Many Americans don’t realize that American native species wild horses are in deep trouble. And that trouble comes from the oncoming genetic bottleneck that will irreparably devastate the remaining reservoir of vibrant wild horse genetics in American herds.
Domestic horse breeds virtually all suffer from genetic erosion that has resulted from 6,000 years of inbreeding and line-breeding for traits and characteristics desired by humans. Breeders got what they wanted, but know little about what has been lost.
Wild horses on the other hand retain much of genetic vigor stemming from ancient North American horses. Wild horses are highly resilient to environmental stresses and disease, with superior skeletal-muscular traits. Wild horses are constantly tested by Natural Selection in the wilderness, making them tough as nails.
Understanding the drivers for the extermination of Wild Horses:
The bottom line is about economics.
The entire West Douglas herd of wild horses in Colorado was taken off the landscape by the Bureau Of Land Management. And we can expect that at some future date, livestock will be introduced into the same area.
This lecture by William E. Simpson II at the Guild Theater in Sacramento California during the 2021 Mustang Summit explains the basics.
Wild horses are a non-commercial herbivore that competes on public lands in Herd Areas for forage and water with commercial herbivores like cattle, sheep and game animals like deer and elk.
One Comment
Bob-O Schultze is an invasive species, self-serving Beat-Nic who arrived here from the Bay Area (his photo is included). Now he calls himself the ‘Mayor of Camp Creek’. Schultze is a pro-dam removal supporter since he fails to understand anything about the natural history and geology of the local area, and the importance of ranching and farming over magical fish that would have had to fly to get over the natural volcanically formed dams, some over 100-feet tall, on the Klamath River. His knowledge of the ecology of wild horses is laughable and if he had a clue, he’d realize that the leading university scientists who have joined my nonprofit board happen to agree with my ‘writings’. Moreover, many firefighters also agree with my ‘writings’ and if he actually ‘read’ my published articles, he’d know that Oregon Department of Forestry Ranger (manages 1.8-million acres) Dave Larson also agrees with my thesis, as do many elected officials, who, in their words, called me an ‘expert’ on wild horses and their management, and nominated me to serve on the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, here: (https://www.wildhorsefirebrigade.org/…/b50928…). And finally, during the 2018 Klamathon Fire, Bob-O was nowhere to be seen… he bugged-out… Meantime, I stayed in front of the oncoming wildfire and served with CALFIRE, without pay, as their technical local knowledge advisor and provided them with critical local knowledge (including on the microclimate wind shifts, mapping roads and homes not shown on their maps [I know, I still have one that was issued to fire commanders], so homes could be fire-prepped, and more) in ways that helped to protect the property and assets of my neighbors out here, including his property in his absence. My roots are here… my mother is buried in the Gazelle rancher cemetery and my father is buried in the pioneer Applegate cemetery. Our family had a working ranch in the Applegate near Grants Pass where I spent my formative years ranching and taking shifts at the lumber mill or working in the woods as a logger to help pay the bills before attending Oregon State University as a Science Major. Sadly, Bob-O is just an angry old curmudgeon because pot cultivation is still illegal in this county. More about my nonprofit here: https://www.WildHorseFireBrigade.org local. Gene Souza