[colorcountry]

The issue has dogged the Interior Department and Congress since Nevada's Velma Johnson, also known as Wild Horse Annie, and a legion of schoolchildren persuaded Congress to outlaw the use of motor vehicles to hunt the mustangs in 1959. That was followed by the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 1971.

This is the crux of the situation - people managing the herd with their emotions. There is the famous (but often forgotten)story of Teddy Roosevelt and the deer herd of the Kaibab (Arizona). In his attempt to protect the deer, Roosevelt stopped hunting and terminated natural predators. The result was a population explosion that ultimately led to the starvation death of 100,000 mule deer. Let the past serve as an example - let's take emotion out of the equation and deal with management in a way that is suitable (not perfect) to all sides involved.

[HairOfTheDog]

Let the past serve as an example - let's take emotion out of the equation and deal with management in a way that is suitable (not perfect) to all sides involved.

I agree, and though it's gotten mingled on this thread, we do need to seperate the wild horse herd management problem from the slaughter of pet horses, I realize that. We do need a different solution than 10,000 horses in a pen with nowhere to go. They let the problem get too big.