NAF News

HONEST HORSES

Years have passed since wild horses (mustangs), including those in the Great Basin, have been prominent in the Nation's news. Protection of them then was a celebrated cause. Not much, though, has been heard recently. What may well be one of the most comprehensive books about the animals and one that most realistically portrays them was published earlier this year by the University Of Nevada Press. The book titled "Honest Horses" was written by Paula Morin of Spokane, Washington who is a photographer, artist and oral historian. She has been a horse lover since she was a young girl. The format followed in this writing includes a non-positional introduction, forward and conclusion by Morin but the rest of the book's contents are the results of 62 taped interviews. Persons providing them have for the past 30 or so years been closely associated with the management, welfare and training of the wild ones.

The National "Wild Free Roaming Horses And Burros Act" was passed by Congress in 1971 after three or four years of lobbying throughout the country. A Nevadan, Velma "Wild Horse Annie" Johnston, served as the rallying voice for the movement. Books were written, TV documentarys produced, a plethora of words cascaded from the mass media, and sixth graders throughout the U.S. wrote letters to their Senators and Representatives nearly all favoring passage of the legislation. Along with truths amongst these communications were opinion; mythology; emotion; and questionable wild horse portrayals, assessments of the true role wild horses played in the settlement of the west, and "Mustang" population estimates made at the time. The "Great Basin Mustang" it was said was a "threatened" species based on this information. It was understandable. The horse is a beautiful animal and certainly elicits the supporting sentiments of most persons. More, prior to passage of the Act there was little scientific study done and less written about the "mustangs" especially concerning their relationship with the rangelands they occupied, the forage they consumned, and their association with other animals living there. Another way of saying it is ecological data. Government at any level, County, State and National had little, or no, role concerning the wild horses, with the exception of the U. S. Department Of Interior's Bureau Of Land Management (BLM) which had done limited management work. Consequently, facts about them were scarce. There was much more fictional, western lore writing produced than scientific data. Those who had opposing views about the mustangs found it hard to be heard.

Morin says, "I have tried to present an arena in which the realm of wild horses can be discussed by the people who know them best, in their own words and on their own terms." Among the 62 interviews were those given by BLM personnel. The BLM is the federal agency in Nevada which has major jurisdiction over the "mustangs." These included current or recently retired heads of the agency in Nevada, persons in charge of the wild horse programs, range conservationists, wild horse specialists and wildlife biologists. There are also BLM personnel who roundup excess animals; feed them; and provide medical, farrier, gentling (though not training), and adoption or other services at holding facilities such as Palomino Valley near Reno. Wild horse advocates either as individuals or representing organizations provided interviews as did western historians and non-BLM natural resource scientists. There were also Veterinarians, ranchers, cowboys and horse trainers, a university professor involved in teaching equine sciences, and a helicopter pilot.

Wide ranging ideas about wild horses and their management, along with controversy, accompanied passage of the Act and how to implement it. What emerges in reading Morin's book is now after years of management experience with the horses the differing views of yester year are fading and all involved are close to being on the same page. Especially is this true relative to the most fundamental needs of the horses. Are there still divergent opinions? Of course, but a long way from what was the case. Nearly all of those interviewed, regardless of affiliation, commented that maintaining the basic resource, that is the rangelands habitats, is the first priority. The following quote from one of the interviews is typical. "In my view, we must focus our energy on the sustainability of the resource itself instead of talking only about the wild horses." Another says, "everything has to fit into the range ecosystem in a healthy way including domestic livestock, wildlife and wild horses or something has got to give." The Act or law, in fact, mandates that the Secretary (of the Interior), "shall manage wild free-roaming horses and burros in a manner that is designated to achieve and maintain a thriving ecological balance on public lands." In order to achieve this Wildlife biologists or wild horse specialists must determine range carrying capacities, that is the number of horses the range is capable of feeding, and then maintain that number. This has been done by roundups or gathers.

Early on some wild horse activists advocated removing all domestic livestock from selected areas and then leaving the wild horses to fend for themselves. They opposed the gathers or periodic roundups based on the concept of "Density Dependence." That is as the habitat degrades from over utilization, drought or other causes, animal reproductive rates decline and mortality rates of older ones increase. Also, predation plays a role. "Well, we tried this," said one in Morin's book. What he mentioned was an inadvertant situation which tested the concept of "Density Dependence" of mustangs. It became a learning experience for all of those involved. A number of the interviewed referred to it. The Nellis (Air Force Base) Wild horse Range was established in 1962 as an agreement between the BLM and the U.S. Airforce. At the time, there were only a few mustangs on the range. When the Wild horse and Burro Act was passed in 1971 there had been no domestic livestock allowed on the range for years so it fitted exactly the idea of allowing wild horses to fend for themselves. Because there was no particular problem initially it tended to be put on the backburner of both the Airforce and BLM. In the meantime numbers of wild horses on the Nellis range exploded creating great damage to both forage and water resources. The recommended range carrying capacity was 1,000 horses but by the early 1990's it was estimated that 10,000 roamed the area. The condition of the resource plus the emaciated and famished animals dying agonizing deaths marked a crisis of major porportions. First attempts to remove horses met with a lawsuit. But, by the mid-1990's the BLM had gathered some 10,000 many of which were skin and bones. They estimated 600 were left. However even in malnourished conditions some mares were still producing foals. Obviously the "let them alone" idea failed in this instance and it will be a long way back for both the range and horse herds there.

Likely there is still more to be learned about wild horses. Native wildlife like deer, bighorn sheep, elk and antelope which have evolved over thousands of years to fit a particular niche in the environment tend to react to poor range conditions. Malnourished females may not conceive during the rut or if they do, abort, and if they give birth may be unable to produce enough milk to feed the offspring. Older animals probably will die and predators take the weakened ones. However in today's world these natural population controls seldom if ever maintain a balance of animals to available forage without human intervention. It has been speculated that the wild horse has not yet found its environmental niche. Further the mustang is an exotic (non-native) feral animal- that is one that has been domesticated and then gone wild. Spaniards brought them to the Western Hemisphere around 1520 but it wasn't until the early 1700's that they reached the Northern Great Plains. There is no evidence that any mustangs existed in Nevada prior to Caucasion exploration in the 1820's. Our wildhorses began with those brought to Nevada by the early miners and ranchers. Further at what point do they become truly wild since in Nevada's case domestic horses were continually being added to so called wild herds. It might be argued that not until passage of the 1971 Act have the herds been pretty much free of added domestic blood and therefore passing on just the wild lines. That was but 35 years ago. The only predator that possibly could be a threat to Great Basin mustangs is the mountain lion. It is doubtful though that they would offer much population control. The horses may range from valley floors to high mountain country. In any case they prefer open terrain and could, along with antelope, fit what one of those interviewed called the "Sight and Flight" prey species. Both Antelope and horses are fast and lions in the open country would have to go into heavy training to catch either.

Nearly everyone interviewed talked about the problems presented in trying to maintain proper wild horse population levels. A lawyer representing a wild horse organization, told one of Morin's interviewed persons," There are 4 million cows out there and only 40,000 wild horses so it is obvious which must be causing the damage." The one asked the question was a BLM wildhorse specialist. In capsulating his answer this writer paraphrases, "Well if we took 2 million cows off and added 2 million wildhorses would that suit you?" "Yes," said the lawyer. The specialist pointed out that the cattle owners are there to provide products and income which, in turn, feed people and economies. Every year, then, they would sell off the calves and maybe even some additional animals thus maintaining cattle numbers at very near the same level. (In Nevada, for example, cattle numbers have averaged around 500,000 from 1913 to the present. There have been ups and downs but no sustained yearly increases.) With 2 million cows, calf crops would be about 400,000 per year. It is expected that 2 million wild horses would produce over 200,000 foals (There would only be about a million mares because studs or males comprise about half of wild horse populations.) Said the interviewed, "By law we can't sell and we can't kill any of these foals (or an equal number of adults). We can only try to find homes for them through adoption and I have a hell of a time right now moving 8,000 or so a year under that mandated program." Therefore, using this analogy, 192,000 would be added to the horse herd annually and it would increase exponentially each succeeding year. Another BLM man said, "We only have the budget now to remove by roundup 4,000 mustangs a year but we should take 6,000 just to stay even." Now while we are talking about range and wild horses, it is neccesary to remember that Nevada's public lands are home as we've mentioned to mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, antelope, sage grouse, chukar, coyotes, mountain lions, reptiles, birds, domestic livestock and a whole lot more, most managed by hunting or other means. We can't just manage for one species at the expense of the others.

This writing only skims the surface of available data in "Honest Horses." Every aspect of the mustangs existance, history, population data, genetics, impact on habitat, old time mustanging and including their value to ranchers as saddle horses is covered. Ranchers and cowboys recite years of wildhorse experiences. Those providing the interviews all have the credentials to bolster what they say, not only formal educations (some PhD's in the mix and a whole lot of Bachelor degrees) but years of on-the-ground experience. Experience is paramount in every profession from physicians, to archictects, to actors and journalists. Currently advocates are lobbying to prevent horses from being slaughtered for human consumption. It may well make managing wild horses still more complex but for those credentialed people we hear in"Honest Horses" their days have been and are full of climbing one hill after another. "Politics pure and simple is what gets in the way," sums up another of those interviewed. It is highly recommended that you read Paula Morin's book. It is available at The University Of Nevada Press and probably a number of Reno bookstores. - 30 -

Paula Morin's book, "Honest Horses" contains 62 taped interviews by persons that work with and know wild horses. The writing brings us up to date about what has happened since passage of the wildhorse and Burro Act in 1971.

A Blue Roan Mustang stud occupies a corral at the BLM Palomino Valley holding facility near Reno. The thick neck and battle scars show him to be a willing fighter for his band of mares that roamed Nevada foothills before capture. While some speckling of his coat on his lighter colored body are natural, many of the most noticeable are darker hair grown in bite or kick wounds received while figthing. Mustangs such as this older stud seldom are adopted because they are much harder to handle or train than mares or young males.

This is typical wild horse habitat in Nevada. Notice how open these foothills are and how easy it would be for the horses to spot and outrun predators. Also notice the gray horse on the left. Prior to passage of the '71 Act all kinds of colored or marked horses could be found in the same bunch due to the constant infusion of domestic blood. Now 35 years later wild bands often are all of similar color and markings due to no or very little domestic blood. They now reflect the genetics of their wild progenitors.

The two sorrels and the brown horse, again in a typical Nevada setting, are much more of the same or similar color shades thus indicating passage of the domestic to the wild. Protection of this habitat and the food found there for the horses, other wildlife and domestic livestock is paramount says many of those interviewed and this means managing all of these animals based on carrying capacity of the range.

This is the typical "Mustang" photo with the wild ones running free along the sagebrush covered ridge. In the summer these horses might range high up in the background mountain for more lush feed and cooler temperatures. Notice how open that range is. Not many places a predator could hide.