Wild horses/BLM land

[44hunter45]

Goes nicely with Fava Beans and a nice Chianti.

 

[jrabq]

Sometime in the past 10 years or so someone was attempting to open up a horse slaughterhouse in NM (for domestic horses). Politics and emotions got it shot down.

 

[mtnrunner260]

Stop calling feral horses "wild" would be a good step.
Tough to see the damage they do and knowing that it is going to get much worse before any changes are made.

 

[seeth07]

Us hunters can all get together, designate a single day and hit the horses in mass, 50000 hunters at once and just shoot away. Most of us will get away with it because there isn't enough law enforcement to round us all up. Who's in?

I kid....well kinda...

 

[Steelsearchin]

"Cut 'em all Jack!!"

Wife's grandparents lived in rural western Wisconsin and were known to serve horse meat to their unsuspecting guests (who apparently loved it). They also hid gold and silver in milk jugs under the chicken coop.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Love to see all the feral horses and burros gone tomorrow. I’ll be the first one to sign up to shoot and eat one. Except in America this will never happen short of post Yellowstone Caldera eruption or other apocalypse.

A couple of times in recent history pet food market was able to loophole their way into adopting and slaughtering US feral equines, but fanatic romantic Hollywood-inspired lobby shut this down.

I think populations brought down within the 1971 Act parameters is a worthy, but seemingly unobtainable goal for sportsmen. Lobby has hamstrung realistic means of reducing the population. They think 75,000 horses should just be adopted to Americans, but in reality very little market exists, and instead people are dumping the animals they can’t take care of to “run wild with the herd” just like it happens in the movies.

Thinking outside the box: Any authors and illustrators of children’s books, cartoonists, and other media people who want to create content for kids highlighting western ecosystems and how they are affected by feral equines?

 

[Hunting Wife]

I do like horses in general, and the thought of just aerial gunning them or something isn’t appealing, but at this point the problem is so far out of hand it will unfortunately take drastic and lethal measures to get things under control. As a means to reduce populations to objective, adoption is a failure. Contraceptives are a failure. Rounding up and holding them indefinitely is not a solution. I’d be curious how many feral horses the average horse advocate has adopted? Once populations are reduced to a reasonable level, then perhaps those could be part of a larger strategy to keep populations in check. However, there are so many laws at both the state and federal level preventing slaughter that I just don’t see it happening.

The “reintroduced natives” argument is illogical. Where in pre-modern history do we draw the line? By that reasoning, we should be turning elephants and cheetahs loose because their prehistoric ancestors lived here.

 

[runningmt]

Stop calling feral horses "wild" would be a good step.
Tough to see the damage they do and knowing that it is going to get much worse before any changes are made.

Spot on!

There’s no such thing as “wild” horses in the US........if it was “wild” house cats we’d have no trouble eliminating them.

I also see the other side, as I love the “wild” pheasants, chukars, Huns, brown trout, and walleye I pursue in MT.......but I hunt those.

 

[FI460]

Spot on!

There’s no such thing as “wild” horses in the US........if it was “wild” house cats we’d have no trouble eliminating them.

I also see the other side, as I love the “wild” pheasants, chukars, Huns, brown trout, and walleye I pursue in MT.......but I hunt those.

@neffa3

 

[brockel]

Round then up and take them to the loose horse sale. Most of those head to Canada to slaughter houses. Use the money made from it to put back into the land the invasive horses destroyed from no management.

 

[kwyeewyk]

Here's some background on the argument for them being reintroduced natives, just for context, I understand the source is clearly biased towards believing this. Regardless of our individual opinions on this, if it did come to rewriting or court battles over WHBA this argument would surely be presented and lawmakers or a judge would have to decide or more research would have to occur to come to a conclusion.

Wild Horses as Native North American Wildlife

Are wild horses truly "wild," as an indigenous species in North America, or are they "feral weeds" – barnyard escapees, far removed genetically from their prehistoric ancestors? The question at hand is, therefore, whether or not modern horses, Equus caballus, should be considered native wildlife.

awionline.org

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

I think BLM policy ought to be drafted using evidence-based herd management. I also think that any useful studies would probably come from outside of this country. The deal they have over in VA with Chincoteague and Assateague is probably the best for that small area, but impractical for BLM applications. I empathize with the emotional responses people have over slaughter. No, I don’t think equine meat would catch on in the USA. Be like offering dog or cat meat to people.

 

[2ski]

So weren't they introduced to native Americans by the Europeans? They were never native here.

As a non-horse person it surprised me that people that own horses look at them like a tool. They are not pets. They get them as a young horse, train them then sell them at a few years old. Then the next person buys them and uses them until they get to a point they can't for their purposes. However someone else can use them for other purposes so they are sold to the next person and so on and so forth. Just like a houndsman. The dog is a tool. Not an emotional companion. They may care about them, but they aren't a pet. Horses are not pets, but the people against killing them can see them as pets. I get the feeling that most of the guys with hounds killed by wolves are irritated with the investment they lost, not the pet. So the tug at heartstrings pets being killed that is used against wolves is the same vein. I'm not arguing for or against wolves. Just pointing that out.

 

[get-n-birdy]

Emotions win. Facts seem meaningless. Not sure how on any level a factless society is sustainable.

 

[406dn]

As a non-horse person it surprised me that people that own horses look at them like a tool. They are not pets.

As a horse owner, I'd say your brush is too wide. I view my horses as far more than a tool. Anyone who views any animal in their care as only a tool, should not own animals.

Both my bird dogs and horses get used regularly. Their efforts are certainly a source of enjoyment for me. So is their presence. A good horse will work its a$$ off for you. It deserves more than being looked at as merely a tool.

 

[Randi]

As a horse owner, I'd say your brush is too wide. I view my horses as far more than a tool. Anyone who views any animal in their care as only a tool, should not own animals.

Both my bird dogs and horses get used regularly. Their efforts are certainly a source of enjoyment for me. So is their presence. A good horse will work its a$$ off for you. It deserves more than being looked at as merely a tool.

I agree, if you read my earlier post on this thread, I believe the problem could be solved by selling the meat of the 65000 horses ( number of horses over what BLM land can properly handle ) to the public

But, I have had a horse all my life and he is a pet. We have rodeoed, horse shows, fairs, hunted, worked the ranch and trail rode together. He is just as much of a pet to me as my dog.

As mentioned before we also raised and showed longhorns but we also ate them. Have you even gone to a fair and watched the young ( and old ) people show their horse, cow, goat, sheep---all pets to those people.

 

[Pucky Freak]

The “reintroduced natives” argument is illogical. Where in pre-modern history do we draw the line? By that reasoning, we should be turning elephants and cheetahs loose because their prehistoric ancestors lived here.

Hyenas, tigers, camels, sloths...whew, we could recreate the Pleistocene! At least there’d be something to prey on the horses.

No, I don’t think equine meat would catch on in the USA. Be like offering dog or cat meat to people.

I’d buy it and buy cat and dog food made of it too if it were available. I’m probably in a tiny minority though.

I agree, if you read my earlier post on this thread, I believe the problem could be solved by selling the meat of the 65000 horses ( number of horses over what BLM land can properly handle ) to the public

But, I have had a horse all my life and he is a pet. We have rodeoed, horse shows, fairs, hunted, worked the ranch and trail rode together. He is just as much of a pet to me as my dog.

As mentioned before we also raised and showed longhorns but we also ate them. Have you even gone to a fair and watched the young ( and old ) people show their horse, cow, goat, sheep---all pets to those people.

I’ve had horses as pets - they did almost no work. Just “worked” at eating lots of feed year round! I see nothing wrong with them being a pet like many other animals. They have a personality and greet you when you get home from work.

How many of us have looked at all the starving people in India sitting next to the fat holy cows and though, “Well there’s a burger of a solution right there...” Not too different than our sacred feral equines and need for quality meet at food pantries.

 

[Rainer]

When I lived in France seeing Horse Carpaccio or Roasted Marrow bones was not uncommon. It doesn't tasted that bad but, I don't know if I would eat it again.

 

[88man]

William Perry Pendley: America’s wild horses and burros need our help

The Bureau of Land Management, which administers 245 million acres of public land, primarily in the 11 Western states and Alaska, has the federal government’s most difficult mission. Under its statutory “multiple-use, sustained yield” mandate, the BLM manages a breathtaking array of uses of...

www.sltrib.com

If anything is gonna get done with the feral horse problem is our best shot at it.

 

[Slam]

Europe, your a pro at starting entertaining and controversial topics! Kudos.

My dear mother, who made her living in the horse industry, is conflicted (emotion overrides logic) on this issue. She likes to go and watch for the Prior Mountains horses. However, she intellectually understands the damage they do to the range.

Back in 2008 when the economy tanked I had federal & state officers tell me and my brother on several occasions to shoot any horses not sporting tack on our hunts up the Stillwater Drainage. Their message was that with the economy tanked and congress recently outlawing domestic slaughter of horses people were dumping them in forests. We did not see any tackless nags running around.

Back in the late 80's I did a 2 week raft trip down the Colorado River thru the Grand Canyon and listened to stories from some of the boatmen about paddling park shooters through the inner gorge shooting burros during the parks eradication effort. A little history on that in the link:

https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/educa...Preckler-Quisquater_EcoGeoTermPaper_Final.pdf

I am hopeful, not in the near term during these oversensitive times, that congress will do right thing concerning managing our lands on this issue.