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Wild-Horses:
Photos, Pictures, and History
best horse photos
Wild-Horses
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*Having lived for many years with Wild-Horses in Southern France,
where much of my family still resides, I naturally grew to love not
only Horses, but also Horses of the Camargue. It is the images in my
mind of having seen these incredible Horses in their natural habitat
that compelled me to create, for YOU, this page about Wild Horses. /
Steve *
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Horse Lovers: Get ready for a real treat! Wild-Horses will continue to
grow as we find more and more beautiful photos. If you have pictures
of this caliber (or better!) by all means send them in. If they make
the cut, we would be honored to post them on our site.
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Horses
*Wild free-roaming horses and burros belong to no one individual. They
belong to all American people. The spirit which has kept them alive
and free against almost insurmountable odds typifies the national
spirit which led to the growth of our Nation. They are living symbols
of the rugged independence and tireless energy of our Pioneer
heritage. *
*(U.S. Senate Report No. 242, 92nd Congress, 1971) *
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Wild-Horses
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Wild-Horses: Exposing the Myths
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In 1971, Congress recognized that wild horses and burros (are living
symbols of the Historic and pioneer spirit of the West) by enacting
the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. This law seeks to protect
from capture, branding, harassment, or death Wild horses and burros
found on public lands in the United States. Yet the law has never been
fully implemented by the Department of the Interior, the agency of the
Federal government charged with its administration. Below are common
misconceptions -- and the real facts -- about wild-horses.
*MYTH: Wild-horses and burros are exotic, non-native species
rightfully categorized as "feral" domestic animals. *
*False. *The Wild-Horses and Burros Act recognize the wild-horse as an
"integral component of the natural system." Paleontological evidence
shows that wild-horses and burros evolved on the North American
continent over the course of some 60,000,000 years. How they
disappeared 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, if in fact they actually ever
became extinct here, is a mystery. It is suspected that the horses
were hunted to near extinction by humans who had crossed the ice
bridge into North America. When Cortez landed in Mexico in 1519, he
brought horses from Spain. Others followed. From these reintroduced
animals came the great numbers of wild-horses this eventually changed
the culture of the Plains Indians.
The Spanish horses soon adapted to the same ecological niche their
native relatives had once inhabited here. Every trait and
characteristic that describes a native wildlife species fits the
American wild-horse and desert burro. Long before the early settlers
and homesteaders pioneered the West, they were here as a reintroduced,
fully adapted species. When the U.S. government acquired land through
the Louisiana Purchase and from Mexico, also acquired were the
wild-horses. As many as 3 million wild horses existed on public domain
lands. Their home territory stretched from the Carizzo Plains and
Santa Lucia Mountains of California, east to Missouri, and north to
North Dakota and into Canada.
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Horse pictures
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*MYTH: Wild-Horses and burros don't really need legal protection. The
law was passed in response to the lobbying of a few "horse lovers" and
school children. *
*False. *Prior to the passage of the wild horse law, free lance
cowboys ("mustangers"😉 were selling wild-horses, which are government
property, without a license to dog food manufacturers. Using trucks
and helicopters to round up the animals, the cowboys often left
injured horses to die slowly in the desert. This outraged Velma
Johnston, a resident of Reno, Nevada, whose actions on the horses'
behalf gave her the nickname "Wild Horse Annie." As a result of the
national publicity generated by Mrs. Johnston and others, a law was
passed in 1959 to prohibit the use of aircraft or motor vehicles to
hunt certain wild horses and burros on federally owned land. This law
also made it illegal to "pollute any watering hole on any of the
public land or ranges for the purpose of trapping, killing, wounding,
or maiming any of such animals."
However, the 1959 law did not prevent commercial interests from
rounding up horses and burros and selling them for profit. Further
protection for wild horses and burros was provided by the 1971 Wild
Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the result of overwhelming
nationwide public support. Both chambers of Congress passed the Act
unanimously -- not one Senator or Representative voted against it.
Congress chose to protect wild-horses and burros as a heritage
species.
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Horse Photos
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*MYTH: There is an overpopulation of wild-horses on public lands. *
*. *
*. *
*False. *There is no overpopulation of wild-horses and burros. The
condition of the land, not the number of animals, determines whether
or not a wild-horse overpopulation exists in a particular area. The
wild horse law says that in a given area, a certain amount of
vegetation may be eaten as forage. Only when that amount is exceeded
are there too many animals. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
changed the definition of overpopulation as given in the wild horse
law. The BLM has declared that overpopulation is any amount above its
desired management number of 21,000 animals. The BLM's 1997 report to
Congress claimed an estimated 43,000 wild-horses and burros on
rangelands, a figure based on maximum reproductive rates to ensure
funding from Congress to continue to remove horses and burros from
public lands. The Animal Protection Institute and others contend that
less than 20,000 animals actually remain on the land.
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On the other side of the World, Laura Sailors has been photographing
the majestic Wild-Horses that roam free in California. Soon to be
exhibiting part of her collection at a local gallery, Laura has
graciously allowed us to show case some of her work here at
best-horse-photos.com. A few of her newer pictures may also show up in
next months NEWSLETTER (Hint, Hint).
If you would like to contact Laura, please do so by way of:
[email hidden]
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Horse herds
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*MYTH: The BLM removes wild-horses and burros to keep the number of
animals at a level the range can support. *
*False. *Wild horse and burro populations are being severely reduced,
but not to protect the range. Ranchers demand that wild-horses be
removed to protect forage historically allocated for livestock use.
The law requires that the BLM measure the impact of the animal
population on the habitat to determine if there are too many animals
in a given area. But, according to a 1990 investigation by the General
Accounting Office (GAO), BLM decisions on how many horses to remove
from public lands have not been based on any evidence that wild horse
populations exceed what the range can support. Moreover, the GAO found
that wild horse removals often have not been accompanied by reductions
in livestock grazing. In some cases, the BLM has increased authorized
livestock grazing levels after removing wild-horses. As a result,
range conditions have not improved. The law authorizes the BLM to
remove wild-horses and burros "when they pose a threat to themselves,
their habitat, or other rangeland values." However, only the number
needed to restore the natural ecological balance between wild-horses,
other wildlife, and their habitat may be removed. Thus, the law
prohibits the BLM from maintaining a predetermined number of animals.
This interpretation of the law has been confirmed by a federal court
decision and rulings of the Interior Board of Land Appeals, as well as
the GAO findings.
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Horse Stallions
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*MYTH: Wild-Horses compete with cows for forage. *
*False. *Wild-Horses do not compete with cattle for the same available
forage. Cows graze within a mile of water, while wild-horses are
highly mobile, grazing from five to ten miles from water, at higher
elevations, on steeper slopes, and in more rugged terrain. A
congressionally mandated study by the National Academy of Science
found that wild horses and burros are not responsible for overgrazing
on public lands. The study also revealed that, in one year, livestock
consumed 70% of grazing resources on public lands, while wild-horses
and burros consumed less than 5%. Cattle outnumber wild-horses on
public lands by approximately 1,000 to 1.
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Horses colt
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*MYTH: Where BLM manages wild-horses and burros is a land-use decision
to be determined at the local level. *
*False. *The sole and exclusive authority for where wild horses are to
be managed is stated in the wild horse law. It says that the BLM must
manage and protect wild-horses and burros where they existed in 1971,
at the time the law passed. The only land-use decision authorized by
the wild horse law is whether to designate an area where wild-horses
and burros are known to have existed in 1971 as exclusive habitat for
the animals, or as multiple-use land. Lands designated as multiple-use
are to be managed "principally but not exclusively" for wild horses
and burros. The BLM may not expand the range for wild-horses and
burros or open up new areas for their use. Despite the requirements
and directives of the law, BLM officials insist that where they manage
wild horses and how many are to be managed are decisions to be made as
a part of local land-use deliberations. In 1984, there were 303
identified wild horse and burro use areas on 47 million acres of land.
By 1997, only 186 of those areas contained wild horses or burros.
Through land-use planning decisions, the BLM has emptied 117 herd use
areas and reduced wild horse habitat area to less than 35 million
acres. The BLM plans to empty 60 more wild horse areas despite the law
prohibiting it.
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Horse Stallion
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*MYTH: The BLM may at its discretion dispose of animals considered to
be excess. *
*False. *The law allows for three methods of lowering the number of
animals in a particular area after the determination is made that an
overpopulation exists and a reduction is needed. Excess horses may: ?
be relocated to other areas of public land, ? be destroyed in a humane
manner, or ? be removed from the range and placed in the care of
qualified individuals or organizations. A BLM program allows
"qualified individuals or organizations" to adopt, for a nominal fee,
animals removed from the range. This adoption program has been used by
the BLM to remove large numbers of horses and burros from public land,
a practiced encouraged by the ranching industry, which views all
wildlife as competing with livestock.
Between 1980 and 1990, the BLM rounded up, removed, and disposed of
more than 80,000 wild-horses, about 60,000 of whom were processed
through the Adopt-A- Horse program. The BLM does not have the
authority to sell wild-horses. Providing the BLM with sale authority
would allow the animals to be sold for commercial purposes, including
slaughter. In the 1980s, several attempts were made to amend the law
to include BLM sale authority, and each time the public protested.
When these bids to gain sale authority failed, the BLM instituted a
special fee-waived, mass adoption program to serve as a disposal
system for handling large numbers of horses removed from the range. A
federal court ruling eventually ended the mass adoption program,
leaving more than 3,000 horses in the system in need of homes. The BLM
continues to allocate about half of its wild horse program budget to
rounding up horses for adoption even though many animals are currently
in the system awaiting adoption.
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fillies colts foals
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*MYTH: A horse may be sold for slaughter if the adopter obtains an
official title. *
*False. *Although the BLM maintains that a horse may be sold for
slaughter if the horse is first adopted and the adopter obtains an
official title, this was not the intent of Congress when it passed the
wild horse protection law. The law says that, after one year, an
adopted wild horse or burro loses legal protections provided the
animal is not sold or transferred for compensation or commercial
purposes. In the late 1980s, API and The Fund for Animals challenged
the BLM's fee-waived, mass adoption program on the grounds that the
BLM knew in advance that the adopters intended to sell or commercially
exploit the horses, and thus were not qualified adopters. The Court
found in API's favor and instructed the BLM not to transfer title when
the adopter planned to use the animal for commercial purposes. This
decision was upheld on appeal. Nonetheless, investigations reveal that
BLM agents have, in fact, placed horses with people with the knowledge
that the horses would be sold for slaughter. In 1997, API and The Fund
for Animals returned to court to request that the 1987 injunction be
enforced and strengthened to protect wild horses from going to
slaughter. As a result of the lawsuit, the BLM agreed to reform its
requirements for adopting wild-horses to prevent these rampant abuses.
In the settlement, the BLM agreed to reword its Private Maintenance
and Care Agreement so that anyone who adopts a wild horse or burro for
slaughter or commercial purposes may be prosecuted. The agency also
promised it would prohibit using the powers of attorney in the
adoption process, and that U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors
will notify BLM when horses with the BLM freeze-brand arrive at a
slaughterhouse. API is prepared to take whatever actions are necessary
to see that the practice of selling wild-horses for slaughter ends and
that the original intent and language of the law are followed.
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Horse Foals
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*How to Adopt a Wild Horse or Burro*
The decision to adopt a wild horse or burro should not be made
lightly. Providing a home for a wild animal presents unique
challenges. You must submit an adoption application and sign a Private
Care and Maintenance Agreement at the time the horse is turned over to
you. If you wish to obtain title to the horse at the end of one year
of successfully caring for it, you may submit an application for
title.
The BLM adoption office can tell you the date of the next adoption
event in your area. Adopted are required to provide 12x12 feet of
adequate shelter, a minimum of 20x20 feet of corral space, and study
fencing 6 feet high for horses and 5-1/2 feet high for burros.
To transport the animals from the adoption, adopters must have a
solidly constructed horse trailer with a covered top and side-swing
back gates (drop ramps are not permitted), along with halters and lead
ropes. BLM crews will sort, halter, and load the animals onto the
adopters' trailers. Each animal will have been checked by a
veterinarian, and received the appropriate vaccinations. A person
experienced with horses should be available to assist in unloading the
animal when you return home. The usual adoption fee is $125 for a
horse or burro. In addition to the fee, those planning to adopt a
horse or burro must be prepared to cover ongoing costs for feed,
veterinary care, and farrier services. Adopters must be over the age
of 18, and a maximum of four horses or burros can be adopted in any
one year. In selecting a horse, be sure to observe the behavior of
individual horses at the adoption site. The hierarchy in the band out
on the range dictates submissive or assertive temperaments. Those
mares who have been lead mares, and stallions who have been dominant
stallions, will be more aggressive than the subdominant mares and
stallions. Watch for dominant and submissive behavior as the animals
jockey for position in the pen. The more dominant animals will be more
difficult to gentle. Some animals may have completed a "gentling"
program; others will be recently removed from the range. Be sure to
check with adoption officials.
This web site was so easy to build Wild-Horses couldn't have stopped
me. Click here to learn
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Horses_herds.jpg
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Horse Posters
*Click THE WILD-HORSES Below *
To go to our Horse Posters page, where you will be able to view even
more beautiful photos of Wild-Horses. Also pictures and art works of
Arabian, Paint, Morgan, Draft, and Quarter Horses; Colts, Fillies, and
Foals.
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Poster_Wild_Horses.jpg
<http://www.best-horse-photos.com/Horse-Posters.html>
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2006 CALENDARS ARE HERE !!!
*Click THE WILD-HORSES Below *
Go To go our Wild-Horse Calendars page, where you will be able to view
the best examples of this and next years Horse-Calendars.
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Calendar_Wild_Horses.jpg
<http://www.best-horse-photos.com/Horse-Calendars.html>
*TOP of PAGE / Wild-Horses*
<http://www.best-horse-photos.com/Wild-Horses.html>
*Wild-Horses Photos To Home Page(Horses)*
<http://www.best-horse-photos.com/>
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*Important Wild-Horses LINKS*
*BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Home Page *
<http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/>
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I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"😉. Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
