The entire BLM "mustang" charade is one of the most disgusting,
poorly-run, pie-in-the-sky projects the government has yet conceived, and that
is saying something. To start with, the entire diefication of mustangs is
a fallacy--the modern horse is NOT native to this continent, and those out there
are more correctly called feral horses. They are domestic horses that have
gone back to the wild. From a range management point of view, they are a
disaster--they can outcompete virtually every native species, and can destroy a
habitat in just a few generations if not managed. From a humane point of
view, letting them reproduce unchecked is a disaster--watching them starve in
bad winters or die of dehydration in a drought is not a tolerable
situation. From a historical point of view, they don't belong out there in
the first place. From a horseman's point of view, unless one knows the
history of a specific herd, there simply isn't much point in messing with them,
as each area's herds are shaped by what sorts of stallions the local ranchers
turned out a few generations ago. Some feral herds were carefully managed
by ranchers who rounded up and gelded the colts and who turned out Remount or
other stallions of the breed of their choice--you will find herds with
Thoroughbred, Standardbred, Morgan, Arabian, or draft characteristics, depending
on what sorts of horses the local ranchers wanted--while other herds were left
to reproduce willynilly.
Bottom line--while some
herds yield some good riding horses, in general the horses are not worth the
adoption fee or the time and effort that goes into making them saddle
horses. Endurance riders who have ridden mustangs successfully have gotten
specific individuals out of specific herds, for the most part, that had the
appropriate characteristics. It is much more of a crap shoot than getting
a quality horse from a competent breeder who has spent the time and effort to
raise a horse suitable to the job intended.
Personally, I find the
AERC participation in this program foolhardy at best, and at worst a grave
insult to its members who strive to produce quality horses. Randy, did you
engineer this farce? If so, perhaps a proper response should be to have a
few burly members horsewhip you at the next board
meeting.
I hope RMs stand firm in
not volunteering their rides to participate in this farce. And if any of
our NW rides do participate, I hope a list of rides that choose to do so will be
published in advance, so that we can boycott them.
