The Bureau of Land Management Cody Field Office reminds the public to always maintain a safe distance from wild horses.

BLM Supervisory Range Management Specialist Tricia Hatle says it’s the time of year when new foals begin to appear in the McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area. She says that it’s imperative that people give the horses their space, move back if they approach and never follow pregnant mares.

Hatle says watching and photographing wild horses at close proximity can create stressful situations that may result in foal abandonment and horses habituated to people. If a wild horse changes its behavior because of your presence, you are too close. It is recommended that you stay 300 feet, the length of one football field, from the wild horses.

Hatle says she has seen an increase in the number of foal abandonments over the past decade as the popularity of wild horse viewing in general, and the McCullough Peaks herd specifically, has increased.