There are too many wild horses on too little land, federal officials say. Here’s how they’re thinning a herd in Colorado

By Hart Van Denburg
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WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS HOLDING PEN
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One of 10 wild horses captured Sept. 11, 2024, during a gathering of the herd at Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area northwest of De Beque. Bureau of Land Management and volunteers are working to thin the herd, through a combination of darted birth control treatments, and an adoption program.

WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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Bureau of Land Management officials, volunteers and observers head out before dawn Sept. 11, 2024, to the Little Book Cliff Wild Horse Area.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Two volunteers carry backpacks, chairs and water past a large pile of droppings, about a mile across the top of a mesa, at the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area. They are setting up to watch a helicopter take part in a roundup, Sept. 11, 2024.

WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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A helicopter on contract to the Bureau of Land Management flies over Monument Rocks at Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, Sept. 11, 2024. The helicopter is used to help gather horses in the herd there, part of a project to thin the herd through birth control and adoption.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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As a storm gathers overhead, a photographer trains his telephoto lens on a helicopter about two miles away as it works to gather horses, part of a BLM project to thin the herd through birth control and adoption.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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Bureau of Land Management District Director Greg Larsen, right, joins other observers scanning the horizon with binoculars at Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, Sept. 11, 2024. He and others are watching a roundup, part of a project to thin the herd through birth control and adoption.

WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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Part of a band, or family, at the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area northwest of De Beque, Sept. 11, 2024.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
A helicopter and its pilot under contract with the Bureau of Land Management flies past a group of observers at Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, Sept. 11, 2024. The helicopter is being used to help gather the herd out of steep ravines and mesas. Land managers say the helicopter is the safest, and the most efficient way of rounding up wild horses in hard-to-access areas.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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Rugged terrain and the scar of a wildfire at Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse area northwest of De Beque, Sept. 11, 2024.

WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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Captured horses at Little Book Cliffs in a temporary holding area, Sept. 12, 2024, are shielded from all the human activity going on around them to help them stay calm. The Bureau of Land Management aims to capture about 130 such horses in a week-long roundup. Some will be darted with birth control, while others will be readied for adoption.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Some of the 10 wild horses captured the previous day in a shielded temporary holding area a few valleys over from their natural range, Sept. 12, 2024. The Bureau of Land Management aims to capture about 130 such horses in a week-long roundup. Some will be darted with birth control, while others will be readied for adoption.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
A mare can be seen, shielded in temporary holding area a few valleys over from her natural range at Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, Sept. 12, 2024. The Bureau of Land Management aims to capture about 130 such horses in a week-long roundup. Some will be darted with birth control, while others will be readied for adoption.

WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
“We do a good job of safely and humanely capturing and holding these horses,” said Tyrell Turner, a wild horse specialist with the Bureau of Land Management. The horses are kept in a screened temporary holding area, visible behind him at the Little Book Cliffs.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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Distributing fresh hay to captured wild horses in a screened-in corral at Little Book Cliffs, Sept. 12, 2024.

WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
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Friends of the Mustangs volunteer John Boughton, who has been with the group since 2008, points out a group of horses and each of their names, to observers at the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, Sept. 11, 2024.
WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
The Appaloosa at left was named Traveller by Friends of the Mustangs volunteer John Boughton, who has been with the group since 2008. All the horses at Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area have names, which are entered into a database to track lineage, health and other matters.

WILD HORSE ROUNDUP AT LITTLE BOOK CLIFFS
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
One of a band, or family group, at Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area, northwest of De Beque. Bureau of Land Management and volunteers are working to thin the herd here, through a combination of darted birth control treatments, and an adoption program.

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