BLM, Attorney General: "There Are Too Many Wild Horses in Wyoming."

Cheyenne, WY, Tribune-Eagle ^ | 05-18-03 | Stockton, Ty

[Theodore R.]

BLM: No easy fix to horse problem

By Ty Stockton Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

CHEYENNE – U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials agree with Wyoming’s attorney general that there are too many wild horses in Wyoming.

But those same officials add that the solution to the problem is not so obvious.

Attorney General Pat Crank said last week that the state intends to file suit against the BLM because it hasn’t properly managed the state’s wild-horse herds.

At a media conference, Crank said the overpopulation of wild horses is hurting the animals. He added that the impacts of these oversized herds on the land is threatening elk and deer populations as well as damaging livestock grazing leases.

“The BLM, quite frankly, hasn’t taken care of the overpopulation issue that exists,” he said. “Our goal is to bring sense to wildlife resource issues.”

Cindy Wertz, BLM public affairs specialist, said her agency agrees the horses are overpopulated.

“Right now there are close to 7,000 horses on the range,” she said. “That’s about double what we should be supporting.”

The BLM is charged with managing the horses under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971. That protects the animals and sets forth strict procedures that must be followed when removing horses and burros from the range.

Federal law does permit rounding up wild horses for “adoption.” People can buy the animals at wild-horse auctions, but buyers must meet stringent qualifications.

Adopters must be 18 years old or older, have no prior violations of adoption rules and have specific acreage and fence construction. Also, no person may have more than four untitled wild horses at a time, unless they fill out additional applications.

According to its Web site, the BLM maintains and manages wild horses in what are called “herd management areas.” In the 10 states where BLM manages horses, there are 270 such areas.

In Wyoming there are 16 different herd management areas across the state. They are located mostly in south-central and central Wyoming in the Lander-Rawlins-Rock Springs area. There also are two areas in the north-central part of the state near Worland and Cody.

According to the Web site, horses were brought to North America in the late-15th century by Spanish explorers, and it was American Indians who extended their range across the Great Plains and the West. The site adds that horses continued to be released onto public lands into the mid-20th century by the military, miners, ranchers and farmers.

The present wild horses are the ancestors of those animals.

“We’ve already gathered several hundred horses this year,” Wertz said. “It’s foaling season now, so we’re not rounding them up. We’ll start again July 15.”

Reducing the herds to the desired number isn’t as easy as chasing 3,500 horses into a pen and hauling them away.

Even if there were enough qualified buyers to take those horses, the BLM is limited by its holding facilities. Most wild horses sold at auctions are trained before they are sold, and this training takes time and space, Wertz said.

In addition, some horses are not adoptable. They may be too old or too headstrong, and they never will be trainable, she added.

There are preserves for these animals, but again, space is limited.

Wyoming isn’t the only state sending horses that aren’t adoptable to these preserves, Wertz said.

“Nationwide there’s a huge glut of wild horses, and we have no place to put them,” she added. “It’s part of a bigger issue than our horses in Wyoming.”

[4mycountry]

>>>They may be too old or too headstrong, and they never will be trainable

Uh, ya think?

[alloysteel]

Horses, when introduced to the North American continent in the 15th and 16th Centuries, were an incursive species, and for a while, did not significantly impact on other grazing herbivores. Only when range cattle were introduced in large numbers, and the competing species of North American bison were driven nearly to extinction, did the feral horses become a problem. Natural predators, and the indigenous human population, took full advantage of this new species, and the Plains Indians became excellent horsemen. The Sioux (Dakotah) developed the finest light cavalry the world has ever known, once they gained access to firearms, bringing the technologically far more advanced US Cavalry almost to a standstill, until a sufficiently large force was amassed to overwhelm the lightning attacks.

The defeat of the Plains Indians, and the destruction of the natural predators, allowed the horse population to explode. For a while, hunting and slaughter of the wild horses did keep a limit on the size of the herds, but this practice was stopped because the noble horses (never in danger of extinction) could be used to tug at the hearts and minds of urban people far from the problem. Better for them to starve on overgrazed and seriously degraded range on the way to becoming desert, I suppose.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

But those same officials add that the solution to the problem is not so obvious.

Unfortunatley, the solution is quite obvious, but it ain't pretty.

[dennisw]

The French like horse meat. I see a profitable business.

[templar]

According to the Web site, horses were brought to North America in the late-15th century by Spanish explorers, and it was American Indians who extended their range across the Great Plains and the West. The site adds that horses continued to be released onto public lands into the mid-20th century by the military, miners, ranchers and farmers. The present wild horses are the ancestors of those animals.

Just how old are these horses?

[alloysteel]

If a person has ever been around a "hammerhead" horse, the desire, indeed, the absolute necessity to kill said horse becomes obvious. But of course, people are supposed to be better than that. The horse is extended great latitude.

Keeping these "untrainable" horses in separate reserves is an exercise in dysgenics. Consciously or otherwise, the trait of being an "untrainable" horse is perpetuated by selection, and a "superhorse", completely intractable, is the result.

[Renfield]

I've eaten horsemeat in Europe, and it's pretty good. It's pretty lean, and gets dry if you overcook it, but smoked, it's delicious. The real problem is the emotional attachment that some people have to horses...it gets in the way of a "horse season".

[alloysteel]

Horses are sexually mature at three or four years of age. There have been hundreds, possibly a thousand, generations of the adapted species since their first introduction, and the continued introductions to the gene pool have supplied some hybrid vigor, as well as some unique configurations.

[appeal2]

Wild wild horses couldn't keep me away.

[The Other Harry]

"The present wild horses are the ancestors of those animals.

Just how old are these horses?

They must be pretty damn old. ;)

I was wondering whether anyone else was going to notice that. Don't they teach these kids anything?

[11th Earl of Mar]

buyers must meet stringent qualifications.

Adopters must be 18 years old or older, have no prior violations of adoption rules and have specific acreage and fence construction. Also, no person may have more than four untitled wild horses at a time

But the list goes on...

You must also prove that your fences are six feet high... NOT 5 feet and 8 inches.

The trailer that you transport the horse must have a 'swing out gate' and not a 'drop down gate' that will serve as a ramp for the horse to walk up on.

The list is full of lots of obnoxious rules that keeps many responsible owners from taking one of these horses.

[livius]

Very good points, alloy.

We have a small wild horse population down here in Florida, but it hasn't become a problem. I doubt that it's as old as the Western population, and probably is mostly made up of the offspring a variety of horses who either escaped or were let go by local farmers within the last hundred years or so. It doesn't seem to be in any danger of exploding and becoming a problem.

But there are some people around here who have bought Western mustangs and are now struggling to work with them. These horses are definitely difficult - it's remarkable how rapidly domestication wears off. It just takes a few generations. And once you're dealing with horses who have reverted to stripes on the legs and other wild animal markings, you're up against a nearly lost cause.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

I always find it a bit strange. You can go to any livestock auction and find horses being sold for canners, (pet food) and we have slaughter houses that supply France and the world with horse meat for human consumption.

A slaughter house is a revolting thing to behold. Horses are driven onto the kill floor, the smell of blood and guts in wide flaring nostrils, eyes rolling in sheer terror. A stun gun is put to their heads and, blam. Down they go, throat is stuck and slashed, chains on the legs, up they go, gutted in seconds, head and feet removed, they are quickly skinned with flesh still twitching. Hosed down with high pressure water, allowed to drip a bit, and the overhead track conveys the carcass into the cooling room, or it is straight off to be deboned and to the cooking room. All the while, USDA government inspected you see.

But, but, even dare speak of rounding up so called free ranging horses for same fate, the media, the animal rights groups and soccer moms et all go berserk.

For years I worked in the oil patch across the Continental Divide and Red Desert country of Wyoming, from Wamsutter and Baggs over to Green River, Kemmerer and La Barge. I saw what the BLM said were wild horses, they would come up and eat bread from your hand, many branded, some were geldings, hmmmmnnn? I know for sure many of them were feral, either by accident, or were released intentionally.

[Paleo Conservative]

Horses are sexually mature at three or four years of age. There have been hundreds, possibly a thousand, generations of the adapted species since their first introduction, and the continued introductions to the gene pool have supplied some hybrid vigor, as well as some unique configurations.

Do your math. Horses were extinct in North America when Columbus discovered the New World. That was 510 years ago. There has not been enough time to have had hundreds or thousands of generations of wild horses. At most 167 generations.

[rabidralph]

They may be too old or too headstrong, and they never will be trainable, she added.

Probably why I'm not married.

[alloysteel]

And my math troubles you? No need for both of us to be worried about it. If I am wrong, you will tell me.

[freebounder]

I remember the furor that arose when the BLM stepped in and destroyed a part of our community's western heritage. They made it impossible for us to govern ourselves in regards to our land and environment with the customs developed over the years to care for, and cull the excess mustangs. They took over management of land that is deeded in the name of the people of the county, and occupied it with all the grace of schoolyard bullies. The incredible disdain and arrogance that the BLM showed our community was despicable. Educated beyond reason with the mistaken notion that theirs was the superior intellect, that first year we saw many of the stangs die from BLM mismanagement.

The excuse given to the beltway urbanite was that the poor animals were being captured by evil greedy capitalists for exploitation, and that only congress in usurping its constitutionally delegated authority could save these poor hapless animals. That they went to foreign markets for food, and domestic glue factories was only a half-truth. That they would soon become extinct was a lie.

Before their hostile takeover, we (the local public) would determine the viability of the land, and the number of horses that the land could maintain. The local ranchers and interested parties would hold an annual round up for the excess horses, and give the young trainable ones to be broke for kids who had none. Some went to POA clubs, others would be taken to auction for sale for various purposes determined by the new owner. We did this with no cost to the US taxpayer.

Yes it is true that those that went unclaimed or unsold were sent to *gasp* the co-op for possessing--glue, pet food, and *double-gasp* sometimes for human consumption. It may sound cruel but nature is a harsh mistress and the damage done to the land, and the starvation of young or unfit horses in the winter is a much crueler fate. Before federal intervention the local community who had to live in nature, and survive by nature did a much better job than the D.C. idealists whose urbanite disassociation with nature more resembles Walt Disney than reality.

[Theodore R.]

Your lengthy email here is the reason I posted the article in the first place. I am not that knowledgeable of just how the U.S. government has ruined the West, but you have explained it so well.