Wild horses of the Pine Nuts enjoy the open range.

Sarah Drinkwine

A band of aggressive stallions have prompted a plan to gather 10 wild horses in the Fish Springs area, the Bureau of Land Management said Friday.

“Over the last several months, the BLM has received numerous calls from concerned residents within the Fish Springs community regarding issues with the wild horses,” spokeswoman Lisa Ross said. “A formal request for their removal was submitted by the Pine Nuts Wild Horse Advocates group. The BLM also received several written requests from local residents, as the horses have continued to cause damage to private property. Citizens have also cited a concern for their personal safety and for the safety of their families as the horses have shown aggressive behavior.”

Ross said a bait-and-water-trap operation to remove the horses will occur the middle of next week.

The Fish Springs herd consists of about five-dozen horses living outside the bureau’s horse management agency.

However the agency has balanced that against a desire to work with the community to keep most of the horses on the range.

“The BLM continues to work with the Pine Nuts Wild Horse Advocates group and other citizens who reside in the community to come up with solutions to the management of these excess wild horses,” Ross said. “The BLM will use temporary water and bait traps, set up on private property, which consist of a series of corral panels stocked with water and hay.”

All horses identified for removal will be transported to the Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Off-Range Corrals in Reno, where they will be checked by a veterinarian and prepared for the BLM’s wild horse and burro adoption program. For information on how to adopt or purchase a wild horse or burro, visit http://www.blm.gov/whb.