| It is natural to believe that wild horses have "always" | | | | free-roaming horse population was severely diminished |
| roamed America's Western States, but that simply is | | | | through a combination of factors including the capture |
| not the case. Horses were native to North America | | | | of horses for use in the military, and more revoltingly, |
| until the end of the last ice age, 10-12,000 years ago, | | | | by companies who killed the horses to make dog food. |
| and then they died out. | | | | By the 1970's, the plight of wild horses in the United |
| It took the joint actions of Christopher Columbus and | | | | States had attracted the attention of the U.S. Federal |
| Hernando Cortez, to bring horses back to North | | | | Government. This newly focused attention eventually |
| America. In 1493, Christopher Columbus brought horses | | | | led to the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses |
| from Spain to the West Indies, during his second | | | | and Burros Act of 1971. |
| voyage to the Americas. In 1519, the Spanish | | | | In recent years, it has been estimated by the U.S. |
| conquistador Cortez brought horses to the mainland, | | | | Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management |
| as the captain of the third Spanish expedition. | | | | that there are as many as 29,000 feral horses and |
| Horses arrived in North America, by way of Mexico | | | | burros on BLM-managed lands in ten western states. |
| and Florida, as a tool of the Spanish conquistadors and | | | | The ten Western U.S. states that have feral horses |
| were used to great effect by Cortez in the defeat of | | | | running wild includes: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, |
| the Aztec empire. | | | | Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and |
| Many horses went wild after their riders were killed. | | | | Wyoming. |
| Other horses escaped from their corrals, and many | | | | It is estimated that more than half of the wild horse |
| more horses were integrated into Native American | | | | population resides in Nevada, and Montana and |
| societies. Within just a few decades, horses had | | | | Oregon are the other states with significant wild horse |
| migrated from Mexico and Florida and entered into the | | | | population numbers. There is another few hundred |
| North American interior. | | | | head of wild horses free-roaming in Alberta and British |
| The History of American Horse Breeds | | | | Columbia, in Canada. |
| Nearly all of the horses currently running wild in the | | | | Through the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros |
| ranges of the Western United States hailed from the | | | | Act of 1971, the Bureau of Land Management has the |
| Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, in a region | | | | responsibility of managing the numbers of wild horses |
| defined by modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and | | | | and burros, to ensure that healthy herds thrive on |
| Gibraltar. | | | | healthy rangelands. Within the mandate of the BLM, |
| The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United | | | | they are responsible to manage the herd numbers of |
| Nations suggests that there are 17 individual horse | | | | wild horses and burros that roam the American West. |
| breeds that can be defined as "Iberian horses". Three | | | | The BLM Wild Horse and Burro Adoption and Sale |
| of the breeds hail from Portugal and the remaining 14 | | | | Program |
| originated in Spain. Most of the Iberian horse breeds | | | | Wild horses left to their own wits can literally double |
| are considered to be Baroque horses, comprised | | | | their population within four short years, provided that |
| mostly of horses of Andalusian, Arabian and Barb | | | | drought and wildfires do not diminish their numbers |
| ancestry. | | | | naturally. Horses do not have natural predators within |
| Many of the Native American tribes became master | | | | the rangelands of North America, so their numbers will |
| horse breeders, most importantly, the Comanche, the | | | | generally run unchecked without BLM intervention. |
| Shoshoni, and the Nez Perce nations. Through | | | | The beauty of the 1971 law is that as the BLM culls |
| selective breeding by the Native American tribes, the | | | | horses and burros from the wild population, those |
| first truly American horse breed was the Appaloosa. | | | | horses and burros will become available for adoption |
| The wild horses of the Western United States are | | | | and sale through the BLM program to individuals and |
| actually more accurately referred to as horses that | | | | groups willing and able to provide humane, long-term |
| have gone "feral", or horses that were once | | | | care to these beautiful animals. |
| domesticated and now are wild. Just as there is a | | | | To learn more about the adoption of purchase of |
| huge population of feral dogs near the big cities of | | | | horses or burros, you can visit the Bureau of Land |
| America, most notably near Miami, Florida, there is also | | | | Management website at: blm.gov or give them a call |
| a substantial population of feral horses in America. | | | | at: (866) 4MUSTANGS. You can actually adopt and |
| Free-Roaming Horses Eventually Required Protection | | | | purchase feral horses through the BLM program in |
| From Congress | | | | states on both sides of the Mississippi River. Sales are |
| In 1900, it was estimated that there were as many as | | | | held yearly throughout the South, the West and even |
| two million free-roaming horses in the United States. | | | | in Illinois. |
| During the early years of the twentieth century, the | | | | |