The Decline Of Wild Horses

The stories we hear about how the West was won are all lies. The history of the West was written by the horse. Wherever a settler left his footprint there was a Hoofprint beside it. Men came farther and further west to stake their claim in the great American wilderness. But they encountered a strength that couldn't be tamed- Wild Horses. Mustangs (Flicka, 2006). Wild horses are the foundation of the Wild West, now all of their land has been taken. They are in danger of extinction. Wild Horse management is the only answer.

There are some areas that can only hold so many animals; there is a limited amount of resources. Ever since the United States has become more efficient and has more advanced technology, we have taken up a lot of
Unless, there is a serious spike in wealthy homeowners with room to spare, adoption isn't likely to make a serious dent in the number of free-roaming horses. There is an option to be rounding up horses and sending them to private ranches, which cost the government $74.9 million. By the year 2030 they say we would be spending $1.1 billion on feed for the horses.(K Wagstaff,2016) The wild horse population has been growing at a rate of 15 to 20 percent each year, putting more pressure on the government to find places to put them. There is really not “cure” for this, the government has come up with a small solution, horse birth control. Horse birth control is a vaccine that you would give to the horse every year, but it might be defective. "Simply not doing anything will result in a much, much harder decision in the future."( Robert Garrott, co-author of the study, in the University of
BLM adopted out nearly 225,000 horses and burros in the wild who were removed from public lands.Horses in the wild have long been the center of controversy and conflict. Management and adoption of wild horses are our options.In the United States, the wild horse debate focuses on the implementation of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, in which Congress declared that wild horses “are livingsymbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West” and authorized the BLM to “protect and manage” wild horses.To maintain horse numbers at or near Appropriate Management Levels, the number of horses the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses, the agency has historically relied on gathering, removing, and adopting “excess” horses through the Adopt a Wild Horse or Burro Program.As of February 2009, approximately 188,000 wild horses had been adopted by the public since the creation of the adoption program, with about 1,300 finding new homes in New England.Between 2001 and 2007, removals swamped adoptions, with only 46,400 of 74,000 wild horses and burros taken from the range being adopted out or sold. As a result, more than 33,000 wild horses are currently kept in 35 BLM holding areas.In addition to costing taxpayers more than $21 million a year to maintain these horses, many argue that housing them in such facilities is inhumane. The adoption of wild horses is a good, but a bad thing.Yes,