riverside of the highway, with his band, he said hi to his mom and brother quickly, but then ...
Relocation of Mick's band from the Butcher Jones area to the protected Salt River Area. (This currently consists of approximately 20,000 acres) Our attempts at enticing Mick's band through the tunnel (like the previous 5 bands) were unsuccessful due to public interference. Therefore the AZDA stepped in and captured the entire band at Butcher Jones, ...
Thank you Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) for this clarifying statement and for the great working relationship for the humane management of the Salt River wild horses. Together with the public, we are preserving a priceless, historic and recreational resource to behold as part of our national heritage. Sincerely, SRWHMG. From AZDA's Facebook ...
Can anyone imagine any of our cherished wild horses being gunned down, shot and killed from helicopters? What panic and suffering will ensue among these absolutely kind and loving animals. THIS is what our Australian friends are going through, and we want to help them. The Barmah Brumbie Preservation Group, Murray Willaton, came all the ...
"Thank you mom, for protecting me so fiercely, for showing me your wise ways, and for always putting my interests above your own." Wild horse mothers are called "dams" and they are among the animal kingdom's best and most doting mothers, along with primates and elephants. It is why wild horse herds thrive almost anywhere ...
Today is Peanut's first birthday!! Remember when we were frantically searching for his mother in the forest? Sadly we never found who she was, but we try to give our rescues a happy life, as close as possible to what they would have had in the wild; a real wild horse family. He is living ...
Constant public interference jeopardizes Mick's band. The USFS, AZDA and SRWHMG need your help. There has been a lot of interference in the humane management of the Salt River wild horses lately. The breaking of gates, the pushing of horses, the interfering with an ongoing project, placing water in dangerous areas and the cutting of ...
The MCSO Lake Patrol Mounted Unit rescued Judy today, who is a friend of the group. Judy is 80 years old and became separated from her daughter in the forest, and the two could not find each other. With rising temperatures the mounted unit located Judy and rode her on a horse out of the ...
UPDATE from Forest Service: As of 6:00 pm, the Wala Fire is 100% contained, and the finale acreage is 6.2 acres. The Wala Fire was reported at 2:15 pm, and was located just east of FS Roads 11 and 143 in the Four Peaks Recreation Area. The Wala Fire remains under investigation. No structures were ...
Last night, the Arizona Department of Agriculture, AZDA, successfully relocated Mick's band from the Butcher Jones area to the riverside of their habitat. This was something we had been attempting for a while, through the tunnels, but we were unsuccessful, because of public interference. We feel this move is in the best interest of this ...
Images may be disturbing to some. All horses in gallery have recovered 100%. Our contract with the AZDA for the humane management of the Salt River wild horses, includes the monitoring of wild horses with injuries. In any herd of wild animals there is a natural injury and death rate, which is much higher than ...
We were once so proud of horse advocates. Horse advocates, they stuck together for one common goal, but right now, we are ashamed, and we have to tell you why. As most everyone knows, we are humanely managing an incredibly cherished and popular herd of wild horses in the Tonto National Forest. Not one of ...
3 years ago today, Forest Service firefighters saved the Tonto National Forest. Between April 25th and April 30th of 2017, 825 acres of wild horse habitat burned down, and it was frightening. Below are some of the pictures we took. Ashes were falling on the horses, and on us, while we monitored and worked with ...
National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to recognize the impact of volunteer service and celebrate that the power of volunteers can transform the world in many ways. Right now during this corona virus crisis, there are many volunteers at work in all corners of the world whom we want to thank. Likewise we want to ...
Tomorrow on Earth day, April 22nd, a campfire ban will go into effect earlier than normal in all 6 national Forests, including the Tonto National Forest where the Salt River wild horses roam. Forest Fires are a constant worry for us during fire season. Great decision by the Forest Service. For more info, click this ...
For your safety and theirs, please keep a 50 ft distance at all times, even if they come your way! (pun intended) Please do note, we have seen a LOT of rattlers out right now, be careful, they are harder to spot than wild horses, and they don't politely get out of your way like ...
Last month we told you about the sad end of King's band, after King's lieutenant stallion Gandalf was found dead. After we searched for all of Kings mares, we let you know that they were all accounted for, but in different places, and they were each with different young stallions. After 15 years of being ...
We were looking at celebrating our 75,000 milestone on our Facebook page, and noticed our recent stats which are pretty amazing! We want to thank YOU for your undying support, because without it, the Salt River wild horses would be nowhere. We want YOU to know that your "like" is not just an insignificant little ...
This is a follow up on our previous post. We decided to name him Kindness at the popular advice of our supporters, and also as kind of a sign of the times. We hope that we can all keep Kindness in mind at all times. Q and A: So why do we give wild horses ...
The hard battle for their preservation, the ongoing struggle for their humane management, navigating through drought and strangles, coping with habitat reductions and dealing with drama and misinformation; it is very tough and it truly never ends, but it is all worth it. As you can see here, Arizona is preserving an incredibly beautiful and ...
We received a complaint yesterday- it was serious; someone was very upset and explained that last year at this time, he got lots of pics of babies... and this year, he could not find even one. BEST COMPLIMENT EVER! 🥳 Last year, on this exact day, we had 25 foals on the ground - this ...
At this difficult time we plead with you 🙏, please do not forget about the Salt River wild horses and our important rescue program. Even now our rescues at our facility need to eat and our work needs to continue, because these horses count on us. 💶 Our programs do not get funded by anyone ...
Survival. We are all in survival mode. Wild horses are always in survival mode so we can learn a lot from them. During this difficult time of donations we, as an organization, also have to survive. We really appreciate all of our loyal donors and we appreciate all photographers who give a percentage of their ...
Watch the transformation! That's what humane management is all about. Happy Birthday Pacman!! (4 years old today!) Here are 10 ways YOU can help. At this difficult time we plead with you, please do not forget about the Salt River wild horses, and our important rescue program! Our rescues at our facility need to eat ...
Diverting a little bit from our regular programming we want to see if our supporters would like to protect Arizona burros as well as Arizona wild horses. Today, in the spirit of April fools day, plus Coronavirus, plus burros, we made a humorous and relevant image that we hope you will share. Also, today is ...
The Salt River wild horses need your help and this April 7th it is Arizona Gives day! We are hoping that you won't forget about these Arizona treasures, during these difficult times for everyone. 🐴 In 2015 we saved the Salt River wild horses and offered better solutions as an alternative; we promised that we ...
This little horse may look like just a brown horse to anybody, but this Salt River wild horse has a story. Her name is Spring, and she is alive today because of humane wild horse management. She was less than 2 weeks old when she became separated and very far lost from her band. At ...
What we do for the Salt River wild horses and why we need your support In 2015, we saved the Salt River wild horses by "stampeding" Congress and the Forest Service while also offering solutions as an alternative; we promised that we could manage wild horses humanely, for the public and by the public. We ...
To all who believe in humane wild horse management, to all who can see clearly through the meanest of mudslinging elsewhere, and to all who take time out of their lives, time and time again, to give these sensitive, innocent, and beautiful wild horses a voice... we love you. While we were at the house ...
At a hearing before the Land & Agriculture Committee you committed to amend your bill, HB 2858, to address the concerns that it would prohibit necessary, life-saving management activities for the Salt River wild horses. On March 9, you posted a press release informing the public that you were putting your bill on hold (while ...
Committee Hearing is today, Monday March 16th 1 pm. From the safety of your homes, please take action online TODAY to stop this attack on the beloved Salt River wild horses. What You Can Do: Please send emails to the rules committee members, here are their addresses. After that please also post on their social ...
Good or bad, we bring you news about the Salt River wild horses, this time the news is sad. After a note to our fb page from a concerned citizen about a carcass in a remote area, our volunteers went out to search. They crossed the Salt River and hiked all afternoon until they found ...
This is a beautiful and really close look into the bonding process of mom and brand new foal, and the rest of the band. It is the reason why we ask to give wild horses a respectful space. View the video on The Dodo Site's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thedodosite/videos/194870035156699 She was born on April 11th, 2019 ...
ALL CLEAR! A Strangles (Streptococcus Equi) outbreak started in July of 2019, which was discovered and confirmed in August 2019. It has affected a total of 49 Salt River wild horses, mostly the very young and the very old. We monitored each new case closely and quickly established that each new case healed in an ...
The Salt River wild horses, even the babies, are perfectly equipped to deal with a rainstorm. This is one of the few foals we will see this year. We don't get a lot of rain but when cold weather does strike, you’ll probably notice the horse’s coats “standing up,” and making them look fuzzier, softer, ...
Drama; Woman pursues band of horses all afternoon, to hinder SRWHMG. Like we talked about in our previous post, we have a fringe group of "non fans". Sadly, they will not hear of reason and they manage to twist and turn everything we do for the horses, into a bad thing. It has gone from ...
Public record: This is a letter from Forest Supervisor Neil Bosworth about the current AZDA/SRWHMG project to bring Mick's band through the tunnel to the "safe side"; the legal Salt River horse habitat. This is NOT a plot by the Forest Service to get rid of any horses. There is no roundup planned of any ...
Lots and lots of Salt River wild horses. Have you ever noticed that on some days you find not a wild horse, and on some days it seems like you have hit the wild horse jackpot? That is because wild horses find safety and familiarity in numbers. They each have their distinct family bands, but ...
This is an explanation of the current project on the border of the Sunflower allotment and the Salt River horse habitat. ***Please do not push, disturb or harass the horses that we are trying to get to safety.*** The Sunflower allotment is partially active and partially in non-active status. The allotment has a boundary with ...
Bachelors, single guys, moved out of Mom and Dad's house, but haven't started their own families yet. They like to hang out, play jokes on each other and just generally have a good time. Sound similar to people at all? But they also take care of their own. See the littlest horse? He sustained a ...
Today is Rosco's 4th birthday and the anniversary of our Rescue Program. The significance of today is that 4 years ago, we did not have much. At that time we were about 15 people with big dreams of treating wild horses humanely and of course a determined leader. Today, our organization has grown to over ...
Today is national horse protection day. Protecting wild horses is a constant challenge, especially lately. We understand keeping wild horses off the roads, however, we have huge concern with the new cattleguards. We have expressed in writing, (all last year during a collaborative process), how important it would be to have horse-safe cattleguards in an ...
What does the word "wild" mean, is it synonymous with "just let them suffer"? Do the critics have the same to say of some other local rescues like Southwest Wildlife who rescue any and all wildlife, or Liberty Wildlife who rescue birds? Does the rescue of one, make the rest of them any less wild? ...
Good news! The bill that blocks humane management of Salt River wild horses, lost its co-sponsor. Rep. Kelly Townsend refused to add an amendment to her bill (HB2858) yesterday, offered by the only co-sponsor of the bill, Rep. Jay Lawrence. Following a committee hearing, Rep. Jay Lawrence, asked her to amend the bill to clarify ...
🚨ALARM: The sponsor of the original Salt River Horse Act, Rep. Kelly Townsend, has sponsored a bad bill, HB 2858, which would amend and potentially undermine the original Salt River Horse Act by limiting humane management. The bill as written will block life-saving measures that are sometimes necessary to sustain the health and well-being of ...
Holding our horses. The Salt River wild horses are protected by the State of Arizona from killing, slaughter and harassment, but contrary to what most people think, the same bill does not actually protect them from roundup and removal, or habitat reductions. That is why we ask for your support all the time; we are ...
Born free. How's this for an amazing Valentine's day story!? A local Frt McDowell (FMD) reservation member finds a wet newborn foal on the side of frt McDowell rd and Magyoda drive early this morning, Valentines day 2020. The gentleman, (we want to try to find out his name), does the right thing and calls ...
It's been a long road. Before 2016 on Bush Hwy there was no sign that warned people that horses existed in this area. Wild horses could get onto the road just about anywhere, and the fences had not been maintained by anyone in 20 years, there was even question about who's fence it was in ...
At the current time the Salt River herd is in excellent condition with body scores of predominantly 4's. Our supplemental feed program has greatly contributed to the overall herd health since the drought of 2018 when the health of the entire herd was in jeopardy. Forage conditions The year of 2019 started with good forage ...
[Feb. 4th, 2020] Alert: We need your support. We are the target of a vicious defamation campaign. We have not responded to it so far, because we need to stay focused on our important job of protecting and humanely managing the Salt River wild horses, plus we have a policy of ignoring all negativity. The ...
Dear litterer, So you came to the Tonto National Forest, maybe you stopped at a circle K to buy some sodas and a few beers. You had a great time, maybe with some friends, and you were able to forget about your worries and leave some of your troubles behind. It was getting late and ...
Protecting the protected Salt River wild horses. Wow, NINE HUNDRED riders (sign-ins) were in the Tonto National Forest to rally behind us and stand up for the Salt River wild horses today! Riders agreed- the river fence is ugly, it's terrible for wild horses, and we don't need it! The ride went off without a ...
What made Lancelot a rare horse was not only his character, but also his flat grey color like no other horse on the river. We called it groan, a combination of a grey and a roan. His sire was Bouncer, a light orange roan and very stocky horse, who disappeared in 2016. His dam (mother) ...
We very much regret to have to tell you awful news. This afternoon, we found the much loved, gorgeous lead stallion Lancelot, deceased. We are absolutely distressed and have no idea what could have happened to him. He was a healthy, young and powerful lead stallion; they usually don't just turn up dead. We saw ...
NOTICE: Want to help? View our action plans here! [January 17th] We had some meetings at the Tonto National Forest yesterday. The first was about the draft Tonto plan and the second about the metal riverfence. We have some clarification on the gate/fence that will go across the river. It will not be barbed wire, ...
NOTICE: Want to help? View our action plans here! Some of the news pieces are confusing and make it seem like we oppose all fencing. Luckily most of you know that we have been maintaining the fencing for years and have accomplished the many MCDOT safety improvements and are now crossing wild horses safely at ...
Rosy, Peanut and Prince, our rescued orphans, are the best of buddies and they play all day long. However, accidents can happen; either Rosy or Peanut, who are a little bit older, must have placed an unfortunate kick at Prince (although we did not see the exact moment it happened) and Prince has a severely ...
We are still just a small organization; we don't have millions of dollars and we cannot hire professional fencers. However what we do have, is many determined people applying teamwork, expertise and determination, to accomplish amazing things together. Bush Highway is a road that cuts directly through the habitat of the Salt River wild horses, ...
[Dec. 27] BREAKING: release of important documents. Long Term wild horse management plan, Tonto Resource Management Plan and the only actual Wild horse protection plan; read all about it on our website. We have been very busy with all of this, please remember to stand by our side. Managing wild horses FOR and BY the ...
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Of course wild horses do not take a day off, so our road patrol and our caretakers had Christmas dinner on the job! Lancelot's band was in the road again at Granite Reef for a third day in a row. This is Lancelot's daughter Mori, who is his ...
Just some exhausted SRWHMG volunteers sitting on the fence after putting up barbless wire fencing on the south side of Bush Hwy! To never see another horse get hit on Bush Hwy, THAT is all that we want for Christmas. EXPLANATION: Because the Northside of Bush Hwy is now completely fenced by the Forest Service ...
We were very glad to support this effort by our national coalition partner the American Wild Horse Campaign. We want to express our sincere thanks to our Arizona congressman Raul Grijalva as well as congressman David Schweikert, who are standing up for all wild horses in a bipartisan letter. The letter asked for better wild ...
[Dec. 5th] One of our rescues, sweet Agave, yesterday evening, was acting weird, making grunting noises and opening and closing her mouth in a weird way. (Agave is a year and a half old) So we called out our mobile vet, doctor Susan Roach, and she discovered a thorny stick stuck in Agave's throat! She ...
Did you know, that the Salt River wild horses are still here, largely because of our humane birth control program? Had we not offered this as THE SOLUTION to controlling the population, as opposed to a roundup, back in 2015, the Forest Service would not have considered making an agreement with the State to let ...
Did you know that all lead stallions of the Salt River know each other? They all have established a certain hierarchy amongst each other. They only need to take one look at each other to know whose band has dominance. They will usually just greet each other, and then the lower ranked band will get ...
2020 limited Edition Salt River Wild Horse Calendars! Order yours quickly. They are gorgeous images by our photographers on quality paper, so you can also use them to put into frames. Important to note that THIS is the ONLY calendar that actually helps the Salt River wild horses. It will provide you with inspiration while ...
A lot of sad recommendations were made in the closed door Salt River Horse collaborative meetings, by ranching, hunting and environmental interests. The recommendations include removal of a large number of Salt River wild horses. It also includes installing barbed wire fences and cattleguards, that will severely reduce their habitat and grazing grounds. It remains ...