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[horse neighs]

[hooves clopping]

[ethereal music]

[Yvette] I'll never forget
the first time

that I saw a wild horse.

It was right
at the edge of dawn,

when the sky was in that special
shade between blue and purple.

And I thought,
in that moment,

they looked like ghosts
of the desert.

♪

It was a journey
none of us expected to go on.

Encountering
such extraordinary beauty...

and traversing
the vast Western US.

We were searching
for the answer to one question.

Why are wild horses
disappearing?

[helicopter whirring]

At first, what we discovered
sounded like a conspiracy...

until we realized it was.

[music fades]

Anyone who says magic is gone
from the world

hasn't been in the wild
with horses.

There's a famous quote

that I'd love
for you to think about,

as we take you
through this journey.

"We need
the tonic of wildness.

We require that all things
be mysterious and unexplorable.

That the land and the sea
be indefinitely wild.

Unfathomed by us,
because they are unfathomable.

We can never have enough
of nature."

Most people don't know...

that wild horses even exist
in our country.

Representing purity,

and power, and freedom.

We originally began
this project

as a love letter
to wild horses.

And to gather footage
for a film

that I was directing
at the time.

A modern-day retelling
of Black Beauty.

It's little known
that Anna C. Wells' classic

wasn't necessarily written
as a children's book.

It was an animal welfare plea,

to protect
the horses of her time.

Like most people,
we had no idea

that wild horses were being
rounded up in mass numbers,

taken away from their homes
and their families...

put into government
holding facilities,

never to gallop again.

[horses neighing]

So, after the credits rolled
on Black Beauty,

we decided to keep going.

But little did we know,

beyond the extraordinary beauty
of wild horses,

they had an enemy.

One that was well-funded

and full of lies,
deceit, and corruption.

We had no idea
we were about to enter a war.

We just got to Delta.

We're not allowed
to view the holding facility,

even though
it's a BLM holding facility.

There's Kai,
we've got officers,

I'm not sure
what we're about to encounter.

The famous Onaqui Horses
were just rounded up,

and they said that
we couldn't come observe.

So, we came anyway.

The horses are just being
unloaded from the trucks.

[horses neighing]

This is... [sighs]

...this is really hard to see.

[somber music]

[horses whinnying]

I think one of the worst things
in doing all of this...

[helicopter whirring]

...was watching their freedom
get taken away.

-Gosh, that sound is--
-[man 1] I know, it's terrible.

And we've been listening to it
for hours now,

-for two hours, it's horrible.
-[Yvette sighs]

And our question was...

why?

Why is this happening
to wild horses?

Aren't they living symbols
of America?

Aren't they supposed to be
federally protected?

And if wild horses
live on public land,

which they do...

...don't the people have a say?

[crowd chanting]
Stop the choppers!

Isn't this our land?

[crowd chanting]
Stop the choppers!

Stop the choppers!

[Yvette]
But before we go forward,

let's go back.

To understand where
wild horses really came from,

and why they,
like other species,

such as wolves, coyotes,

trout and sage-grouse,

are being scapegoated

and knowingly eradicated
from our public lands.

Because unless
we do something...

wild horses will disappear...

forever.

[Yvette speaking
indigenous language]

My name is
Dr. Yvette Running Horse Collin

and I'm an Oglala Lakota
researcher and scientist.

And I'm an administrator

for the He'Sapa Unity Alliance
Council of Elders.

So, Western science
and academia now agrees

that the horse originated
in North America.

However, they say
that all the horses died out

in North and South America
during the last Ice Age,

which is around 13,000
to 11,000 years ago,

until Columbus
reintroduced them

in the late 1400s.

Many, many, many species
survived the Ice Age.

For example,
the elk, the antelope,

of course, we had the wolf,
the bear, the bison.

So, I find it
very interesting,

why they would focus
on the horse.

Contrary to what Western
academia has put forward,

our people say,
we always had the horse.

History is often told
by the conqueror.

There were many accounts
in the Spanish chronicles

of multiple quadrupeds, right,
four-legged animals

everywhere,
all over the place.

There were also accounts
where Native peoples and horses

were reported
as living together

in a domestic-type situation.

There is a great deal
of fossil evidence

to prove that the horses

did not go extinct
in the Americas

and that they indeed
had a relationship

with different Native peoples.

This issue has not been properly
scientifically researched.

What would happen...

if it's understood
and widely accepted

that the horse
survived the Ice Age?

And, in fact, some of that blood
is still in the wild horses

that roam these lands today.

If the United States
follows its own laws,

they would then be protected
by the Endangered Species Act.

Not only
would they be protected,

it also protects the lands
that they call home.

They wouldn't be available
for extraction, uh, for mining.

They would have to be kept pure

and allowed
to live in balance.

[plane roaring faintly]

The wild horse war
has been going on

for a long time.

In 1971, President Nixon
stepped in to help.

The president had been moved

by the plight
of wild horses and burros

after he received
thousands of letters

sent in by children,

a campaign organized
by Velma Johnson,

better known
as "Wild Horse Annie."

The president opened
his remarks on the bill

by quoting
Henry David Thoreau.

"We need the tonic
of wildness, "he began.

Congress unanimously passed

the Wild and Free-Roaming
Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

Which stated
that they should be protected

from capture, branding,
harassment, and death.

It became
starkly black and white to us

how much
that law was being violated,

and how little had changed.

We did not embark on this

to become
investigative reporters.

But we also refused
to stand idly by,

after witnessing
such antiquated cruelty

still happening today.

We very calmly asked
and we said it is our right...

-Yep. Yeah.
-...as journalists,

as public observers,
to go over there

and point our camera--

And-- and we feel that
for the safety of everybody,

and the coordination
of this group,

we want to keep you here,
so that's what we're gonna do.

[crew member] A minute ago,
it was for our safety,

now you're saying
it's 'cause we're emotional.

[man]
Well, emotion runs into that.

If people are getting emotional,
how do you control people?

[birds chirping]

[Yvette] Today,
wild horses are under attack,

perhaps more
than ever before.

The law
President Nixon championed

is being ignored.

And even worse,

the Bureau of Land Management
is currently trying to reduce

wild horse populations down

to what President Nixon
considered to be...

extinction level.

The president's policy
contained one fatal flaw.

The Wild Horse
and Burro Act grants

the Bureau of Land Management
sole authority

to determine
the amount of wild horses

that can roam free
on public land.

Since 1971,

the BLM has set
the appropriate amount to zero

in nearly 50%
of herd management areas

initially protected
at a federal level.

But to get
to the bottom of all of this,

we felt like we needed
to start with the horses.

We needed to go out
into the wild.

[delicate music]

Our journey began in Utah,

with the famous Onaqui horses.

♪

You come
to a place like this

and the horses
are right off the road.

And that's probably why
they're arguably

the most famous horses
in the country.

The more time
we spent with them...

we began to learn about
their families.

There were the curious foals,

the watchful mothers...

the playful adolescents,
and the bachelors.

There were stallions

that battled
for mares and dominance...

[horses braying]

And the more
quirky personalities.

It was clear how much
they were just like us.

We got to know
the rhythm of their lives

and how
they had been given names,

like Stargazer
and Moon Drinker.

The cremello
and his best friend, the black.

The powerful bay roan
who is very protective

over his mares,
the perlino sisters.

There was one stallion
with piercing blue eyes,

that someone called Norman,
and the name stuck.

Norman was part
of what's called bachelor band,

which means
a group of young stallions

who hang out together.

His two best friends
were Rowan and Rudy.

Our favorite family
didn't have any names,

so we called
the stallion, Wind Knot,

and his chestnut foal,
Suncatcher.

When we first saw them,
there were over 500 horses,

but the most famous
proved elusive.

He was a legendary
white stallion called Old Man.

The Gandalf of the mountains.

This place
was like a fairytale.

And it was right here
for all of us.

But only two months
after we first visited them,

we found out the Onaqui were
going to be rounded up, too.

We realized at that point,

as filmmakers,
we had a duty to protect them.

Not only the Onaqui,
but all wild horses.

But this issue has been
going on for over 100 years.

How were we gonna
make a difference?

As they usually did,
the horses guided us.

Right to the good people
that could help.

[Kimerlee]
Hi, I'm Kimerlee Curyl,

and I am a wild horse
photographer and advocate

for keeping our wild horses
on our public lands.

[Erik] My name is Erik Molvar,
I'm a wildlife biologist,

and I'm also
the Executive Director

of Western Watersheds Project,

a conservation group
dedicated to protecting

and restoring wildlife
and watersheds

throughout the American West.

[Kimerlee]
So, I've been coming out

to the Onaqui Range
since 2000-- 2009.

But my first visit out here,
of course,

was beyond magical
and life-changing.

To drive out here,

I did not expect to be immersed
in such a large herd of horses.

To walk amongst them,

feel like I became part
of the herd that week.

And unfortunately, that fall,
there was an "emergency roundup"

and they stripped
these horses down to--

The last I read,
was somewhere between 50 and 75,

and that was in 2009.

[Erik] Here we are in the--
in the middle of the Red Desert,

and it's one of the largest
unfenced tracts of public land

anywhere remaining
in North America.

The Red Desert is one
of the real biological hot spots

in the American West.

One of the places where
the ecosystems are healthiest,

where the biodiversity
is greatest.

And this is an area
that used to have

thousands and thousands
of wild horses,

but has been subjected
to heavy roundups

by the Bureau
of Land Management,

and now,
they're getting quite rare.

In the Western United States,

there are less
than 100,000 wild horses.

There are two million cattle
that are set loose

on Western Public Lands
every year.

And who knows
how many million sheep.

The Bureau of Land Management
recently did an analysis

and determined
that pretty much

all of the wild horse areas
in the Red Desert

are meeting the thriving
natural ecological balance

that's required by federal law.

And yet,
the agency wants to take away

thousands of these horses,

even though the land
is in great shape.

[Kimerlee]
It's also frustrating that

if you were to look at a graph
of the, what is it,

245 million acres
of public lands that we have

and you look at how much
is allotted for cattle,

and then you look at the very
small fraction for horses,

you just got to
do the math on that.

[Erik] Wild horses forage
a lot more like bison.

Horses can forage ten,
20 miles away from water.

So, they have
a lighter impact

on the overall health
of the vegetation.

Whereas cattle will forage
right next to water sources.

And these
are the biodiversity hot spots,

the oases
out here in the arid lands.

So, if you have
really heavy overgrazing,

close to water,

you're wiping out
the biodiversity

not just of the vegetation,
but of all the animals,

the insects, the birds,
that depend on that.

Wild horses have always been
an easy scapegoat

for the livestock industry,

because
they don't want to admit

that their cattle and sheep,
and the huge numbers of them,

that are overgrazing
chronically, year after year,

are the problem with land health
in the American West.

This is a-- a simple case
of the federal government

doing the bidding
of a handful of privileged

livestock permitees
that want the horses gone.

They're pointing
to basically an innocent victim

in all of this.

Perhaps the biggest issue
facing Bureau of Land Management

is the agency's
incompetence itself.

[Yvette] We left the Red Desert
with two new allies.

And in 2019, we experienced
our first roundup.

Which was a massive removal
of over 800 horses

in the Triple B area
of Nevada.

But before we get
into the darker stuff,

I think it's probably time
to introduce our team.

[Ed] Uh,
Wyoming cell service

isn't the best cell service
in the world.

[Richard] That's why we're
listening to Alanis Morissette.

[Yvette]
The driver is my husband, Ed.

He's my partner
in all things.

[Richard]
That's a lot of sand.

The sarcastic one
is my younger brother, Richard.

There's Kai,
our brilliant cinematographer,

and our two first ACs,

who rotated
during different trips,

Brianna and Rocio.

There was our set
photographer, Marcello,

and our puppy, Whiskey,
who grew up along the journey.

[Richard] This ferocious
snarling hell hound right here.

[Yvette] As for me,

I was usually editing
from the front seat,

or running off
to find the horses.

A film crew
is like a family,

and we are fortunate to have
such a passionate team of people

who endured long hours

and sometimes
questionable motel rooms

to tell this story.

We drove through the night
to get to Ely,

and braced ourselves for what
was to come the next day.

[Richard] We say goodbye
to the...

historic Hotel Nevada

and Gambling Hall
and Denny's today.

Now we are officially

in the middle
of absolutely nowhere.

[Ed] I want to know
who even found these horses

and decided
they need to be rounded--

-[Richard] Exactly.
-[Yvette] Look around.

Like,
you can't even see them.

[Richard] But, guys,
look how overpopulated it is.

[Yvette] The Triple B HMA
is over 1.2 million acres.

An HMA means
Herd Management Are a,

basically the amount of land

wild horses
are allowed to be free.

The BLM justified
this roundup,

where they planned
to take up to 800 horses

away from their homes,

by citing unnecessary
degradation to the land

and wanting to restore
a thriving,

natural ecological balance
for multi-use.

There were an estimated
3,000 horses

across all of this land.

But the BLM wanted to
reduce them down

to as low as 474.

To give you an idea,

that's one horse
per roughly 2,500 acres

or 1,900 football fields.

This is what's called an
Appropriate Management Level,

or AML.

Essentially,
the amount of wild horses

the Bureau of Land Management
states the land can sustain.

But in 2013,

the National Academy
of Sciences,

a group of independent
bipartisan scientists,

stated that the AMLs

were not supported
by scientific information,

but the BLM
is still using them

to round up thousands
of wild horses every year.

Also stating that they're
starving and overpopulated,

a repetitive narrative

that we kept hearing
in the media,

which was also supported

by some of the ranchers
in the area.

[Richard]
It's going to get bumpy.

[Yvette] Now,
if you dig a little deeper,

wild horses shared that land
with livestock,

with up to 7,300
privately owned cattle

and 36,000 sheep,

which are authorized to graze

in the wild horse complex
every year.

Now, you might assume

it's just
mom and pop ranchers,

who get to graze their livestock
cheaply on public lands,

but they're not.

A large number of them
are millionaires, billionaires,

and billionaire corporations
on Forbes Rich List.

[music fades]

[upbeat music playing
over radio]

[Richard] Okay.

[Richard huffs]

Way over there.

[Yvette] We've got
ten minutes to be set up.

We just brought
about 400 pounds of gear.

[panting] Oh, God.

Quarter mile.

-[sighs] They are far away.
-[Yvette] Oh, my God.

[whispering]
Do you think they see us?

-[Richard] Yeah. We're on.
-Okay.

[Yvette] We were placed
on top of a mountain,

miles away from where
the helicopters began.

If we didn't have
a massive zoom lens,

we wouldn't have been able
to see anything.

We also weren't allowed
to put up umbrellas,

even though
the heat was over 100 degrees,

because they said
it would scare the horses.

[helicopter whirring]

The horses were run
for miles.

As they got closer,

we saw their coats
glistening with sweat,

and babies
at the point of exhaustion.

The helicopters then drove them
into the trap site,

which was purposefully
blocked from view.

This is often
where the injuries happen.

Where horses break their legs
or their necks,

trying to escape,
or get back to their families.

We wondered where
that many horses would go,

and why the BLM had
a publicist.

[Jenny] Um, so,
that historical part,

you know, obviously, they--
they weren't just here.

[Yvette] Mm-hmm.

Something kind of came along
after the Ice Age.

Yeah, right.

-To replenish--
-[crosstalk]

You know,
being able to survive

in a natural
ecological balance.

Green as this looks, you know,
they're not gonna eat the sage,

they're not gonna eat--

'Cause there's not sufficient
foraged water for them.

[Yvette] It was the
same narrative again.

And with all due respect
to Jenny,

I'm a horse person,

and the horses that we saw
getting rounded up

were fat and healthy.

This was just the beginning
of the string of lies

that would be purported

by Bureau of Land Management
publicists.

But then,
all of a sudden,

they asked us
to swing our camera around

and point it
in the opposite direction.

They said
horses were coming in.

It wasn't true.

Where we were looking,

we noticed
that a foal had collapsed

and a lone Wrangler
was riding out toward it.

What happened next
is heartbreaking to see.

But it's important to show

the blatant disregard
for life,

and the cruelty with which
these horses are treated.

That baby
was maybe a month old.

Five foals died
due to the roundup.

One was reported by the BLM

to have sustained injuries
during transport.

Possibly meaning
the baby was trampled to death

in the trailer.

Another died due to
water toxicity in holding,

which can medically indicate
fatal dehydration

and muscle fatigue
from being run so hard.

The outrage we felt
was indescribable.

And how expansive is that,

that the helicopters
just appear for that long

and then they're racing
these horses...

-[Ed] Yeah. Yeah.
-...for miles.

Driving them at a gallop
for miles?

I-- I mentioned the family
dynamics at the Onaqui herd.

And she basically stopped
at me and said...

[Richard] Yeah,
"A wild animal's a wild animal."

[Yvette] Yeah, they just mate
with each other and--

[Richard] Some people
are animal lovers,

but they don't respect how
intelligent they actually are.

[Ed] Yeah. They just can't.

[Yvette]
That's just-- that's just--

That's ignorance,
that's willful ignorance.

[Kai] Look,
how could-- could those trucks

filled with horses,
come all the way here...

-[Yvette] And then come back.
-...then come back that fast?

[Kai] That's some conspiracy--
conspiracy shit. [groans]

Just keep rolling
the whole time, okay?

[Kai] Yep. Yep.

[Jenny] They want to feed
and water these horses

and let them settle before
we have a bunch of bodies again.

Yeah. [muffled speech]

[Kai speaking indistinctly]

We do not have that on
[muffled speech] horses.

[Yvette] We had to wait
for several hours

before we got to see
the horses up close.

[somber music]

When we were finally allowed
to go in,

we were only allowed to set
the camera down a few times.

A ranger with a gun
had been with us all day,

and several other
BLM employees were armed.

It seemed a little excessive
for a couple of filmmakers

and a handful
of wild horse advocates.

In the short time
that we had,

we managed to capture
some very upsetting images

of the horses of Triple B
who had lost their freedom.

Once they got to holding,

the Bureau of Land Management
euthanized multiple horses,

including those
they deemed blind,

even though they had survived
just fine in the wild.

Euthanasia in this situation
usually isn't done

with a humane injection.

That's one of the reasons
the employees carry guns.

They often shoot the horses
to put them down at holding.

And we wondered
if this was one of the reasons

we had to wait several hours
before we got to see them.

Sixteen horses lost their lives
in the roundup of Triple B.

Very few would ever see
their families again.

It was heartbreaking to think

that this was going to happen
to our beloved Onaqui herd,

and that their families
would suffer the same fate.

It also started to make us
ask deeper questions.

Who are we to look down
on animals

like they're lesser
or secondary?

After all,

humans are social animals,
just like horses.

And there are plenty

of other indisputable
similarities between us.

To say wild horses don't have
feelings or families

seemed like a form
of human exceptionalism,

self-delusion, arrogance,

especially given
we're the only species

willfully destroying
our own planet.

So, perhaps, that makes
animals superior to us.

In rare places
in the United States

that actually maintain

a thriving,
natural ecological balance,

such as Yellowstone,
or Glacier National Park,

the animals
and habitat flourish.

These are places
where predators,

like wolves
and mountain lions,

aren't killed
to make way for livestock.

But balanced places like this
are few and fast-disappearing,

just like wild horses.

If we want to have a chance
at living in harmony,

doesn't that mean protecting
and re-wilding our world

instead of destroying it?

All of these larger questions
started with the Onaqui.

The protection of this herd

began to represent
something greater.

We decided to ask
for support.

From not only the community

fighting hard to protect them,

but from children.

And something
miraculous happened.

We began receiving
thousands of letters

from people all over the world,

who joined us
in standing with wild horses.

Perhaps there is hope
for the Onaqui yet.

["Horse with No Name"
by America playing]

♪ On the first part
of the journey ♪

♪ I was looking
at all the life ♪

♪ There were plants and birds
and rocks and things ♪

♪ There was sand
and hills and rings ♪

♪ The first thing I met
was a fly with a buzz ♪

♪ And the sky with no clouds ♪

♪ The heat was hot
and the ground was dry ♪

♪ But the air
was full of sound ♪

♪ I've been
through the desert ♪

♪ On a horse with no name ♪

♪ It felt good to be
out of the rain ♪

♪ In the desert,
you can't remember your name ♪

♪ 'Cause there ain't no one
for to give you no pain ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la ♪

♪ After two days
in the desert sun ♪

♪ My skin began
to turn red ♪

♪ After three days
in the desert fun ♪

♪ I was looking
at a river bed ♪

♪ And the story it told
of a river that flowed ♪

♪ Made me sad to think
it was dead ♪

♪ You see I've been
through the desert ♪

♪ On a horse with no name ♪

♪ It felt good to be
out of the rain ♪

♪ In the desert,
you can't remember your name ♪

♪ 'Cause there ain't no one
for to give you no pain ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la ♪

♪

♪ After nine days,
I let the horse run free ♪

♪ 'Cause the desert
had turned to sea ♪

♪ There were plants and birds
and rocks and things ♪

♪ There was sand
and hills and rings ♪

♪ The ocean is a desert
with its life underground ♪

♪ And a perfect disguise
above ♪

♪ Under the cities
lies a heart made of ground ♪

♪ But the humans
will give no love ♪

♪ You see I've been
through the desert ♪

♪ On a horse with no name ♪

♪ It felt good
to be out of the rain ♪

♪ In the desert,
you can't remember your name ♪

♪ 'Cause there ain't no one
for to give you no pain ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la-la ♪

♪ La-la-la, la-la ♪

[music fades]

[gentle folk music]

[Yvette] Our journey took us
over 20,000 miles

across 13 different states
and diverse landscapes.

The Red Desert turned
into lush forest.

And there were a few places
that struck us most of all.

They were the horses of Heber,

living in the Sitgreaves
National Forest.

And in the woodlands
of Oregon,

these horses
had rare bloodlines

thought to have died out
many years ago,

until the Kiger were found.

We also wanted to speak
with ranchers

to get their side
of the story.

Surely not every rancher
wanted wild horses gone.

I'm Stacey Davies, Manager
of Roaring Springs Ranches

in French Glen, Oregon.

We have, on those ranches,
three Herd Management Areas,

South Steens, Beatys Butte,
and the Kigers.

[Kathy]
I am Kathy Gibson Boatman.

I was born here
in Arizona.

Um, I'm an eighth--
seventh generation

involved in cattle ranching
in Arizona.

I love horses.

I-- I mean, I'm a rancher
because I love horses.

And the wild horses
are such an icon.

They keep the trails open,

they utilize foraging areas
the cows won't go.

And we feel like they're part
of the multiple use

that should happen
on that range land.

[Kathy]
The government gave homesteads,

encouraging people
to come and settle

the wild western frontier

because it was a wild,
wild western place,

you know,
still had Indians doing battle,

and the Historic Preservation
Act of 1966 requires

that they consider
how their decisions impact

our historic resources
and our cultural traditions.

[Stacey] The Kiger HMA would be
somewhere around 30,000 acres.

They generally keep it
right around 100 head of horses.

How-- how do you count
every single horse

on a single given day?

I've heard there's anywhere
from 1,000 to 2,500.

It all depends on what area
you're counting those horses in.

7,000 that they know of.

[Stacey]
When they set these herds up,

it was recognized
that any one herd below 300

would not mean
enough genetic diversity

to maintain
a healthy population.

There was a big argument

that we should not have herds
of less than 300.

So, people,
especially advocates,

are currently asking
for a look at AML.

And that many of these
AMLs are too low,

and that too much forage
was allocated to livestock

and not enough to horses.

And-- and I'm asking

rather than have
that s-- small debate,

that we have
a much bigger national debate.

Let's look at the whole program
at the top and come down,

and how many horses is enough
for the US government to own?

I think it's wrong to-- to say
that every one of these HMAs

should have
300 to 500 head,

so you have enough
genetic diversity,

because I don't think
the BLM needs

200,000 horses
on the range.

I think 20,000's
probably enough.

And that wasn't really
the intention

of the Wild Horse
and Burro Act.

The intention of the Horse--
the Wild Horse and Burro Act

was not to just set up
some creatures

as though they were unicorns
for people to look at,

who just magically appeared.

There was just
an overpopulation.

Therein lies the horse herd
that we are dealing with now.

Ha-- have they tested
them genetically

to show their lineage?

There's talk of that,
but they say it's not--

Not feasible, not viable,
not a viable option.

Congress has allocated
every dollar

for the Wild Horse
and Burro program

that BLM's ever asked for.

So, you--
if you ask BLM that question,

they'll say,
"We don't have enough money."

BLM is not creative.

They are bureaucratic,

they don't think
outside the box,

they are not innovative,
and I think they should be.

The ranchers
are part of the solution.

All of the good ground
is private land,

all intermingled
with public land.

So, if you take my public
grazing permit away from me

and I fence off
my private land,

I screw up
the HMA completely,

'cause those horses
can no longer move

throughout 40 acres
with a reservoir in the middle.

We fence off the 40,
the horses die.

So, what do we own?

We own all the water.

So, there's an interdependence
between public and private land.

I hope that we can have
continued discussions

about what wild horse-friendly
ranching looks like

and it can include the BLM.

We can have
that programmatic review.

And if Congress really
wants to work on this issue,

that's what they would do.

[Yvette] To date,

there have been
no legal roundups

of the Heber horses.

Though the Forest Service
is currently pushing for one.

However,
in the '80s and '90s,

the Forest Service
colluded with ranchers

to round up
dozens of Heber horses

and sell them at auction.

These places can often lead
to the slaughter pipe line.

[Stacey]
Death is an interesting topic.

So, humans, and especially
North American humans,

don't deal with death
very well.

To me, there's just
this total disconnect

between what's humane
and not humane.

Now, is the trader right
inhumane,

or are they handled poorly
in the corral?

We can have
a discussion around that.

But the actual death?

There's no better way
than to go with a stun gun.

[snaps finger] Done.

[Yvette] But in Mexico,
some of those deaths

in those slaughter plants
are just-- I--

So, let's do it in the US,
where we can control it.

Horse meat's great meat.

There was great uses
for it before.

So, let's do it
in the US,

where we can control
the manner in which it's done.

We can have humane
handling of the animals,

right up until their death.

Far more humane

than what they're going through
on the range.

I've had people tell me,

"Well, the ranchers should get
their own private land,

or go back to--
go to Texas."

Well, I've been to Texas,

and they're selling off
private ranches there.

And they're selling them
to be game preserves, you know?

I don't know
how you feel about it,

but I don't really
want to eat zebra.

♪

[Yvette] By this stage,

we had gotten familiar
with the slaughter pipe line.

And we had gotten to know
some of the players

that run kill pens.

Basically feedlots
or auctions,

where kill buyers
purchase horses and burros

to send to slaughter.

In the United States,

slaughtering horses
to sell their meat

for human consumption
is not legal.

However, it's not illegal

to send them across the border
to Canada and Mexico.

We wanted to get down to Texas
to take a look for ourselves.

Of course, we couldn't bring
regular film cameras

into places like these,
so we had to be covert.

-Which button is it?
-[Yvette's dad] Top one.

Oh, my God,
that is a freaking--

-[Yvette's dad] Yup.
-[Richard] That's--

[Yvette's dad] Do you see
the screen here, though?

Where?

[Yvette's dad]
Right here in my hand?

I can't move it too far.

[Yvette] My husband, Ed,
was in the middle

of producing
another movie,

so my dad joined
my brother and I on this trip

for an added
layer of protection.

[Yvette's dad] I was just
thinking of buying a horse.

[man] All right.

[Yvette] It was nerve-wracking,

going into a place like this.

My little camera
wasn't as covert as we thought,

but Richard's button cam,
which we sewed into his shirt,

was nearly undetectable.

So, most of our footage
lives here.

[auctioneer auctioneering]

[man 1] Man, busy day.

[auctioneer continues
indistinctly]

[Yvette whispering] Rick.
They've got a zebra in here.

It's a baby.

[indistinct chatter]

[Richard] Excuse me, sir.

Where are the wild horses?

[man] They're over the hill.

[Richard] Oh, got you.

There are probably 30, 40...
[muffled speech]

[Yvette whispers]
Oh, my gosh.

What are those?

It's like a zebra
and a horse combined.

[Richard] Oh, my God.

You can tell
they got the same blue eye.

[Yvette] Yeah.

You see her down there?

On our very first day,

we got a glimpse into
the auction world of Texas.

But the loose horses
that my dad was asking about,

the wild horses,

had already left
early in the morning.

We'd be there
the next day to see them.

This was part of the auction
not on the schedule.

[Yvette's dad] I want to go
one or two more down.

-[Richard] Yeah.
-[Yvette] Down here?

[Yvette's dad] Yeah, let's get
a little closer, maybe.

-[Yvette] We got good seats.
-[Richard] Yeah.

[auctioneer auctioneering]

So, 2,550 down here?

[indistinct chatter]

[auctioneer continues
indistinctly]

[indistinct chatter]

[Yvette] It was all we could do
to keep from crying out.

Especially when the mothers

and their terrified babies
came through.

I was also nervous
when I recognized

a known kill buyer
in the audience.

Thankfully, he didn't know
what I looked like.

We were told that if the horses
were bought in big numbers,

they were probably being
shipped to slaughter in Mexico.

[Yvette's dad] Where'd they--
Where'd they capture all those?

-In the-- out in the range?
-[Richard] Yeah.

[Yvette] We were also curious

where the zebra
was from earlier.

[Richard] I think that's him
in the red, in the-- yeah.

[Yvette] It was surreal seeing
zebras in a place like this.

We couldn't imagine
where they might end up next.

Especially given

there are no limits on
exotic animal hunting in Texas.

We also noticed
on social media,

almost immediately after
the donkeys were purchased,

they popped up
on a kill pen website...

listed for sale
or slaughter.

We ended up speaking to someone
in the know at the auction,

who offered
to do an interview.

[man over phone]
if it's in somebody's budget,

they go across the border,

and once
they go across the border,

they more than likely
don't come back.

[Yvette]
But when our camera showed up,

he disappeared and stopped
responding to calls,

text messages,
and voice mails.

He did do a brief call
with me on the phone.

[Yvette] We were here
earlier this morning,

and with the little donkeys

and with some
of those wild horses,

we did notice certain numbers
were bidding on a lot of them.

Are they bidding on them
to send them down to Mexico?

[man over phone]
Oh, more than likely.

If you-- if you--
if you're there

and you're paying attention
in the ring

and the number of buyers,

if there's a guy there
that buys over,

you know, ten head,
he's buying for the killers,

is what they--
they call them the killers--

Or sometimes
they're not killers,

but he's buying for Mexico.

Like, 90% of those donkeys,

they probably all got bought,

and they'll probably
go to Mexico

and then on the horse side,

yes, if you pay attention to it
and you listen

and you see one number
and he's buying,

you know, over ten horses

and he's not paying
over $1,000 a piece for them,

then, yes, ma'am, he's--
he's putting together a load

and he's gonna send them
to Mexico.

They'll send
anything down there.

It's-- Whatever
doesn't get bought,

a killer buyer will buy,
no matter how junky it is.

If it comes in there
with a broke leg,

it doesn't matter.

They'll give a price for it
and it'll sell.

[door slams shut]

[Yvette] There were low parts
in our journey,

but this was definitely
one of them.

Thousands of wild horses
and burros

had ended up
in the slaughter pipe line.

And as the New York Times
exposed,

the Bureau of Land Management's
own adoption incentive program

had led to duplicitous people
making thousands of dollars

by adopting
wild horses and burros

and then flipping them
at auctions,

like the one
we were just at.

The BLM's budget

for the Wild Horse
and Burro program

in 2021 alone,

was over
115 million dollars.

Where was all of that
being spent?

When we looked, we
saw that more than half of it

was being spent on long-term
and short-term holding.

Basically incarcerating
wild horses

for the rest of their lives
at taxpayers' expense.

We'd visited these facilities
and it was awful.

The wild horses
were branded like cattle.

Tags were strapped
tightly around their necks.

Some were even spray painted.

And worst of all,

they were separated
from their families.

You could just see
the betrayal in their eyes.

Especially when they looked out
beyond the bars,

toward the mountains.

Many of these places
don't have shade...

or any shelter
from the elements.

All they can do is wait
and comfort each other.

♪

Unsurprisingly,
as it turned out...

millions of dollars
were being spent

on contracts
for helicopter roundups...

and for livestock ranchers

to use their pastures
to warehouse wild horses.

Several of these contractors

such as Cattoor
Livestock Roundup Inc.,

better known
as the Cattoor family,

were among the BLM's
contractors of choice...

along with Shane F Sampson
and Sun J Livestock.

Sampson had earned
over four million dollars.

Sun J Livestock had been
awarded approximately ten million.

And the Cattoors had earned
over 30 million dollars

in contracts from
the United States Government.

Let's reiterate
that these are contractors,

awarded millions
by the American Government,

funded by our tax dollars,
to round up wild horses

which are supposed to be
federally protected.

But shockingly, in 1992,
along with several others,

Dave Cattoor was convicted
and pled guilty

to breaking a federal law.

For conspiring to use his
aircraft to hunt wild horses

for the purposes
of capturing them,

killing them
and sending them to slaughter.

He was only fined $500.

And the BLM continues to hire

Cattoor Livestock Roundup Inc.

[Scott]
My name is Scott Beckstead.

I'm Director of Campaigns
for Animal Wellness Action

and the Center
for a Humane Economy.

And I'm also
an adjunct professor of law

at Willamette University.

There has been a push,

an aggressive push
by the Bureau of Land Management

to ramp up these roundups
and removals,

and it's being fueled
by the huge sums of money

appropriated to it by Congress.

Congress
has been successfully lobbied

by the beef industry
for the roundup and removal

of huge numbers
of wild horses and burros

to get the population down
to the low AMLs.

The BLM has constructed
this false narrative

about an overpopulation
of wild horses.

It's a clever ploy
because it diverts

the public's attention
away from the effects

of overgrazing by millions
of commercial livestock

that the BLM has allowed
to happen on our public lands.

What makes these roundups
so difficult to stop

is the huge amounts of money.

Congress has really enabled this

by appropriating 116 million

in 2021 alone
to fund these operations.

It pays
the helicopter contractors

millions of dollars
to do their work,

and then it also appropriates
millions more

to these private entities,
mostly corporations,

to build these off-range
holding facilities

where tens of thousands
of our wild horses

and burros will be kept.

Hi, I'm Marty Irby,
I'm the Executive Director

of Animal Wellness Action
in Washington DC.

I'm one of the nation's
top lobbyists in the country

and also the top lobbyist
on horse protection issues.

One thing that most people
don't realize that occurs

is that there are
lobbying dollars

in Washington DC
that we're up against.

It's a David and Goliath
situation

because there are
actual federal funds

called "USDA
Commodity Checkoff Programs."

Those commercials, you see,
like, "Got milk,"

"Beef,
it's what's for dinner,"

"Pork, the other white meat,"
and "The incredible edible egg,"

aren't really commercials
or ad campaigns,

they're USDA checkoff programs,

they're funded by dollars
paid in by producers

to sell these products.

These entities
are quasi-governmental entities,

and they're utilizing the funds

to illegally lobby for policies

that we don't support,

policies that put
small farmers out of business,

policies that harm animals,

policies that are pro-slaughter,

total of $850 million a year

for all of
the checkoffs combined.

Basically, the National
Cattlemen's Beef Association,

NCBA,
which is the beef checkoff,

uses their money illegally
to lobby for horse slaughter.

These horses
are going to become food

for someone
in China, Japan or Europe.

I think
one of the most glaring examples

of this corrupt system
is with J. R. Simplot,

uh, which is an Idaho-based
food company

that grazes
tens of thousands of cattle

at a taxpayer-subsidized rate

of a dollar 35
per animal unit month

on grazing allotments
across five western states.

So, it's enriching itself
by grazing its livestock

at taxpayer expense
on the front end,

and on the back end
it's being paid millions

by the BLM to hold onto
large numbers of wild horses

that have been removed
from our public lands

to clear the way for more
commercial livestock grazing.

And it should terrify
every single American

who cares about
wild horses and burros

that a food company
is being paid

to hold onto large numbers
of these wild horses and burros

that have been removed
from our public lands.

[Yvette]
When you think about it,

you can barely buy
a single can of cat or dog food

for a dollar 35.

But big food corporations

were getting
these massive tax subsidies

to graze their cattle
on our public land

for a little over
a dollar a month,

when private ranchers
had to pay over 20

using their own land.

That didn't seem fair.

And wild horses were being
rounded up because of it.

In 2021,
we were about to experience

this corruption for ourselves.

[calm music]

The iconic horses
of Sand Wash Basin in Colorado

are known for the legendary
paint stallion, Picasso.

This place, just like Onaqui,
had its own magic.

It was interesting to watch
the wild horse hierarchy...

as each family
waited their turn for water.

Often, the stallions would
scope it out first for safety.

And in some bands,
a lieutenant stallion

can be an extra set of eyes
over the family...

until the band stallion
returns.

♪

At Sand Wash Basin,
there were watering holes

that were filled naturally
by the elements.

And there were also
manmade troughs,

which local advocates
helped to maintain.

Right at sunset...

hundreds of horses
appeared before our eyes.

And then, almost as quickly
as they came...

they were gone.

It takes a lot of effort
and understanding

and decades of data
to understand

what the range condition
is like.

Just don't go out there

looking for
the beautiful horses,

which they are very beautiful,

and understand
what's in the [indistinct].

Okay, but could you just
tell us the reasoning

behind the roundup at Sand Wash?

So, the way we manage horses

to be in harmony
with their habitat,

so the habitat
and the horses are healthy,

is by managing the numbers.

Um, you know,
unlike other large grazers,

they're just kind of
more or less there all year.

Um, and so that means
that the numbers of animals,

the numbers of mouths
need to be appropriate

for what the landscape
is capable of producing.

So that's--

Let me jump in there and say,
"But why do we do it?"

We do it because
we're required by law...

[Hunter] Mm-hmm.

...to manage for a thriving
ecological balance.

How do you guys
feel about the fact

that the Governor has called
for a moratorium on this roundup

to be evaluated
through more of a fact

and science-based lens?

Uh, we appreciate
their interest,

and we're going to continue
to work with Colorado

to find creative solutions
to manage these horses

in a healthy way

and also resulting
in a healthy landscape.

That's-- that's what we are
going to do moving forward.

[Yvette] How do you feel about
the Governor's position?

[Bruce] Again,
we appreciate their position,

we appreciate them
wanting to work with us,

and we want to work with them.

And so we need to
by mandate, by law,

manage healthy horses
on healthy range lots.

[Yvette] Did they consult?

Because I know
the National Academy of Sciences

in 2013, I believe,
stated that the AMLs

were not based
on fact or science.

So, they're saying--
they're saying there was a--

A considerable, uh,
production data collected

all across Sand Wash
in the '90s,

and that went into setting,

uh, you know, for Sand Wash.

But from the '90s,
into the year--

Into 2011, 2013, 2015,

obviously, there's a lot
going on with climate change

and why would data
that's that old--

The-- these range lands change,
but they change very slowly.

You don't wait till
the range land has collapsed,

and then you find
poor body condition,

you don't wait for that.

So-- so,
you're rounding them up pro--

Before they can reach a point
of poor body condition?

The BLM's role legally,

statutorily,
is to manage the habitat.

That, you know, the-- the state,

uh, you know,
they manage the animals.

Um, except
for the horses, you know,

uh, like, say the horse
is the only thing BLM manages

that has a heartbeat.

Every-- every other critter
out here is either the state

or if it's listed,
it's Fish and Wildlife Service.

[Yvette] The BLM had announced
an emergency roundup

to permanently remove
nearly 90% of the wild horses

of Sand Wash Basin.

This emergency status

allowed them to move forward
with the roundup quickly

and didn't require the BLM
to assemble public comments.

They originally said
the roundup

was due to poor body conditions
of the horses and drought,

even though
the water holes were full.

But then the BLM's narrative
suddenly changed.

The BLM then said
they were removing the horses

because of negative impacts
to sage-grouse habitat

and for future starvation.

They also ignored the requests

of Colorado Governor
Jared Potts,

Western Watersheds project,
and the Sierra Club

to halt the unnecessary roundup
of Sand Wash Basin.

-[Troy] Yeah.
-[man] Yeah.

We are direct right in the--

-In line of the wings.
-[Chris] Sure.

-So, we need to go--
-[horse blusters]

Just over
the other side of this, right?

-Yeah, I don't know.
-Okay.

I'm just gonna go down here
and see if I can find a hole

-to get to.
-All right, absolutely.

So, yeah, we'll just move
the vehicles down

a little farther.

Uh, you could leave
your equipment here

if you'd like,
just right off this area.

[Yvette] It's actually safer
to be near a tree,

if the wild horses come near us.

[Chris] Usually, [indistinct].

-[Yvette] It's safer.
-I'm not arguing with you.

We'll comply,
but I'm just letting you know

that God forbid
a wild herd ga--

Gallops over this mountain,

you're gonna want to scream
to everybody

to stand under this tree.

And I just-- I don't care

whose side of the issue
you're on.

This-- this is safer.

What Cattoor wants is for us
to not get a clear line of sight

as to what's about to happen.

So, here we are
at Sand Wash Basin.

We were asked to move
from that tree to here.

So, that the horses apparently
can see us.

And apparently we're hiding
behind this mountain.

However, we cannot see

the helicopter operation
at this point.

[Yvette] From our vantage point
behind the hill,

we could barely see anything
the helicopter was doing...

until the horses were driven
into the trap site.

It was the first time
we had been this close to one.

And it was horrifying to see.

Numerous horses
had sustained injuries.

[Chris] Actually, [indistinct]
they're putting up--

Hovering on the area
where the foals were running,

which indicates that,
in fact,

the foals were
not in a good position earlier.

The paneling does--
the plastic fence,

it will prevent
the foals from--

And the horses from wanting
to run through the panel.

So, because they didn't have
that up earlier,

those three yearlings
were running around

and starting to test the pen.

So, the fact that
they're putting up now indicates

that they weren't doing it
correctly earlier.

[Yvette] Interesting,
and that's when,

apparently, that one--
that one yearling got hurt,

and his shoulder was bloody
or her shoulder was bloody.

[Brian] Uh,
it seems to be, yeah.

[Yvette]
The Bureau of Land Management

made us wait
for almost two hours

before we were allowed
to approach the corrals.

Their reasoning was,

"People near the corrals
would upset the horses."

Apparently those rules

didn't apply
to roundup personnel.

It was cold,
and it was raining,

and it was almost like they
were trying to wait us out.

[man] Ah,
there's horse locations--

[Yvette] When we were finally
allowed closer

to the trap site...

that's when we saw
the injuries.

-[woman] [indistinct]?
-[man] Yep.

[woman] So, when do you think...
[muffled speech]

[Yvette] But as hard
as all this was to see

people kept on coming
to support the horses

and to hold the Bureau
of Land Management accountable.

We found it
exceedingly bizarre...

that Dave and Sue Cattoor
showed up to watch

as the horses of Sand
Wash Basin lost their freedom.

I'm Steve Leonard,

I'm the Wild Horse and Burro
Lead for the state of Colorado.

Roughly we're at 896 horses

between inside the HMA
and outside the HMA.

And we're trying to reduce
that population down

to the low AML of 163.

So, this is an emergency gather.

Um, we're conducting this

because of the lack of forage
and water for these horses.

Um, and so our objective here
is to reduce the herd to,

um, the appropriate
national levels.

[Yvette] The reasoning
seems to have changed

from an emergency roundup
due to drought,

and because
they were in poor body condition

to identifying that

they're not going to have
enough winter forage,

and there's something to do
with sage-grouse now,

that was-- didn't seem like
it was part of the conversation

until recently.

Well, um, so we always
take into consideration

the needs of all the users
on public lands when we're--

When we're managing
wild horses and burros,

so that includes wildlife.

Um, so the sage-grouse
were always gonna be

part of this decision
to manage this herd.

[Yvette] Didn't the range land
specialist just state

that the Bureau
of Land Management

only manages wild horses?

That every other critter
falls outside of their purview?

Why were they suddenly
trying to scapegoat wild horses

for negative effects
to sage-grouse?

I'm Megan Crawford,
I'm part of the SWAT team

here in the Sand Wash,

and I worked for the BLM
the season of 2016

doing, uh, sage-grouse surveys

and with the emergency gather,
it's honestly kind of a cop-out.

They don't have to do
an environmental assessment,

they don't have to, uh,

have a public scoping
comment period,

they-- they basically
can say we are doing this,

these are the numbers
we're gonna take,

this is the amount of horses
we're gonna leave,

and it kind of takes

all of the accountability
out of the system

because it's sort of
just a standing order,

and we're all just
supposed to bend to it.

And how they can say
it's solely the wild horses

that are the reason

that the sage-grouse
are not rebounding

seems a little bit absurd to me.

I'm not sure the exact number
of sheep that are out here,

but having
that many sheep compared

to the amount of horses, I--
I think it's a cop-out to say

that it's the wild horses
that are degrading the land.

[Yvette]
Did any of your beliefs change

in how things were conducted?

Honestly,
I was a little surprised

about the brashness
of the BLM side.

I don't think
that they really care

for the horses out here.

You know,
even what they would say,

the advocates were,

which they kind of used
as a bad word around there.

[Yvette] One of the advocates
on the ground pointed out

that there were babies
only a day old

being chased
by the low flying helicopters.

Though the BLM
continues to define

helicopter roundups as humane.

Something else
we found suspicious that day

was the Cattoor helicopter.

Our camera operator,
Jerry, was also a pilot

and he pointed out that while
there was a United Flight,

30,000 feet above us,

we could not track
the Cattoor helicopter.

The potential accusation

was that they had blocked
their ADS-B,

which the FAA said a contractor
can do upon request

but can be dangerous given
other aircrafts in the area.

That, or the signal simply
wasn't being picked up on

because of the terrain.

What we found suspicious

was that the BLM
repeatedly refused

to answer any of our questions

about why the helicopter
had vanished.

So, there was ultimately
no way for us to track

how many grueling miles
they were running these horses.

Uh, the total contract cost
for this

is just under 300,000.

That doesn't include
holding, no.

[Yvette] With the target
of 733 horses to capture

the approximate cost
to taxpayers

to warehouse all of those
horses for the rest of their lives

was over $36 million.

Thankfully,
due to an intervention

by Governor Jared Potts
and Congressman Joe Neguse,

the roundup ended early

and the total captured was 479.

[Yvette] This is how narrow
this stuff is.

[melancholic music]

These horses are in this.

[Yvette] They were sent
to a holding facility

at Canyon City Federal Prison
where only months later,

when 145 horses
mysteriously died.

Only two months
after the wild horses

of Sand Wash Basin

were almost
completely eradicated,

thousands of sheep
were spotted in the basin.

[protestors] [chanting]
Stop the choppers.

Stop the choppers.
Stop the choppers.

Stop the choppers.
Stop the choppers.

Stop the choppers,
stop the cho--

Yesterday,
the Bureau of Land Management

issued a media statement

that said
this roundup is gonna happen.

It was a--

An absolute disregard
of the thousands of people

across the country
and across the world

who have called the BLM
and said,

"Please,
please stop this roundup."

My name is Erik Molvar,

and I'm the Executive Director
of Western Watersheds Project.

My name is Deniz Bolbol,

I'm with the Cloud Foundation,
I'm the Advocacy Director.

Hello, everyone,
I'm Marty Irby here,

Executive Director
of Animal Wellness Action

and chief lobbyist
in Washington DC.

I really appreciate
everyone turning out today

to support the Onaqui horses,

my name is Ashley Avis,
I'm a filmmaker.

-[protestors cheering]
-Now I've been out to Onaqui.

And the BLM says
that 474 wild horses

are too many for the range.

Livestock industry
coined a term for that.

-Bullshit.
-[protestors cheering]

Now,
the Bureau of Land Management

has authorized almost
20,000 animal unit months

of cattle and sheep
grazing on Onaqui.

On a wild horse
Herd Management Area

where they have
a congressional responsibility

-to conserve the wild horses.
-[protestor] Exactly. Exactly.

This kind of injustice

is happening
all around the country.

It's not about a thriving,
natural ecological balance.

The BLM is creating a problem

with cattle and sheep
degrading the range.

And then, instead of addressing
the cause of the problem,

they're blaming
the convenient scapegoat,

the wild horse.

So they can keep on overgrazing

with as many cattle
and sheep as they always have

without
the American public noticing.

Well, guess what, the public
is starting to notice.

-[protestor] Yes!
-[protestors cheering]

Earlier this year,
we sent a letter,

I think it was 70 or so groups,
to Secretary Deb Haaland

asking her to put a moratorium
on the grazing permits

for these cattle and sheep
that they're bringing in.

We didn't get a response.

We're asking you,
Mr. President,

please stop the roundups.

Everyone here
has an opportunity

to let the president know
how you feel.

Call 202-456-1111,

202-456-1111.

And let's light up
the White House switchboard.

-[protestors cheering]
-Let's light it up.

It's time to call the President.
This has to stop.

This is a government agency
that is broken.

It's not just sickened,
in need of reform,

it is broken,
in need of a complete overhaul.

We do need
leadership from above.

We need adult supervision

for the agency bureaucrats

who have been making
the same mistakes,

-year after year after year.
-[protestors cheering]

I think it's so important

that not only
the people standing here

but the children
in our country

stand up
and raise their voices

because they too
can make a change.

I'd like to read two letters
from two ten-year-olds,

part of a Girl Scout troop.

Dear President Biden.

Dear Interior Secretary
Deb Haaland.

And dear honorable members
of Congress.

"I'm writing
to ask you to make laws

to help protect
the wild Mustang herds."

"If you were a horse
and you were rounded up

in a tiny pen and slaughtered,
how would that make you feel?

Scared.

That is how these horses feel,
and that is sad and wrong."

"Roundups of herds
like the Onaqui must be stopped.

The facts have shown

that these horses just end up
in kill pens

bound for a life of pain
and suffering."

"These majestic creatures

are caught in the system
of ranching monopolies,

encouraged
by government enablement

and distortion of the truth."

"President Biden,

please stop
the wild Onaqui roundups.

There are babies
and elderly horses

out on the range who will
not survive the helicopters.

You are the voice
that can stop this."

"Please help the Onaqui
stay where they belong."

"These horses
represent the story of America."

"What will you do
for the generations to come?"

"Have the courage
to see beyond profit,

and take a serious look
at America's long term values."

I'm Jocelyn, I'm ten years old,
and I stand with wild horses.

I stand with wild horses.

I stand with wild horses.

Hopeful and determined,
Jocelyn.

[emotional music]

[Yvette] After the rally
to save the Onaqui...

going out to the range
was cleansing.

All of our favorite families
were there.

The chestnut foal
Sun Catcher.

The powerful Stargazer.

The bay roan.

Norman and the three amigos.

♪

[horse neighs]

It was as if they were
putting on a show for us.

[horse neighs]

Never had we been so close.

[horse neighs]

Stargazer was in full form,

battling
several of the stallions

right before our eyes.

[horses neigh]

A young stallion
sailed before us...

as he courted the affections
of his very first mare.

It was a harmony
only nature could know.

And we were given this
quiet glimpse into all of it.

And then...

the one horse
we'd hoped to see for years...

the legendary Old Man...

seemed to materialize
out of the mountains.

♪

He walked beside us...

and stayed with us
until sunset...

when he was called home.

♪

And that night, we were given
the spectacular gift...

of hundreds of Onaqui horses
galloping to water...

like ghosts of the desert.

Well, uh, thank you everybody
for being here,

my name is Gus Warr,
I'm the BLM Wild Horse and Burro

Program Manager for Utah,

and I'll be the incident
commander on this gather.

Um, been a lot of publicity,

a lot of things associated
with-- with this gather.

Uh, we did have a litigation
case we were working through,

and we wanted
to allow Judge Moss

to make his ruling
without overstepping our bounds

and not doing something
we shouldn't,

and we did get a ruling

which gave us the green light
to be out here today.

This is Lisa Reid,

she's our lead
public affairs person out here

on this gather and, uh,

you're gonna hear her, uh,
what I call barking orders.

She's in charge of all of you.

I'm in charge
of everything out here,

meaning we got
an operations person over here,

we've got
a law enforcement branch,

we've got a public affairs

and so I'm trying
to keep it all in check,

but she's-- she's kind of trying
to corral the people.

[officer] You'll see us around,

we're gonna be scattered
throughout the operation,

and, uh, we're here for safety,
and we're gonna hope to prevent

any interference
with the operation.

Because if we start interfering
with gather operations,

then unfortunately,
we have to move further back,

further away or-- or, you know,
if worse comes to worse,

we may have to ask somebody
that's not cooperating

for law enforcement
to escort them out of the site.

It's a hike
but it's-- it's the best--

It's the best viewing
you're gonna get.

[emotional music]

[Yvette panting]

[Yvette]
We were no longer shocked

that the Onaqui roundup
was justified

much like the rest.

When an organization
called "Friends of Animals"

filed a lawsuit to stop it,

the BLM field manager
for Utah testified under oath

that the horses
were in poor body condition

due to being overpopulated

and needed to be rounded up
for their own good

to prevent future starvation.

This ended up being false, even
by the BLM's own admission.

And three days
into the roundup,

the agency announced
that most of the horses

were in good shape after all.

But instead of pulling back

or releasing
the healthy horses...

they simply changed
the justification

for the roundup to drought.

We, along with
tens of thousands of people

and advocacy groups
across the world...

tried everything we could
to stop the roundup of Onaqui.

♪

The night before it happened,
as they walked away...

it was like a funeral march.

It was as if they knew.

On the first day,
the helicopter kept a distance,

and only 14 horses
were captured.

None of the families
that we knew

lived in this remote area.

So, we were shocked
to see Old Man there

as if he were bearing witness.

The Associated Press showed up

along with advocates
and other media.

But we were surprised
at how few people turned out.

I think the BLM was too,

because in the days
that followed,

the roundup became
significantly more aggressive.

[Yvette] Sweetheart, run.

So, the question was,
"Why can't we see the traps?"

They're over here,
we looked at the viewing area,

and all you could see
is the corrals.

You couldn't see
the gather area out here.

[Yvette] Can we go up
on that ridge,

like we did yesterday?

We were able to climb
the mountain to look down--

No, we-- we've
selected a viewing site,

we've alerted the contractor,

we've alerted
the helicopter pilot,

it's going to be
right out here.

That's where
we're going to be viewing from.

Unfortunately, we cannot
see the trap site today,

and there's plenty of space

to allow us
a clear line of sight,

but there are a lot more horses
that are being rounded up,

so that can lead to a lot more
injury in that area.

It's just--
it's really disappointing

that our observation rights
are being denied.

But I'm not surprised.

[Yvette] What was heartbreaking
about that morning

was when we arrived,

dozens of Onaqui horses
were grazing

right near the trap site.

Stargazer sounded the alarm

before it even happened

and tried to move his family
over the mountain

before taking the lead
to try to guide them to safety.

But he was too late.

The horses were driven
back and forth

as the helicopter looped.

It was horrifying to see.

♪

[Yvette] Oh, my gosh.

It's going in really fast.

[Yvette] The helicopter flew
so low to the horses

we were terrified
there would be a collision.

[Yvette] Oh, my God.

Guys,
you've got to be kidding me.

[Yvette] This was the worst
roundup we had ever been to.

And it was personal...

as we watched
our families stampeded.

The young foal
we called Sun Catcher...

The bay roans, perlino mares

and even Stargazer
and his family...

were among those
caught in the melee.

We felt like
we were being held captive,

stuck on top of the mountain...

unable to help them...

as the Onaqui disappeared
into a cloud of dust.

We felt like
we had failed them.

The bay roan
managed to escape.

But he didn't run away.

He went back for his family

and circled the trap site
crying for them.

No,
he's going in, he's going in.

[Yvette] As journalists,

it is our constitutional right
to observe.

But the BLM did not allow us
to see what they were doing

behind the mountain.

Unlike Sand Wash Basin,
we had no vantage point

to document
any of the injuries

or potential deaths
of these horses.

Were any horses
injured yesterday?

[woman] None.

[Yvette]
And who is the organization

-down there right now?
-Wild Horses of America.

And so why would you give
preferential treatment

-to an organization?
-[woman] There is no

preferential treatment,
only the fact

that they are part
of our dart team program.

That's clearly
preferential treatment,

when we want to document
what is going on down there,

and you're denying us
our right to observe.

There is nothing--
there is nothing obstructive

about us putting our camera
on a ridge just like yesterday

when there were
far fewer horses.

We're not--
we're not obstructing anything.

And we had looked
at other locations,

in fact, we were over
a mile and a half

to where we can get
straight on,

but we felt like this was closer
and you could see more

and get better identification
of the horses.

[Yvette] Can we go see
the holding facility

or the, uh, the corrals now?

We'd like to go
up on that ridge,

it's a similar distance
that we hiked yesterday.

So, we already talked about
you could go over here and look,

you can't see
the holding facility,

and no, you can't go
down there because--

[Yvette]
We don't need to go down there,

we've got 1 000 millimeter lens,
we could go over to that ridge,

which is actually
kind of shorter

than we hiked yesterday
and we're allowed to do.

We'd like to get a clear shot.

I think you should go over here
and look and--

Because you don't believe us,
go over here--

I don't know
where the individual

that went over there.

[Yvette] I mean,
you've scouted this area,

you mentioned that this morning.

Can we get a clear shot
of the trap-- from--

-Of the trap site from there?
-You can't,

you can't,
that's why I'm saying--

[Yvette] So, why would you
send us over there?

Because
that's where you asked to go.

[Yvette] I asked to go
on this ridge

to go see the trap site.

Yeah, you're not going to
be able to see that down there,

and, you know, we have to keep
people controlled.

[Yvette]
We can see it down there.

What if I get you
part way down there

and all of a sudden
the helicopter takes off and--

[Yvette] I assume
that you're in communication

-with the helicopter.
-We are.

[Yvette] You're denying
our right to observe,

you're denying
our constitutional rights.

[Brian] What did you mean by
you need to control the people?

We need to-- we need to
make sure people are safe.

-That's what I mean--
-[Yvette] There's no safety

unless you've got
some rogue helicopter pilot

who's going to take off,

and then you really hired
the wrong person,

it is perfectly safe for us.

We got the best helicopter pilot
in the business.

[Yvette] Wonderful. Great.
I thought he did--

I thought he kept a very
reasonable distance yesterday.

-What about today?
-[Yvette] I thought,

well, he got pretty
darn close today.

I would like to go over there,
so if you've got

the best helicopter pilot
in the distance,

he's not going to
take off on me.

...people are getting
a little bit, uh, emotional,

and, you know, we're going to
keep people here--

A minute ago,
it was for our safety,

now you're saying
it's because we're emotional.

[Gus]
Well, emotion runs into that.

If people are getting emotional,
how do you control people?

[Brian] We weren't
emotional a minute ago.

[Yvette]
No, we very calmly asked,

and we said it is our right
as journalists,

as public observers
to go over there

and point our camera
at the trap site.

...of everybody

and the coordination
of this group,

we want to keep you here.

So, that's what we're gonna do.

[journalist] Can I go?
I'm not emotional.

We're gonna keep you here.

Yeah, no.

So, um, we made such a stink

and made some-- made some
pretty damn good points,

and they are now allowing us,
after a fight,

to go over
to a certain point

where we're allowed
to observe.

-Are you filming this?
-[helicopter whirling]

So, holy cow.

Wow.

This is nuts.

This is nuts.

[piano music]

There is a child that just
got out of the helicopter.

Why is a--
why is a kid riding around?

How is that
not a liability issue?

[Kai] Well, that's because
it's daddy's helicopter.

[Yvette] Yeah,
but for a government roundup

of wild horses,
you've got a chi--

-You've got a child?
-[Kai] Yeah.

That's not even a teenager.
That's a little girl.

[Kai] No reason
that we couldn't--

Yeah, there's no--
this is absurd, yeah.

We can go low,
we can have the camera low,

we can have-- we could crouch
below those rocks.

-[Yvette] Absolutely.
-[Kai] Zero issue.

[Yvette]
We could sit right up here.

We could see the helicopter
operations from there.

All the way
around the mountain,

and then we could see
the trap site.

We could actually see the horses
running in, like this.

So, they run them
in from there.

And then
they're forced through here.

Can you imagine
if you were a horse

and you run?

Can you tell me
about the child

that was in the chopper
yesterday?

I have no idea
what you're talking about.

[Yvette] There was a little girl
that got out of the chopper,

we've got it on film.

Why is a child riding around?

-Is that legal?
-Couldn't tell you.

[Yvette] But after
the roundup is done

and the chopper is grounded,

why can't we go over to
the other side of the mountain

if we're half a mile away
on 1 000 millimeter lens?

We discussed this yesterday.

Yeah, and I'd like to know why
what you said is changing again.

So, you're not gonna let

the Associated Press
over there either?

Yeah, come in.

[Yvette]
We were told we couldn't go

near the trap site
because it was a safety issue.

But a little girl not only rode
around in the helicopter,

but sat on the back
of a water truck

as the horses
were hosed down.

[horses neigh]

♪

[Yvette]
This is just so unfair.

-I can hear them crying.
-[horses neigh]

This is just
really heartbreaking.

We're not allowed
to view the holding facility,

even though
it's a BLM holding facility.

There's Kai,
we've got officers.

I'm not sure
what we're about to encounter.

[melancholic music]

[horses neigh]

[horse blusters]

[horses neigh]

[horses neigh]

[horses neigh]

[horses neigh]

-[Yvette] That sound is--
-[Kai] I know, it's terrible.

We've been listening to it
for hours now,

for two hours, it's horrible.

[horse neighs]

♪

[horse neighs]

[Yvette] I'm so sorry.

[Yvette] Three months later,
we went back to Delta.

Almost all of the families
we've gotten to know...

had been captured
and separated.

The beautiful perlino sisters

strode through
pools of water and mud.

And their brave stallion
who escaped

but gallantly
went back for them

was captured too.

The father
of the chestnut foal.

Even the powerful Stargazer...

who had been so resplendent
in the wild...

had been reduced to this.

♪

[birds chirping]

[flute music]

A number of the horses
from roundups...

found safe landings
at sanctuaries.

The cremello
and the black from Onaqui

landed at Great Escape
Mustang Sanctuary in Colorado.

The Black
has joined the herd.

Though the cremello
wanders alone.

Norman remained
free on the range.

Though
one of the three amigos, Rowan,

was reported to be killed
by the BLM

only days before the roundup

for supposedly
having a pre-existing injury.

We never did find
the chestnut foal.

Although Stargazer's story
ended in a different way.

After the BLM auctioned off
the surviving Onaqui horses,

he and his favorite mare
were adopted together.

Although
they will never again be free.

Old Man was left wild...

though we never saw him again.

The fate of nearly 60,000

wild horses and burros

stuck in holding facilities
across the United States...

will never fully be known.

This film
is in honor of them...

and for all of their
mysterious...

unfathomable wild beauty

that they've brought
to the world.

♪

Unbridled and unbroken,

these symbols
of our nation's merits

embody the tonic of wildness

that Henry David Thoreau
so eloquently phrased

in his reflective piece,
Walden.

Wild horses and burros
have a place on these lands,

epitomizing
the tenacity and grit

this nation strives for.

♪

♪

♪