SUMMARY

We need to help the wild horses and burrows that are being killed, hurt, auctioned off, and taken advantage of, in plenty of the western states in the U.S. The government thinks the roundups are okay, because they say that the 850 square miles that the horses live on is over populated with mustangs and livestock, and that soon it will be unlivable for these animals. I say pattoohy! The land belongs to these animals, and the government will never think of an excuse that is actually true of why the the mustangs should not continue to live on their land.

I know they are being killed because people eat them in certain countries, and so these horses are being put towards meat uses. Did you know that it's always one of the healthier, stronger, mustangs that they use for meat? The horses are also being hurt. When they are in the pens that helicopters chase them into, they get scared and try to escape. Or sometimes they lay down, and after a while, they get stuck in the bars of the fence and the more they struggle to get out the worse it seems to get, which causes them to get even more scared, and wiggle more. In this long painful process the horses are hurt, and sometimes can be very badly injured.

A friend of mine, her name is PJ, bought a horse (Apollo) that was sold at an auction. She bought the horse from a friend of hers that adopted it at a BLM auction in Woodside on the peninsula. When she bought it from her friend and took it home, her sister, Valary loved Apollo so much, PJ wanted to get her sister her own mustang, so they could each have their own horse. So she went to the Palomino Valley BLM office, just outside of Reno, Nevada, to go wild mustang shopping! All the horses were in huge pens, and one in the middle of a group of wild mustangs was Athena, which is Valary's horse.

The reason I say that the horses are being taken advantage of, is because, we are taking these horses land away from them, and we have not even asked them! Now, of course if they could speak English, they would say, "GET, BACK! MY LAND, MY HERD! " Right? But they really can't do anything about it, and even if they could, they probably wouldn't know that you were removing them from their land forever. I mean, did we ever even consider the fact that if we take away their land, we probably won't have any wild horses in the U.S, or at least in the west. They are important. They have rights just like people do, and feelings. We can tell, us equines, because there are many different ways to tell what the horse is thinking, the ears, tail, and facial expressions are all ways to tell their emotions.

Very few Americans, would know how to describe all the things that the horses go through, only because they've been through it too. We are separating mothers from foals, and families. It's very rare that a young one can survive without its mother anyway. But there is nothing the mustangs can do to stop us from capturing, hurting, and taking their lands from them. Know, the reader, would think, "Why don't they just kick or bite the humans?" But the truth is, horses are pray. They do not hunt, they are herbivores. They eat grass, and now we feed them hay, and grain. So, their natural instinct to an animal that is threatening them, or their scared of, is to run away from them, not to defend themselves.

In my opinion this is very wrong. These horses are innocent, and they deserve land of their own. We have only a sliver of the wild mustangs and burros that we used to have. I understand why the horses and burros are not being protected anymore, but it seems silly, that we are taking their land just so that we can put more of our junk, and companies, or whatever on the land that is rightfully theirs. Because, as it is, it's hard for them to grow up in the wild, with all those predators and health issues. A foal could get hurt, or get colic, a deadly sickness, and there is no vets, doctors, or even humans to help them. Life out their is rough, and now we are killing them for no reason, just because we're selfish, wealthy Americans! (No offense to the people who are trying to help the mustangs!)

The Bureau Of Land Managements (BLM) is planning to collect the wild horses and move them to a safe area, which does not seem right, however it is better then the original plan to put the mustangs down. They also say that the horses are in danger because their population is too high and they won't have enough food. I say patoohy again! They say that the mustangs are taking to much of the grass and food away from the land. But one of the things the government wants to do with the horses land is to let the cattle ranchers put their cows on the land. Did you know that to every wild horse their are 200 cows! And they think the horses are taking up to much land! Well if they put the cows on the land, they'll eat even more grass and take up way more space!

We need to help the mustangs! They are being murdered, hurt, and they can't even put their own opinions on the matter. I hope you understand how powerful you can be, to help change the future for these horses. The government is being stubborn, so we need to open their eyes, as if they were the wild mustangs and burros!

Note: I used my mostly just my knowledge from the Marin Mustangs Club, and a few websites that are listed in bibliography.