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C H R O N O F H O R S E . C O M M AY/J U N E 2 017 97 Bulger was interested in watching the darting process, which involves shooting a loose horse on its hindquarters with the dart gun. e dart then administers the vaccine before popping off the horse and being collected. e HSUS staff members write detailed notes about which horses are getting darted, charting markings, taking photos and then putting down as detailed as possible physical description of each. "It can be hard when it's a plain gray horse," Bulger said. "As civilians, we obviously weren't allowed to actually dart the horses, but we got to do a trial run with a dart at a target. It was challenging enough to do it at a non-moving target, and these vets are successfully darting moving horses in a big herd, so they are obviously experts. "It was nice to see the horses weren't very bothered by it," she added. "e dart makes a loud noise, which seems to startle them, and then almost immediately after the initial startle, they're fine. It seems like a humane solution to a terrible problem." e five-year program is acting as a pilot program for future, even larger, horse populations. It can also be applied to deer populations. "We're looking at it with the [Bureau of Land Management] horses," said Loller. "We want this to be a model for the rest of the world. e solution is there; you just have to get ahead of the game. I'm a huge horse lover, and this seems so sensible to me, especially compared to slaughter. is is an easy solution." MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO Several riders, including Ariana Rockefeller, made the donor trip to Puerto Rico in January, helping with administration of the contraceptive vaccines and the horse fair hosted by the HSUS.

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