Mustang Controversies

Free-roaming horses have benefited dramatically from the romance surrounding the horse in the American West. However, there are multiple viewpoints on the issue. Those who support the preservation of wild horses point out that feral or wild herds of horses pre-date modern Ranching practices and are part of the ecology and history of the Western United States. Essentially, the argument goes, mustangs have at least as much right to be on public lands as do cattle, another "non-native" species.

On the other side is the cattle ranching industry, which argues essentially that feral horses are a non-native species that degrades rangeland and competes with private livestock for public land forage. And it is correct that without some form of population control, horses reproduce rapidly enough to overrun a limited range within a short span of years.

There are also some horse enthusiasts who consider the mustang herds of the west to be inbred and of inferior quality. Supporters of the Mustang argue that the animals are merely small due to their harsh living conditions but that survival of the fittest has eliminated any traits that lead to weakness or inferiority. Some Mustang supporters also maintain that some "inbreeding" actually concentrates the traits of hardiness and durability, making the Mustang a valuable genetic resource.

No matter which side is correct, the Mustang of the modern west has several different breeding populations today which are genetically isolated from one another and thus have distinct traits tracable to particular herds.

There is also some debate as to what degree Mustangs and cattle compete for forage. Most current Mustang herds are in arid areas which cattle may have difficulty fully utilizing due to the lack of water sources. Horses are able to go longer without water than cattle, which allows them to graze areas too remote from water to be grazed by cattle. On the other hand, horses have a less efficient digestive system than ruminants such as cattle, so a horse consumes more forage than an equivalent sized cow.

In either case, since 1900 the mustang population has been reduced drastically. Today, free-roaming horses have disappeared from 6 states and, according to the Bureau of Land Management, their remaining population is fewer than 25,000, with more than half of them in Nevada, with another significant population in Montana. A few hundred free-roaming horses survive in Alberta and British Columbia.

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