Wild Mustangs

[CJC]

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/wild-horses-rounded-up-in-west-17890166

Just found this. How does our government spend 60 million on them. My vision of the mustang is, One that runs around free in the western states and nature takes care of it's own. Now I understand taking some of them out of the wild, But not that many.

Oh ya I forgot what a great job the government has done with other animal programs and farming programs too. (not)

 

[knabe]

cheap protein going to waste.  all feral animals should be protected.  it's just as bad as india with cattle.  nature would take care of it's own if there was a predator.  they are eating cellulose that native species could eat, they are pulverizing the soil, they are not managed like cattle would be.  there is absolutely NOTHING positive about wild horses with no predator to stabilize their population.  it's cruel to put them there.  we could make a MASSIVE profit if we sold them as meat and put some money in the treasury, fire some government employees, sell some land, lots of things to do besides protect what is essentially a pest.

 

[stangs13]

I can feel a heated debate coming out of this!!! But I am with knabe on this one...did some research in my equine science class last semester about this mess thats going on with the wild horses, turns out they are more of a pest.

 

[GoWyo]

Feral horses increase their population at the rate of 20% per year.  The Wild Horse and Burro Act in 1973 or right around that time said that horse numbers were to be maintained at the population levels at that time.  The federal government failed.  Then Bureau of Land Management (BLM) set up Herd Management Areas (HMAs) through the federal land management planning process and it is supposed to maintain numbers in line with the HMA Appropriate Management Level (AML).  State of Wyoming sued BLM several years ago due to horse numbers greatly exceeding the AML and causing problems, including eating all the forage so that ranchers with livestock grazing permits could not turn out onto their winter and summer ranges.  BLM entered into a consent decree which requires BLM to remove horses down to the AML every couple of years.  However, budgets get tight and there gets to be nowhere to warehouse the horses.  So federal government pays out the nose to keep these horses somewhere under the sanctuary program and the adopt a horse program, etc.  Not near enough to deal with the problem of excess sacred horses.  The program is just a disaster.  The Democrats' big answer last summer was to propose legislation basically kicking livestock grazing permittees off the range and allowing the horses to overrun those ranges too.  Would have made the problem 10 times as bad as it already is.  There is a bunch of research going on to use anti-fertility drugs to suppress the population growth, but so far nothing too promising.  Wild Horse Annie should be hung in effigy for this train wreck.

 

[CJC]

GoWyo

I did not realize they were that bad out west. I had heard they had opened a slaughtering plant back up some where around Chicago I believe. But it is for Gov. horses only. 

 

[xxcc]

There was recently an article in our local newspaper about how the BLM (or correct handling party) was doing their periodical roundup and what a 'terrible' job they were doing because So many were dying on the roundup.  Groups like PETA were trying to make it out like the animals were being gathered inhumanely and that's why they were dying, but the truth of the matter is that the animals are in such poor condition they can't handle even the simplest of exercise...all due to the fact that they are overpopulated for the range conditions there at the time.

Yes, they should have a predator.  I think mountain lions and grey wolves would fit well there.

I don't think the current populations of wild mustangs is as Majestic as everyone thinks and is nowhere near a Flicka fairytale.  I am sure the Pryor Mountain horses in Montana are doing ok, but those in more desert conditions are highly likely to suffer greatly by even the slightest hint of overpopulation.

Don't get me wrong, nature can be beautiful...but when it is in balance.  Humans tend to screw things up when they mess with it, either by action, but MORE by non-action.

no offense to those who drive them, BUT...with the current crunch on employment, I wish the BLM would hire people at a wild uncontrollable rate, have every one they hire break and train all the wild horses they can ...along with all the people who want to protect and 'save' wild horses...and then everyone who feels the earth should be 'greener' can, instead of buying a 'hybrid' car, ride one of those wild mustangs!

 

[ELBEE]

all the people who want to protect and 'save' wild horses...and then everyone who feels the earth should be 'greener' can, instead of buying a 'hybrid' car, ride one of those wild mustangs!

[/quote]


(thumbsup) Would Nancy P. ride western, side-saddle, or bareback? How would we tell which was her or the horse? Since their emissions are identical!

 

[knabe]

here's another stupid mustang.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDBBsMoeqt0&feature=player_embedded#at=67

what a hypocrite. 

 

[oakbar]

Gosh, Elbee, that would be an interesting pairing.   Just think you could see a horse's rear end whether they were coming or going.   As Larry the Cable Guy would say"Forgive me Lord!!""

 

[GoWyo]

Prior to the Wild Horse and Burro Act, there was a natural balance on the horses.  There are very few herds that actually carry any Spanish "Mustang" blood.  The Pryor Mountain herd in Montana is one and I believe the Steens Mountain herd in Oregon is another.  Most of these herds are actually stock that got away from or were turned loose by sheepherders and others, mostly in the early to mid-1900s.  Many of them are of obvious draft horse stock given the length of their heads and long hair around their pasterns.  Somehow their heads stayed the same size as a big draft horse even though their bodies downsized when they went feral to adapt to their desert environments.

In some areas, ranchers used to let out a domestic stud horse to breed up the bands and would periodically round them up and use the best ones for saddle horses and can the cripples and outlaws.  In other areas, some adventurous cowboys would periodically round some up and ship them to the horse traders for bucking stock and the canners.  It was a way to maintain the balance and everything went pretty well.  Then came the do gooders led by Wild Horse Annie in Nevada who whipped up support among the nation's school children about what an atrocity the "majestic" feral horses were suffering going to the dog food factory.  The result was the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971.  Now we have a wonderful government program that the animal activists do their best to tie the BLM's hands with litigation, protests, politics, and fundraising/advertising activities so that BLM can't manage this mess that was dumped in its lap.  It really is a sad deal.

 

[knabe]

which is why i advocate suing these people.  that will tie up their resources.  sue them for damaging the environment, killing jobs etc.

 

[GoWyo]

A lot of fine legal minds have looked for ways to sue these people.  One of the few successful ones was Chilton in Arizona who won a suit for slander and punitive damages when the enviros badly misrepresented photos that were either not on his grazing allotment or displayed damage actually caused by an enviro slumber party on a meadow.  Seems it cost more in attorney fees than he received in damages, but it was a pretty big deal and it did set the enviros back on their heels a little.

 

[Shady Lane]

The "Wild" horse thing is an issue that we face in my area as well.

  I put the word wild in quotes because that is what they are reffered to around here, but clearly they are not "wild" but ferral as others have mentioned in previous posts.

Their is a band of these horses that live in the foothills west of me. I have seen them on a couple occasions and I will fully admit that they are a beautiful sight. Clearly they seem to be finding enough feed since they have always looked to be in good shape, the times I have seen them atleast.

I am a horse lover for sure, my family has always raised horses and I grew up with a horse and still keep a saddle horse, I ride as often as I can, it's a passion of mine. However, these horses have been an absolute nuisance for those that try to farm and ranch in the area, they have no respect for fences, they deplete forage sources for domestic livestock etc. Also, naturally 1/2 of these horses are studs and all of them are intact! So if your domestic mare happens to come into heat, look out! Some people have also lost domestic horses when the "wildies" come and break down fences and your horse ends up running with them, very difficult to get back!

Every now and then, there are headlines in the paper that somebody has found some of these horses that have been shot somewhere out in the woods and it's a big sad story. I can't say I blame people for dealing with a problem that can really impact them that way. After all, these horses are Ferral and not wild at all, or atleast not indigenous, they were never meant to be there in the first place. I see little difference in dealing with this problem then I do Austrailians dealing with Cane Toads or rabbits.

An introduced species runamuck!

 

[coyote]

I looked up your web site, I didn't know you had wild horses in quebec 

 

[aj]

I was always amazed at how deer got along with out water when water sources froze up. But I guess they don't need much. Prarie dogs survive with dew and moisture off plants. I suppose horses could drink out of domestic tanks also.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

If these were hogs instead of horses do you think the reactions would be the same? RW

 

[Sunset Hills]

If these were hogs instead of horses do you think the reactions would be the same? RW

That's the problem,people think everything is a "cute" pet.

 

[jallen]

yeah they. But what are the horses good for when you cant kill them like a pig and ship them off to a freezer for some one to eat. Instead they just put them in a pen to watch there spirit's  break and to die.

 

[knabe]

maybe we could make zhuzhu horses for people.

 

[aj]

I think they would be interesting to observe. I know a couple of feedlot cowboys who would love to obtain a few of the mares. They are apparently genetically super footed and sound genetics. I know the cheyenne dog soldiers beat General Custer and the 7th calvery with their mustang ponies as they out performed the fancy white man papered horses of the time who needed special feed to perform. The horse slaughter ban was insane and has brought down a world of hurt on the horses.