Before we undertake an exploration of the policy debate in regard to wild horse management, we need to define the important difference between ‘ad hominem attack’ and ‘attacking a flawed belief or policy’.

And, we need to establish some basic facts about wild horses that are critical in regard to establishing the sustainable natural conservation of American wild horses.

Background Facts:

1. All wild horses in the world originated in North America.
2. The modern horse (E. Caballus) evolved in North America 1.8-million years ago and is a bona-fide north American native species.
3. Not all North American wild horses went extinct during the last Ice Age
4. All north American apex predators are the co-evolved predators of wild horses and in balanced ecosystems they regulate populations and maintain genetic vigor.
5. Columbus first landed in North America in October of 1492 (late 15^th century).
6. In 1580, just 88-years after Columbus’s first landing in north America, Sir Francis Drake explored the west coast of America and documented wild horses living among the indigenous peoples on landscape that is today the Oregon-California border.
7. Cattle, sheep and goats were introduced onto the north American continent with the arrival of European settlers as early as the beginning of the 16^th century
8. Most wild horses were displaced from their evolved natural habitats due to activities by European settlers starting in the 17^th century and continuing to modern times.
9. European settlers reintroduced significant numbers of domesticated breeds of horses onto the north American continent starting in the 17^th century
10. During the 18^th century, estimates placed north American bison populations at approximately 60-million+ animals. Estimates on wild horse populations ranged between 10-20-million horses.
11. By 1889, the bison population that stood in excess of 60-million animals in the late 18th century, was culled down to just 541 animals by 1889 [1]. Similar declines in wild horse populations also occurred due to human activities.
12. At beginning of the 20^th century (early 1900’s) and prior to World War 1 (‘WW1’) north American wild horses numbered in the realm of 3-million wild horses. During WW1, America sent 1-million wild horses to Europe, further reducing north American wild horse populations.
13. Cattle inventory data shows that the number of cattle in the U.S. was 6 million head in 1867, just after the Civil War. Cattle numbers expanded continuously to 60 million head by 1890 [2]
14. By the 20^th century, over 200-million acres of land in America had been converted-to or was being used as livestock grazing areas. As a part of this livestock-based economy, apex predators were culled with extreme prejudice to enhance livestock production. By the 21^st century, large apex predators such as the wolf, mountain lion, and Grizzly bear were approaching local extinction levels in North America.
15. In 1971, president Richard Nixon signed into law The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA), designed to protect wild horses and burros on federal land, placing them under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS).

Among other things, the 1971 Act provided:

• • Made it a federal crime for anyone to harass or kill “wild” horses or burros on federal land. [Is chasing horses with firearms and shooting them with projectiles filled with PZP harassment?]
  • Set the groundwork for further studies of the animals’ behavior and habitats.
  • Permitted that public land could be set aside for use as herd management areas.
  • Requires that herd management plans “maintain a thriving natural ecological balance among wild horse populations, wildlife, livestock, and vegetation and to protect the range from the deterioration associated with overpopulation.”
  • Allows for public lands to be utilized for multiple purposes while improving the health and stability of “wild” horse and burro populations.

16. During the period from 1971 to present-day, accelerated consumer-driven product demands and need for raw materials (oil, gas, minerals and livestock products) greatly increased competition for public land uses by numerous stakeholders. These stakeholders are largely made-up of massive corporations with annual revenues in the hundreds of $-millions. These numerous corporations wield tremendous pollical influence via $-millions in campaign donations to both primary political parties. This powerful financial influence guarantees that the interests of these corporations, and the consumers they serve, will be accommodated. That overarching accommodation has driven the ongoing removal of American wild horses from select public lands where they are deemed to be in conflict with commercially profitable enterprises. [3]

17. 99% of all American’s are part of the ‘consumerism collective’. If you own, use or buy any of the following products and/or services, you are part-of and adding to the consumer-driven economic pressures that are impacting wildlife and wild horses on Public Lands, so stop ignoring your own contribution to the problem:

a. Any device or car that uses a lithium battery (cars, cell phones, computers, battery-operated power tools, etc.); and,
b. Any motorized equipment, vehicle or heating fuel source that uses LPG gas, propane, diesel, gasoline, coal; and,
c. Any products or devices that contain copper, aluminum, cobalt; and,
d. Any products that contain petroleum distillates including, pharmacy products, lotions and preparations, cologne and perfume, hair and body products, etc.; and,
e. Livestock based products including; meats (fast foods) tallow, leather, pharmaceuticals, etc.; and,
f. Electricity that is generated from coal-fired power plants; and,
g. Products or services using compressed gases such as helium

Proposed Methods for reducing numbers of wild horses on certain public lands in north America in response to economic pressures coming from consumerism:

1. Rounding-up wild horses, and;
h. Trying to adopt them out as ‘trainable horses’; and,
i. Invent programs where ‘wild’ horses can allegedly be used by humans; I.E. Tipping programs, prison programs, etc.; and,
j. Slaughter (is a known paradigm); and,
k. Off-range long-term holding costing taxpayers over $150-million/year (do horses get sold out the ‘back gate’?)
The issues and ineffectiveness of ‘methods’ in category #1 (above) are so inherently flawed they are largely rejected as so-called solutions for managing American wild horses by most informed wild horse advocates. Unvarnished data (and kill-auction data) show that less than 5% of all wild horses rounded-up are successfully made into a ‘trained’ domesticated horse, resulting in thousands of wild horses entering the slaughter pipeline.

Trying to make any ‘wild’ animal, horse or not, into a pet is a mistake, just as it would be to attempt to make a wolf into a pet dog. Wild horses resist training, which is why so many Bureau of Land Management adoption program (‘AIP’ – Adoption Incentive Program) horses end-up in at the kill-buyer auctions and over the border in Mexico’s pet-food plants. Data from one study shows that during one 22-month period, over 1,000 protected American wild horses that were branded by the BLM went to slaughter, contrary to what the Bureau of Land Management claims: Published Report: https://phys.org/news/2022-09-wild-horses-slaughter.html

2. Genetic mutilation via castration of stallions and using chemicals (like PZP & GonaCon) to sterilize wild mares.
a. Using American Veterans to stalk, harass and shoot free-roaming wild horses under the guise of a proposed bill called the Veterans for Mustangs Act.
This bill defies logic and common sense and the title is an oxymoron given that virtually no combat Veterans support the bill that was designed and lobbied by people with no combat experience. More about this bill here: https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/614834024/

Contrary to the propaganda by lobbyists and spin doctors selling the proposed bill ‘Veterans for Mustangs Act’, there is not a single peer-reviewed published study that proves there is any psychological benefit for combat veterans suffering from PTSD by having them stalk and shoot American wild horses with deadly high-powered gas-operated rifles that fire a heavy syringe containing a genetic poison (PZP).

10 things you need to know about ‘fertility control’ with PZP

(By: Marybeth Devlin – RIP: sourced at Protect Mustangs)

1. PZP — The Pesticide: PZP is an EPA-registered pesticide manufactured from the ovaries of slaughtered pigs. Some persons argue that, because PZP does not kill the mare, it is not really a “pesticide.” Actually, PZP does kill. Stillbirths are associated with the pesticide’s use, meaning that some of its supposed contraceptive effects are actually feticidal.. In addition, over the long term, PZP weakens a herd immunologically, putting it at risk for eventual or even sudden extinction.
2. PZP — The Disproved Hypothesis: PZP’s manufacturer promoted the product as generating antibodies that “block sperm attachment.” But that marketing-hype was merely an untested hypothesis postulated three decades ago. Independent researchers found that PZP has a different effect, and many adverse effects.
3. PZP — The Actual Mode-of-Action: Behaving like a perverted vaccine, PZP tricks the mare’s immune system into making antibodies that cause ovarian dystrophy, autoimmune oophoritis, ovarian cysts, and premature ovarian failure. PZP quickly sterilizes mares that have a strong immune system but has no effect on those suffering from weak immunity. Thus, PZP both works and doesn’t work but, in the long run, selects for poor immune function. Weak immunity = weak resistance to infection, which could quickly wipe out a herd. PZP also affects the foals. If a mare is pregnant or nursing when darted, PZP antibodies are transferred to her offspring via the placenta and her milk. So, inadvertently, unborn and newborn foals receive a dose or two of the pesticide when their dams are injected.
4. PZP — The Danger to Humans: PZP is a powerful endocrine-disruptor. It causes a sharp drop in estrogen levels. Unfortunately, because the manufacturer misrepresented PZP as “so safe it is boring,” volunteer-darters have become lax in following safety-precautions. Accidental self-injection could result in severe adverse effects because the dose-in-question is sized for a horse.
5. PZP — The Year-Round Birthing-Season: A longitudinal study (Ransom et al. 2013) of three herds currently under treatment with PZP found that the birthing-season lasts virtually year-round (341 days). Out-of-season births put the life of mares and their foals in jeopardy. Nature designed foals to be born in Spring, not year-round, and certainly not in Winter.
6. PZP — Prolonged Delay in Recovery of Fertility: Ransom et al. also found that, after suspension of PZP, it takes more than a year per each year-of-treatment before mares recover their fertility. PZP’s manufacturer conceded that it could take up to 8 years to recover fertility after just 3 consecutive years of PZP treatment.
7. PZP — Scientists Say Proceed with Caution: Ransom et al. warned: “The transient nature of … PZP can manifest into extraordinary persistence of infertility with repeated vaccinations, and ultimately can alter birth phenology in horses. This persistence … suggests caution for use in small refugia ….” [small herds of wild horses are impacted the hardest]
8. PZP — Contraindicated for Tiny, Isolated Herds: Several years ago, BLM convened a meeting of scientists on the topic of minimum herd-size for genetic fitness. Conclusion: “Smaller, isolated populations (<200 total census size) are particularly vulnerable ….” And that’s without PZP in the mix.
9. Slow Herd-Growth: Per independent research, wild-horse herds increase at a rate of only 5% a year; and wild-burro herds, just 2%. Such slow growth does not warrant pesticide treatments administered en masse every year. Eventual sterilization is inevitable, with extinction of the herd over the long term.
10. Predators: The right way to right-size the wild-horse population is Nature’s way — predators. But those predators — mountain lions, bears, wolves, and coyotes — are persecuted mercilessly. Wildlife Services exterminates what trophy-hunters don’t shoot. Predators help the herds by favoring survival-of-the-fittest and the best genetic adaptations. Predators are the “no-cost” solution.

You can read the latest published research by Dr. Nunez’ at this website: https://cmvnunez.weebly.com/

Why we must take a stand for the natural sustainable conservation of American wild horses

A quintessential part of being an American, and a voter, and participating in the democratic process of our Constitutional Republic is the process of calling-out and opposing bad policies. In fact, it’s part of our civic duty as Americans.

Unfortunately, there are those underhanded deceptive people who want to subvert that time-honored process that is part of being an American. These people (and spin-doctors) use social media to conflate and confuse the two separate concepts of ad hominem attack with criticizing the flawed policies of various people and organizations.

They do this in an attempt to eliminate or marginalize constructive criticism and truth-based debate by people who are not interested in compromising the highest and best interests of American wild horses and their natural, sustainable conservation.

Ad hominem argument is a personal attack against another person who is the source of an argument, rather than against the argument or policy itself. Essentially, this means that ad hominem arguments are used to attack opposing views indirectly, by attacking the individuals or groups that support certain policies or views.

However, attacking policy or flawed programs of an individual or organization via fact-based criticism is NOT in any way ad hominem attack

For example:

Attacking the reckless management policy of the BLM’s helicopter roundups is NOT an ad hominem attack on the BLM or its personnel, no more so than attacking the flawed policy of using genetic molestation via castration and sterilization with PZP on wild horses by some nonprofit organizations.

Importantly, citing or identifying the people and/or nonprofits who are promoting or are the sources of flawed management policies is also not ad hominem attack.

The Propaganda Band-Wagons

In today’s world of high-tech marketing and media manipulation of American ‘mind-share’, large organizations, including some wild horse nonprofit corporations, are using sophisticated psychological methods, sometimes called ‘psy-ops’, to garner supporters and donations. They use many forms of what might be called ‘smoke and mirrors’.

Most often used are carefully crafted emotionally compelling images of horses used to stimulate the desired response, which can also be as a distraction from unfavorable policy or actions. In other words, using pretty pictures and words to cover less than desirable deeds or actions.

In some cases, copyrighters have training in psychology and use that training to convince people into believing what they’re selling, including bad policies. These people are sometimes called ‘spin-doctors’.

They use a host of powerful psychological techniques knowing full well that most American’s are not able to spend the requisite amount of time and due diligence to arrive at the truth of a debate, and instead, just go-along with what sounds good or appear as popular trend.

This is why the big the wild horse nonprofit organizations use celebrities and fancy people who are trendy.

In fact, a recent psychology article stated that:

“People who are obsessed with celebrities tend to score lower on measures of cognitive ability”

Cognitive performance is slightly reduced among those with higher levels of celebrity worship, according to a new study published in BMC Psychology.

“Interest in the topic of celebrity worshipers spans almost two decades. From several studies, over that period, research showed a weak to moderate tendency for those who showed the strongest admiration for their favorite celebrity to have lower cognitive skills, using a variety of cognitive measures,” explained study authors Lynn E. McCutcheon, Ágnes Zsila, and Zsolt Demetrovics in a joint statement to PsyPost.”

However, under close examination, most of the celebrity figures employed by some big nonprofits are not properly educated in the natural-history, biology, behavioral ecology, ethology or genetics as applied to American wild horses. They just accept the script that’s provided to them. Some of these celebrities may even own a horse or have adopted a BLM horse, and use trainers and barn managers to care for their horses.

And there is only so much a person can learn from books or movies made by others who are also getting most of their information in the same manner; second hand. Most large wild horse nonprofit organizations are in that same boat; they garner second-hand information.

Dr. Jane Goodall taught the world a lesson in learning about wildlife.

Jane Goodall was not formally educated in science when Dr. Louis Leakey sent her to Gombe Africa to study the Apes there. Nevertheless, she ultimately became an embedded observer after 3-months, and was the first person to be accepted into the troop of Apes she was studying. This paradigm of being part of a troop in a manner of speaking, allowed her to make new observations and breakthrough discoveries about their behavioral ecology. She didn’t rely on the publications of the scientists who preceded her. She learned directly from the Apes, and that’s where the rubber really met the road.

Wild Horse Ranch – The Research station for Wild Horse Fire Brigade

Here at our research station called ‘Wild Horse Ranch’ in the remote wilderness of the mountains on the Oregon-California, we live-among and study free-roaming native wild horses as embedded observers. We have been accepted into the herd, much in the same manner as experienced by Dr. Goodall. And for the past 9-years, we have been living-among and learning about wild horses, directly from the wild Ones.

John Hutto also experienced the paradigm of being an embedded observer and being accepted into a herd of mule deer.

His experience was documented and is summarized in this short video trailer by the Nature Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlMDQeKAGYU

We believe that some of our local wild horses are the descendants of the wild horses seen and documented by Sir Francis Drake when he explored our local region in 1580, making the horses Drake observed post Ice Age survivors.[4]

This makes the herd we are studying very special, with some horses displaying epigenetics that are likely a function of older wild horse gene-lines.

A new foal ‘Buffy’ shows an epigentic repsonse to being born in a cold climate. This response may come from older post Ice Age wild horse gene-lines