Primary School Students Raise $1,000 for Sand Wash Wild Horse Herd Management Area.

By Valerie Dobrich

Erica Gallagher teaches at the Lowell Whiteman Primary School.  In September, Erica was one of 13 local school teachers who attended a field tour of the Sand Wash wild horse herd management area hosted by the Little Snake Field Office (LSFO). 

During the tour Valerie Dobrich, LSFO Wild Horse and Burro Specialist alerted the tour attendees that two of the four developed water sources relied upon by the Sand Wash herd had gone dry a month earlier.  Dobrich expressed concern about getting the waters repaired after the BLM state office informed her money was not available.

Dobrich said that she had no choice but to explore funding from external sources if the wells were to be repaired prior to the next spring. 

Erica Gallagher saw the disrepair of the 2 springs and took the message back to the student council at Whiteman School.  “I saw for the first time that these are truly wild animals and realized that these horses are a piece of our living history,” Said Gallagher.  “I wanted to bring the connection of American history and the wild horses to my students.”  The Whiteman students voted unanimously that they wanted to host a car-wash to raise funds for the wild horses and their water.

The students approached Frank Cefaritti, owner of Steamboat Springs’ Mt. View Car Wash, asking if they could rent his facility for a day to host a fund-raiser to repair the springs for the wild horses.  Mr. Cefaratti said it sounded like a good cause and not only allowed the students to use his car wash; Mr. Cefaratti donated one of his employees to help the students and asked for no payment for rental of his facility.

The students raised $1,000 at their fundraiser car-wash.  The entire amount will go towards the repair of Coffeepot Spring and Sheepherder Spring in the Sand Wash wild horse Herd Management Area, located 25 miles northwest of Maybell, CO.

The Little Snake Field Office wishes to express their sincere thanks to Erica Gallagher, the student council, to Frank Cefaratti and the Mt. View Car Wash employee, and to each of the students who donated their time to raise money for the Sand Wash wild horse herd.  Thanks also to the individuals who supported the fund-raiser project and stopped to have their vehicles washed by the Lowell Whiteman Primary School students.

Additional Information:  The Sand Wash Basin wild horse herd has been managed by the BLM since 1974.  The herd ranges in size between 163 and 362 wild horses.  The horses are descendents of ranch stock and cavalry horses and stand between 14.5 and 16 hands.  This herd is colorful and varies from pinto to unique gray variations, roans, sorrels, bays and palomino.