September 2025 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN September 2025 44 Iconic Herds of Horses and Burros Stir Imaginations and Controversy them from all they hold dear—their family and their freedom and we’ve seen time and time again that these helicopter roundups are dangerous for wild horses,” Perrin says. She says that horses suffer catastrophic in- juries during stampedes. “In the roundup in Wyoming that just ended, at least two foals died of what’s called ‘capture myopathy,’ a deadly disease that is brought on by extreme stress and exertion during capture.” Conservation groups likeAWHC agree that the popula- tions must be managed, but not through the dangerous gath- ers that have been routinely employed. Perrin’s organization has been advocating a form of birth control administered to mares via dart. “We run the world’s largest fertility con- trol program for wild horses in Reno, NV. We use a con- traceptive vaccine,” she explains. “It’s non-hormonal and it’s reversible and it does not affect the mare’s behaviors or disrupt those family dynamics. It just keeps the mare from getting pregnant.” The vaccine is Porcine Zone Pellucida, or PZP. The vaccine is so promising that Rep. Dina Titus of Reno, NV introduced an amendment to the BLM budget which would direct $11 million to adminis- tering PZP. Titus’s amendment was co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee. According to the Congressperson’s website, BLM research has shown that “PZP has an efficacy rate of 30 to 40 percent in the first year and a 90 percent efficacy rate for the next four to five years with an estimated cost of about $12,000 per mare for a lifetime.” Keeping the cost to taxpayers in mind, it’s useful to compare the cost of PZP to the current strategy of housing thousands of horses in off-range facilities. The BLM cares for more than 60,000 horses in off-range facilities, costing more than $100 million annually. But there are underlying issues, too, that are driving the de- bate. Cattle Competing for Resources Among the competitors for the forage and water on BLM lands are cattle, owned by ranchers. The BLM charges ranchers $1.35 per Animal Unit Month (AUM). AUM is defined as the amount of forage a cow and her calf consume in a month. By comparison, according to the group Taxpayers for Common Sense, grazing fees on private lands average about $23.40 per AUM. Tax- payers for Common Sense argue that this amounts to a lucrative subsidy for private cattle ranchers. They cal- culated that the cost to BLM of managing the federal grazing program is nearly double the revenue collected. Beyond that, there are other expenses associated with the grazing program. “Grazing can also lead to environmental damage, such as harm to native species’ habitats and the spread of invasive weeds, requiring costly remediation. A 2024 analysis found that more than 56 million acres (about twice the area of Kentucky) of BLM land failed to meet land health standards, with grazing identified as the primary culprit. Furthermore, half of all federal grazing fee receipts are earmarked for ‘range improvements,’ leaving taxpayers on the hook for remediating land damaged by heavily subsidized grazing on public lands for pennies on the dollar.” Public Lands, Public Trust The public lands on which wild horses, burros and domestic cattle graze belong to the Ameri- can people. The horses and bur- ros are icons whose symbolism ranges from mundane to profound questions about what we owe these creatures. There is strong, bipartisan support in Washington for protecting the horses and their freedom. Looking at strategies for managing the population growth and reducing the number of horses and burros held in off-range facil- ities are discussions worth having with all sides. (Continued from page 4) Project 2025 urges Congress to permit the slaughter of healthy wild horses and burros Conservation groups as well as BLM and sever al legislators recognize the promise of a birth control drug for wild mares Ranchers pay the BLM a fraction of what it would cost them to graze their cattle on private lands The FY budget for 2026 retained funding for BLM at current level There is strong, bipartisan support in Congress for protecting the wild horses and burros TAKEAWAYS Photo by Tandin Chapman all fly spray and fly masks for all of September (while supplies last) 10 % OFF Learn more about the advertiser’s services + products! Click on their ad and go directly to their website!