The wild horse, based upon fossil remains, dates back about four million years ago for North America. These horses traveled great distances and eventually traveled to Asia, Europe and even to Africa. It is believed that they traveled the icy land strip that once was connecting Alaska to Asia at that time. It is shown that the remaining horses in North America died out about 13,000-11,000 years ago. With the tools of today, it has been proven the wild horses of today are genetically equivalent to the horses of their ancestors. Ann Forsten of the Zoological Institute at the University of Helsinki found this to be true. Micheal Hofreiter of the Department of Evolutionary genetics at the Max Planck Institute in Germany has also concluded to this finding. Therefore the horses of today are ancestors to the first horses discovered.
CC-by-SA-2.0~Rick Looper "Wild horses foraging for food with their baby"
They are the most adaptable with the changing conditions of the terrain. They have forage over many acres to find food and raise their families. They have been found in some of the most remote, inhospitable areas of the ranges but despite this they have flourished. Their numbers increase but not at the rate in which the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) states they are. “In 2004 for instance, only 1 out of 28 foals survived in Montana’s Pryor Mountain area. Such low survival rate was mostly due to mountain lion predation.” Quote from The American Wild Horse Preservation (AWHP). There are predators to the wild horses and it is not just man. The National Academy of Sciences did a study in 1982 that stated “they found annual rates of increase of 10% or less in wild horse populations” Quote from the AWHP reports. The BLM rated this same percentage as 20%, which is where they were able to justify their need for removing these wild horses from their land.
These horses and burros graze on the land and actually help the land to regenerate. Livestock grazing is a major factor in fires per the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign. (go to the link and search for the Problem with Livestock on the left and then to the Livestock and Fire) Livestock come in and removes grasses that compete with true seedling for water. With the heavy grazing of cattle this had led to greater tree density for young saplings. They often ignite and explode due to becoming so dry in a drought when there is a fire. Livestock on public lands is contributing to the problem of forest fires in the West but no one wants to do anything about it. If the livestock would not dominate in areas, the ground would have small grasses that when in drought and ignited would only create a small fire that can be controlled by firefighters. Livestock has also contributed to the demise of 22% of federally threatened and endangered species as well as effecting 33% of endangered plants. Cattle are such a problem that the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign states on their site the “Livestock Removal Successes”. (go to the link and search for the Livestock Removal Successes on the left) Here they show 13 places in Indiana, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and California that they permanently got livestock removed from to better the vegetation for the wildlife. This is another proving point that the livestock of the cattle ranchers is doing more harm than the wild horses or burros. The wild horses and burros graze over a vast amount of land and not stripping it of its nutrients to regenerate properly. The horses have been here longer and have their own way of working with the elements to create an ecosystem that benefits them as well as man.
No(c)~BLM "Wild Stallion Lazarus & part of his band in West Warm Springs HMA, OR. They are in beautiful condition, look at their coats"
These horses and burros are in great physical condition when they are brought in to the corrals of the BLM. Yes there are some that are sick and may have issues but that number seems to be very small considered to what the BLM reports. These horses and burros are best to be kept right where they are, in the wild. Taking a wild creature from its wild environment does not mean you can domesticate it and wild horses or burros are in fact wild. You do not take a lion from Africa and decide after it is three or four years old to take it onto your land to domesticate it. It is wild. It will eat you. Horses are no different except they won’t eat you. They lose their spirit, they lose their freedom, and they lose a part of their life. Their WILDlife. They can become domesticated but it takes a really long time and a lot of patience. With horses it is all about trust. Now do you personally think a horse that was just chased (by man) hundreds of miles into a corral that it has never known, made to get into a trailer (by man) it has never seen before, and separated from its herd family (by man) that this horse would now trust ~ a man. No! It takes an unbelievable amount of time.
Next article: “The horses and the BLM”
Back to original article “Wild horses should remain free to roam”
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