‘The Wild Horse Is Us’

When you say these horses survived the ice age, what are you talking about? This breed did not exist during the Ice Age. They were brought to the Americas by the early Spaniards in the 16th century. They are descendants of the Iberian horse which dates back to 3000 BC, and besides the Iberian peninsula was not covered in glaciers during the Ice Age. So what does your first sentence have to do with your article? Nothing. The truth is, EVERY horse in the world today survived the Ice Age. Every living thing on the face of this planet survived the Ice Age. Do your homework.

HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THESES HORSES HAVE EVRY RIGHT TO BE WHERE THEY ARE. IF YOUR GOING TO PUT ANYTHING DOWN PUT THE F******* RANCHERS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SHARE WITH THE WILD ANIMALS. ALL THE DAMN GOVERNMENT AND RANCHERS IS PROFIT. IT DON'T LAST FOREVER THE MONEY. SO PULL YOUR F****** JACKED UP HEADS OUT OF YOUR A****, AND SEE THE LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Survived the Ice Age? Mustangs were dropped off by Spanish invaders. The Native Americans had no word for horse and thought they were big dogs. How much more of this story of is bogus if the writer can't even get the first paragraph correct. The Mustang is indeed a great symbol of America in that it came from Europe, took over without invitation, destroys much of what it touches and now demands to be recognized and protected as a "true part of the American landscape." These horses are no more sacred than any other species. Yes, animals are wondrous, magical and amazing things

really people, does it matter if they introduced by the Spanish, survived and ice age or were brought here by aliens? It's not about origin, it's about sustaining an icon of America and the American West, like bears, wolves, elk, etc. etc.

First of lets get the "Bureau of Land Management" out of the horse business and on to something useful.
Those horses have been running free and surviving for hundreds of years. "WE" do not need the land they are on. Let nature and the natural course of events settle their fate. Not some bureaucratic crap.
When are we going to learn how to leave things alone and let them be. We, in our effort to help, do far more farm than good.

If they would open the slaughter houses in the US we would not have this problem. Before all you bunny huggers get in a tuff, I am a horse owner and avid horse person. There is a dire need for them to re-open. Since the closure of these plants horses have to endure more suffering on the long trips in a hot cramed truck out of this country to Canada and Mexico, Mexico of which is worse because they have no humane treatment or inspections. There is a place and like I stated dire need to re-open the US slaughter plants but with more USDA inspections, Veterinarian on staff, humane treatment to and while at the plants and of course we (we I mean the all mighty government) to create a tax or charge for exporting our prime grade A goventment inspected horse meat. The horse business in this country is suffering. We need to fix this huge mess for the horses sake. We are not to judge what other folks call food. In India's culture cows are Gods and worshipped not eaten. This country is so backward in some of its thinking. By the way, if you have ever visted Europe, can you honestly say you know what meat you were eating. I think not.
Please do our horses justice by opening the slaughterhouses in this country where they have some sort of humane treatment and kept under watch where they will suffer less.

The BLM is run by people sympathic to cattle ranchers who want all the grazing land for themselves. It is terrible that euthanasia is even being considered and completely unacceptable. It shouldn't be a case of the public having to adopt these horses to save them they should be allowed to live as they have been doing for hundreds of years. If the BLM can't manage the land appropriately they need to step down and give the job to people who don't have a bias towards the cattle industry.

As the journalist that produced with interview with Deanne Stillman, I'd like to clarify the relationship between the American wild horse and the Ice Age. Some of you have said that the horse did not survive the Ice Age, while others have claimed that the horse isn't native to the U.S. In fact, fossil records show that the ancient horse flourished for millions of years in the Mojave Desert in the western US, surviving the Ice Age by crossing the Bering land bridge to Russia. The horse then returned in the 1500s, brought by the Spanish. This is all in the introduction and lead chapter of Deanne's fine book "Mustang." Thanks for the careful read. Best, Tony Dokoupil

We need to be less abusive to our use of land. So many times I have come accross people that buy houses built next to forest preserves, etc. & then complain about the birds/animals being nuisances. We steal the land & habitat from these animals & then deny their right to exist. If you don't like nature, then go live in the city. We have destroyed so much habitat that the land we take from the animals forces them to venture into the human world for survival. And where has all this building of homes got us? A housing crisis that is destroying our economy. Human greed & "keeping up with the Jonses" is the problem.

I was shocked when I first heard about this! I totally respect the American rancher and how their work helps to feed this country, but if they are leasing federal lands they should have to deal with the animals that are there, not get rid of them. This is like if someone wanted to graze sheep in Yellowstone and decided that all the bison, bear and elk were hurting the grazing land. Let's get rid of them, too! Will we ever realize that nature needs room to exist or it will disappear forever?

If they would open the slaughter houses in the US we would not have this problem. Before all you bunny huggers get in a tuff, I am a horse owner and avid horse person. There is a dire need for them to re-open. Since the closure of these plants horses have to endure more suffering on the long trips in a hot cramed truck out of this country to Canada and Mexico, Mexico of which is worse because they have no humane treatment or inspections. There is a place and like I stated dire need to re-open the US slaughter plants but with more USDA inspections, Veterinarian on staff, humane treatment to and while at the plants and of course we (we I mean the all mighty government) to create a tax or charge for exporting our prime grade A goventment inspected horse meat. The horse business in this country is suffering. We need to fix this huge mess for the horses sake. We are not to judge what other folks call food. In India's culture cows are Gods and worshipped not eaten. This country is so backward in some of its thinking. By the way, if you have ever visted Europe, can you honestly say you know what meat you were eating. I think not.
Please do our horses justice by opening the slaughterhouses in this country where they have some sort of humane treatment and kept under watch.

Boy you all have grand notions but no solution-they're not overpopulated? I bet if you had that many rabbits in your back yard, you'd throw a fit. It's all dandy as long as you don't have to deal with it. I love the comments about "they need to be adopted" No kidding? Why don't you do it, then? You want someone else to do it, just not you.

What can a person do to keep this from happening? This is about ignorant and that says it all especially about the one's that want to do it.

Tony, the last ice age ended 14,000 years ago. The first horses were introduced by Spanish conquistadors considerably later than that. So the mustangs have survived many things, but not the ice age.

Why can't Bush toss some of that multi-trillion dollar war funding this way? How can we help preserve other countries and cultures when we are destroying our own? No wonder the vast majority of perople overseas (and here) think the man is an idiot. He comes from the west and has a huge ranch and with the oil business booming I'm sure his family could afford to donate some time and money.

We do live in a disposable society....will we be next? The government can do anything to bring the price of gas down but they can put down animals that THEY feel are over populated. It's all about the almighty dollar. I don't have the answer but killing these animals that were here long before we were is not a solution.

Wild horses as they are defined in this article are not native to the United States. They were brought by early explorers that were either left or escaped captivity. Native wild horse of North America went extinct around the end of the last ice age. They are an introduced species that are a drain on the resources of the areas that they populate. They must be managed in someway to control disease and possible starvation as resources dwindle. Adoption has been around for many years and is a useful to but unless more people are willing to take care of these animal then more extreme measures will have use. Auction will open the doors for slaughter houses and the like. If the option is to kill the horse use the meat to feed the people of this country that are down on there luck. Horse meat is really pretty good.