MUSTANG Information

Wild Mustang Situation in the West

50,000 wild horses captured via helicopter chase (in which they must run for miles over rugged terrain in abject terror) stand deep in manure and mud year after year in crowded, concentration-camp-like corrals. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims that there is an overpopulation of wild horses. They hold the horses under the guise of awaiting adoption; however, many of these horses are never seen by the public, nor made available to adopt. Rarely are the most beautiful horses shown to the public. And the horse-buying enthusiasts, convinced that the horses are undesirable, mostly ignore the wild mustangs. Once in captivity, they are separated from their mates and families, interred with horses of a similar age and gender and subject to hostility and violence. Rarely is the public told that the ten-year and older horses can be sold for $25 for any purpose. Instead, most captured horses are purchased by the thousands by “insiders” and sold for slaughter at huge profits by the individuals involved in the capture—especially the employees of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program who are legally mandated and paid to protect these horses yet are not prohibited from profiting from the sale or disposal of horses they are paid to protect.

Known as mustangs, wild horses are the foundation of today’s current breeds including the Quarter Horse, Saddlebred, and other American breeds. Mustangs are talented, hardy, athletic, beautiful, strong, sensible and willing partners when treated gently. Wild horses come in various sizes from pony size (12 hands/48 inches) to much taller (16 hands/56 inches) at the shoulder. When approached with love and goodwill, these beautiful horses are the most magnanimous and gracious souls.

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Why your prayers are important

The pattern of violence against wild horses in the western United States is part of the culture of violence and supremacy which humanity has used as a glorified excuse for predatory behavior and which has resulted in devastation of ecosystems and indigenous populations worldwide. The horses are waiting for us to come to them with love and respect. They want us to partner with them to create a world of peace.

The National Academy of Science studies differ from BLM claims about wild horse overpopulation. Originally the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act allocated 54 million acres for wild horse habitat. Since that legislation was enacted in 1971, 98% of the Federal lands designated as wild horse habitat has been taken away and given to the livestock industry as long term leases at low cost. This depleted space for wild horses has squeezed them onto inhospitable areas of 10 western states. This is a repeat of what happened to Native Americans. In both cases, great secrecy and misinformation has instilled fear in the mainstream population. Effectively, the BLM has broken its “treaty” with the Wild Horse Nation.

Some Basics

When one makes agreements, it is important to keep them. It is especially important now for humans to keep their treaty with the Wild Horse Nation.
When faced with violence, hostility, oppression and capture, the stallions will protect their families with their lives. Those intending harm to their families have reason to fear. Mares will not leave their young. In humans we call these traits nobility.
With your prayers and new understanding of who these horses are, we can change the present policies from violence and greed to compassion. Your love and efforts on behalf of wild horses will help to initiate a long awaited peace on the western plains and around the world.
There are successful mustang management programs in the US:
- In the eastern United States herds of wild horses have been successfully managed responsibly and without violence for over 100 years. These horses live in and around humans, roaming freely with careful oversight to protect the health of the fragile ecosystems which are native territory to these wild horses. The western United States is based on a culture of violence from which BLM policies have been developed.
- Learn more about successful programs of wild horse management:
  Chincoteague Ponies
  Assateague Island Wild Horses
  Currituck Wild Horses, North Carolina or Corolla Wild Horse Fund
Today’s wild horses are the same horses that have lived on the plains of North America for centuries. They have partnered with humans, enabling us to survive and flourish because of their strength, speed and generous spirits.
Read More about Mustangs:

How Horses Perceive the World

Connected to the pulse of the Earth and the spirit of all things, wild horses spend their lives in relationship with each other and the natural world. They interact with the energetic patterns of the planet, holding space for the evolution of humanity. Confusion is apparent on the faces of wild horses when they are placed into human-made environments, because in the wild the horses see only truth. In fact, when domestic horses are quietly standing and “meditating” they delete the human-made conventions and tune into the planetary and spiritual energies around them. While they may be standing in a human-developed community when they are at rest, they see the rhythms of nature.

Possible Solutions

There is a need to establish a separate, federally funded “Agency for the Protection and Preservation of Free Roaming Horses and Burros” to ensure the protections guaranteed by the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act of Congress. The management of wild equines by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) creates an inherent conflict in priorities as the best interests of horses and burros cannot be upheld within an agency that is designed to prioritize land management.

With reports of corruption at the highest levels of the BLM, we now know for certain that thousands of wild horses and burros have suffered gruesome deaths in slaughterhouses, betrayed by federal employees and their friends who have reaped the profits. Perpetuating violence in any area of our culture hurts us all.

Establishing a new agency is a first and necessary step to institute changes which will: provide proper wild horse management, restore honorable care of horses, reinstate the people’s trust in this nation, and help bring integrity to our government.

Involving the public, through active collaboration with organizations that are experienced in non-force management and training of wild horses, is an important consideration in restructuring the present, failed system.

A new agency that works in close alliance with non profits and animal welfare groups will insure that violence- and trauma-free management, proper care, and restoration of depleted wild horse populations can go forward with integrity.

As we surround wild equines with our love and prayers, please also take action and sign a petition to create a new agency that will honorably and honestly serve the needs of wild horses and burros.

For more information visit The Center for Inter Species Peace & Justice or contact Alicia Windsong-Diamond at nmmustangs@gmail.com or +1 (276) 254-5443.

About Free Roaming Wild Horses

Horses form strong lifelong friendships and complex collaborative social groups. They roam up to 25 miles per day, browsing rather than standing in one spot and grazing. Their hooves till the earth and their manure reseeds the plains to keep the grassland healthy. Unlike domestic livestock (cattle) which decimate the land and leave it barren, indigenous, wild horses are essential to restoring native grasslands. Ethical scientists have discovered that free-roaming herds adjust their rate of reproduction to accommodate geographical and forage conditions, thus maintaining healthy herd habitat. The herd survives because of a strong and collaborative social structure in which the dominant mare both leads and protects the herd. It is this mutual respect and collaboration that wild horses can teach humanity and upon which the survival of our species depends.

Links to News Article about the Plight of Wild Horses