…couldn’t drag me away

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009

Animals don’t have a voice, and as long as man is their protectorate, we have a responsibility to take care of them.
—MADELEINE PICKENS, horse breeder

As I sit down to write this in late November, it’s as if the work is already done for me. There are editorials popping up in the New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and the Las Vegas Sun, to name a few.

What’s all the fuss about? Wild horses, specifically what to do about the disputed excess number of mustangs roaming free on the range and, more urgently, finding a solution to the rising population currently in holding pens, a result of the Bureau of Land Management’s mandate to control the herds.

The timing of these columns and stories on a national level indicates that this might be the most pivotal point in history in determining the future of one of the West’s most symbolic animals. In this issue’s cover story, associate editor Charlie Johnston presents the key arguments in the wild-horse debate in Nevada. The BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board met in Reno on November 17 to discuss the plight of the horses not just in Nevada, but also the United States. There are about 33,000—more than half in Nevada—on the open range in 10 Western states, an excess of about 6,000 according to the BLM’s sanctioned number.

In addition, more than 30,000 horses remain in adoption facilities. The sluggish economy is adversely affecting adoption rates, and the BLM’s price tag to care for the animals continues to soar. The possibility of euthanizing unadopted wild horses and burros or selling them for slaughter came up at the BLM’s November meeting, but that decision has been put on hold for two reasons: mass public outcry and the chance that Madeleine Pickens, wife of Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, could create a massive refuge (various reports indicate she has bought one million acres at an unknown location). Pickens plans to sterilize the horses on her land.

Wild Horse Madeleine doesn’t have the same ring to it as Wild Horse Annie, but Mrs. Pickens has given hope to those who care so deeply for these animals. After all, you couldn’t drag them away—the advocates or the horses—even if you wanted to.

For more January/February stories, visit our Current Issue page. We view our Web site as an extension of our magazine, and we hope you will, too.

Matthew B. Brown, Editor