Lynn Watts
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Mrs. Brown
English 9 CP
9 May 2015
Stop the Mustang Roundups
“They use a stun gun. Supposedly to kill them instantly. And this black stallion took six
shots and still did not go down…he got loose on the kill floor and they had to get a rifle …”
(Stillman 299). The preceding quotation describes a terrible event. A wild horse is being
brutally slaughtered after being rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the
name of American taxpayers and on their dime. The BLM has decided that there are too many
mustangs for the available grazing land and that the horses need to be rounded up for their own
survival. However, there would be plenty of grazing land if it were not for the money-lust of
greedy cattle ranchers who want the land for their cattle and sheep. Supporters of the horses
argue that, even if food and water are in short supply, horses should be allowed to die a natural
death in the wilds. Farmers and ranchers counter-argue that if cattle and sheep are grazed on
cheap public lands, the cost of beef and lamb can be kept low for consumers. Unfortunately,
many of the wild horses end up at slaughter houses in Canada and Mexico just as with the
stallion in the quotation from Stillman. It is the hope of mustang supporters that the cruel
practices of the BLM can be halted. Wild horses are the symbol of freedom in the American
West and should not be rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management because the process is
costly, many horses are injured or die, and there will soon be no horses left in the wild due to
aggressive land management by the BLM and cattle ranchers. THESIS WITH NO COUNTER
BP1The mustang roundup process is costly for American taxpayers and is not cost effective.
For example, the BLM roundups are year-round and so expensive that they are “costing
taxpayers $40 million per year. The costs are for the holding pens and the roundup
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removal process using helicopters and select cattle ranchers…” (“American Wild Horse
Preservation Campaign” 2). Vast quantities of cash are needed to pay for helicopters and
holding pens. The cattle ranchers who round up the horses make millions of dollars from the
government during the roundups. In addition, the United States of America is in the throes of a
recession and is in terrible debt so ”No one can argue that in the current economic situation it
makes any sense to spend millions of taxpayer dollars chasing wild horses around…” (Smith 1).
Wild horses have lived without human interference for hundreds of years; they do not need
humans to round them up at great cost to taxpayers. Schools and other publicly-funded
organizations are suffering from lack of cash and money used for the horses could go to them.
Locking thousands of horses up in holding pens at a cost of millions is wrong when there are
more important projects to fund.
BP2 Many wild mustangs are injured or die because of the roundups. For example, as the
horses and foals are driven by helicopters toward the pens “Activists maintain that a colt was run
so hard and long during the roundup that the hoof walls on its two hind feet came off, leaving
exposed bones and nerves. The colt was euthanized …” (Griffith 1). It is shocking to realize that
the BLM would run baby horses to the point of death. No animal deserves this cruelty for the
sake of greed. In addition, some of the foals are left to die in the desert as witnessed by observers
who saw “…newborn foals run to exhaustion, found hog tied and abandoned on the range, horses
and burros bleeding from the nostrils, broken legs …” (“Unprecedented” 6). This shows that
foals, horses and donkeys were injured from the roundup so severely that they bled. Also, foals
were left hog tied to die alone because the ranchers could not be bothered to bring them to the
pens. The roundups cause horrible deaths and injuries to the wild horses and donkeys.
BP3The roundups of mustangs are often brutal. For example, some of the ranchers find
pleasure in the chase because they were seen chasing “…an older mare collapsing after being
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stampeded for miles in a helicopter chase … steam blowing from her nostrils…” (“BLM Called
Upon to Halt Wild Horse Roundups” 2). This was clearly intentionally cruel. Video images of
this mare show a helicopter hovering over her after she was so weak she could no longer run. In
addition, some of the horses are driven so brutally that “Last month at least 34 wild horses died
or were euthanized during and after a forced roundup” (Cohen 3). If so many horses die, then
the roundups must run the horses too hard so that they get winded. Some of the horses must get
broken legs and have to be euthanized. There is no way to round up wild horses that is not cruel;
the animals should be left alone in the wild where they may die natural deaths.
BP4Horses often die on the way to and in BLM holding facilities. For example, horses are
crammed in trailers and in one incident “…a mare fell down in a trailer after being driven for
miles on the range by a helicopter… and died a short time later” (Griffith 1). The horse was
severely weakened and could no longer stand. It is possible that the other horses trampled her
after she fell down. In addition, once the horses arrive at the holding pens they may not be able
to eat the man-made food so that “Of [the] six horses that died at the Fallon facility, five
involved mares [were] thought to have experienced difficulty making the transition to hay feed”
(Griffith 2). Horses in the wild do not eat alfalfa or timothy hay and their stomachs may have
rejected the new hay. A horse’s stomach, although large, is quite delicate and the horses may
colic and die after eating strange food. Horses are better off in the wild where they are safe from
trailer and feed accidents.
BP5The cattle ranchers are using underhand strategies to gain public lands for cattle grazing.
For example, ranchers are using lobbyists to meet government officials because they “… have
exploited public lands for generations [and] are angry that wild horses share the range…” (Smith
1). They want the land for their cattle to graze. Ranchers are charged only pennies per cow to use
public lands so they make huge profits off the back of taxpayers. In addition, the ranchers graze
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more cattle than the land can comfortably manage and “…range damage is caused by privatelyowned livestock, which outnumber horses more than 100 to one” (“Unprecedented” 9). This
shows that the ranchers may not tell the complete truth about how many cattle they will allow to
graze. If the BLM checked more carefully, they would see that the ranchers are being
disingenuous. The cattle ranchers use unfair strategies to ensure they make enormous profits for
themselves and their company stocks.
BP6The BLM does not follow the recommendations of scientists when planning mustang
herd management. For example, scientists would allow for thousands of horses to be allowed to
graze any given zone, but “In Montana this will leave a non-viable herd of only 120 horses”
(“Unprecedented” 2). Scientists agree that 120 horses are so few that the grazing land would be
untouched. Many more horses than 120 could graze in Montana’s plains. In addition, it is
understood that animal populations rely on older herd members for survival, so “When they take
out the old horses they remove the ones that know the way to water, the good grass, the way
around the canyon-they’re taking all the knowledge of the herd” (“Unprecedented” 2). Herds
without knowledgeable family members will starve or suffer thirst and die if they cannot find
water and food. Older horses will know where the best grazing lands are and the younger horses
will learn the old ways and trails from them. If mustang herds are not managed scientifically,
they will not be able to survive even one harsh winter.
BP7 Perhaps the strongest argument for the mustang roundups is that if nothing is done about
horse populations, they may grow out of control and destroy natural habitats. For example, The BLM
states that a balance must be maintained in nature, but “Without natural controls such as predators or
effective fertility control, populations [of horses] can double every four to five years” (“Working Toward
Sustainable Management” 8). Because mountain lions, wolves, and other predators have disappeared, horses
have no natural enemies except man. This means they may breed indiscriminately and some action needs to be
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taken. In addition, Jackie King, an Orange County conservator, notes that “Wild horses are destroying the
natural eco-system for numerous flora and fauna in California and Nevada” (King, Personal Interview). The
likeliest horses to be caught in roundups are the older mares who have the knowledge of water holes and where
the best feed is located. She believes that these older mares return to the same spots and destroy plants leaving
no new growth. This argument has some validity, but it causes the BLM to be in breach of the 1971 law
which allows the horses free range on public lands.COUNTER-ARGUMENT COULD BE BP7 or 8
BP8The wild mustang is a symbol of the American West and should be protected. For example, it
is hard to imagine the American wilderness without “The horses [which] have lived here for over 200
years” (“Unprecedented” 2). Most movies of the American West depict horses in their natural
environment. The United States of America was able to grow and progress because of transportation
provided by the horse. In addition, over history the horse came to symbolize freedom and power
because “At the end of the nineteenth century, there were two million wild horses ranging across
seventeen states” (Stillman 296). This shows that the average citizen is accustomed to horses and sees
them as a symbol of a free life. Even though horses are no longer required for transportation, they still
represent the American way of life and should be seen across every western state today. It is necessary
to protect wild mustangs from cruel, systematic destruction by the BLM and greedy cattle ranchers.
The American mustang is a majestic creature which used to inhabit much of the American
West. The horse has seen cruelty in the name of cheap MacDonald’s burgers. It has seen brutality at
the hands of men who want land for cattle and sheep only. It has been harassed, trampled, stampeded,
broken, trailered, underfed, brutalized and killed for the sake of stockholders in corporations such as
Monsanto. Wild horse numbers have seen a huge decline, contrasting what the BLM states about
population growth, and it is possible that in a few years the plains will be empty of horses. All of this
has happened because of the unnecessary wild horse roundups conducted by the BLM and cattle
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ranchers. Humans think little of the plight of American mustangs, but hopefully this “great silent
witness” (Stillman 304) will cause the president to right these roundup wrongs. Perhaps he should
watch the damning video entitled “Hey, Mr. President” (Hamilton).
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Works Cited
“American Wild Horse Preservation.” YubaNet. 19 Feb. 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
“BLM Called Upon to Halt Wild Horse Roundups.” Wild Horse Preservation. 12 Feb. 2015.
Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Cohen, Andrew. “Fatal Mustang Roundup Triggers Policy Review.” Politics Daily. 30 Aug.
2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Griffith, Martin. “BLM Criticized Over Mustang Deaths in NV Roundup.” Madeleine Pickens
Wild Horse Sanctuary.” 23 Jan. 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
Hamilton, Kay. “Hey, Mr. President.” YouTube. 2010. Web. 4 Jan. 2015.
King, Jackie. Personal Interview. 4 Jan. 2015.
Smith, John L. “No Horse on American Menus.” Mesquite Local News. 23 Feb. 2011. Web.
24 Feb. 2015.
Stillman, Deanne. Mustang. The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West. New York: First
Mariner Books, 2008. Print.
“Unprecedented BLM Mustang Roundup Hearing.” Metta Horsemanship. 1 Sep. 2009. Web.
24 Feb. 2015.
“Working Toward Sustainable Management of America’s Wild Horses and Burros.” Bureau of
Land Management, Department of the Interior. 2010. Web. 4 Jan. 2015.