Cindy, thanks for the ping.
First, there are no longer thousands of mustangs roaming America's deserts. There are very few left, herds are being picked up rapidly. They will become inbred if something isn't done, since there will be so few left free.
Until that point, stallions will run off their sons and daughters to start new herds. They do not inbreed in the normal course of events.
The mustangs do not impact the environment in the same way that cattle, sheep or even deer do. They do much less damage both to the ground and the plants. That has been an ongoing argument with cattle ranchers for years.
The mustang is a distinctly American breed, again something that is ignored by those wishing them gone. The rush to round them up is terribly wrong. However, those rounded up have been gentled and trained in pilot programs at the state prisons. That benefits the horses, their future owners, and most of all, the prisoners themselves.
When I first moved to this area of Nevada, we could go out riding or four wheeling and count wild horses in amounts of fifty or sixty in several different bands that called this valley their range. Now, I go days without seeing one. Developers have moved in, along with people who don't care to have mustangs eating their lawn. (they could just fence it.)
Their endurance is incredible, and they have the unique instinct to always protect themselves and their riders.
For more information on them, go to Lacey J. Dalton's website,
http://www.letemrun.com/ It is so sad that the mustang can't hide from man, like the coyote does. They are chased and trapped and betrayed at every turn.
