Question, sorry if you’ve answered something similar previously, how do you find pictures of some of the mustangs the blm auctions off on the range before they’re rounded up? Are all the feral herds well documented or is it just some of them? I was wondering specifically in terms of if someone was trying to keep horses from a band or family group together during adoption, are there enough images collected of the wild herds for that to be feasible? Not like I can adopt any mustangs any time soon but theoretically.

i realize you sent this like two weeks ago, my apologies!

Just some of the herds are well documented - see Sand Wash Basin in particular. In auctions like those, where they are well documented, folks go feral over trying to scoop up whole family trees/'keep families together'. Sanctuaries reap donations from panicked people who are funding them to drop 8k on a feral horse so that she can be 'reunited' with a stud she spent a few seasons with after he stole her from another band. Bonkers

Fwiw, it's nonsense - horses don't have that kind of attachment to their bandmates. I would try to keep track of relatives mostly for interest/tracking personality, etc. I wish I knew who Thea's dam and sire were! I can make guesses, but I won't ever know.