Journal of the American Quarter Horse Review July 2008
Western Reviews' Book of the Year
Western Horseman
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Nobody's Horses, by Don Hoglund (Free Press, $25). With panoramic details that capture the landscape of the Southwest, former Colorado resident, veterinarian and avowed horse lover Hoglund tells about how the federal government hired him to remove a herd of wild horses living in some of the most inhospitable real estate in the country.
By Jeff Stevens, Assistant Editor
Alamogordo, White Sands Missile Range and the people who call this area home have been forever immortalized in a new book that, quite frankly, makes folks around here look like pretty good people. On the surface, "Nobody's Horses," by Dr. Don Hoglund, is a tale about rescuing endangered wild horses eking out a sparse and sometimes unsuccessful living on White Sands Missile Range. It's also much more than that. It's a tale about the old West as played out in the Tularosa Basin. It's a tale about how the military cared enough about a national treasure to save some 2,000 wild horses when they could have just shot them. And it's a tale about the high quality of the people in the area. Wild horses that once belonged to local ranchers have ranged in the area for more than a hundred years and maybe even as far back as 1598, when the Spanish first came through New Mexico. Among them, horses that once belonged to Native Americans roamed with the abandoned horses belonging to Old West legends such as Pat Garrett. Those animals, along with free roaming stock belonging to area ranchers, were penned up in the giant corral at White Sands Missile Range in 1942 when the government created the area for weapons testing. The horse herds continued living in some of the most desolate land anywhere. There's very little water and next to no forage at all within the confines of WSMR. Yet those horses continued to survive, even with bombs literally going off all around them. They prospered to some degree, reaching a total herd level of some 2,000. That is, they survived until 1994. In that year, drought conditions in the area became so bad that a large portion of the herd died. "We probably lost 200 to 300 animals in the course of a couple of weeks," said Patrick Morrow, wildlife biologist for WSMR. Morrow, along with range rider and area native Les Gililland, is a primary character in Hoglund's book. He was and still is the chief biologist at the missile range, and is responsible for managing, monitoring and protecting the wildlife at the range. "That die-off was probably the saddest thing I've ever seen," said Gililland in a phone interview with the Daily News. When those animals started dying, it fell in Morrow's lap to do something about it. And the problem reached a degree of urgency once the media was notified. "When it first started and the news got out, we started taking phone calls from all over the world," said Jim Eckles, who has worked with the public relations department at WSMR since before the die-off. "It was the most emotional event we've ever been involved in working at White Sands here for several decades. "It's amazing how many buttons that pushed," Eckles said, adding that his staff fielded phone calls about the horses non-stop after the die-off. The situation put the military in a bad light because so many animals had died. "People just didn't understand. They thought we were just starving them to death on purpose," Eckles said. The die-off led to the military's decision to remove the animals from the missile range, and that led to Morrow to hire Hoglund to oversee the project. Even at that time, Hoglund, a veterinarian, had years of experience working with wild horses. He helped establish the National Wild Horse Prison Inmate program in New Mexico prisons, where inmates would gentle wild horses for adoption. He oversaw the program for two years. "I have a lot of respect for the military," said Hoglund in a phone interview. "They got those animals out of there when, in fact, they could have solved the problem with a bullet." Hoglund, who oversaw the removal and adoption of some 1,500 horses taken from WSMR, also has nothing but respect for the individuals he worked with on the project. "Les Gililland is the hero of that story," Hoglund said. "He's just a cowboy's cowboy." Of course, Gililland downplays his own role. "We all worked on this project. It was a joint effort and it was something that just had to be done," Gililland said. The staff at WSMR continued the roundups until 2005. Today there are only a few remaining animals left on the range. According to Morrow, there are about seven horses (all studs) left on the range. Hoglund points out, however, that although the wild horse population at WSMR has been rescued, there still remains a threat to the wild horse populations around the country. According to the veterinarian, recent changes in the law have weakened the Wild Horses and Burros Act of 1971 "that allow for the slaughter of our wild herds." "Irrespective of their name, wild or feral, the free-roaming horse has been a very important part of our Western heritage," Hoglund said, adding that it's a part that needs to be preserved.
Responsibility is a funny thing.
It's something you can give and take. You can refuse it, and try to live with
yourself or you can embrace it and deal with the consequences. Responsibility
can be hard to live with, but it's very rewarding when you slip it into your life.
Kind of like love, isn't it?
In the new book "Nobody's Horses" by Don Hoglund, DVM, you'll read about
how one man accepted responsibility, which reaffirmed his love for horses and
for his chosen career.
Well over a hundred years ago, many ranchers kept their horses on a free-range
basis. The best horses were culled for work while the rest went back to the herd
and eventually became untamed. Hoglund says nearly two million horses
roamed Western ranges in the nineteenth century.
During World War II, the U.S. government "borrowed" lands in New Mexico
for arms testing, and ranchers living on those lands were asked to leave. Some
abandoned their livestock, and those animals joined wild herds. Eventually, the
land became the White Sands Missile Range. It was fenced, with hundreds of
wild horses inside.
In 1994, a drought hit the area and 122 horses suffered gruesome and highly-
published deaths. The government decided that the remaining horses needed to
be moved or destroyed. Don Hoglund was called in to work with ranch hands,
soldiers, and cowboys to move the horses to safety and adoption. Almost
immediately, he became responsible for the steeds and the project.
Obviously, this wasn't going to be a walk in the White Sand-y park.
Separated in four basic herds, the horses numbered almost two thousand strong.
There were gigantic stallions, nearing a ton in weight. There were wily old lead
mares with suspicious temperaments, fragile newborns on stick legs, and big-
bellied mares heavy with foal.
Using ATVs, helicopters, government-issue tarps and natural land formations,
Hoglund and his crew – including a horseman who definitely did not want
Hoglund involved – moved the animals carefully from life-threatening
conditions to safety. One wrong move, one thing out of the ordinary, and the
horses would bolt. And if they did, they would probably never get near the
camouflaged pens again because, as Hoglund says, horses have a "cast-iron
memory".
What's the first thing you think about, when you think of the Wild West? You
really can't separate horses from whatever comes to mind, and if that image
makes you smile, this book is going to make you smile even more. While Don
Hoglund is a veterinarian by trade, he's also a darn good writer. His
recollections of the herding and capture of these last visages of the Old West
are sad and resigned, exciting and exhilarating. One chapter in particular will
set you on the edge of your saddle as you read about a stallion that almost made
a meal of the author.
If you are a horse lover or a fan of the Old West, this is a book you're going to
want to rope and haul in. "Nobody's Horses" should be on everybody's want-
to-read list.
NOBODY’S HORSES: The Dramatic Rescue of
the Wild Herd of White Sands
ISBN: 0-7432-9088-7 Publication Date:
September 2006 Authors: Don Höglund
Imprint: Free Press/$25.
We are pleased to
share the following advance praise for NOBODY’S HORSES:
“America’s wild horses are a historic
legacy that dates back to the first days of Spanish exploration. Private
landowners and public land managers alike will learn from the unique
perspectives in Nobody’s Horses.”—Bill Richardson, Governor of New
Mexico and author of Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life
“This moving, first-hand account of Dr.
Höglund's efforts to save the White Sands herd is a compelling ‘must-read’ for
anyone who loves wild horses or wild places."—Tom Groneberg, author of The
Secret Life of Cowboys
“Equine veterinarian, cowboy, and author
Don Höglund recounts an exciting tale of horse rescue. This true story reads
like a cross between The Dirty Dozen and The Horse Whisperer. Two
hooves up.”—Dr. Nicholas Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at
Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and author of The
Dog Who Loved Too Much
“As fast and dramatic as a herd of wild
horses, Höglund's book will sweep you up and carry you at a gallop to its
bittersweet, compelling ending. Höglund is an American hero, and his knowledge
and passion for horses shine off every page. If you love horses just a smidgeon
as much as he does, once you start it you won't be able to put it down. What a
joy.”—Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, author of the national bestseller, The
Other End of the Leash, co-host of public radio’s “Calling All Pets,”
associate adjunct professor of zoology at University of Wisconsin-Madison
“Nobody’s Horses are everybody’s
horses. Protect them. This book comes from the heart of a veterinarian
who gave an oath, and meant it.”—Michael Ackerman, DVM, Manager, Lextron Animal
Health, Inc.
“Nobody’s Horses is a story born
out of a veterinarian’s passion for animals and speaks to all Americans. The
wild horse has a prestigious place in our past, our present, and should be
firmly protected for future generations.”—Jay Brown, DVM, President, Vetgate
USA
Simon & Schuster,
Inc., 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
Review - Nobody's Horses: The Dramatic Rescue of the Wild
Herd of White Sands, by Don Hoglund
By Kelly Lemieux, Special to the Rocky Mountain News
September 7, 2006
• Nonfiction. By Don Hoglund. Free
Press, 251 pages, $25. Grade: A-
Book in a nutshell: Former Colorado
resident, vet and avowed horse lover Hoglund has written an impassioned ode to
the wild horse, which our overcultivated society has forgotten still roam
patches of the old frontier. Here, the author narrates how he was hired by the
federal government to remove an 1,800-strong herd of horses living in some of
the most inhospitable real estate America has to offer, the White Sands Missile
Range in New Mexico.
Somehow the horses - descended from the rides of
ranchers and Wild West outlaws - managed to scratch out an existence, their
migration patterns built around paltry watering holes and rough foliage. A
die-out of several dozen horses around a dried-up watering hole got Hoglund
involved with the project.
Their environment was just one of the challenges
the horses faced. Their territory, which the herds' stallions fought over with
teeth and hooves, happened to be in the middle of a top-secret Department of
Defense weapons testing range, where ground and air munitions, radiation and
secret tests were a constant hazard.
Hoglund assembled a team of rough riders to
track, herd and corral the horses, put them through an array of tests and
vaccinations and find them homes, all while not breaking their free spirits.
Best tidbit: In one breathtaking scene, the author is
overseeing a transfer of the mustangs between pens. Suddenly, the horses turn
and stampede, dust swirling, the musky scent of the horses overwhelming him. A
mare smashes a hoof into his leg, breaking the bone.
Pros: The writing is vivid and romantic, with
panoramic details capturing the aroma of the Southwest.
Cons: The story occasionally bogs down in repeated
descriptions of wranglings and vaccinations.
Final word: Every Wild West aficionado will love this
well-rendered account about a proud way of life many thought dead, but which
still exists in nooks and crannies hidden from modern view .