Wild Mustang Roundups & Killings

Wild Horses A Mustang is a free-roaming horse that has become an iconic symbol of the spirit of the American West. Also often called a wild horse, they are actually genetically descended from domesticated Spanish horses. Its name is derived from the Spanish word Mesteno meaning, ownerless.

The Politics In 1971, the United States Congress recognized Mustangs as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, which continue to contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people." Today the mustang is rapidly disappearing from the West, and sadly now it is through the actions of our American government. Today, according to Save the Mustang Foundation, there are fewer than 10,000 wild horses on federally managed land. To control the population, the BLM rounds up horses on the public lands.

This graph represents public land holdings; this graph is used to show the amount of land owned by the National Forest Service vs. the Bureau of Land Management. Public Land holdings by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service

What are Roundups? A roundup is the collection of a number of wild horses (can range from 20-300) by the Bureau of Land Management. They are usually chased by helicopter, then transported to holding pens, often in deplorable conditions.

The Roundups “The roundups are devastating for the wild horses, being terrorized by helicopters and stampeded for miles,” said Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, one of several groups fighting the roundup program. “It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t work. It costs taxpayers money. It costs horses their freedom, sometimes their lives. It’s insanity.” The horses cost us practically nothing when they are left alone in the wild. They cost a fortune to trap and hold.

Where They Go I If they make it through a round-up, they are kept in short-term and long-term holding pens often under horrific conditions.

The Slaughter To control the population of wild horses on public grazing lands, these wild horses were shot and dumped into this slit trench or hung up and sold for meat. Much of this was monetarily or politically driven (See rancher Tom Davis, Buyer Report DOI).

What Can You Do? How can you help? Contact your congress-people and senators and The Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management. Kentucky is a state with the resources to make a difference in this issue and help these horses! Write to news stations and connect on Facebook with Save the Horses groups. Check out the links below for more information!

Cloud the Stallion Cloud is a wild horse in the Pryor Mountains of Southern Montana. This Facebook page follows him and his herd. The Cloud Foundation is a non-profit that advocates for the preservation of wild mustangs and burros on public lands across the West. Our T-Shirt has more information on how you can help Cloud and horses like him.

Our T-Shirt Our t-shirt pairs The Cloud Foundation and KYWHAP (Kentucky Wild Horse Awareness Program) to help foster adoption and raise awareness of wild mustang roundups and preservation efforts in the American West.

Our App Our app features a welcome screen, links for our Twitter campaign and video, and a donate tab as well.

On Social Media Follow KYWHAP’s Twitter account: https://twitter.com/kywhap Watch our informative video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0JgOzWdgCE

Tell Your Story If you have adopted or rehabilitated a rounded-up wild mustang (or know someone who has), feel free to write a short summary of your experience to pass on to others! Kacie Ledrick’s Cousin Tonya Decker - I have always had and lived with horses seeing them as a tool and a companion and when properly trained with gained trust they can become an extension of ourselves when ridden. I had one that was brought to me on deaths door and I brought it back to health and found him a forever home free from neglect. I never really worked with any groups so much as people hearing of me through folks I’ve broke n’ trained horses for. People seem to call me as last resort for some that were deemed unbreakable or on the way to slaughter or to be euthanized. I will start adopting young mustangs next year. I have been preparing a large tract of land just for them. I want to help preserve a crucial part of our history.

Tell Your Story

Tell Your Story

More Resources/Works Cited Wild Horse Mentoring and Training http://www.wildhorseandburroexpo.com/about-us/ https://www.coloradoci.com/serviceproviders/whip/ http://www.whmentors.org/ http://www.kyhumane.org/horses

In the News & Websites USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/10/24/investigation-says-buyer- shipped-horses-killed-meat-mexico/74547060/ Department of Interior Buyer Report: https://www.doioig.gov/sites/doioig.gov/files/WildHorseBuyer_Public.pdf Wild Mustang Project: http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/ NBC News http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/14/17588942-cruel-or-necessary-the- true-cost-of-wild-horse-roundups

More Information/Works Cited BLM Roundup Schedule http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/herd_management/tentative_g ather_schedule.html The Cloud Foundation https://www.facebook.com/TheCloudFoundation/?fref=ts (where Cloud pictures came from) American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/

Images Works Cited http://img.mailchimp.com/2008/11/20/035ecc477f/CarolWalker8856.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Public-Lands-Western-US.png/300px-Public-Lands-Western-US.png http://www.savethemustangfoundation.com/gallery/mustang_04.jpg http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/36/71/3671c73c464c189e3d6f753695599f7f.jpg?itok=7nmFy91R http://artandhorseslauraleigh.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/ba_leigh012a_6-3-2011.jpg http://rtfitch.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/horse-harvesting.jpg http://www.allpetspost.org/allhorsespost/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Wild_Horses_fs-300x216.jpg http://rtfitch.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/horse-wild-04.jpg http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/sites/wildhorsepreservation.org/files/styles/large/public/CarolWalkerAdobeTownRoundup100681.jpg?itok=6wwdHRT9 http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_large/hash/9b/00/9b008ba2693a97b2da7b8f7cab6a4e52.jpg?itok=E8StuqOQ http://www.terrifarley.com/uploaded_images/palsinsoulsucking-776187.jpg http://www.kinshipcircle.org/action_center/images/5-15-10_MoHorseSlaughter-Harassed_3.jpg

Images Works Cited 2 http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/horse-meat-01.html http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/horse-meat-04.html