vanity: Save the Wild Horses

Sept 28, 2017 | Street-lawyer

[street_lawyer]

The critical issue is whether or not the horses are “destroying their natural habitat and thereby starving for food. Pictures published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the wild horses show healthy, well-fed horses capable of winning a national jumping completion. https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2017/09/27/db9d4fb1-6dde-45f7-b7a7-1f14b9866c8d/resize/620x/771dc9e69e24fe30c9354f38c0c35744/horse-smash.png

In September of 2016 BLM categorically stated that it would not euthanize wild horses. Its solution was to round up all the horses and sell for slaughter those it deemed “unadoptable”. government estimates that each one of the 45,000 wild horses will cost taxpayers $50,000 over its lifetime. That would mean $2 billion dollars, which is slightly more than the $1.7 billion in cash payments that the Obama Administration gave Iran earlier that year; furthermore, the National Academy of Sciences accused BLM of over counting in an effort to remove the horses in an effort to appease cattle ranchers. Some government estimates are as high as 70,000 horses and burros. Phoenix wild –horse lover Michele Anderson spoke out against the slaughter of horses for food. “"That means to kill-buyers who can truck them to Canada or Mexico for slaughter, which is horrific,"

The congressman to contact is Chris Stewart, R-Utah because he is the one who was the author of the euthanization amendment. His amendment did not make the horses available for sale since he believes that would result in their slaughter for food. Other congressman who support the euthanization amendment include Mark Amodei, R-Nevada referring in a congressional hearing to wile horses as “these things”. Others who support the amendment are Ken Calvert R-Calif,

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla prefers contraceptives to limit horse populations. The population of horses on the Out Banks of North Carolina is successfully limited using a fertility drug called PZP, according to David Price, D-NC. Stewart is opposed to contraceptives stating that they have been tried for 30 years and have not worked.

The House Appropriations Committee is leading the fight by removing language from the Interior Department’s budget that would have prohibited “the destruction of healthy, unadopted wile horses and burros in the care of the Bureau of Land Management or its contractors.

The same committee in July proposed a change to end the prohibition on the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection of horse meat.

Suzanne Roy, executive director of the American Wile Horse Campaign (MWHC) said that ““The Stewart amendment is a mass slaughter amendment, and its proponents are trying to hide that fact from the American public.” According to Simone Netherlands of MWHC, there are 27,000 wild horses on 22 million acres and the reports of starving horses is “fake news”.

[AnAmericanMother]

No, wild horses are generally not well conformed, let alone "almost perfectly conformed."

First of all, there is no one "perfect" conformation for all purposes. The tall muscular horse with small head, long arched neck, prominent withers, hocks well let down, long pasterns and sloping shoulder, perfect for galloping and jumping, you are not going to find *anywhere* on the range. Period. You are also not going to find anything of a harness type. They also tend to run small.

The best of the BLM horses (a good number of whom are descended from recent escapes or are recent escapes themselves - remember what I said about people turning horses loose? you don't think that happens out west?) are going to look like a cow pony - stocky, short-coupled, and agile. But a good example even of a Western conformation is going to be rare.

Depending on the area, what you will often find is the coarse, "punchy", upright, almost drafty looking horse with a wide head and short neck -

- or the "weedy", ewe-necked "hammerhead"

While a lot of these horses will do okay as riding horses for light work, and they are reasonably sure-footed and agile (otherwise would not survive in the wild), the upright pasterns, straight shoulder, and short back will make for a rough, choppy ride. They are totally unsuitable as jumpers or hunters.

I've ridden and trained horses for over 50 years. I've worked on a cattle ranch, I've ridden a good deal in the West, both trail work and at "dude ranches", and I've seen plenty of ugly BLM horses. You don't get to just yell "FAKE NEWS" at somebody who has lived it and seen it.

Out of curiosity, I would like to know what your experience is with selecting, breeding, training or riding horses - because I'm just not seeing that you're engaging with the issue here.

[AnAmericanMother]

Actually, they technically are an invasive species - that's a term of art.

The original native equines in the Americas died out long before any humans got here.

Every "wild" (actually feral) horse in the West is descended from a domesticated horse that was turned loose at some time in the past - maybe there are still some descended from horses brought by the Spanish conquistadors, but most are from horse owners fallen on hard times, by chance escaping from a ranch herd, etc. Most of them are just random mixed breed - what used to be called a "grade horse".

[street_lawyer]

“Actually, they technically are an invasive species - that’s a term of art.
The original native equines in the Americas died out long before any humans got here.”

This is why I like visit this site. There are people here who are smarter than I am and from whom I learn quite a bit.

Thank you

[Duchess47]

A long standing argument here in the west and the best answer seems to be “it depends.”

The Virginia Range horses are a pretty sorry lot in general. The Pine Nut Range horses are on the whole, beautiful healthy horses. The Flowery Range bands are a mix.

The bands in the Pine Nut Range have been darted for several years with birth control and young mares if not raising a foal will grow to a decent size. The Pine Nut bands also are allowed to exist naturally and there is no inbreeding and some years predators make large inroads into the herds. This year several foals have been taken.

The Virginia Range horses suffer from a lot of “save the horse” people. They also have to traverse major roadways to find food and water.

In addition, a lot of domestic horses have been turned loose in this area, who don’t have the knowledge or the physical ability to make it in the wild.

Nevada has millions of acres in the middle of nowhere where bands could be relocated and left alone. Horses and cows coexist peacefully.

Stopping humane slaughter in the US has created untold problems but has turned into a million dollar industry, rescuing horses for several hundred dollars apiece to people who don’t know what they are doing and pretty much destroying the market for domestic horses.

It depends.

[AnAmericanMother]

Exactly, it depends on the environment, the bloodlines, etc.

It's encouraging that BLM is taking proactive steps to control reproduction. Is it a pilot program, or is there another reason it hasn't been implemented elsewhere?

But, ultimately, why would somebody pay for a feral animal of unknown origin when well-bred horses are available for under a thousand bucks? In the end it makes no sense at all.

[Duchess47]

It was a pilot program that has currently been discontinued due to lack of funds, however, it was working very well.

Well, it’s romantic to rescue a mustang for a couple hundred dollars and than sink thousands into boarding and training, plus you’re some kind of a hero saving them and/or the environment and saving them from auction.

There is no romance is buying a well bred, well trained horse from a breeder.

It makes lots of sense if you’re a SJW or bleeding heart liberal or just want to save a part of the American West.

Darting the mares to prevent pregnancy is the best program I’ve seen yet. No round ups, no surgery, no living in holding pens, just fewer foals. Pretty easy too, with a few good marksman.

Personally, I’d round up the ones that are ranging across major roads, living in housing tracts or overrunning their habitat and release them in the middle of Nevada. Any range that supports deer or elk or free range cattle has water somewhere and natural predators.

Herd dynamics are pretty amazing if left alone. One of the Pine Nut stallions just lost his band this year at age 20. The band stallions run off their daughters most of the time, occasionally letting one of the bachelors breed them if they haven’t yet been run off.

[AnAmericanMother]

Surely they can find some funding somewhere? Maybe the romantics will pony up (they're not opposed to birth control, generally, right? ;-) )

I would think romance would go right out the window when your teeth are being jounced out of your head by a stiff jolting trot or a rough lope, or while Flicka is going along with the bit in her teeth and nose straight up in the air . . . but I guess some people like the challenge.

[Duchess47]

Well, to be honest, most of the wild horses when trained make decent riding horses for anyone who knows what they are doing. Unfortunately, many of the rescuers just let them stand out back in a paddock. Others just ride them down the road at a walk (my neighbors for instance).

I don’t know what the funding was for the darting program but I think the lack of funding now is perhaps because it works so well. Hard to round them up and get them off the ranges because of overcrowding if you can prevent that.

[AnAmericanMother]

I would think that if you know what you're doing, you would like better material to work with . . .

Of course, I'm spoiled because I'm back East where we have more hunter-types -- which really is my ride of choice. I've been riding an Appendix who looks like a TB, just switched to a big Warmblood who has a little more giddyup . . . I didn't ride while my husband was so sick, and I'm easing back into it gradually . . .

[Duchess47]

A lot of the riding out here is either ranch work or trail riding. Mustangs generally have a lot of stamina, can handle the mountains and aren’t real spooky.

My ex-daughter-in-law had one that could hang with our appys up and down mountains all day, unfortunately, he was more notional than an appaloosa even. He developed a habit of bucking coming down off a hill and threw her several times before we convinced her to sell him to a ranch and gave her one of our horses.

The ranch loved him. He was a beautiful buckskin color but that was all that was beautiful about him.

What kind of riding are you doing now? You always have liked big horses. :)

[Mr Rogers]

I’ve got 1 mustang and one half mustang. The BLM guy is a pony. Good enough for a small man or most women, but there isn’t a big market for small ponies who are too much for a small kid to handle. The half-breed is a good horse, but he’d win no prizes for looks. They both have good minds provided the rider knows how to work with them.

I expect them both to stay with me for life. They are both good horses for the local trails. My family likes them both. But I couldn’t get squat for them on the market.

IIRC, there are nearly 50,000 BLM mustangs in the holding pens, and roughly 2,500/year get adopted. That math doesn’t support the idea that mustangs are “almost perfectly conformed.” I’d be willing to take another mustang but can’t afford any more horses. I notice just about no one in the ‘save the mustang’ crowd even owns ONE.

[Duchess47]

” I notice just about no one in the ‘save the mustang’ crowd even owns ONE.”

Boy, is that the truth.

[street_lawyer]

http://media2.abcactionnews.com//photo/2013/08/02/horse_3_20130802181732_640_480.JPG

[street_lawyer]

I think I didn’t make my point. The article was not about conformation of the horses. Horses are being shipped to Mexico to be slaughtered inhumanly? By passing laws that close down US slaughter houses in response to bleeding heart liberals, congress has once again proven their incompetence to govern.

On a separate issue, perhaps you can use your interest in horse anatomy to make sure starving horses are fed.

< img src=” http://media2.abcactionnews.com//photo/2013/08/02/horse_3_20130802181732_640_480.JPG”; >

[street_lawyer]

< img src=http://media2.abcactionnews.com//photo/2013/08/02/horse_3_20130802181732_640_480.JPG; >

[street_lawyer]

http://media2.abcactionnews.com//photo/2013/08/02/horse_3_20130802181732_640_480.JPG

[street_lawyer]

[AnAmericanMother]

Yeah, I'm partial to the ones I need a stepladder to get on (and I'm short and short-legged to boot). One thing I discovered in the hunting field is that you can lead a horse into a ditch and accomplish the same thing.

I'm still doing combined training, haven't been out on a hunter pace in awhile. There's a schooling day in a couple of weeks at a local 3-day farm, thinking about getting out there. But just changed horses so maybe not (or I can ride my old horse if he's not spoken for . . . )

[AnAmericanMother]

That's obviously at first glance a domestic horse (halter, head).

Also, if you ran the story down rather than doing a google search on "starving horse", you would find that that is an animal abuse case in Citrus County, Florida. It's an Arabian, and the owner is being prosecuted for starving the horse to death over the course of a year. Nothing to do with BLM, slaughter, or anything else we're discussing.

Since horses are still property, other than calling the law there is nothing we can do about lowlifes like this. For my part, I study the nutrition of the horses under my care and consult my good vet when I have a problem.

We have gone from what promised to be a fruitful discussion to your trying to be snarky without having any knowledge base. You never responded to my question about your qualifications, but it's clear from your comments here that you haven't got any. You should have quit when that became obvious.

[central_va]

During the civil war a lot of soldiers on both sides resorted to eating horse meat. As I understand it the meat was pretty good.