Conference noted::equitation

    Probably the best way to start is to put pressure on your particular
    members of Congress (Senators and Reps).  Also a letter to the editor
    in local papers goes a long way especially if you ask for letters
    to be sent to politicians.  PBS usually runs these types of programs
    over a period of a month or so, just to give everyone the opportunity
    to see it.  If someone reads about it in the paper, they may look
    for that specific program and when they see it they'll also feel
    enraged.  I've been reading about the mismanagement from BLM for
    a while and its about time that it got more public coverage.  The
    government in its effort to protect everything and everyone usually
    ends up creating a mess of the situation.  I really believe that
    it is more humane to let nature take its course and thin the herd
    than to let a bunch of politicians take matters into their own hands.
    (Does the adventures of James Watt ring a bell?) :^(
    
    Regards,
    
    Bob
    

    
    I don't really want to get into a wicked debate, so I won't
    really go on too long.
    
    I worked very closely with the BLM in the Adopt a Horse program
    for a several months.  Here is what I concluded.
    
    1) BLM is very easy to deal with, very concerned with the welfare
    of the animals, the horses are innoculated against diseases, are
    kept trimmed.
    
    2) When these horses are placed at stations (meaning waiting for
    placement, they are kept in pens yes, but they are handled frequently,
    enough so when a person goes to pick up a horse, they don't have
    a lunatic to hang on to.
    
    3) The BLM does not put horses down, unless they are sick, injured,
    or have serious problems.  They are not sent to the killers for
    food either.
    
    4) When you adopt a horse or burro from the BLM, you must sign a
    written contract binding you to the animal for a period up to
    two years, in which you cannot use the horse for any profit, ie.
    lessons, leasing, pony rides, trail rides or Sale.  After this
    lengthy period, you may sell the horse, or use it as you see fit.
    The BLM does keep in close contact with the new owner of the horse.
    Misuse and mistreatment of any BLM animal is illegal and prosecution
    is not soft.
    
    5) If the horses were left on the range, you would find that the
    cattle owners would resort back to poaching, running the horses
    off cliffs, shooting, poisoning, tripping.  These horses may not
    have the life of our pets, but at least they're being given a 
    chance.  There are and still will be wild horses, but they must
    try to cut the herds down.  Maybe eventually they'll try to do
    something like this with deer.
    
    If anyone would like more info or a contact from the Bureau of Land
    Management, they may contact me thru mail.
    
    -Marianne-
    

    Just a bit more:
    
    I too would give anything to have these wild horses back on the
    range living a wonderful, natural life, but I've seen actual 
    photographs of what happened and still is happening to these 
    animals by angry cattle owners.  Let me tell you, the sight of
    a living, breathing animal behind a pen not dying of starvation
    and being given  a chance, is a lot better than seeing a picture
    of an animal with a leg ripped off from a wire, or a whole herd
    falling off a cliff by helicopter roundup. 
    
    ?? I would like to see something better also, but until there are
    more suggestions and better ideas, I'll let this one stand.
    
    

    Another point in favor of BLM:
    
    In Canon City, Colorado, the site of a prison and also a horse holding
    site, there is a unique program sponsored by BLM and the prison.  Some
    of the prisoners break and train the horses before they are auctioned.
    There was a long article on this in the Colorado Springs newspaper
    a few months back.  I guess one of the major benefits is that this
    really helps rehabilitate some of the prisoners.  To deal with the
    horses successfully, they have to learn behavorial and social skills
    that many of them lack.  The horses benefit as well; the market
    is better for a horse that at least knows basic manners.
    
    

    Sorry about that Marianne!  I didn't mean to imply that the people
    doing the work in BLM had bad intentions.  I only object to a solution
    which takes the victims and rearranges their lives for the gain
    of the criminals.  I would rather see the BLM take all the money
    that is required to run the program and use it for prosecution and
    levying fines for the people who break the law.  The government
    solution always seems to be a move/change the victim strategy. 
    The real issue here is that we are losing our natural resources
    in return for very small gains.  Why do we have to wait until a
    species is on the brink of extinction before we react?
    
    Bob
    

    I didn't want or mean to come across as mad or anything, I do
    understand that the system isn't solely (sp) out for the 
    benefit of the horses, as it was probably was started out to be.
    I don't think that anyone should be pocketing funds or living
    any more comfortably because of the horses either. I just like
    to think that at least in one way they are being given a chance,
    where out on the range they wouldn't have a prayer.  
    

    I saw that film on PBS this past weekend on the wild horses.  They
    also had a segment on the Colorado State Prison and showed the select
    few prisoners working with some of the wild horses to try to tame
    them.  The horses being sent to the prison for breaking are usually
    considered "unadoptable" due to their wildness.  It seems the easiest
    of the herds to adopt out are the youngest animals.  The older ones
    become too wild to handle sometimes (probably due to being frightened
    half to death during roundups, etc.).  
    
    I felt compassion for those animals being kept in holding pens but
    I have to agree, it's better they have a chance (though slight)
    of adoption and getting cared for while waiting rather than on the
    range where the ranchers resent and destroy them.  One particular
    area was the desert area where wild horses seem to do very well
    on limited forage.  The main problem, of course, is lack of enough
    water for cattle and wild horses.  The film mentioned one rancher
    in particular whose family before him and he now had to spend millions
    of dollars a year to get enough water for his cattle (which the
    wild horses drank also).  Even those watering holes that he and
    the government maintained would sometimes dry up due to droughts.
    The remains of wild horses who died of thirst were on that film.
    
    In seeing this film I did come to realize that the BLM has come
    a long ways since a few years back.  The constant pressures of people
    wanting to help preserve the wild horse and not destroy it contributed
    to this.  One member of the BLM, a rancher of wild mustangs now,
    talked about the strain he was breeding to better the herd and induce
    more adoptions/sales of the animals.  These horses were marked like
    the very early horses in America - dark stripes on the legs, black
    dorsal stripe down the back, and of a dun or buckskin coloring.
    They were of hardy builds too.  He'd turn the best of these horses
    loose to breed the better stock so that when it was time to cull
    the herds, they'd have better luck in adopting these better quality
    animals and they were much healthier too.
    
    The film was very interesting and I caught it twice last weekend.
    I think taming some of the adult horses to at least be handled by
    people - broke to lead with a halter on, handle their feet for trimming
    and shoeing, vet work, etc. - is a spendid idea.  Many of the people
    adopting these animals don't know that much about training horses;
    they're just trying to give them a home.  As I understood it, $125
    was the required amount to pay per animal and you'd sign a contract
    promising to keep the animal (with good care) for at least one year.
    After that, you could either sell it or keep it.
    
    I hope more programs are started at other prisons perhaps like the
    one in Colorado.  This not only would assist in placing the wild
    horses rounded up, but also gives the inmates the opportunity to
    use their time doing something worthwhile.  It all evens out on
    both sides.  
    
    Pat