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>I still don't understand how we can gather
herds, test for EIA and WNV, file feet, vaccinate and worm, but you say that
birth control hasn't worked? Why the heck not?? If we can hold them to draw
blood and give a shot, it would be just as easy to do a quick slice. OUCH!
Why would any one waste money on the "patch" for the mares? I don't get that
one.
Uh, the majority don't get gathered and tested, let
alone filed, vaccinated, or dewormed. When there is an outbreak of
something like EIA, then groups may have to be caught and tested--I was in on
one of these situations when the horses on the Warm Springs Reservation were
tested for EIA back in the 80's--all 8000 or so head. It was a massive
undertaking, and the cost to do that alone to all of the feral horses in the
West would be astronomical. It was a rotten, dangerous job. For the
most part, these horses live out there like deer or elk, with little
intervention. And because they are so reproductively efficient, therein
lies the problem. As for birth control--it is more important to do the
mares than the stallions, since one stallion can impregnate several mares, but
the number of stallions is of little consequence if the mares can't
conceive. Spaying is out of the question on such a scale.
Progesterone implants are expensive and short lived. Never mind the cost
and problems associated with implanting them.
>This thread may not seem endurance related, but
if there are as many horses as the numbers that have been written, it could
leave a bad taste in the mouths of those who feed our hunger for trails and wide
open spaces. No? Yes. I don't know what the answer is but after the holidays,
just to quench my thirst for knowledge, I will delve deeper and get some
answers. Some one sent me some sites, so "thanks" to them.
Yes, the numbers of wild horses could impact our
access to public lands in some cases.
J. Brashier--thanks again for another thoughtful
and well-written post on this subject. It is refreshing to find someone
who professes to love Mustangs and who is honest about the hard facts of life
concerning them. As a veterinarian, I am pretty fond of horses in
general, and am appalled that the "legislation by emotion" has put so many
horses at risk for slow death by starvation or dehydration, never mind the
damage to habitat. There is a certain romance of having some wild horses
dashing off into the sunset, but without control, the reality becomes hideous
and inhumane.
Lisa, another source you might want to delve into
is a book called THE WILD HORSE CONTROVERSY, by Heather Thomas. It is out
of print, but available in many libraries. (Might even find it on
Amazon--I haven't looked.) It is well researched (although not
current--the situation is far worse now than when the book was written) and
pretty well "tells it like it is."
Heidi
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