The Pryor Mountain roundup this September was widely controversial & put the BLM in the hotseat again. Most of my readers have passionate opinions about the BLM roundups & I just have one thing to say…
Chasing animals with helicopters is inhumane & there is nothing anyone can say to make me believe otherwise.
A Faithful Observer
Carol Walker has been tracking many of the wild herds for years & works hard to raise awareness for their cause.
She does a beautiful job of capturing the plight of wild horses in our modern landscape. Her imagery can be both haunting & heartbreaking, but they are stories that must be told.
Below is a video she put together with images of the recent Pryor Mt. roundup.
Be sure to check out her blog post about the event which offers her comments & more pictures.
Get Involved
Stay up to date on the latest with the mustangs of the U.S. & all of the legal jargon that goes along with it. Everyone’s voice is loud enough to make a difference. Visit The Cloud Foundation to learn more about the whole situation. To learn what you can do right now read their recent Call To Action.
Never ceases to amaze me what injustices mankind will heap upon the backs of animals.
we don’t round up other wild animals and stick them in a paddock then adopt out the animals to unqualified unexperienced people who will further breed them. Leave the horses alone. If there are too many then take the studs and give them their own area to live where they can’t breed. they can geld some then re-introduce a few back to the mares as needed.
Do you know how many of these horses are starved in captivity or are given to rescues? Alot! Because alot of the new owners can’t handle the training. Ask me how difficult it is to catch a wild Mustang horse as it runs loose whaen they get out of their owners fencing. Not an easy task!
Penny,
No, we don’t round up wild animals and put them in pens. Horses are not wild animals, they are feral animals that compete with actual wildlife for forage and water. They round these horses up because they do emmense damage to the range. The BLM has a herd management level for every area that will keep a balance between them, the land, and native wildlife. When the population exceeds that area, they gather the excess and put them up for adoption. Populations double every 4 years, that means if they were left alone for just 10 years that 200 in the Pryors would be 2,400.
As for other forms of population control… the birth control PZP is finally available but still very expensive. Gelding studs won’t do anything, they have tried. Geldings won’t keep harems. If you have 50 studs and 50 mares, and you geld 49 of them, you will have one very tired stud at the end of the season, but he’ll get the job done. And then guess what? In one season you will have all of the new folas being brother and sister! Bye bye genetic viability!
Do you know how many domestics are starved as well? Its a sad fact of the horse would.
I’m just gonna post this here because I can’t in the breeds section and its on mustangs.
mesteno means “without owner”, not a group of wild horses.
escaped horses did form bands, but could not reproduce with local horses as there were none. MANY years later, as people moved out west, they release their stock and they reproduced with the feral horses the spanish left behind, creating what we see as the American Mustang.
Under temperment I would also put down
Extremely Intellegent
Alert
Curious
and honestly, not stubborn at all, actually very willing.
The only con I can think of is not being good for a beginer.
They are not hard to break if you know how to train a horse.
If you need any help with anything involving mustangs, kigers, spanisg colonial, etc, just let me know. I’m heavily involved with the breed and would love to help get more information out there!
Also, (I know I’m posting a lot today) I just wanted to leave a link up to the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center’s blog. This man is an advocate of the horses and is not associated with the BLM or Cloud Foundation. This has been the most level headed, unbiased opinion on the situation that I have found from someone who was there. http://www.pryormustangs.org/mustang_blog.shtml
Sorry, I realized there was a problem with my math… the population in 10 years would be 1,200.. but just four years later it would explode to 2,400… In 20 years, 4,800! Thats an awful lot of living legends fighting for 38,000 acres. (That would leave them with less than 8 acres a piece, most of it with only sage brush scattered thoughout it)
Your right,
When most animal populations get to high we just open up hunting season and shoot them. These horses are at least being given another chance for an even better life. A life with food and water without having to worry when its coming next. They’ll have shelter from the elements, no more predators. And what my mustang seems to love the most, a human to give them scratches and cookies… although he might love his water equally…lol. Thats better than any deer will ever get!