Are wild horses native to our continent and America?
Yes, wild horses are native to North America. Until recently, it was commonly believed that a primitive type horse died out in North America some 8,000-10,000 years ago and the modern horse was re-introduced by the Spanish in the early 1500's. Now, scientific evidence in the form of a nearly intact ancient horse carcass shows us that the horse evolved here to a finished form, then went extinct, and was re-introduced.

What role did horses play in Native American culture?
Horses were essential to the survival of Native Americans. Horses were both caught and tamed in order to be ridden for transport and it was very important to have horses for hunting in order to provide food for tribe members. The horse was greatly revered by Native Americans. They were thought of as very special animals and were treated with much respect. Gifts of horses between Native Americans were of real significance and a great honor. There is no doubt that Native Americans would not have survived without horses. Horses, of course, are also strongly associated with American history and culture.

What is your personal connection to horses and specifically wild horses?
I have been involved with horses for over 35 years. I fell in love with the horse’s beauty and majestic nature, as do so many people. My interest was sparked at the age of two when I was read the story of Black Beauty and insisted on being read the story weekly for years. At age nine, I began riding classes which lead to participation in many different types of competitions and shows. At age twelve I was horrified to learn that the federal government was rounding up and killing our wild horses. I, along with millions of Americans, mainly children, worked to help pass the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Protection Act (WHBA) that would end the government’s needless and massive roundup and slaughter of America’s wild horses. Many horrified Americans voiced opposition to the roundups and slaughter thanks to Velma Johnson, known as ‘Wildhorse Annie’ who campaigned all over the U.S. initiating a letter writing campaign that generated more mail to congress than any other issue ever, except the Vietnam war. I and several close friends held bake sales and used book sales to raise money to support the campaign. This experience developed my interest in horse and animal welfare and taught me that animals can suffer at the hands of the government. The government round up of wild horses at this time involved deploying people on horseback that roped horses with tires that the animals would drag until they dropped from exhaustion. The collapsed horses would then be taken away in vans to slaughter for pet food and chicken feed. Wild Horse Annie broke the news of this largely unknown massive killing campaign to the world. She got the public involved and was a one-woman campaign to save wild horses. It’s highly probable that without her, we would have few if any wild horses today.

In 1971 there were 303 herd areas that were supposed to be protected and managed “principally”, although not exclusively, for wild horses and burros. The WHBA allowed for “mixed use” and for other animals as well. But today only 185 wild horse herd areas remain and the agency charged with protection and preservation of these animals (and management of public lands), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), continues to “zero out (remove all horses/burros, illegally in our opinion) from land they have thrived on for many decades.

Where can wild horses be found in the US?
Mainly in the western states - although people may not always see them on hiking trips near populated areas. Nevada has the highest population, about 17,000 wild horses. California, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming have smaller populations. Small isolated populations also exist in North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana and Maryland. There is also a small population of totally isolated wild horses on Hawaii that has not been disturbed for hundreds of years and few are aware of who aren’t valley residents.

Adversaries of wild horse protection like to say that horses are at odds with the environment and cause damage to plant life and the survival of other animal life. What is your answer to this argument? Are there ecological and environmental benefits of having wild horses?
Yes. Because wild horses are in fact a native species to North America, such arguments are entirely false. Wild horses contribute to the environment in very important ways including the dispersal of intact seed from native plants. In fact their manure helps to keep plants alive in some areas and it is essential to the creation of hummus in the building of soil in arid regions. When wild horses die, black bear, bobcat, wild dogs and mountain lions use them as an important food source. In cold winters, wild horses can paw through ice to expose water also making water available to smaller animals that can’t break through ice. Likewise, in the summer, wild horses can locate water sources using their sense of smell.

Wild horses do not stay in small isolated areas. They roam about 10 miles a day and can survive by visiting a watering hole every 3-4 days. Wild horses will not trample watering holes but simply drink, sometimes dunking to cool off before leaving in warm weather. In this regard, they are much gentler to land than cattle which are not roaming animals, are lazier and harder on the areas they inhabit. Cattle will camp out near water sources and create mudholes of them. They likewise decimate vegetation. Wild horses also play an important role in the prevention of wild fires by eating dry plant matter and they are driven to do so. As an example, I can think of my former wild horse who astonished everyone the first couple of years I had her, when she methodically ate all the dead leaves that fell each fall. Wild horses have evolved to be very efficient and often exist on what domesticated horses wouldn’t consider feed sources. Even in captivity and in regular work, they eat less than domestic horses. Wild horses also have legendary hooves of great strength, soundness and endurance that put domestic horses to shame.

Is the AHDF involved with any other horse welfare groups or in-the-field scientists?
The AHDF is a part of several large alliances that work to protect wild horses such as umbrella coalitions like the Wild Horse and Burro Freedom Alliance and the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign. Both of these groups include dedicated and renowned scientists and researchers who have been involved in studying wild horses in the field for many years. These individuals do have correct information on population numbers and the huge value of having wild horses on our land. They have become aware of a whole host of problems created by government programs that are trying to scapegoat wild horses for problems caused, in fact, by the wealthy, small, private livestock industry. But you don’t have to be a scientist or mathematician to realize who is doing the overgrazing of our public lands. With 4.2+ million head of cattle in US grazing in wild west areas and an estimated mere 25,000 wild horses, the answer is clear.

The government is constructing fencing for grazing permittees in order to keep cattle in and this is a big problem because it severely limits the area that horses may graze in and of course, in some instances, forces them to overgraze in order to survive.

Do wild horses benefit at all from roundups from public lands?
There is not one rationalization I can think of that roundups are good for wild horses. The BLM adoption program has allowed some lucky people to share their lives with wild horses over the last few decades, but many horses have suffered neglect, abuse and even death as a result of the round ups and adoptions that are poorly regulated. It does not make them healthier as is often claimed. Inbreeding problems are created only by our own terrible design of fencing in wild horse populations. Also, it has been proven that removal of wild horses and even deer, cause those remaining to breed earlier and more actively to try and maintain their populations—it’s a basic survival instinct and its not good to have two-year-old fillies being bred.

The AHDF and other organizations often go head to head with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on many policies. The BLM is allowed to interpret and enforce certain laws while being under pressure from livestock/cattle interests and politicians who would benefit from policies that eliminate wild horses. The most significant and recent example is the Burns amendment that was added to the annual Appropriations Bill passed by Congress last November. The amendment covertly introduced by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) struck out part of the Wild Horse and Burro Act (the Act) that forbid the sale and slaughter of wild horses. These protections were removed under pressure from a small group of wealthy, influential cattle ranchers. Less than 3% of beef raised and eaten in the US is actually from cattle grazed on our public lands. These ranchers could graze on private land, but they want super cheap grazing on public lands. I spoke with a BLM wrangler who conducted the roundup that my horse Sonoma Star came from. He told me that during that particular roundup, he was to capture 120 horses but he turned about 18 of them out because there just wasn’t the need to remove so many. He told me it was a rare winter when the cattle in that range even saw the horses who came to lower elevations just during the odd extra snowy winter when grazing at their usual higher elevations wasn’t adequate. There is plenty of land, but horses are forced into such a small part of it. This is public land that belongs to all of us not just to cattle ranchers.