10 thoughts on “The Mustang Horse, Free Spirit of SouthWest America”
THE SACRED THUNDER BEINGS
THEY COME FROM THE STARS TO BRING THE HEAVENS DOWN,THEY ARE SACREDNESS,BEYOND HUMAN COMPREHENSION, THEY DANCE IN STARDUST, THEY COMMUNICATE HEART TO HEART,THEY NO LONGER CHOOSE TO LIVE AMONG MAN, FOR HE HAS IMBALANCED EARTH MOTHER AND HE HAS GONE MAD,ANIMALS CAN NOT SURVIVE WITH INSANITY IN HUMANITY, WAKAYA
There is one problem- mustangs are not a species. All horses belong to one species- equus caballus. Any horse running wild and surviving on its own should be protected by the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act. All American wild horses are in danger and are endangered, due to BLM extermination.
Dear Catherine,
your right as always , the problem is BLM , Corruption is running Rampant at the BLM .
Some of us just don’t care for other creatures .
thank you for reading and caring like always my dear friend ,
Take Care .
Simply BEAUTIFUL! They must be protected, as they were meant to be, by the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act. The tragedy of the roundups continue. We must find a more sensible and common sense approach that will benefit all, without destroying the lives of these magnificent creatures, who want nothing more and deserve nothing less, than to roam and run free.
I feel so helpless. I want to do something to help stop this but not sure where to begin. This is such a horrible situation and must stop. I will never understand man’s inhumanity. Thank you for all that you are trying to do.
As a country of independent people who research all sides of a subject and come to logical conclusions we need to use that dedication and thoroughness to address the issue of wild horses and burros. I will be the first to say that there are problems with the BLM Adopt A Horse and Burro Program, but it probably would not be the same problems that you are seeing. The problem that I see is that too many breeding age stallions and mares are left on the range to produce endless numbers of foals that either have to be rounded up and homes found for or live on the range land to produce more foals without controls. The best way that I know of to control this is to use gelding of a percentage of the horses left on the range, spaying a portion of the mares left on the range, and the use of a contraceptive that does not allow the mare to cycle during the time of implementation. With this method we could cut down on the number of horses that are going into Long Term Holding Facilities, eliminate the need for Sales Authority horse over the long term and still allow a number of horses to go up for adoption that will not overwhelm the public ability to absorb them. By shifting the breeding stallions around you would be able to have good genetic diversity without having to have unlimited #s of foals hit the ground. For those who do not know, in the wild there is no such thing as permanent families. The mares hook up with a stallion for a couple of years and then for the most part will partner up with a different stallion. Also in one estrus cycle it is not unusual for a mare to be covered by two or more stallions. It is also not unusual for yearling mare to be bred and have a foal as two year olds. This is very hard on them and those young mares have a higher mortality rate.
I have been working with wild horses for 38 years and my family for longer than that. My dad gathered horses with Wild Horse Annie, Dawn Lapin, and Karen Sussman, they were some of the main players in the original wild horse rights activists. Even then we knew that there would be problems in the future with the number of horses versus the amount of land, forage and water available. I keep hearing about how the cattle should be removed so that the horses have use of the land. That is not going to solve the problem, this land is not able to sustain horses or livestock on a year round basis in the #s that would be required if the herds were not limited. The AUMs that the cattle are run on are for the most part either winter range or summer range depending on where they are. The rest of the year the land does not produce enough forage or water to keep the herds alive. The result of unlimited breeding and no gathering would be death by starvation or thirst within 5 years of large numbers of the horses that we all know of and love.
I live in Oregon where the herds are popular for both adoptions and for visiting to take pictures, This makes many of the herds very well documented and followed, there are other herds that are just as documented such as the Pryor Mountain herd and some in Utah and Nevada. This is a good thing and I would encourage those who are worried about the long term viability of the herds to become involved by going out and getting to know and document a herd or visit a holding facility or adoption site. Contact the BLM and find out what is going on in your area with the adopted wild horses and visit with those of us who have adopted them and who would not give them up for anything.
At the colonial times there were at least 2 million wild horses and several million Bison, also deer and elk and other wild life living in perfect harmony, and the settlers arrived to see abundance of great forage and excellent range condition. What was missing? “Domestic livestock” and “range management” LOL Just go and figure and don’t believe any crap the BLM or ranchers are feeding the public. The BLM is managing for extinction, their numbers are completely off. How on earth would the horses over populate when they are being “managed” by 3 harsh measures concurrently; birth control, skewed sex ratios and aggressive roundups. If the herds were left to self stabilize without being messed with we would not have the problems. The Government wants the horses off so they could lease the public lands for mining and fracking. The ranchers want it all for their livestock! That is the sad TRUTH!
Are you people totally nuts? Horses don’t self regulate, Karen Sussmann has been trying to prove that they do for years and still has to beg for money to feed the ISPMB herds and sell off the excess on a regular basis. If those herds which have been set up to self regulate and not done so are being given PZP and culled then what in the world makes you think that HMAs would do so. It is not going to happen without starvation of mares and foals, we went through that early in the program and that was part of what guided the program to what it is now. There were hundreds of horses in the late 1970s that died because of drought and lack of feed in Oregon, Nevada and California. The BLM had horses trying to break into the corrals at Burns to get to feed and water. Now I know that if you are not close enough to tour the ranges and only see what is put out for you to see that supports that idea then you would think it is feasible but I can tell you that it is a pipe dream. I am not a fan of the skewed sex ratios but do understand why they are trying it, since stallions don’t carry foals it should cut down on the number of foals on the range each year. But the down side is that more stallions are going to be badly injured by fighting over the mares that are out there. Not good either. That aggressive gathering that is talked about, you might want to do some research on. South Steens in Oregon was scheduled to be gathered this year and due to budget constraints and drought other herds are being gathered and they are not. This is going to put a lot of extra pressure on the land if this year is as dry as last and from the looks so far it is going to be. There will be photographers documenting this herd all year to show what the land looks like, the horses and what happens when there are too many horses on land that does not have enough feed. If it gets bad enough the BLM will be forced to do an emergency gather of them.
All Horses Go To Heaven 
THE SACRED THUNDER BEINGS
THEY COME FROM THE STARS TO BRING THE HEAVENS DOWN,THEY ARE SACREDNESS,BEYOND HUMAN COMPREHENSION, THEY DANCE IN STARDUST, THEY COMMUNICATE HEART TO HEART,THEY NO LONGER CHOOSE TO LIVE AMONG MAN, FOR HE HAS IMBALANCED EARTH MOTHER AND HE HAS GONE MAD,ANIMALS CAN NOT SURVIVE WITH INSANITY IN HUMANITY, WAKAYA
There is one problem- mustangs are not a species. All horses belong to one species- equus caballus. Any horse running wild and surviving on its own should be protected by the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act. All American wild horses are in danger and are endangered, due to BLM extermination.
Dear Catherine,
your right as always , the problem is BLM , Corruption is running Rampant at the BLM .
Some of us just don’t care for other creatures .
thank you for reading and caring like always my dear friend ,
Take Care .
Simply BEAUTIFUL! They must be protected, as they were meant to be, by the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act. The tragedy of the roundups continue. We must find a more sensible and common sense approach that will benefit all, without destroying the lives of these magnificent creatures, who want nothing more and deserve nothing less, than to roam and run free.
I feel so helpless. I want to do something to help stop this but not sure where to begin. This is such a horrible situation and must stop. I will never understand man’s inhumanity. Thank you for all that you are trying to do.
publish the names of the people doing these things so we will know them and show there deeds.
As a country of independent people who research all sides of a subject and come to logical conclusions we need to use that dedication and thoroughness to address the issue of wild horses and burros. I will be the first to say that there are problems with the BLM Adopt A Horse and Burro Program, but it probably would not be the same problems that you are seeing. The problem that I see is that too many breeding age stallions and mares are left on the range to produce endless numbers of foals that either have to be rounded up and homes found for or live on the range land to produce more foals without controls. The best way that I know of to control this is to use gelding of a percentage of the horses left on the range, spaying a portion of the mares left on the range, and the use of a contraceptive that does not allow the mare to cycle during the time of implementation. With this method we could cut down on the number of horses that are going into Long Term Holding Facilities, eliminate the need for Sales Authority horse over the long term and still allow a number of horses to go up for adoption that will not overwhelm the public ability to absorb them. By shifting the breeding stallions around you would be able to have good genetic diversity without having to have unlimited #s of foals hit the ground. For those who do not know, in the wild there is no such thing as permanent families. The mares hook up with a stallion for a couple of years and then for the most part will partner up with a different stallion. Also in one estrus cycle it is not unusual for a mare to be covered by two or more stallions. It is also not unusual for yearling mare to be bred and have a foal as two year olds. This is very hard on them and those young mares have a higher mortality rate.
I have been working with wild horses for 38 years and my family for longer than that. My dad gathered horses with Wild Horse Annie, Dawn Lapin, and Karen Sussman, they were some of the main players in the original wild horse rights activists. Even then we knew that there would be problems in the future with the number of horses versus the amount of land, forage and water available. I keep hearing about how the cattle should be removed so that the horses have use of the land. That is not going to solve the problem, this land is not able to sustain horses or livestock on a year round basis in the #s that would be required if the herds were not limited. The AUMs that the cattle are run on are for the most part either winter range or summer range depending on where they are. The rest of the year the land does not produce enough forage or water to keep the herds alive. The result of unlimited breeding and no gathering would be death by starvation or thirst within 5 years of large numbers of the horses that we all know of and love.
I live in Oregon where the herds are popular for both adoptions and for visiting to take pictures, This makes many of the herds very well documented and followed, there are other herds that are just as documented such as the Pryor Mountain herd and some in Utah and Nevada. This is a good thing and I would encourage those who are worried about the long term viability of the herds to become involved by going out and getting to know and document a herd or visit a holding facility or adoption site. Contact the BLM and find out what is going on in your area with the adopted wild horses and visit with those of us who have adopted them and who would not give them up for anything.
At the colonial times there were at least 2 million wild horses and several million Bison, also deer and elk and other wild life living in perfect harmony, and the settlers arrived to see abundance of great forage and excellent range condition. What was missing? “Domestic livestock” and “range management” LOL Just go and figure and don’t believe any crap the BLM or ranchers are feeding the public. The BLM is managing for extinction, their numbers are completely off. How on earth would the horses over populate when they are being “managed” by 3 harsh measures concurrently; birth control, skewed sex ratios and aggressive roundups. If the herds were left to self stabilize without being messed with we would not have the problems. The Government wants the horses off so they could lease the public lands for mining and fracking. The ranchers want it all for their livestock! That is the sad TRUTH!
Are you people totally nuts? Horses don’t self regulate, Karen Sussmann has been trying to prove that they do for years and still has to beg for money to feed the ISPMB herds and sell off the excess on a regular basis. If those herds which have been set up to self regulate and not done so are being given PZP and culled then what in the world makes you think that HMAs would do so. It is not going to happen without starvation of mares and foals, we went through that early in the program and that was part of what guided the program to what it is now. There were hundreds of horses in the late 1970s that died because of drought and lack of feed in Oregon, Nevada and California. The BLM had horses trying to break into the corrals at Burns to get to feed and water. Now I know that if you are not close enough to tour the ranges and only see what is put out for you to see that supports that idea then you would think it is feasible but I can tell you that it is a pipe dream. I am not a fan of the skewed sex ratios but do understand why they are trying it, since stallions don’t carry foals it should cut down on the number of foals on the range each year. But the down side is that more stallions are going to be badly injured by fighting over the mares that are out there. Not good either. That aggressive gathering that is talked about, you might want to do some research on. South Steens in Oregon was scheduled to be gathered this year and due to budget constraints and drought other herds are being gathered and they are not. This is going to put a lot of extra pressure on the land if this year is as dry as last and from the looks so far it is going to be. There will be photographers documenting this herd all year to show what the land looks like, the horses and what happens when there are too many horses on land that does not have enough feed. If it gets bad enough the BLM will be forced to do an emergency gather of them.
Andy/JS