THE BLM IS UNFIT TO "MANAGE" THE LAST REMAING HERDS OF WILD HORSES

These wild herds of horses remaining in the American wild lands, from the east coast to the west, are an American treasure. They are also the property, if such a word can apply, of the American people. These herds have been under attack for years, from the cattle lobby, eager to expand grazing rights practically given away to large western farms, to mining concerns eager to open public lands to exploration and exploitation, all with predictable results. Big Oil regards tends to regard public lands and even the coastal and territorial seas as a minor but useful wholly owned possession. All of these entities place enormous pressure on every government entity with which they come into contact.

There are many rationalizations for this push to remove the wild herds but sheer corporate greed is a concise synopsis. Among these, we are told by an assortment of entities, that horses are not native to the Americas. Indeed, anthropologists, agree, in the absence of new additions to the physical evidence, that is true. However, in excess of 500 years certainly qualifies them as naturalized. And if we are to begin removing non-native species, are those of us, the non-native humans, of European or Asian, African extraction to be returned to the continent from which our ancestors came? The argument is specious and as ridiculous most suggested by the BLM.

We are also told by the BLM and the Department of Interior,, that all horses require human care, live better and longer lives with humans instead of on the ranges. Those of you who know me through Care2 know that I am a horsewoman, one with three beloved rescued Thoroughbreds, and a lifetime of extensive experience.. The flaw in this argument is that most domesticated breeds, for example my own Thoroughbreds rescued at the ends of their racing careers, have been created, over decades, even a century or more, in hopes of breeding a horse with a specific trait. Throughbreds are fine athletes, fast, agile. Ponies aren't. Draft horses aren't either. But all thre excel at the purposes they were bred to serve.. And even then, many horses of domesticated breeds would probably adapt to wild living over a generation or two, given the opportunity. The wild bands of horses in the Appalachians are the product of horses who escaped and survived and found a niche and continue to survive to the present. I am not suggesting you open a pasture gate or stall door and give all horses their freedom, especially in the contracting environments we know today.. I am saying simply that it is an absurd comparison, and one of many unsupported excuses for targeting the wild herds. As certainly as the late Secretariat was bred to race, these herds have more than 500 years of natural selection to adapt to their environment.


The BLM takes such appalling care of its horses in such deplorable conditions, Nevada being a glaring case in point, that a private horse man or woman doing the same sorts of things would be charged with felony animal cruelty. These horses are warehoused' like inanimate objects, on dry ground that morphs into soggy morasses of deep mud during the winter. Perpetually wet hooves destroys hooves. If a horse can't stand on its hooves or even one is damaged, even with excellent vet treatment, that horse will not survive. There is no shade during Nevada summers. Penned horses unable to seek shade. to move enough to regulate body temperature in extreme heat or cold is no way to keep any animal. Most disturbing, there is no accountability at the BLM. The BLM does not release numbers, although I would personally find them suspect, simply based on past behavior and the laughably vague. and unsubstantiated proposals they release as mandated by law. There is NO accountability, NO discernible oversight. And NO transparency. No verifiable census, no records on the numbers of horses killed in round-ups, no verifiable records on horses who are killed or die in captivity. There have been strong assertions of BLM collusion with the poachers who capture and sell these wild herds to the Mexican horse slaughterers. Speaking from lengthy experience with/ exposure to BLM employees in Nevada, I would not allow one of them to muck stalls for me.. Indeed, given five minutes with whomever who dreamed up helicopter round-ups over some of the most rugged lands in the United States, I would enlighten them on the basic humanity and most rudimentary knowledge of horses he or she clearly lacks. These round-ups are frequently scheduled for spring, when mares are either still in foal, or with foals on the ground, sending both over this same rugged ground when most vulnerable. These horses are not cars baking on a lot or mothballed aircraft on the Mojave; they are not rewards to be thrown to the big money lobbies, or the politicians who have been corrupted by them. They are not bargaining chips to be traded for votes, or influence in the current state of the federal government.. They represent the treasure of the people, a precious link to our national identity, one being squandered by a renegade agency apparently incapable of caring well for even one horse or even evincing basic human decency. The BLM is categorically unfit to "manage" these herds, as clearly indicated by its behavior. This behavior is, at best, incompetent and uninformed; at worst, and in truth, it rises to the level of criminally abusive.. Replace the BLM with a new, open and responsible organization, and there are many exemplary groups with the credibility, the responsibility, the resources, the knowledge and the basic humanity to eager to take on the challenge. Either let one of these groups take over the herds, as stewards of the horses for the American people, or leave the wild herds alone in the wild lands. After more than 500 years on the land, the herds can manage themselves far better than anyone at the BLM or in the federal government..