Federal officials will round up 1,000 wild horses in California. (Ridgecrest: sales, to buy)

[Tulemutt]

Who knew?

”Our territory is supposed to have 206 to 402 animals, we have almost 4,000 horses,"

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/10/08/u...rnd/index.html

[1AngryTaxPayer]

China about to get fresh meat.

[moved]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

China about to get fresh meat.

They get shipped to Mexico for slaughter.

[Ruth4Truth]

The question that comes to my mind is, why did the Forest Svce let the situation get this out of hand, before setting up a horse-adoption program, or a cheap sale? They could have been doing that periodically, to keep the size of the herd manageable. Now it's exceeded the ability of its eco-system to sustain it. This sounds like negligent management.

[NARFALICIOUS]

Should round up all the wild humans who are irresponsibly procreating and trashing the world.

[CaliforniaPlaya]

Simply disgusting. Says the horses are competing for limited food and water resources. But also states they want to turn some areas over to farmers who have graze permits. Amazing that there is enough food and water for the cows but not the horses...

[MrRational]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkPo6_EwSZ0&t=9s

[Hawk J]

Start selling the product from POT busts. Use the $$$ to buy hay/oats/ etc. Use some to drill some wells........Let the horses live Free.

[gemstone1]

"Amazing that there is enough food and water for the cows but not the horses..." The cattle provide food for the hungry masses...what benefit are the excess wild horses ? Food for coyotes ? Horse meat could be used to provide much needed protein in many countries...ours included if the public could get beyond their initial reaction to the idea. Horse meat is lean, red and tasty. With a little creative marketing and lobbying, it could become "the other red meat".

Regards
Gemstone1

[janellen]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

The question that comes to my mind is, why did the Forest Svce let the situation get this out of hand, before setting up a horse-adoption program, or a cheap sale? They could have been doing that periodically, to keep the size of the herd manageable. Now it's exceeded the ability of its eco-system to sustain it. This sounds like negligent management.

Ruth, they have several adoption sales every year, usually at some large horse event. I know they always have one at Bishop mule days and several are held at horse training clinics all over the southwest. I've been over to one of their holding facilities in Ridgecrest where hundreds of horses and burros are held. Lots of mares with foals. They are all available for adoption. Horses are $125 and burros are $50. The burros will tame down bring pretty easily...the horses not so much. Requirements for adoption are a totally enclosed stock trailer and your fences must be at least 6ft tall and sturdy as they will literally throw themselves against the fence to try to get out. If you get them before they are 4 or 5 years old, they can be gentled down, but it requires an experienced trainer not just your average person who wants to save a horse.



What should have been done years ago was to geld the studs and spay the mares. They've always gelded the studs but didn't spay the mares when they turned them back out after rounding them up. Well, you can imagine how that worked out. There was always a stallion out there they they didn't get during the roundup. The numbers of these animals in BLM holding facilities is staggering. Many of them are real quality animals.


There are several great inmate wild horse training programs out there and the Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge brings a lot of publicity to the horses' plight. Still, it's not enough...there's just too many of them. The first few minutes of this documentary shows just how wild these animals are when they first bring them in. It also shows what can be done with them with the proper training. It's a full length documentary so watch your data use.