Wild and Free

The Boston Globe ^ | July 4, 2005 | Deanne Stillman

[stilts]

AS WE GATHER today on town squares and parade down Main Street to proclaim our 229th birthday, let us pause to consider the wild horse -- the great American icon, the fleet-footed wind-drinker that our country rode in on. Pressed into service by the thousands, the wild horse blazed our trails, fought our wars, spilled rivers of blood. Often our cavalry horses were known by number only. Sometimes they had names. I speak of Comanche, a mustang that fought with Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It was 1876, the year of our centennial, on June 25, that Custer made his famous last stand.

[stilts]

I remember when I was a child our grade school was part of a nationwide letter writing campaign to get the wild horses federal protection. It is sad to see the trend reversing in the recent spate of BLM decisions which put ranching interests above all others. I like my beef as much as the next guy but would prefer more balance in our federal priorities in BLM's management of our resources.

[DuncanWaring]

I've got no particular "beef" with wild horses, but am curious as to why those who like to revile "invasive species" don't revile wild horses, invasive species themselves.

[stilts]

Actually the issue of the horse being an "invasive species" is more complex then it first appears. Horses show up prolifically in the fossil record in North America and Cortez' escaped horses which became the first wild herds, it can be argued, were actually a reintroduction of the species. The first horses that the Native Americans tamed were from these herds that predate the American westward expansion.

[Dan(9698)]

They should be like other wildlife.

If they had a hunting season, they would be managed properly and not get to be over-populated.

The meat could be exported to France. It is eaten there all the time.

They are for the most part decended from escaped farm horses. Very few are from the Spanish Conquestidors.