The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Idaho’s Boise District completed the Soda Fire emergency wild horse gather operation on Sept. 4.

A total of 279 horses were gathered—173 from the Hardtrigger herd management area (HMA), 78 from the Black Mountain HMA, and 28 from the Sands Basin HMA. A group of horses were returned to the Black Mountain HMA, including four mares that were treated with the porcine zona pellucida fertility control vaccine.

Opportunities to view the horses at the BLM Boise Wild Horse Corrals were held each afternoon, Aug. 31 through Sept. 4, and nearly 200 visitors stopped in to see the horses.

The 279,144 acre Soda Fire burned all of the Sands Basin and Hardtrigger HMAs and nearly a third of Black Mountain. Many of the horses gathered from the Hardtrigger HMA were treated by Treasure Valley equine veterinarian Robert Washington, DVM, for mild to moderate burn injuries