A group of wild horse advocates has asked a federal judge to stop the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from carrying out a scheduled mustang gather in Colorado on grounds that the roundup violates federal regulations.

The agency plans to gather an estimated 138 wild horses residing outside of the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area southwest of Meeker, beginning Oct. 11, said BLM public affairs specialist David Boyd. The gather is necessary to maintain a healthy wild horse herd that is in balance with other resources and land uses, Boyd said. The majority of the gathered animals will be placed in the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program. Animals that are not adopted will be placed in pastures long-term.

"During that gather the agency will not gather any of the estimated 318 wild horses currently found (residing) within the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area at this time, pending additional analysis," said Boyd.

However, in a suit filed in federal court on Oct. 7, Habitat for Horses, a Texas-based equine welfare agency, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The Cloud Foundation, Toni Moore, and Dr. Don Moore asked the court to stop the BLM from removing any of these wild horses pending a complete judicial review of the BLM’s conduct. The suit also alleges that the BLM wild horse management policies violate the Free-Roaming Wild Horses and Burros Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Information Quality Act, and the Federal Land Policy Management Act