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By reading the daily logs kept by the first explorers to reach the Americas we know that with each new group of explorers and settlers numerous horses were either set free or lost en-route to their destination. This is the first written mustang horse information available to us today. From it we can gather that herds of horses were formed from these escapees and the wild horse population was born.
As the horses became more numerous the Native American tribes welcomed them into their lives. They soon became the main source of transportation for all native peoples. Beyond transportation they soon replaced the dog for pulling loads between lodging sites. They also became a source of wealth to be traded with other tribes for goods needed for survival.
The Native Americans soon began breeding their horses to accent the strong points of their stock. This selective breeding was common among the Comanche, Shoshoni and the Nez Perce. The Appaloosa was first bred by Nez Pence tribes and is the first distinctly American breed of horses.
With over two million wild horses and burros in the Americas by the turn of the nineteenth century the military viewed them as a natural resource to be used for war and troop movement. They rounded them up by the thousands for this purpose. Later in the century they would be slaughtered and used for their meat and for the pet food markets.
In the 1950s the Wild Horse Annie Act was passed and gave some protection to the animals. They could no longer be hunted by motor vehicles. They received very little protection from that point until in the 1970s when the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed. This new legislation was designed to protect any remaining herds from being hunted or harassed by all people.
The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros act also turned them over to the Bureau of Land Management for protection of all herds on public land. The United States Forest Service administers any additional territories needed for the animals. The herds range in Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon as well as Nevada where the largest numbers are located.
There is controversy over what these horses should be called. Some feel they should be designated as feral animals because they are descendants of domesticated animals that escaped their owners centuries ago. Most casual observers call them wild horses because that is what they are. Calling them feral opens them up to laws regarding exotic animals that threaten the resources of native animals. There is also a faction that says that because the bones of the first prehistoric horses were found in the Americas these animals should be considered native and wild.
The Bureau of Land Management has found some creative ways to control the numbers of wild horses and burros. They have an adoption program that has found homes for over two hundred thousand horses in the past thirty years. They also have a program that sterilizes the horses and releases them back to their herds to live out the rest of their lives. All of the mustang horse information is reported to the federal government on an annual basis to assure funding for the future.
As the horses became more numerous the Native American tribes welcomed them into their lives. They soon became the main source of transportation for all native peoples. Beyond transportation they soon replaced the dog for pulling loads between lodging sites. They also became a source of wealth to be traded with other tribes for goods needed for survival.
The Native Americans soon began breeding their horses to accent the strong points of their stock. This selective breeding was common among the Comanche, Shoshoni and the Nez Perce. The Appaloosa was first bred by Nez Pence tribes and is the first distinctly American breed of horses.
With over two million wild horses and burros in the Americas by the turn of the nineteenth century the military viewed them as a natural resource to be used for war and troop movement. They rounded them up by the thousands for this purpose. Later in the century they would be slaughtered and used for their meat and for the pet food markets.
In the 1950s the Wild Horse Annie Act was passed and gave some protection to the animals. They could no longer be hunted by motor vehicles. They received very little protection from that point until in the 1970s when the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed. This new legislation was designed to protect any remaining herds from being hunted or harassed by all people.
The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros act also turned them over to the Bureau of Land Management for protection of all herds on public land. The United States Forest Service administers any additional territories needed for the animals. The herds range in Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon as well as Nevada where the largest numbers are located.
There is controversy over what these horses should be called. Some feel they should be designated as feral animals because they are descendants of domesticated animals that escaped their owners centuries ago. Most casual observers call them wild horses because that is what they are. Calling them feral opens them up to laws regarding exotic animals that threaten the resources of native animals. There is also a faction that says that because the bones of the first prehistoric horses were found in the Americas these animals should be considered native and wild.
The Bureau of Land Management has found some creative ways to control the numbers of wild horses and burros. They have an adoption program that has found homes for over two hundred thousand horses in the past thirty years. They also have a program that sterilizes the horses and releases them back to their herds to live out the rest of their lives. All of the mustang horse information is reported to the federal government on an annual basis to assure funding for the future.
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