Meet Shannon Hill

This month we chatted with rescue team responder and WHC volunteer, Shannon Hill, to find out how she got involved with wild horses here on the Virginia Range.

How did you get involved in wild horses?
I’ve loved horses for as long as I can remember. I grew up doing equestrian vaulting (gymnastics on horseback). I adopted my first horse while in grad school. Growing up on the coast, I didn’t even know there was a metropolitan area in the 21st century that co-existed with so many wild horses and I never dreamed I’d someday share a home with them. I moved to Washoe Valley in 2019 and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. The Virginia Range horses travel through this valley daily to get to water and refuge in Washoe Lake State Park. I first found out about TLAR when I was calling around frantically to try and find assistance with a wild horse that was out on Eastlake Blvd. Eventually, I found the WHC hotline number and I called and watched with awe as it grew dark outside a team assembled seemingly out of nowhere to help move the stallion off of the road and back up into the hills. I knew at that moment I wanted to be part of that team. I feel honored to now be part of a certified 100% volunteer technical large animal rescue team who responds to hundreds of calls every year across Northern Nevada to help keep our wild horses & public safe.

What is your favorite part of rescue and volunteering?
I love that I learn something new on each & every call & rescue. Since joining TLAR, I’ve met people from so many different walks of life who all share a common love and passion for our wild horses. I’ve also ventured out to parts of Northern Nevada that I likely wouldn’t have otherwise explored without being part of this amazing team.

Why are wild horses special to you?
The Virginia Range horses are special to me because I see them every day and I feel so fortunate to live in a place that is home to thousands of wild horses. I want to do what I can to help keep them safe & thriving. I believe with the honor of living amidst wild horses also comes a responsibly to help keep them wild and safe. Joining TLAR & working with WHC is my way of giving back to our local wild horses & community.

How long have you been involved in helping wild horses?
The TLAR trainings were postponed until the summer of 2020 due to the pandemic. At my first training, a fellow new volunteer and I got to hop in the back of the ISU (a retired ambulance converted to TLAR’s Incident Support Unit loaded up with rescue equipment for calls all across the range) and headed out to Silver Springs to help get a lone wild horse off the roadway and back out to the safety of the range. Since joining in the summer of 2020, I’ve been out on 40+ calls for TLAR and WHC, including assisting with the Tamarack & Caldor wildfire evacuations.

What is/was your day job?
I am a middle school special education teacher in Carson City. Prior to becoming a classroom teacher, I taught therapeutic horseback riding to children & teens with special needs and veterans in the Wounded Warriors program.

Do you have a favorite memory on the range?
My favorite rescue on the range so far was going out on my first technical rescue call along the Truckee River. A young filly had slipped off a cliff onto a ledge perched precariously above the river. Her mother and the band stood nearby, but were unable to get to her and she wasn’t able to climb back up the crumbling cliff side. I was the third volunteer to arrive on scene. We walked out to assess the situation and activated the TLAR team response. Once the team was assembled, we carried the necessary gear out to where the filly was stranded. Under the direction of our Incident Commander & TLAR founder, Willis Lamm, we assembled a pulley system to lower two of our team members over the cliff to help secure the filly for transport. It was technically challenging and further complicated as the foal had gotten herself tangled almost upside down in some brambles at the river’s edge. Once she was ready for transport the team worked together to pull her up to safety. After assessing that she was uninjured we stepped back and she rejoined her mother, who had been nearby supervising the entire process. It made all the sweat and hard work on a hot summer’s day totally worth it to see this young foal reunited with her mother and watch them both trot off to rejoin their herd, who later came back to check out what refreshments we had in the back of the ISU.

Anything else you would like us to know?
I’d like to make sure everyone who lives in the Reno / Sparks / Carson / Dayton area has our 24-7 hotline number (775) 352-3944 to report injured or horses on the roadway.

I would also ask anyone who is able to consider donating to Wild Horse Connection (https://wildhorseconnection.org) to help us secure the funds to build fencing that will close a gap known as the Geiger Funnel that currently allows Virginia Range horses into the congested Damonte Ranch neighborhoods. We have lost too many foals, mares, & stallions injured and/or killed in vehicle accidents along Veterans Parkway this year. This fencing project will help ensure public safety and keep our wild horses out of harm’s way.

L: Shannon assisting with a foal that had just been brought up a cliff where it had fallen. R: LRTC rescue team members Shannon and Megan unloading a burro after evacuation during the Tamarack Fire.

“Rascal Randall”, by Deb Sutherland

Randall and his brother Stretch are the black and white pinto stallion Canyon Phantom’s “great grandchildren”.  Canyon Phantom’s “daughter” Saddle Shoe, is Randall and Stretch’s “grandmother” whom I have known since she was a yearling. Over the years I have watched Saddle Shoe grow up and have foals of her own, including her filly Little Saddle Shoe, who is Randall and his brother Stretch’s dam.

Little Saddle Shoe was born under the shade of a pinion pine tree near the springs where the bands go to drink. I first saw her there when she poked her tiny head up under her dam’s chin showing off the white lashes on her right eye lid as she took her first glance of the world around her.  When she took her first wobbly steps I thought she was the cutest foal I had ever seen.  All too soon she grew up and had foals of her own, the handsome Randall and Stretch. Stretch being younger than Randall still lives with his birth family in Two Sock’s band so I don’t see him as often as Randall.  

I first met Randall on February 19, 2018 when I passed by a field in the foothills of the Virginia Range on the day he was born.  He was just as cute as his dam was when she was born but he had a look of mischief about his face.  I watched him take his first steps while his dam Little Saddle Shoe and his “grandma” Saddle Shoe watched over him. I felt very lucky to be able to photograph three generations together and realized that I have known Randall’s family for four generations.

Randall grew up and became a handsome bachelor who now runs all over the valley with his other bachelor buddies. One spring day I saw Randall and Dark Shadow chasing each other playing. Dark Shadow looked tired of that game and was trying to escape from Randall but Randall wouldn’t quit!  Randall kept running into Dark Shadow and leaning on him until he wore Dark Shadow out and they finally went their separate ways.  Dark Shadow rested in the shade but Randall took off to find other bachelors to play with!  

“Rascal Randall” is still full of youthful energy and mischief chasing other bachelors from one end of the valley to the other, but you can’t help but love him. However, he usually has a new best buddy every week and I never know who he will be with the next time I see him. “Rascal Randall” is the one I spot first in a group of bachelors on the range because of his color and he’s usually running after one of them trying to get them to play the chase game.

When I saw Randall yesterday he was with his new best buddy Sherwin but I wondered who his best friend will be next week?  I am looking forward to seeing Randall gather mares and start a family band of his own someday and to be able to document five generations of his gorgeous family.  If you ever see Randall he will surely make you smile!

Tater the Wonder Puppy, by Wayne Woolway

Nov 24, 2021

SUBJECT: 

“TATER THE WONDER PUPPY” 

Johnny, AKA “Hollywood,” and I are fertility darters who work Stagecoach and Silver Springs  in the Virginia Range. We also volunteer with “Least Resistance Training Concepts” (LRTC) to  perform Technical Large Animal Rescue (TLAR). As the name implies, we will respond to calls  for large animal rescue, but our work primarily involves rescuing wild horses.  I am about to regale you with an incredible tale involving an eight month old Queensland  Heeler puppy named “Tater.” I wish you all could have been there to share this adventure with  us. I will do my best to capture the moment via this narrative. 

BACKGROUND: 

I recently rescued a puppy from the Washoe Tribe Reservation in Carson City. Her name is  “Pepper” and she is an Aussie, Cattle Dog mix. Pepper is small in stature, has a tri-color coat,  blue eyes, and what friends call “airplane ears.” She is a sweet puppy who wins over the hearts  of everyone she encounters. Pepper won my heart from day one and has enhanced my life in  so many ways. 

I live alone and cannot leave Pepper by herself at home for extended periods of time while I  dart fertility control or perform rescues. It is a 2 hour round trip drive to our darting area and an  average 2-3 hour trip to rescue sites. Add the time to dart and rescue and it makes the time to  leave a puppy at home impractical. I took Pepper along on all our darting and rescue  adventures from the very beginning. She was a mere 10 weeks old. 

I was concerned that she would be uncomfortable in the vehicle for extended periods of time  or interfere with darting or rescue. When I am involved in either of those activities, I do not have  the time to stop and cater to a fussy puppy. I was further concerned by her breeding; both  Cattle Dogs and Aussies are high energy dogs requiring a lot of activity. 

I was expecting a lot from this precious little puppy. Incredibly, she delivered! Pepper sits in  her dog bed in my vehicle for hours on the Range and never utters a sound. She is so quiet  that we often forget she is in the backseat. Pepper has never interfered with a darting or  rescue. 

The next component of this tale involves my darting partner; enter Johnny. I would be asking  Johnny to put up with a puppy ride-a-long and newly minted darting mascot. We alternate  vehicles when we dart. He would have to agree to take Pepper in his nice, new truck that he  keeps in pristine condition. Having a puppy onboard is not such a factor in my 20 year old  Toyota 4Runner affectionately nicknamed “The Range-mobile.” 

Johnny recently lost his dog to old age. He immediately bonded with Pepper and showered  her with love and attention. I can still picture him rolling around on his front lawn with Pepper in  his arms. I wish I had a dollar for every time Johnny claimed Pepper as his own or teased that  he would trick me into leaving her at his house. Conversely, Pepper would go nuts whenever I  would pull into Johnny’s driveway and she would run to “Uncle Johnny.”  I predicted Johnny would soon start looking for a dog of his own and that is exactly what  happened. I received a phone call and Johnny proudly announced that he had just bought a  Queensland Heeler puppy who he named “Tater.” He is a good looking dog and the name fits  him perfectly.

THE TALE BEGINS: 

Pepper was exclusively our darting mascot for months. We never took Tater with us. I could not leave Pepper home alone and Johnny could leave Tater home with his wife. I had  already opted out of finding a new wife just so I could leave Pepper at home. 

“GRANNY” THE CLEVER MARE: 

We were working the Iron Mountain area in Stagecoach when we encountered “Granny.” As  her name implies, she is a senior mare and experienced in the ways of darters. History has  taught us that she has the uncanny ability to avoid being darted by continually moving out of  range, positioning herself on the other side of horses to block the shot, or quickly leading the  band away. 

Granny needed a booster and it was Johnny’s turn to dart. I spotted as Johnny attempted to  maneuver into position to line up a shot. It was immediately obvious that Granny was up to her  old tricks. Johnny would only have a second or two to take the shot or she would move out of  position. 

Johnny took the shot and we both knew we had a problem. The dart hit high and a little  forward. It was “hard stuck” in muscle and did not move at all when Granny trotted away.  Normally, we encourage the horse to trot so the dart will bounce up and down and then fall out.  We prompted Granny for 30 minutes and the dart did not budge. Johnny is a good shot and he  knew the culprit was the rushed line-up.  

A stuck dart is a darter’s nightmare. We developed a plan of action. We would return  tomorrow to see if the dart had fallen out overnight. Sometimes the dart will fall out on its own,  the horse rolls, or another horse knocks the dart out. Experience has taught us that the dart will  often fall out within three days. If it does not fall out in that time period, we must mount a  rescue mission. 

RESCUE MISSION: 

A stuck dart rescue mission is no simple task. It requires a substantial expenditure of  personnel and equipment. A flatbed trailer containing (18) BLM grade, 6ft. X 12ft. steel fence  panels, must be dispatched to the location where the band of horses frequent. A team of  trained TLAR rescue personnel must build a temporary “catch pen” and bait it with high value  hay/alfalfa. Someone must be available to close the pen once the horses are inside. The rescue  team is then summoned and the horses are carefully sorted so that the darted horse remains in  the pen while the other horses are turned out. The horse is immobilized in a “squeeze” within  the pen and a hook-pole used to knock the dart out. The rescue team must take apart the  capture pen and load the fence panels back on the flatbed trailer. 

Needless to say, this is a substantial amount of work to recover a stuck dart. However, we  never abandon our darted horse. 

THE DRIVE HOME: 

I have never seen Johnny so upset. He prides himself on his darting skill and was berating  himself for the stuck dart. There was nothing I could say to console him. I totally understand  because I would have felt the same way. 

We work hard as volunteers to fertility dart and rescue in an effort to save our wild horses.  Our wild horses face many serious challenges on the Range and a stuck dart is a relatively  minor issue. I assure you that it is not a minor issue to Johnny and I.

THE CHAIN OF EVENTS: 

A sequential chain of events resulted in an amazing conclusion to our stuck dart saga. If any  one of the steps were not present, we would not have recovered the stuck dart without  initiating a rescue mission. I am not a big believer in fate; I’m also not an advocate of  complicated coincidences. I can only conclude that we got a little help from above. Perhaps a  higher power took a few minutes out of their busy schedule to shine a light on two crusty old  volunteers and one special little puppy. I want to believe that…… 

#1: 

Johnny contacted me the next morning to advise me he was going out to Stagecoach to look  for Granny. He told me I did not have to go. We function as a two-person team when we dart.  We have a larger team when we rescue. The common thread is teamwork. I insisted I was  going with him; “We are a team, we dart together and we retrieve a stuck dart together.” 

#2 

We had never taken Tater with us darting and this time Johnny wanted him to go with us. I  said,”Pepper always goes with us, let’s give Tater a turn.” I knew we would not be on the  Range all day so I could leave Pepper at home by herself. 

#3 

I decided not to take my darting gear (rifle, PZP, etc) as we were just going to check on  Granny. I had a last minute idea that I really cannot explain. I removed a hook-pole from my  transport/rescue trailer. It is a simple tool that I made for rescue calls. It is 6FT wooden broom  handle with an eye hook epoxied into the end. The hook has been spread open and twisted  slightly to one side. We use the hook-pole in rescue to remove wires that are caught on wild  horses legs or hooves. 

I have never taken the hook-pole when darting and I knew we could not get close enough to  Granny without having here confined in a capture pen. In spite of that, the little angel on my  shoulder told me to take it anyway. 

#4 

We found Granny and were disappointed to discover the dart was still ”hard-stuck” in her. We  moved her into a trot but the dart did not budge. We agreed the dart was not going to come  out by moving her and we stopped trying. We had one more day until we had to mount a  rescue operation. 

I was sitting in Johnny’s truck while he took Tater out to pee before we left for home. He  walked Tater out in front of the truck adjacent to several bands of wild horses, including  Granny, who was in the middle of the pile. 

A young yearling left the group of horses and cautiously approached Tater. The yearling  dropped his head as he got nose-to-nose with Tater. Both Tater and the yearling were cautious  but curious. Johnny was frozen in place and it was obvious he was in a state of amazement. I  felt the same way as I watched from the truck.  

I am a practical, scientific guy who does not believe in apparitions. However, I swear I could  almost see the proverbial “light bulb” go off over Johnny’s head. We have been darting  together so long that we often know what each other is thinking. We had the same thought  simultaneously. Could Tater walk among the other horses and enable Johnny to recover the  stuck dart? 

This was an unrealistic expectation for an 8 month old puppy and a group of 20-25 wild  horses, but we did have hope on our side!

#5 

I exited the truck and handed the hook-pole to Johnny. Walking among several bands of wild  horses with a puppy is a challenge on so many levels. First, Johnny needed to move slowly,  keep his energy low, and remain very patient. Secondly, this little puppy needed to be calm and  non-threatening. Thirdly, all those wild horses needed be relaxed and non-reactive. Had one horse spooked, all the bands would have run off. 

 Johnny and Tater slowly worked their way through the band of horses. Granny would reposition herself and Johnny would adjust. They were getting close to Granny, but I could not see them very well due to the other horses. It happened so fast that I did not see the hook-pole knock the dart out. Johnny exclaimed, “Its out, I have the dart!” 

Johnny had to hold Tater’s leash in one hand and the 6ft hook pole in the other hand. He had one chance to aim at the dart and he hooked it. I cannot begin to calculate the odds of a successful recovery with all the factors involved. It was amazing. 

This drive home was the exact opposite of the drive home after the dart was stuck. Johnny was elated and could not stop reliving the chain of events; we both chattered endlessly. I was thrilled to see my good friend and darting partner so happy and relieved. Tater sat quietly in the  back seat thinking puppy thoughts and wondering what all the fuss was about. I suggested  that Tater should get a special reward for saving the day. Tater dined on tri-tip later that evening. 

AFTERTHOUGHT: 

I returned home and was met at the door by my little Pepper. She was her normal wiggly, puppy self. She did fine by herself while I was gone and there were no accidents on the carpet or devoured pillows. Whew! 

The dust had settled and I wanted to reflect on this once-in-a-lifetime experience. My  conclusion was simple and reinforced what life had already taught me. Critters bring joy and  happiness into our lives. It is the reason Johnny and I have puppies, do fertility darting, and rescue wild horses. “Tater the Wonder Puppy” had saved the day so we did not have to  activate a labor intensive dart rescue operation. All this from a little 8-month old puppy!  People sometimes ask why we volunteer to dart and rescue when we do not get paid. Our pay is knowing that we are often the only ones who can save these magnificent wild horses. A  day spent on the Range among our horses is also a form of pay for us. 

On top of all that,Tater the puppy just gave us a life experience and memory that is priceless!   

 P.S.  I remarked to Johnny that this whole Range story was one-sided. I did all the photography  and limbered up my ‘Magic Pencil” to write the narrative and capture the moment for posterity.  I would remain obscure in the shadows, while he and Tater would walk the red carpet of  celebrity. Johnny assured me I was a shoe in for the “P.P.P.” (Pinto Post Pulitzer). Johnny would  never lie to me, so I dusted off my tux and I am anxiously awaiting my Pulitzer Prize award  ceremony notification. 

Sincerely, 
Wayne Woolway

L: Tater the Wonder Puppy, providing calm distraction. R: Likely not realizing his own hero status, Tater posing with Johnny “Hollywood” Takacs (at an approved diversionary feeding site that helps draws horses up to the hills behind busy neighborhoods and a high speed highway).