Heber s Wild Horses; Saving a National Icon By Anne Groebner

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1 Heber s Wild Horses; Saving a National Icon By Anne Groebner The first car I owned was a 1967 Ford Mustang. A car that Ford released at the New York World s Fair in 1964 with its galloping horse logo which was adapted from Frederic Remington s portraits of the Old West. It was an icon of the American dream of cowboys, open range and freedom. Since its conception, Ford has sold millions of Mustangs and it continues to be one of their most popular automobiles but, as for the free-roaming wild horses the model and symbol for the iconic car they are struggling for survival. Horses, in general, have partnered with humans throughout history and have helped us survive through their loyalty in battle, cattle drives, partnering with Native Americans and, according to research by Deanne Stillman for her book Mustang, their demise during the Great Removal of when hundreds of thousands of mustangs were sent to slaughter to provide cheap meat. She also states that during the American Civil War, 1.5 million horses and mules were killed or wounded. It was horses that carried Cavalry soldiers and Native Americans into battle. The army had a remount program for their horses where they were taught to respond to bugle calls, move in rank with other horses, to stand still when untied and to jump at least three feet. Horses allowed Native Americans to hunt animals such as bison or buffalo and, instead of staying in one place, tribes began to be nomadic they were loyal steeds and many times, the reason men survived. In 1942, the last remaining 500 cavalry soldiers dismounted for the final time. A crowd of 60,000 cheered the mounted troops of the 4th Calvary. The soldiers cantered in review for the last time, dismounted, unsaddled their steeds and turned them in for the Army to sell at auction. Some of those old cavalry guys just cried and cried, because they had grown so attached to their horses and that s all they knew. as told to Dick Hakes by John Dvergsten in his article The Day the Army Unsaddled its Last Horse. Dvergsten was a member of the 4th Cavalry and told of how they continued to train horse soldiers to slip behind enemy lines for scouting and harassment. Of course, they didn t have all-terrain vehicles at the time, he said. With horses, you could cross streams, climb mountains go anywhere. Some Cavalry units even carried machine guns on horseback. According to Karen Dalke, in her article A Translocal Perspective: Mustang Images in the Cultural, Economic and Political Landscape, mustang images today are manipulated to further

2 economic agendas. The once national cultural symbol is called a pest. if you can t hunt it or you can t eat it, or you can t wear it and you can t sell it it should not be allowed on public land. But mustangs attract tourists to restaurants, hotels and other businesses. But local communities who rely on public lands for tourism are often overlooked in translocal discourse. What they forget, however, is that it is federal land -- within state boundaries -- that belongs to all Americans. In the documentary, Saving the American Wild Horse (by James Kleinert), it is suggested that the mustang acts as an indicator for the health of public lands. They are a hardy species that can survive in the most challenging environments. Mismanaged public lands may result in not only the loss of mustangs but have implications for human sustainability. But manipulating the images of the wild horses furthers individual and bureaucratic agendas and the issues are almost entirely political, economic and cultural -- but not scientific. Dalke summarizes her study by requesting that communities of sentiment create real images of the wild horses, provide accurate and factual information and acknowledge the legends and cultural images that are necessary for successful management of these animals. She states that mustangs remind us that not all issues are logical or analytical. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to ride with Stacy Sanchez through Heber wild horse country so he could show me the bands of horses on his watch. As the eminent results of the collaborative group s recommendations for the Heber Wild Horse Territory Management Plan are quickly coming to a head, Sanchez is worried that the tables are not balanced and that the decisions that are being made are not in favor of the horses. He is not alone. According to Mary Hauser, apparently the only horse advocate on the board, they plan to leave 66. However, Citizens Against Equine Slaughter submitted a document to the Forest Service requesting a review on the scientific evidence. They have stated that they will not accept anything less than 150 horses and will take action in court if they start rounding them up. According to scientists, in order for a herd to survive, they have to have somewhere between 150 to 200 horses. says Sanchez. Recently, Hauser was fired from the board. She was told by Mike Schoon, of ASU that In our opinion, you have not been working in the spirit of the Collaboration. She states that she can only assume that the reason was because she did not agree to the plan to send three quarters of the Heber herd to a fate unknown as they only were planning to save one quarter of the herd.. Technically, Hauser was the only one representing the public, something required by the lawsuit that instigated the management plan in the first place so the collaborative is in an illegal position if they do not have good representation of the public in its group. I wrote Schoon to get his side of the story but he did not respond. The horses I saw in Heber were assembled in small bands. Some majestic stallions and gentle mares some with foals but all very peaceful. They have social structures and are incredible to watch. Sanchez knows them all. I believe he is their guardian angel. This is what I do, he

3 tells me. I am retired and I spend most of my days documenting the movements of these horses. He keeps an eye on the assembled pens in the area and has released some horses that had been trapped either by accident or by human hand. He participated in the hauling of water during the drought and hauls out any type of foreign obstacles including barbed wire to prevent injuring the horses and, in some cases, people and he (with Robin Crawford another local advocate) has been doing this for years. Deanne Stillman, in her book Mustang, writes that a Hidatsa (Siouan, North Dakota) elder once said: Horses are Gods. Treat them well. They have minds and understand. She also writes: "With all due respect to our official icon, the eagle, he of the broad wing-span and the ability to see across great distances, of patience born of the ages and majestic flight, it is really the wild horse, the four-legged with the flying mane and tail, the beautiful, big-hearted steed who loves freedom so much that, when captured, he dies of a broken heart, the ever-defiant mustang that is our true representative, coursing through our blood as it carries the eternal message of America. There are hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of horse advocates and many groups in the world, including a local one called The Heber Wild Horses Freedom Preservation Alliance that has a following of over 13,000. For more information about the Heber Wild Horses, follow them at: REFERENCES The Day the Army Unsaddled its Last Horse, By Dick Hakes, Taking Liberties A Translocal Perspective: Mustang Images in the Cultural, Economic and Political Landscape Karen Dalke Mustang; Deanne Stillman The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West Native Wild Horses By Carol Hardin The question is: Are so-called wild horses in North American, truly wild or an indigenous species? Modern horses (or Equus caballus) should be considered native wildlife as an indigenous species. There is excellent research on this matter that proves this is true and yet most federal or state agencies, dealing with wildlife

4 management, as well as the Bureau of Land Management, choose to dismiss this research and continue to direct that management at destroying these horses rather than protecting them as they should. The genus Equus, which includes modern horses, zebras and asses, is the only surviving genus in a family that included 27 genera. We do not have a precise date of origin of the genus Equus but provable evidence documents horses going from North America to Eurasia about 2-3 million years ago. Several studies by very well-known and well-respected researchers have proven, through molecular data by examining the genetics, that these horses are not feral but native to North America and their findings are incontrovertible and indisputable. They are even supported by fossil records! How do you prove an animal is a native species? 1. Where it originated and 2. Whether or not, it co-evolved with its habitat. Clearly, Equus caballus did both here in North America. You might argue about breeds but there is not any credible argument about species. Native status for wild horses would cause these animals to be put, under law, within a new category for management. They would finally be released, as they should be, from the wild appellation. Anyone who does not take the time to read and study this wealth of available information is not only a reflection of their failure to understand modern science but a reflection of their desire to preserve the old ways of thinking to keep alive the conflict between animals who have no value anymore to the economic value of commercial livestock. The use of the word ferel is a human construct that has little biological meaning. If you take the time to really study the work done by these scientists, you will find excellent science proving that these horses most probably emerged in North America some 2.3 million years ago. They have genetic results that place the caballoid horse in North America at least 860,000 years ago. These horses deserve much better treatment from us than they have been getting. In North Carolina, management of their herd of horses is done by means of birth control, administered by darts which do not harm the horses nor even hurt them. They use this means of birth control only on mares under five years old and over 15 as a way to manage herd size. That is certainly much more humane. For further reference go to our website at and read the entire article: WILD HORSES AS NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE

5 by Jay F. Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. and Patricia M. Fazio, Ph.D. (Revised January 2010) , Drs. Jay F. Kirkpatrick and Patricia M. Fazio. All Rights Reserved.