Wild Horses Overpopulated in Nevada

[Woodrow F Call]

They were here before that, horses evolved here. So technically they are native but they went extinct for unknown reasons so that's where part of the stickiness of the situation comes from.

But if they are to be treated like native animals they need to be fully treated like native animals and managed as such.

That's what I understood. They are actually native to here.... They made it around the world and after the ice bridge melted, something killed all the horses here. They were reintroduced by the Spanish....

So, are they feral horses or wild horses?

 

[jspradley]

That's the bajillion dollar question...

Cheetahs and lions evolved here too and spread out to Africa so they were native once, probably wouldn't be a good idea to bring them back although it might be kinda fun.

No matter whether horses should be considered native or not, the fact is that our current lack of a management plan isn't working for the horses or the land.

 

[Middleofnowhere]

I know this video has been posted before, but it’s appropriate for this thread. Share this on social media.

 

[slick]

Charles Post. Ha!

 

[Idaho_Potato]

FYI for anyone that didn't know, taxpayer money is used to care for and feed around 1,200 feral horses that have been rounded up in Nevada and Idaho:

https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-host-annual-tours-bruneau-range-wild-horse-corrals

This is a horse feedlot funded by taxpayers. Think about that.

Here is the satellite view:

https://goo.gl/maps/efE9m7gzpw8gSm5n9

Every once and awhile an ad will pop up where they offer $1,000 to people willing to take home a horse and keep it alive for a year AKA adoption.

According to the video above featuring our friend Mr. Post, there are 50,000 horses currently in similar facilities across the west.

 

[Azone]

FYI for anyone that didn't know, taxpayer money is used to care for and feed around 1,200 feral horses that have been rounded up in Nevada and Idaho:

https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-host-annual-tours-bruneau-range-wild-horse-corrals

This is a horse feedlot funded by taxpayers. Think about that.

Here is the satellite view:

https://goo.gl/maps/efE9m7gzpw8gSm5n9

Every once and awhile an ad will pop up where they offer $1,000 to people willing to take home a horse and keep it alive for a year AKA adoption.

So the BLM claiming the feedlot is privately owned and operated in that release is a lie then?
Hmm, the government making false claims and spending a bunch of tax payer money on treating the symptoms and not the cause of a problem. Just another sunny day in America I suppose.
For you livestock owners out there, what does it cost to keep a horse fed for a year?

 

[cmahoney]

So the BLM claiming the feedlot is privately owned and operated in that release is a lie then?
Hmm, the government making false claims and spending a bunch of tax payer money on treating the symptoms and not the cause of a problem. Just another sunny day in America I suppose.
For you livestock owners out there, what does it cost to keep a horse fed for a year?

They contract with landowners to house and feed the horses. Its like owning section 8 rentals. Horse welfare, you need to get in on it.


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[Idaho_Potato]

This is just some pencil math, but I'll give a shot at the feed cost. Feeding 2% body weight in good alfalfa hay, let's say all 1200 horses weigh 1000 lbs. There are 1200 horses eating 20 lbs of hay per day each (maybe conservative, some gets trampled and used for bedding etc). For 365 days that works out to 4,380 tons per year in hay. Good alfalfa goes for $175 a ton. That's $766,500 a year in hay. They probably get some grain mixed in with that. And the BLM stated they get some vet care that definitely comes with vaccinations on a confined animal feeding operation. Add in labor and the operating cost could certainly be over $1 million just for these 1200 horses. There are 50,000 other horses out there being care for somewhere.

Yes, that facility is privately owned but the operating cost and feed is certainly paid for by tax money. It's essentially contract feeding for the government.

 

[cmahoney]

This is just some pencil math, but I'll give a shot at the feed cost. Feeding 2% body weight in good alfalfa hay, let's say all 1200 horses weigh 1000 lbs. There are 1200 horses eating 20 lbs of hay per day each (maybe conservative, some gets trampled and used for bedding etc). For 365 days that works out to 4,380 tons per year in hay. Good alfalfa goes for $175 a ton. That's $766,500 a year in hay. They probably get some grain mixed in with that. And the BLM stated they get some vet care that definitely comes with vaccinations on a confined animal feeding operation. Add in labor and the operating cost could certainly be over $1 million just for these 1200 horses. There are 50,000 other horses out there being care for somewhere.

Yes, that facility is privately owned but the operating cost and feed is certainly paid for by tax money. It's essentially contract feeding for the government.

I am sure BLM opened an office in Kansas or Missouri for the purpose of inspecting the horse welfare facilities. Government leasing office space, an administrative staff and squad of inspectors.


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[Azone]

They contract with landowners to house and feed the horses. Its like owning section 8 rentals. Horse welfare, you need to get in on it.


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Horse welfare does sound like a hell of a racket, but you can't really blame the landowners. If they dont take the money the next guy more than likely will.

 

[Bailer]

I'm really surprised people just dont shoot them.

Who is killing Heber wild horses? Filly orphaned after multiple horses found shot, killed

Hidden in the towering pines and tall grasses of the Apache-Sitgreaves Forest is a small Palomino filly, born wild, she doesn't have a name, and now she doesn't have a family either.

www.abc15.com

 

[MallardSX2]

"The Forest Service has not said what they believe killed the animals, but isn't ruling out gunshots. "

It would be very easy to kill horses at night with night vision thermal scopes and nobody would know until they saw the buzzards at daylight.

Thats what they do for hogs in the south.

 

[RockinU]

For years I have been saying "what people fail to realize is there not wild horses there feral horses. They don't call the feral hogs in the southern US wild so why are we calling these horses wild". Glad to see some articles on this subject not that they will effect the radical bleeding hearts. The bleeding hearts sure like the term wild as it gets the other bleeding hearts more on board when they hear that the wild horses are being killed but there isn't a lot of sympathy of the feral hog. There are still people out there that think horses once roamed the country with the deer and elk long before the white man set foot on the continent and get down right angry when its pointed out that horses were introduced by the white man and not native to the continent.

Actually we do refer to hogs as "wild" colloquially in Texas. We understand the difference, but you'll hear wild hog or wild pig just as much as you hear feral. Doesn't really matter to the discussion here, but just in the interest of accuracy.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Bringing this back up.
Here is a local event in Reno, NV and if you are around and care about this topic. It would be great to attend.

 

[cmahoney]

Bringing this back up.
Here is a local event in Reno, NV and if you are around and care about this topic. It would be great to attend.

Thanks for the heads up, I’ll try to go if work allows for it.


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[boom]

i they being culled on the Reservations?

it's a huge problem. i've seen them driving thru NV on the way to ID. i was shocked.. if i can see them from the Hwy, i could only imagine how prolific the problem has become.

 

[Huckleberry Hound]

Theyre feral horses, not wild horses. So a population of 1 is overpopulated.

 

[fastaedna]

Horse Rich & Dirt Poor | THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY

 

[LostArra]

I would not have a problem shooting a feral horse while I would not shoot my own horse just like I do not shoot my own dog but have shot many stray dogs. My horses have value to me whether it is emotional or financial. When I lived in Pawhuska Ok I was blown away at the numbers of feral horses that were being hauled in and fed there. I understand why a person would choose to run horses that brought guaranteed income in over stocker cattle that where closer to playing the lottery but it was a huge waste of taxpayer money and resources.

Here is someone who is not only getting the guaranteed income from taxpayers but also income from tourists who want to see wild horses/mustangs. It's my understanding that a lot of the tourists are from outside the US.

https://mowdyranch.com/

 

[Gobbler36]

I’d say just adopt the shoot shovel and shut up, better bring a big shovel I guess though. Hate to even suggest such a thing but when bureaucrats act like bureaucrats and don’t listen to its constituents problems then you have to take matters into your own hands