Wild horse roundup halted

A roundup of wild horses on the Colville Indian Reservation was stopped just before noon Sunday due to mounting pressure from tribal members.

The roundup had been planned to take about three weeks, gathering between 700 and 1,000 of the horses.

The process stopped short Saturday, just over a week into it.

Ralph Moses, of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Range department, said they estimate 3,000 to 4,000 ferrel horses live across the reservation, creating "hot spots" of over-grazed habitat.

Moses said the operation took in a total of 422 wild horses to be shipped to Montana, which were separated out from branded horses as they entered the catch pen set up on Joe Moses Road, several miles east of the Colville Indian Agency, near a family cemetery.

The captured horses were shipped to Montana, headed for eventual slaughter in Canada.

Not everyone agrees with the methods used in the roundup - using out-of-state contractors and a helicopter that reportedly scares local stock in their pastures.

And some question whether the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is following its own laws, or insisting that the federal BIA abide by them either.

The tribe annually sets a season from November through February for capturing wild horses. But a dozen years ago, Congress cut funding for federal inspectors of horse slaughter houses, effectively shutting them down in the U.S. That cut the profit margin down. Local cowboys used to get about $500 a head, Moses said. Now, they can only earn about $150 for each, $50 for colts.

Not thinning the herds, which reproduce at about 25 percent a year, has allowed them to balloon, and the land is suffering, Moses said, noting that areas not far from last week's activity used to offer certain success for deer hunters but no longer do.

Several local horse owners agree the wild herd needs culling, but they fear their own horses have been caught up too.

Two semi-loads of horses left the capture area Saturday, but Moses said the horses were screened for brands as they were led into the pen. Branded horses were supposed to be separated out.

The tribes' "2014-2015 Wild Horse Chase and Capture Regulations and Seasons" manual states that horses must be captured by persons on horseback or on foot, and prohibits the use of "motorized vehicles."