Should wild horses live free in the wild or in captivity near people?

Answer 1

There are many schools of thought regarding the status of the Mustang horse.

One is that it is not a true wild animal but a feral domestic animal that lives

in the wild.

This would also be the case with the Chincoteague ponies.

Technically both groups (ponies and horses) are feral.

There are many feral animals that cause considerable damage to the environment (feral pigs) or to wild populations (feral dogs and cats). The release of

invasive species into the wild (snakes, snakehead fish and cane frogs, etc.)

also causes substantial damage to native species. These animals are not

protected by the law.

Chincoteague ponies are managed by the local human population that have become their caretakers. The community has a vested interest in the successful management of their ponies.

Mustangs are managed by the BLM. The BLM is not invested in the management of the wildlife and only incidentally in the Mustang.

Much of the debate about Mustangs is the perception that horses (specifically wild horses) were how the west was "won" and, while horses played some role in the

expansion of settlers, oxen were the primary mode of transportation. Sadly, these animals are much more difficult to romanticize than the horse.

Examined from any direction, Mustangs managed by the BLM do not have enough natural predators to keep their numbers in check. The BLM deals with this through

culling and sterilization...these methods in no way mimic natural selection of the fittest animals. A population, simply reduced to a nominal number is not neccessarily a healthy, viable population.

There are currently thousands of gelded mustangs living out their lives on privately owned property because there is no market for them. Not only does this cost tax payer money but it is essentially a dead end management system. The only "up"

side is that these geldings have a place to live and die managed by a person who is well paid to feed them until death.

A non-dead end version of this would be to use the same land for an appropriately sized herd(s) of Mustangs that reproduce and live or die in an ecosystem that contains predators. Since many of these management areas are in Montana which contains numerous large predators...this might be a viable option. The "park" could also collect funds, educate and provide tours for visitors to make the caretaking financially viable as well.

Mustangs managed by horse people who are truly interested in the preservation of any of the various mustang strains have the advantage of knowledgeable managers with a vested interest in the success of their managed herds.

So...should they run wild or should they be returned to domestic or semi-domestic life? Yes to both...but only if it preserves and protects both the land, it's indigenous population and the Mustang.