TALK OF THE TOWN: What Pahrump is saying about the removal of its wild horses

After the Pahrump Valley Times reported that Bureau of Land Management officials gathered and removed more than 100 wild horses and burros from Pahrump in its annual roundup earlier this month, we heard from dozens of readers on the issue.

One reader helped identify a small group of horses removed this month as the herd regularly spotted near the Calvada Eye and Discovery Park. Advocates for the herd, said the horses were not problematic and officials misled them about the roundup and what it aimed to do.

“When we were forewarned of a roundup, they were talking about an area in Central Nye County, not Pahrump. The four from Discovery Park were pretty well behaved,” Don Eisen told us on Facebook.

Former commissioner Leo Blundo says the wild horses would come visit his house, but did no harm.

“This is flat-out wrong,” Blundo told us on Facebook. “The horses are a part of our rural lifestyle. We love them. Leave them alone.”

Priscilla Lane, with Friends of the Wild (Horses and Burros), says none of the horses were harmed in the roundup and are safe at a facility in Ridgecrest, Calif.

Lane’s group is now fundraising to bring several of the removed horses and burros back to Pahrump Valley. They hope officials will designate land for the wild animals and think it could be an economic draw to the area.

They’ve created a GoFundMe: Wild Horses and Burros of Pahrump, NV #FreeFred. (Note: #FreeFred is shout-out to a Pahrump stallion removed in the latest roundup widely known around these parts as “Fred.”)

Reporter Robin Hebrock has reported more on this initiative in today’s PVT.

However, not all of our readers want the horses back.

More than a few pointed out that the BLM is simply doing its job to manage the herd and the lands that can’t sustain them.

“I wish I could honestly agree with some here, but realistically, life for burros and wild horses is very tough in the desert,” Thomas Thompson told us. “They wander on the roads and endanger themselves and drivers. I’ve seen too many burros killed on the highway. We can’t let them go unchecked without consequences.”

Victoria Seastrunk told us that during the last 20 years since she’s been in Pahrump, the wild horses mostly stayed on the mountains and out of Pahrump Valley.

”We would see them at my house, which was by Country Place every once in a blue moon,” she says. “Right now, the only reason the ones in town are not all dead is because people feed them and they stay in the parks where there is water and grass. They are living like domestic horses in town. Most of the old springs that supported them have dried up. There is not enough water. That is why they are in town. It’s their last resort and it is not safe for them in town.”

What do you think? Join the conversation on the Pahrump Valley Times Facebook page.