Gus Warr, who heads up Utah's Wild Horse and Burro Program for the BLM, said several "unavoidable accidents" occurred during the July roundup.

"There definitely were some instances I was concerned about," said Warr, who has been involved in BLM wild horse gathers for 16 years and conducted an investigation into Nield's complaints. "I want to make sure the horses are protected and handled properly."

After reviewing the July gather and talking with the contractor, Warr said he is satisfied that the contractor followed standard operating procedures in gathering horses from the herd.

"Anytime we do a gather there's a chance of something happening," he added. "We do a lot of gathers ourselves, and we've gone through many with no scratches on a horse. Another time, a horse may be hurt. I don't care how many times you go out, every time we go out it seems like we learn something."

Warr said he was contacted by dozens of people after Nield sent an e-mail about her concerns to the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, which posted a synopsis of her experience on its Web site, wildhorsepreservation.org.

"The gather contractor has decades of experience in gathering wild horses and he has an excellent track record," Warr wrote in a letter he sent to those expressing concern about the July Sulphur Herd roundup. "Wild horse gathers are inherently complex operations, and at times accidents occur, even after great care is taken."

Warr said proper procedures were followed during the gather and that BLM personnel on site did their jobs well.

"Regrettably, this gather was one in which several unavoidable accidents did occur," he said. "My hope is that we can learn from this and improve on any future gathers that take place. The BLM is ultimately responsible and this is one of the few times people have raised questions about a gather to me."

Nield said she still couldn't shake the memories of what she saw and felt during the July gather of her beloved Sulphur Herd.

"It is hard for me to put into words my feelings for what I saw," she said, standing inside one of the corrals that encircle several of the mares she adopted over the years. "I love these horses. I get so tired of what's going on. People need to care enough to do what's needed."

---

E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com