In the summer of 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rounded up and removed 174 wild horses that had migrated off protected public lands in the Pilot Valley and Toano Herd Management Areas in Nevada. Because these mustangs were on private land, they lost their legal protection under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and were put up for sale at a livestock auction in Fallon, Nevada. Montgomery Creek Ranch Founders, Ellie and Chris, determined to save these horses from slaughter, spent over five hours bidding against kill buyers from Canada. In the end, they successfully purchased every horse at the auction.
Among the 174 horses were 18 mares with foals by their sides, two orphan foals, 76 stallions, and 59 mares, many of whom had lost their foals during the roundup. A few of the mares were also pregnant.
After the auction, the horses were temporarily housed at a facility in Fallon, Nevada, under the watchful eye of Mike Holmes, a former Nevada state wild horse manager. All the stallions were castrated, the babies were weaned and gentled, and the horses settled into their new life on a feedlot. Being wild, these horses could not be handled easily and required chutes and heavy fencing for management. Their days of roaming free on the Western range with their families were over.
In 2012, Ellie and Chris purchased Montgomery Creek Ranch (MCR) and founded Montgomery Creek Preserve. Nestled in the hills of Stonyford and Elk Creek in Northern California, Montgomery Creek is a 2,000-acre ranch featuring long valleys, rolling hills of chaparral, and steep ridges dotted with grey pines. Creeks, springs, and reservoirs provide plenty of water for this herd of rescued mustangs.
The Toano/Pilot Valley horses arrived at MCR in July of 2012. Since then, the original herd has expanded to 200 horses through the rescue of other wild horses in need, including:
THE DEER RUN HERD
In March 2013, MCR took in the Deer Run herd, a group of wild horses removed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from Carson City, Nevada, due to public safety concerns. Despite local protests, 11 horses were auctioned and purchased by the Deer Run Preservation Group with community support. MCR provided a new home for the herd on their 2,000-acre ranch, allowing them to live wild and free. The Deer Run herd, led by the mare Luna, symbolizes the need for better management of wild horses by the BLM.
THE VIRGINIA RANGE HERD
The Virginia Range mustangs are a population of wild horses that inhabit the Virginia Range in western Nevada. Unlike other wild horse populations that roam federally managed lands, these mustangs primarily live on state and private lands. When targeted by the state for removal, these horses are often sent directly to auction, which can lead to slaughter. Among our many mustangs from the Virginia Range is Helen, a spirited lead mare with a striking pinto coat.
THE FT. MCDERMITT HERD
This group of horses originated on and around the Ft. McDermitt Paiute -Shoshone Reservation in northern Nevada. They were captured in a controversial round up by the tribe in August 2013. The tribe sent 450 horses to a livestock auction in Fallon, Nevada. Legal action saved 150 unbranded horses from the auction. The McDermitt herd at MCR includes 25 unbranded stallions (now geldings) that were pulled from the auction, and 13 branded, pregnant mares with foals by their sides, purchased by Ellie after the auction from a local kill buyer in Fallon.
OTHER VARIOUS RESCUES
We have rescued many individual or paired horses and burros from slaughter auction, cruelty and neglect cases and adopted directly from the BLM and USFS out of holding facilities. These range from our wild burro crew from the deserts of Arizona, to the beautiful Wyoming white mares from the Red Desert. We are pleased to be able to give these equines a safe place to live out their days.
