Here is a common sence solution to the Wild Horse Problem.  Please read and pass it on.  If you have a Face book page, please post on you home page.  This is very good article from an old cow boy in Nevada.  Enjoy.
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/let-locals-run-the-range-83191887.html?blogcomments?submitted=y

This isn't "common sense", it's one old cowboy's opinion. And he offers NO facts about the inequity of the ratio of cattle to wild horse and the damage that these millions of cattle do to the environment. The extraordinary complexity of this situation can hardly be summed up in a 200 word article.

Ok, What do we do to curb the ever growing heards of Wild Horses?

I agree with the "old cowboys" opinion. It is another case of government and government funded non sense getting in the way of a perfectly good system. I can remember when horses were worth having, raising, and selling. When was this? It was when the kill market was open. Since Iit was closed wild horses are out of control and horses are worth little to nothing.

Ranchco: the herds are not ever growing, they are dwindling at an alarming rate. There are less than 30,000 free roaming wild horses on public lands. Compared to 4.5 million cattle. In one year cattle go thru 70% of the grazing resources, compared to 5% used by wild horses and burros, combined. Justin: I agree with you that the government has really screwed this up. The (BLM) has tragically mismanaged our wild horses, costing tax payers millions of dollars. But the solution is not to render America's wild horses extinct...horses helped build this country, and it is human arrogance to say that they don't deserve to live. There are programs in place that would allow the cattle that feed us to live in harmony with the horses that are the symbol of the American West...if only everyone would "listen" to the other side and the government would get the hell out of the way.

I agree that the Government should get out, but currently The BLM is leasing and buying large tracts of land in the Mid West to relocate Wild horses. This is to cut down the herds in the west but allow them to keep reproducing and find new places for them. There are currently over 30,000 wild horses being kept in Feed lot conditions. Is this fair? I don't think so. I am not calling for the disctruction of the Wild Horse, If you have ever been around them, they are something to behold. I am calling for the proper management of the herds. If I did what the Government does with my breeding operation, I would be broke and in jail.

I agree with everything you said, Ranchco. And yes, keeping these horses in long-term holding facilities is tragically absurd, and costing us millions. It's an outrage. I run Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary. We frequently pick up the pieces of wild horse adoptions gone wrong.

Sooo, What can be done to maintain a decent level of Wild Horse herds? A managable level that everyone can enjoy and not get out of hand.

The old cowboy who wrote this solution had all his ducks in a row and hit the nail on the head from every angle. I too am in my 70s and have seen this wild horse situation evolve into a problem that should not be. I like the old cowboy thought when the wid horse managment act was passed there would be a sane solution to the problem. But like all gov. programs they are run by people who don't know anything about the problem. The animal rights people who are mostly doing the ranting and raveing have never seen a mustang in the wild and probably never will.

There is a solution to manage these animals but the bleeding hearts will never let it happen. Open up the packing plants again. Cull these herds out and let the old and untrainable animals be sold to pay for some of the cost of the program. There is no doubt mustangs make great saddle stock. We have one that was adopted from a S. Az. herd in 04. But he was young and turned out to be a great willing animal.

This is one more instance of a situation that is driveing this country to be more and more dependant on forign aid. The less beef that is raised in this country due to range closers the more we have to import.  Not one of these bleeding hearts would consider eating horse meat, I personally find it tasty, so when push comes to shove do we sacrafice an industry that has been the back bone of this country for hundreds of years just so the blubering few can look at a picture in a book and pat themselves on the back not realizeing they are condeming these very same animals that they glorify in a rare exposure of public scrutiny to a death worse then the humane way of the packers.

If they really want to see abuse and neglect I wish that all these people would come and tour the Navajo reservation here in Az. or attend one horse sale in Hollbrook Az. where these horses make their last stand before being loaded on truks by unscrupulis truckers and hauled to Mexico where there is no humane controls of how these animals are handeld.

Muleskinner: I am glad to see that there is another person who understands the problem and has an answer.
Thank you