Please send any inquiries or membership applications to the following address;

WHOAS

Box 70022

Olds, Alberta

T2H 0A3

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This horse was named Coal for her colour and the road beside which we found her pacing back and forth.  (Coal Camp Road).  She was on her own out in the forestry.
The old mare was either abandoned or got loose and strayed from her owners.  Coal was not in very good shape when we rescued her.  She was malnourished and chewed up a bit by wild horses in the same area.  In fact, the caller who reported her to us stated that the wild horses had her on the ground at one point, and he feared for her safety.  A domestic horse does not usually fair well in the wild as they are used to human intervention for feed and care and are conditioned to the confines of a pasture without much threat from wolves or other predators.  Wild horses in turn do not readily accept domestic interlopers, perhaps because of the human scent on them, but also the mustangs have their established territories.  Even domestic mares do not necessarily receive preferential treatment, as was the case of Coal.  ¼br /> The actual rescue was uneventful, we spotted the horse beside the road and quickly determined she was indeed domestic, hence Bob and I approached her with a bucket of oats and set it down in front of her and then Bob slipped a halter on her.  I then lead her a half mile to the nearest gate where Bob waited with truck and trailer.  Although this was public land, it is fenced in some locations and this happened to be one of those places.  I believe that the fence also prevented Coal from getting out on the highway, which would have also been a danger to her and motorists.¼br /> Upon close inspection, Coal was gaunt, her coat was rough and dull and she had several nasty bite marks on her hind end, hip and front shoulder, which would likely become permanent scars.  So we hauled her home and cared for Coal for a month and during that time she had good hay,

 Hoffman’s Horse Mineral and sweet feed.  Coal had also been de-wormed and had her hooves trimmed.   She had a slight eye infection and so I gently washed her eyes with a mild saline solution and proceeded to bath her after that and brushed out with a shedding comb and other brushes.  I spoke quietly to her and reassured her and gently touched her trembling body, she cautiously turned her head to look at me with a puzzled and hesitant expression.  Nevertheless, she allowed me to proceed with her grooming and when I was done brushing her all over she placed her head in my hands and let out a big sigh.  Tears welled up in my eyes at this display of relief and gratitude she obviously felt. The poor abused soul had not been treated with gentleness and kindness for a very long time.  Within a month her coat went from dull to glossy and she put on a healthy amount of weight, slightly overweight, pleasantly plump.  ¼br />  

Being convinced she was used to a rider, I put a saddle and bridle on her without any resistance on her part.  She even dropped her head for the bridle.  I was pleased to find out that she was a quiet ride, light on the reins and had a smooth, long energetic pace.   At one point she slowed her gait and turned her head to make sure I was okay and able to correct my balance.  Not many horses will be that accommodating.  She preferred the company of women to men as she was likely roughly treated by a man, her last owner.  Because of her gentleness and maturity I thought she would have likely made a good babysitter as well.  Coal was not a spring chicken, she was in her late teens as determined by our Ferrier, but still had plenty of energy in the saddle and otherwise.  She had a very sweet and mild-mannered, shy disposition.  Coal loved to be loved and at one time was well cared for as she relished horse cookies and being brushed and fussed over.¼br /> The mare had likely been arena rode and has been tailored a lot, as she backed up nicely out of a stock trailer.  She was a well-trained saddle horse and would also have made a lovely equine companion as she got along well with my two young geldings, one of which is our rescue horse Wyley the Wildie.¼br />

As we reported finding Coal to the Authorities, she had to, under the law, be seized under the “Stray Animals Act” and accordingly went through public auction since no one reported her missing, or claimed her when advertised as found.Bob and I followed the Livestock Inspection Service to the auction mart and had to re-rescue her, this time, by out bidding the meat buyer at the Innisfail Auction Mart.¼br /> This nail biting experience took six hours of waiting for her to go through the ring and during that time we watched other horses be sentenced to death.  Most of these horses were young and healthy and their only crime was not being saddle trained yet.  One horse had an eye that was swollen shut due to an infection that had not been treated in time, or the owner hadn’t bothered at all trying to deal with.I had to sit on my hands, so as to not purchase any other horses, we had only temporary room for one more horse, and that one was Coal.  I would check on her in her pen frequently, and she was very despondent and would not come up to the front of the bars that held her, to see me.  Her demeanor was of complete defeat and depression.  Coal had her head downcast and eyes half closed, accepting her lot in life after fighting so hard to stay alive in the wilderness.  She thought it was the end, but was very glad to see us when we had the purchase papers in one hand and halter and lead shank in the other, and threw the gate open to release her. She knew her bail had been met and couldn’t wait to get out of there, she followed quickly and quietly behind Bob and scrambled quickly into the trailer, anxious to go home.    We unloaded her in the dark and she was pulling Bob along by the lead to the entrance of her familiar paddock.  If she could speak she would have said, “Let me in there fast, before they notice me missing.”¼br /> It was decided prior to rescuing Coal that she would not be kept for ourselves, but we would find her a good home, so a few days after her second rescue we advertised her on Northern Horse.com and she was sold within 24 hours.  Colleen Brown of Cochrane Alberta adopted her and promised to provide a permanent retirement home for Coal.  Colleen has contacted me a few times since then to tell me of Coal’s progress.  Six days after Coal went to her new home Colleen wrote:

Coal is settling in nicely with Colleen and her husband Ian and has five other senior horses as pasture mates.

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WHOAS was pleased to show CBC-Radio Canada the beautiful wild horses of Alberta.  Jack Nichol, one of our members from Sundre was our driver and guide.    Thankfully, a few horse herds were cooperative about being filmed.  However, we did spend a full day driving in search of the horses on some trecherous, snow covered, desolate roads.   The one tonne dually truck also doubled as a snow plow, which was a bit nerve racking.  Nonetheless, thanks to Jack’s superb driving skills we made it out of the forestry safe and sound.  (Jack also drives a school bus which explains his nerves of steel !) 

A four passenger helicopter was used to film the horses by air.  It was exciting to watch them lift off with the passenger side door removed for filming.   The camera man Brent Roy was strapped in safely, but had his huge camera to contend with and I couldn’t help but feel a bit queasy for him.  Although I was quite content to have my feet on the ground because it was Bob’s turn to be their guide. 

Wyley the wild colt we rescued in 2006 was also featured.  The little fellow wasn’t quite a yearling when we found the ailing horse.  He had been hit by a truck and left for dead.  However, now is doing great and adjusted to a living a pampered domestic life. 

The news reporter Marie-Claude Guay was impressed and concerned for a lone stallion also shown in the film, who had been recently kicked out of his herd.  She named him Ti-gars which translates meaning Little Boy or Kiddo.  Ti’gars hopefully by now will have found some other bachelor studs to join up with, as a lone horse is an easier target for predators.  As requested, we will keep Marie-Claude up-dated on the little boy. 

Click on this link to view the news report.Šhttp://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/alberta/Tele/albertacesoir.shtml

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We have found out from the horses mouth, so to speak, that the government has not issued pen or roping permits this year.  We would like to express our gratitude to the SRD for this.  However, we received an email from a concerned individual whom on January 1st, saw some people on horse back that appeared to be harassing some wild horses. One wild mare was running in and out of the trees, and in the observers opinion, the mare was clearly upset.   We obtained vehicle and stock trailer descriptions and license plate numbers. The family also reported the episode to the local RCMP. 

Today, January 6th, 2008 Bob and I took a drive out West to the area where the alleged incident occurred and found trucks and stock trailers matching their descriptions.   We documented this and reported it to the RCMP as well.�

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The story of rescuiing a newborn foal out of the mighty Red Deer River was published in the November issue of Saddle Up Magazine out of BC, along with the North American 24/7 Cop to Cop Newspaper.  The 24/7 newspaper published the story as front page headline news.  It is a police newspaper which is distributed to 36 American states and most of the Canadian provinces.  This paper is exclusively published for law enforcement agencies.  Thank you to Nancy Roman of Saddle Up and Seargent Steve Gibson of 24/7 Cop to Cop news for publishing the story and helping get word out about the plight of the Alberta Wild Horses.  We are grateful beyond words.   River, by the way is doing marvelous.  �

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We were informed that the Sundre RCMP took the head of the filly to a local Vet.   The Vet xrayed it and found no bullet, hence they could not conclude that she was shot.  What then caused the mysterious round shaped hole in her head? (See Pictures).  We may not be forensic scientists, however, Bob was a police officer for twenty six years and has unfortunately seen bullet holes in people’s and animals heads.  Could it be that the bullet passed through her head and kept on going?  Bob also showed the pictures to a few retired fellow officers and they too were of the opinion it was a bullet hole.   One possible cause of death was given that she could have fell in that small hole she was lying in and died, yet none of her legs appear broken or swollen due to severe sprain.  There were also no indications that the filly had been taken down by a predator either, as there are no claw marks or teeth puncture marks on her neck or hind end.  She had been scavenged upon naturally after death, that much is obvious.   As for disease or something, she looked as though she had plenty of meat on her, not a scrawny sickly animal.  Inspite of any number of reasons one might come up for cause of death the pictures say 1000 words.  There lies the dead filly sprawled out with a red hole in her head.Š

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Bob and I were leisurely driving around the foothills west of Sundre today and instead of photographing Beatiful wild horses and other wild life, Bob ended up photograhing a dead foal.  We saw a bunch of ravens circling so we pulled over to see what they were feeding on.  Bob got there before I did and said to me “its a dead foal. “ My heart just sank, and I looked upon the gory site of a once sweet little foal. She was about four months of age, judging by her size and had a bloodied hole in her head.  The spineless road hunter shot her from the road about 25 feet away.  The filly was just grazing with her family and was senselessly gunned down.  We had seen her small herd all summer and fall in that particular area.  A picture of her Sire, Dam and newborn older sibling were featured in our 2007 calendar.   The herd had consisted of a bay stud, a buckskin and red roan mare and another 1/2 sibling foal close in age.   This is the eighth wild horse found shot in 2007.  Same killer? Probably not, but who knows for sure.  However, it was likely just some half-wit feeling powerful with a gun in his hand.   Will there be justice for this little one?  With your help there can be, please write to our governing officials posted on our site and cc a copy to the area media.  Currently there is over $10,000 in a reward fund for information leading to the arrest of the culprits responsible. �

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After waiting six long months we got a report back from Dr. Gus Cothran of the University of Texas.   Essentially, in a summary email from Dr. Cothran he states that the horses are of the cold blood type.  They are a type of pony and in their dna tree of resemblance they fall into the group of the shire, dales and fell ponies and are also related to the Spanish horses.  The official mailed document however, will require a geneticist to decode all the scientific data.     Nonetheless, according to the Alberta Sustainable Resources Development, it doesn’t matter whether the Alberta wild horses came originally from spanish stock or were ranch escapee’s they are not considered wildlife and they see no reason to change their current status.  Currently, the horses fall into a grey area where they are not considered wild life but they are not considered domestic really either, otherwise they would fall under the protection of the SPCA, and any complaints would be investigated by them.   To date that hasn’t happened either.�

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Be sure to read the article by Equest Life. It is listed in the “pages” section on the right. Or use this link.

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Our yearly fundraiser is underway and we have hundreds of calendars to sell.  They are $25 each which includes postage and handling.  We feature 13 pages of 8X10″ pictures of beautiful Alberta wild ponies with a story about each herd or individual horse. The pictures depict all four seasons breathtaking winter scenes, newborn foals including “River” the stranded foal and lush summer and autumn photo’s of our magestic horses .  All Proceeds go to WHOAS.  Please send cheque or money order to WHOAS Box 614, Didsbury, AB  T0M 0W0.  They make lovely and unique Christmas gifts.

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