went to federal court in Reno today in an effort to ground them.

And Ms. Leigh's far-ranging motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) wouldn't stop there.  She seeks nothing less than an injunction to cause the immediate cessation of "all helicopter operations wherever situated," all "transporting, whever situated or intended, of captured wild horses, feral horses," and other BLM-managed horses, and all "bulk shipment of horses from long-term holding facilities, short-term holding facilities, or sale horses outside the regular BLM adoption program."  Ms. Leigh wants to impose these prohibitions not just on the proposed Silver King Gather, but on all ongoing and planned roundups under BLM jurisdiction in every state in which they are occurring or are expected to occur.

The implications of Ms. Leigh's suit are huge, and potentially ground-breaking.  If successful, her motion would not only halt--at least temporarily--the anticipated BLM roundup at Silver King, in Nevada, but a host of other previously scheduled roundups, including the controversial Wyoming gather of almost 2000 wild horses in the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek HMAs, which is due to start at the end of next week.

Ultimately, when these roundups resume, Ms. Leigh wants access, and she wants transparency.  In the wake of the disastrous Calico Complex roundup earlier this year, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 100 horses, the BLM has gone to extreme lengths to restrict public observers from witnessing its wild horse chases, entrapment methods, and stress-filled holding sites, hoping that by hiding what actually happens when wild horses are forcefully wrenched from their ranges, it would silence the outrage of an impassioned American public.

Instead, the voices of protest have only grown louder.  In response, the BLM's attitude toward the people who are trying to document and publicize the plight of America's fast-vanishing free-roaming wild horses was best summarized by its helicopter pilot, Dave Cattoor, whose admission that he'd go to great lengths to prevent them from getting photos of shotgun-euthanized horses was famously recorded by a videographer from The New York Times.

And so, Ms. Leigh's motion seeks nothing less than to require the BLM to lift the shroud of secrecy in which it has wrapped the wild horses in its custody.  She asks a federal judge to "mandate immediate public access to captured wild horses in privately contracted long-term and short-term facilities currently 'off limits' and closed to the public."  This would include the Broken Arrow feedlot at Indian Lakes Road in Fallon, Nevada, whose doors have been shut to outside observers for the last several months.

Categorizing the BLM's practices as "stealthy," Ms. Leigh seeks "to correct and make transparent what has occurred too long behind closed doors, in secret relative to the management of wild horses."  She cites the BLM's litany of excuses when it comes to taking responsibility for the deaths of the wild horses who perish in the process of being captured or confined:

"When injured horses are discovered or where deaths occur in roundup and related activities, the Defendants offer up an excuse or a reason or a condition that involves their habitat, or that they are sick, or 'club footed,' or have a pre-existing condition; or that they were lame beforehand.  They never take responsibility in having caused the harm even though, as but one example, thirty-four horses perished in but a few short days during the BLM's Tuscarora Gather in July just north of Elko, Nevada; and all deaths occurred while the horses were under the management of, or in the exclusive custody or control of the Defendants.  The Defendants found difficulty in accepting blame for the death of just one horse."

Indeed, just two days ago, two mares with club feet were euthanized after having been chased and caught as part of the Montezuma Paymaster HMAs roundup, for no other reason than that.  These mares were deft and hardy enough to run from the helicopter buzzing them from above, but once they made it to the BLM holding corrals, their lives were summarily extinguished.

Ms. Leigh understands that she is unlikely to be able to persuade the court to put a permanent hold on the BLM's wild horse roundups, and she admits that she isn't even trying to do that.  But she firmly insists on her right to observe the agency's wild horse capture procedures and subsequent holding conditions, without interference or intimidation.  And that doesn't seem to be too much to ask.

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Laura Leigh's legal efforts are being funded through the wild horse legal fund at Grass Roots Horse, a nonprofit citizen action organization.  Your support--in any amount--can make a difference.