08/17/2024
The Past, Present, and Future
Hard to believe how long I’ve been at this.
“Discovered” wild horses by chance camping in SE Oregon in 1994. Set out to learn everything I can about the wild ones on our public lands in the 10 west states with a focus on Oregon herds.
Learned about the atrocities of the 2004 Burns Amendment to the 1971 WH&B Act putting thousands of wild horses at risk each year.
2008 created a social media advocacy page “ Mustang Meg “ for wild horse and b***o awareness. Created a home business to fund my travels and work and funded through Sponsors through the www.roamwildfund.com , and loyal Mustang Meg Subscribers .
2011 to Current - tracking, and video & photo-documenting Oregon wild horses, learning and interpreting behavior and social dynamics, tracking histories, bringing public awareness to the mustangs and the wild horse & b***o plight through social media, websites, podcasts, and interviews.
Among other social media pages, created Oregon Mustang Group, Wild Horses, and South Steens Wild Horses with admins assisting in providing additional horse and range information and monitoring pages on behalf of wild horses and b***os and the public.
It’s been a helluva ride.
Gathering Thoughts-
August 15 2024 we will be facing another roundup (aka gather) here on the Steens in SE Oregon- the mustangs most often seen on my page Mustang Meg- taking out an estimated 760 wildhorses- about 90% of what is left on the mountain since the 2022 gather.
Though South Steens is a fairly large HMA- about 130,000 acres - important to know that it’s not infinite acres, so Herd Management Areas (which have borders) do need management- but in my mind that means the least deadly, the least invasive, the least costly, but effective population suppression management techniques and not overreach and over-control.
Though careful management is necessary, I cannot ignore or deny most certainly the devastated feelings effecting many of us, as there will undoubtedly be those caught up in this roundup which we’ve tracked and documented, and those with longterm and hard-earned family bands, and especially those bonded horses caught up and separated in the chaos. These, the Steens mustangs we’ve learned about and loved for more than a dozen years. For that I am very sorry and no words can fix that, I know. My hope is they will all be safe and those captured have soft landings with good happy futures, and gentle care by Oregon BLM and contractors with full transparency.
Moving forward, my hope is the BLM agency across the west states adopts *on the range management* the concept of capture, treat, and release there on the range - by bands after treatment with contraception - eliminating the need for expensive hauling off-range (and needless to say- traumatic hauling experiences for the horses who’ve never seen trailers to holding facilities) saving taxpayers by eliminating that step.
This, rather than the current practice of waiting every four years for populations to increase just to capture hundreds if not thousands of horses and trucking by multiple stuffed trailers to short-term holding facilities, processing them there, the feed, the vet care, all on taxpayer dime. And some of the horses from injury or shear terror don’t make it. That’s not sustainable for the 177 HMA‘s across the 10 west states- traumatic and expensive.
My thinking is If they’re bringing down the horses on HMA’s to AML then they need to set up temporary holding corrals with chutes, bring in by bands, administer contraception and release those horses at the same time so they have the opportunity to band up again. This in my opinion makes more sense, save no eet and heartache, a lot of work, but closer maintains the animals with a shorter diversion but returned to their life and family bands with the aid of two-year contraception (PZP-22) to suppress (not overcontol) population growth. To me it’s proper “in the wild” or on-the-range management…. a win-win for all.
Fertility Control
For proper management, my hope is that the agency administers tried, true, and effective contraception to mares returned or treated on range (PZP w successful field studies over 30 years)- but never utilize any form of permanent sterilization (surgical or chemical like GonaCon which effects both mares and stallions) as we now well know- sterilization of any kind changes hormones and therefore changes everything that is mustang from horse to band to herd behaviors and dynamics in their highly complex wild society.
Also critical in terms of more natural non-sterilizing fertility control, is the genetic component - devastating wild herds with sterilization would ultimately create a genetic bottleneck. Messing with sterilization (rather than contraception) managing wild natural horse herds then becomes a mere “breeding farm” when those managing choose who will breed and who will not based on looks rather than what Nature decides for optimal survival. I prefer to see generations of wild horses selected by the trials of Nature rather than what a billybob thinks should be out there on these- the people’s public lands.
Natural selection improves the herds - resulting in better, stronger, and healthier generations of wild horses.
Together, we will get through this.
Be their voice and contact your Reps, if you’re moved to speak for them. With voices being raised on behalf of our mustangs and b***os we put in their care…. maybe, just maybe an eyebrow or two will be raised in DC and make positive change benefiting all with stake in our public lands, but for me- mostly for the wild horses and b***os. Standing together and strong no way they can ignore our will…. Not just here in America- but the word over.
Stand strong
About the photo- background image is a stallion we’ve tracked and followed since the beginning known as Shaman. The image of me is by my friend Alice McCammon Oct 2011 who’s traveled with me since the beginning of photo-documenting the herds. We were on top a rimrock for a bird’s eye view scouting for mustangs and watched a redtail hawk soaring thermal updrafts across from me.
In 2011, I got my first digital camera that fit in my shirt pocket, grabbed a couple friends, some coffee, my peacekeeper, and as said, built a few social network pages and the rest is history in this journey I call MustangWild!
Keep the WILD in our west, and our WEST WILD! - Mustang Meg
MustangWild
PO Bix 785
Lebanon, OR 97355
