Meredith Bridges

English 112- Issue Report

Mar 14, 2019

The Place of Wild Horses Today

Imagine a herd of horses, roaming free over a wide, rugged landscape. Their coats are scruffy,

their manes tangled, having never known a brush or comb. They mill together as a large family,

communicating with their own language, one that consists of a mixture of body signals and long,

fluttering sounds. Suddenly, at a warning call from their leader, they all spring to attention and

take of running, their powerful muscles rippling under their many-colored coats. The thunder of

their hooves echoes through the landscape.

This is a picture of a herd of horses living free of domestication, without human owners or

influence. Though these creatures have a great deal of history in North America, they are not

natives; the wild horses were first introduced to this land in the 1400s by Spanish explorers who

brought them across the sea in the holds of their huge ships. The wild horses of today are

descended from their ancestors who escaped their European masters and gradually came to

spread themselves across the continent. In today’s USA the numbers of wild horses are limited;

the remaining herds can be found in Western states such as Wyoming and Montana and among

the islands of the Eastern coast. Though these creatures are known as a symbol of beauty and

freedom of spirit, today their freedom and their very lives are in danger of being overwhelmed

by today’s industrial economy.

Ever since horses became a major part of the lives of people in the United States, they have

been considered a symbol of beauty and freedom, especially wild horses, which are generally
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used in literature and movies as a fantasy component. People who love horses dream of seeing a

herd of wild horses galloping free along a beach or across a plain. However, the facts are that

wild herds today are dwindling, and instead of roaming where they please their territory is

confined to certain areas such as wildlife reserves. It is only the people who genuinely care for

these horses that keep them alive and running loose even in those places. An example of one of

the best places to see ‘wild ponies’ is a little island off the coast of Virginia called Chincoteague.

It's close neighbor, Assateague Island, is a wildlife refuge for herds of wild Chincoteague ponies.

Every summer, people come to the islands from all over to watch the roundup of wild ponies on

Assateague. The horses are made to swim the small channel from their island to Chincoteague

and are directed to a large fairground of holding pens, where they are sorted and in the following

days adopted by the people who have come to see and support them. It is mainly the foals and

very young horses who are adopted, and the adult ponies who are not are sent back to

Assateague. In this way, their population is kept from overrunning the island. This is a good

example of part of the humane way that wild horse populations are managed today.

Today’s industry-dominated world doesn’t make much of a place for wild horses. “Regardless

of the (wild horse’s) mythic appeal, once the horse failed to serve a monetary purpose, it became

threatened”, says Bethany Maile, author of The Wild Ones. In the western states, enormous ranches

that raise huge herds of cattle are prospering, and their herds are growing. This means that they

need more and more land to graze on, and ranchers do not appreciate having to share their land

with the horses. Both the livestock and the horses must eat to survive, and the available grazing

space simply isn’t large enough to support both. As a result, both must compete with one another

for grazing space, which is damaging both to the herds and to the land. According to one article,

“Population levels and grazing patterns of wild free-roaming horses limit management options,
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potentially leading to rangeland and riparian degradation” (Kaweck). Overpopulation is a

serious issue with wild horses, because when they outgrow the available land not only is the

horses’ health damaged from lack of food and space, but they also become an inconvenience to

the people around them. In search of food and territory the horses wander closer the towns and

ranches around them and interfere with the lives and systems of the people living there.

The main problem that wild horses face is that cities and buildings keep raising up, and as a

result the wide spaces and grazing land that wild horses need to survive are vanishing. Roads and

towns that make people’s lives much more convenient have the opposite effect for the herds.

Horses are killed trying to cross the roads that cut through the territory they are used to owning,

and some herds are hunted by individuals who refuse to share their land with them. These people

either make quick ends of the horses with guns or they herd them up, cram them into trucks and

sell them to meat factories. Their opinion is that there is no room for free roaming horses in

today’s world. The Bureau of Land Management (the BLM) has a program set up to protect wild

horses by rounding up herds yearly and putting the horses up for adoption, but, although in 1971

a law was passed that prohibited the killing or mistreatment of wild horses, there was an

amendment to the law in 2004 that puts older, less fit horses in the program in danger. “... there

is concern that many wild horses and burros are again at risk... Now, wild horses and burros that

are older than 10 or have been unsuccessfully offered for adoption three times, can be sold

instead of adopted” (Smith). Unless the people who buy them are taking pity on them, this law

puts those unfortunate horses in danger of being sold for horsemeat. Sometimes the BLM will

sell them to any available buyer, because their facilities can become filled with so many horses

that they find any way they can to get rid of the ones that no one wants to adopt (Born of

Dreams, Smith, Maile).

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The measures being taken to protect free-roaming horses generally rely on people’s goodwill

towards them. The BLM goes to lengths to bring down the overpopulation of free roaming

horses in humane ways. The author of an entry concerning wild horse population control in the

Journal of Wildlife Management writes, “Management has typically been achieved by the

Bureau of Land Management by rounding up each herd about every 4 years and removing

selected animals from the range to attain herd-specific population goals known as appropriate

management levels (AMLs). Under 2003 BLM policies and guidelines, young horses (age 0-5

years old), which have a higher probability of being adopted, are removed first to achieve the

AML. If necessary, older horses (≥10 years old) compose a second tier of removals, followed by

horses aged 6-9 (tier 3). All young horses and most middle-aged horses that have been removed

enter a pool from which private adoptions are encouraged. All other horses removed to achieve

population goals are maintained in long-term holding facilities for the remainder of their natural

lives” (Bartholomew). Once horses are brought in to the adoption facilities, they are vaccinated,

branded, dewormed and checked over for any health concerns. There are programs that give wild

horses basic training before they are adopted. “After a horse is entered in the program, he'll get

three to four months of training before he's released for adoption,” says D. Moors in an article

which discusses the adoption program. In these months the horses learn basic manners and how

to carry a rider. Not all of the horses receive training, and not all are considered fit for adoption.

For these older or problematic horses, there are some ranches, such as Drummond Ranch in

Oklahoma, that work with the BLM and take them in and give them a place to stay in their

pastureland. These ranches are places of safety and protection for wild horses.

The controversy that surrounds the subject of wild horses is thick. To understand it, all sides of

the issue must be examined. To some, free roaming horses are nothing but a nuisance;
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unnecessary competition for grazing land for their own livestock, and there is strong belief that

wild horses have no place in today’s economy. To others, wild horses are seen a symbol of

freedom that brings joy, and these people fiercely want to protect the remaining herds. Some

receive joy from taking in the horses and caring for them, and some are invigorated simply by

the idea of horses running free. Though opinions vary, the fact remains that if the limited number

of free roaming horses that remain today are going to survive, they are going to need as many

people to support them and care for their well-being as they can get.
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Works Cited:

Moors, D. (2006, 02). The mustang difference. Horse & Rider, 45, 64-71. Retrieved from

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/224953458?accoun

tid=10163

Smith, S. (2005, Feb 28). Running...wild. Scholastic News, 73, 4-5. Retrieved from

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/212786584?accoun

tid=10163

Kaweck, M. M., Severson, J. P., & Launchbaugh, K. L. (2018, 04). Impacts of wild horses, cattle, and

wildlife on riparian areas in idaho. Rangelands, 40, 45-52.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rala.2018.03.001 Retrieved from

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2126861723?accou

ntid=10163

Bartholow, J. (2007). Economic benefit of fertility control in wild horse populations. Journal of Wildlife

Management, 71(8), 2811-2819. Retrieved from

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/234212436?accoun

tid=10163

Maile, B. (2011). The wild ones. River Teeth, 13(1), 137-155,158. Retrieved from

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/914724719?accoun

tid=10163

Born of dreams: Saving wild horses and burros. (1997, Nov). The Animals' Agenda, 17, 29-31. Retrieved

from

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/215885129?accoun

tid=10163
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