Re: [AERC-Members] [RC] BLM adoptions at rides. - oddfarm
Okay, that is really what I meant to say. I don't
know that much about the historical part, but the part about poor breeding and
managment is so right on.
Subject: Re: [AERC-Members] [RC] BLM
adoptions at rides.
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.
