Awareness Essay

Part of my employment was to promote the American Mustang. One of the requirements was to write and essay about the American Mustang and a current issue they face. I finished mine and would like to share it to you all.

America’s Wild Horse

The American Mustang is often viewed as the embodiment of the American West. Though the Mustang is thought of as an American horse, it has a rich heritage that began in Spain.  The Mustang’s heritage is not one of grace and elegance, but one of hardship and adaptation. Unfortunately history has a tendency of repeating itself, and the Mustang’s fate will be determined by turmoil and politics.

            The history of the American Mustang starts deep within the Iberian Peninsula. Spanish missionaries and explorers brought along Spanish horses on their expeditions. Once in America, some of these horses got loose and formed herds. Eventually, these herds mixed with stock that had been released or escaped from miners, ranchers, or immigrants. Due to the many breeds involved in the formation of the Mustang, they tend to have characteristics from many breeds.

            In early 1900s the wild horse population dropped considerably. The drop was due to competition between the wild horses and cattle, along with the rounding up for stock horses, military horses, and draft animals. Early on, the rounding up procedures were often inhumane and unsympathetic towards these horses. In order for these methods to be changed, many letters and voices had to be heard.

            One such voice belonged to Velma Johnson, also known as “Wild Horse Annie.”  Wild Horse Annie earned her nickname while being a strong advocate for wild horses. Velma wanted to do something for these creatures that could not speak, so she launched a full scale “Pencil War.” Velma’s campaign raised so much awareness that the amount of letters sent to Washington was second only to the Vietnam War letters.

            Wild Horse Annie’s quest for humanity in rounding up was successful. In 1971 the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed. This act placed the Mustangs and Burros of America under government control. As a part of being under government control, they were dubbed as the responsibility of the BLM (Bureau of Land Management ) and the USFS (United States Forest Service).

            Since the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed, wild horses have had more protection and safeties. Now, the BLM is in charge of protecting these mustangs and the land they live on. Throughout the year the BLM monitors how many wild horses there are and how sustainable the land is. If the land cannot support the amount of horses, the BLM rounds up the excess horses and places them up for adoption to qualified adopters. By doing this, the BLM insures that the mustangs on the range will have adequate resources to survive, and the horses rounded up will go to proper homes.

            Adopting out mustangs can be a hard thing to do. These mustangs can be hard to adopt out due to the fact that they have had little to no human contact. Another factor that makes mustangs difficult to adopt out is their reputation. Many mustangs are said to be untrainable and temperamental. This statement is a stereotype; any horse without human contact will be wild. As for training, most mustangs progress quickly due to a mindset for survival and adaptation.

            Controversy swirls around the American Mustang. Is it right to take them off the range? Are the methods in which they are rounded up humane? Arguments against rounding up mustangs involve the amount of land the mustangs have to roam. A sustainable amount of land for one horse is much more than one might think. This amount of land is around 20 acres in the arid west. Because of this large ratio of twenty acres per one horse, many horses need to be rounded up.  But, does a horse really need that much space? The key factor of how much room a horse needs is very undetermined, which has many people asking, why do all these horses need to be rounded up? A solution to this question would be to have scientists survey the land to see how sustainable it actually is year to year. The round up numbers should depend on each year’s acreage per horse, not an acreage that is dated. These numbers should also be released to the general public along with the total number of horses that were rounded up. Though this solution is expensive, it can solve the problems with the controversy surrounding wild horse round ups.

            The mustang as a breed is quite similar to America. Each endured hardships and criticism throughout their histories. The mustang is a mixing pot of breeds like America is a mixing pot of cultures. Mainly, the mustang represents the freedom that America was established on.

So there you have it. Some basic information on the Mustang. More information to come!