Screenshot from video of volunteers rescuing an orphaned foal near Cutoff Creek, Alberta in August 2024. (Supplied)

By By Josh Hall | @Vancan19 and Jordan Rein

Alberta

Wild horses advocacy group rescues foal after mother dies in Clearwater County

Sep 12, 2024 | 5:10 PM

Volunteers with a central Alberta organization recently faced abominable sights and smells while rescuing a young, wild foal deep in the West Country.

On Aug. 20, members of the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS) located a foal near Cutoff Creek who refused to leave its dead mother’s side for days.

Debbie McGauran says the foal, who was no more than four or five-weeks-old, survived for up to six days by drinking putrid puddle water its mother’s body was lying in. She also says the foal kept busy chasing away birds that tried to peck away at the dead carcass.

McGauran says the foal was discovered by campers in the area who, by chance, came across the scene while quadding. Additionally, the horseback trek to find the foal and the dead mare was potentially dangerous, said McGauran, as apex predators such as grizzlies often feed on dead wild horses.

Battling a reluctant foal and the horrific smell of the deteriorating carcass, HAWS members, including president Darrell Glover, were eventually successful in coaxing the animal to leave the scene. McGauran says the foal was so weak it could barely make the journey across the creek, but after a couple bottles of milk, he partially regained his strength.

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“He would’ve died had we not intervened,” says McGauran. “It’s unheard of that a young foal can survive six days on his own with a dead mother.”

The young foal, who’s been named Hunter, is now in the caring hands of HAWS volunteers at Glover’s North 40 Ranch near Olds. Hunter is named after McGauran’s grandson, who was also part of a rescue earlier in the summer, where HAWS members rescued a wild horse named Tumbler.

Rehabilitation efforts include supplements, hay, milk, and a nurse mare, which McGauran says will hopefully nurse the young foal, be a guardian for him, and, “teach him how to be a horse.”

The Cutoff Creek equestrian staging area is located approximately 60 minutes west of Caroline. As of Aug. 27, the video has been shared more than 1,200 times.

*Warning- graphic content (story continues below)

Glover is seen in the above video wearing a Superman hat and blue shirt, and he explains that if they’d missed with the rope, they would’ve had to work another hour just to get close to the foal again.

Glover says the rescue of this foal, which he emphasizes would not have survived on its own much longer, is a shining example of why his group is pushing for the protection of wild horses — or what the Alberta government refers to as feral horses.

“In a nutshell, if we weren’t here back in 2014, the government agenda was total eradication of these horses from the foothills. So we banded together and formed an advocacy group and a resistance, if you will, to these government-sanctioned culls,” Glover says. “There hasn’t been a cull since 2015 and we can take a lot of credit for that.”

Glover is asked how does rescuing a foal that can’t be released help maintain the wild horse population, which he begins by explaining that the animals have no special designation and therefore no protection.

“The wild horses on Sable Island, on the East Coast, have a designation from Parks Canada as a naturalized species, and we’ve been trying to achieve the same for these horses.

“The government here totally resists that because they have a very powerful cattle lobby which detests these horses,” he claims. “That’s a very big challenge for us to try and get them a designation. Then, we have to be careful in calling them wildlife because of hunting, which we also don’t want to have an impact on them.”

It’s because of the Stray Animals Act that they cannot release the foal once domesticated.

n a statement, Ministry of Forestry and Parks Press Secretary, Pam Davidson, says, “Feral horses are a valued part of Alberta’s rich history.”

“Like many species, management plans are in place to ensure the long-term health of the multi-use landscapes and ecosystems they live in. Management plans are essential to protect Alberta’s wildlife, grazing animals and biodiversity,” says Davidson. “Following 2024 minimum count surveys, it was determined action needs to be taken involving the feral horse populations in the Elbow and Clearwater equine management zones.”

According to Davidson, the Feral Horse Advisory Committee will meet this fall to discuss non-lethal methods of managing feral horses, including adoption and contraception. The committee meeting is not open to the public.

“We want to assure Albertans there is no cull (the lethal removal of feral horses) currently planned or anticipated,” she says.

“Instead, we are adhering to guidelines included in the Feral Horse Management Framework, as well as advice from wildlife and wilderness experts, outfitters, First Nations, academics and others that make up the Feral Horse Advisory Committee.”

Government of Alberta figures suggest approximately 1,478 wild/feral horses exist between the six equine management zones — Clearwater (156 horses), Sundre (839), Ghost River (372), Elbow (111), Brazeau (n/a) and Nordegg (n/a). The last two, which are the most northern, weren’t counted in 2024 due to being considerably large areas and having a known small population.

Results of the count have gone up steadily since 2011, with drops from 2018 to 2022 before a spike in 2023.

Glover says their counts show lower numbers, which is why, he emphasizes, that a cull would be a bad idea.

“A few years ago, we started doing a parallel count to compare numbers to keep the government accountable for theirs. We fly exactly the same flight path as they do. Depending on which day we fly and which day they fly, some horses may be hidden.”

The first year they conducted a parallel count, the difference was less than 25 horses, says Glover, but the following year, it had ballooned to 369.

In the meantime, Glover says, Hunter — the foal — has shown remarkable traits.

“This is a 1.5-month-old foal who’s already been weaned from his mother. It blows my mind,” he says, adding that doesn’t normally happen until closer to six months of age, and that it’s become somewhat of a science experiment.

“Obviously he couldn’t get milk, so he was forced to eat grass and shrubs, or whatever he could find to survive.