February Monthly Highlights
Volunteer Highlight
This month’s volunteer highlight is veteran darter Wayne Woolway! Wayne worked in law enforcement for 25 years before retiring to Nevada. He is inclined to help both people and animals, so he continued this through his retirement by volunteering!
Wayne got involved with wild horses when he saw a Facebook post about helping the fertility control program in Fish Springs, near where he lives in Gardnerville. He was put in contact with Deb Walker, now an American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) Nevada Field Representative. They had an immediate connection and his credentials and volunteer background convinced Deb to take a chance on him. Turns out it was a great leap of faith! He was quickly sent to the Science and Conservation Center in Billings Montana for training. Once he received training, he started darting horses in Fish Springs with Deb as his spotting partner. They made an excellent team, Deb knew all the horses and Wayne was a natural darter! Working in tandem with Deb was the highlight of darting those horses for him.
Soon, he was contacted by AWHC to dart horses in the Stagecoach area, near Reno. These horses had never been documented or darted. His dedication to the horses really shined through as he had to spend two hours on the road each time he went to dart. Despite that, he saw starting darting and documenting a herd from scratch as a challenge he was prepared and well-equipped to take on. Looking back on this experience, he laughs and says when he asked about how many horses were in Stagecoach, he was told about 70. In the first five months, he documented 182 individual horses. He started darting, but soon the state abruptly cancel the darting program and he could not longer dart.
When AWHC regained the cooperative agreement in 2019, Wayne requested to be assigned to Stagecoach and has added Silver Springs to his area. He has a wonderful new darting partner and is very happy that he gets to continue working with Deb as a field representative! He has darted horses for approximately three years and about two years ago got involved with the Technical Large Animal Rescue (TLAR) team.
Wayne recognizes darting and rescue wild horses as a way to help and save wild horses who have no voice and are in need of our protection. Wayne says that being on the range is a magical experience. The horses are so special to him because they are majestic and unlike people, they are honest and straightforward, two qualities he highly values.
Wayne has a unique view of the joint efforts to protect and manage the Virginia Range horses. As a team member of both the darting team and the TLAR team, he fully understands the value and need for both efforts to work together. When he darts a horse, he recognizes that his efforts are delayed as he is preventing a mare from getting pregnant as much as a year away. When he rescues an injured horse that is in distress, he gets the immediate satisfaction of knowing that the TLAR team is the only hope that this horse has. Hearts swell when the team sees a horse trot off into the range after successfully saving this fine animal from a painful and lingering death.
Thank you Wayne for your continued dedication to the wild horses on the Virginia Range!!
Horse Highlight
Oriana is the horse highlight of the month! Oriana is an infamous mare on the Virginia Range. She is known for her flowing blonde mane that would make supermodels jealous! She can be elusive so if you see her, make sure to get your cameras ready. She is in Thor’s band along with six other mares and a couple of young stallions. She’s had quite a few babies, so this year she’s getting a break thanks to the dedicated fertility control darting and documenting team!
