For ninety-seven years, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department has played the role of “Saltwater Cowboys” during the spring, summer, and fall roundups of the famous Chincoteague ponies. While 60-70 foals are born to the herd each year, there has never been an overpopulation problem. The mares are never hormone-controlled, the stallions never gelded, and they have no natural predators.
How is this possible, when in the west the mustang population rises by 15 to 20% each year despite all of the hormone control programs the mares are on and a small amount of natural predators?
The answer is in Pony Penning Day.
Misty and the Mustangs
Every year in July hundreds of people flock to Chincoteague to participate in the age-old tradition made famous by Marguerite Henry’s book Misty of Chincoteague. The foals auctioned off bring money to the fire department and the maintenance of the herds. Interestingly, unlike the mustangs in the west, the fire department pays Fish and Wildlife a ‘grazing fee’ for the ponies, allowing them to graze on the island and the fire department to have full control over the herd itself. The foals sell out fast, and some of them are “buybacks”, foals that are sent back to the wild. The record for a single foal is $25,000, and the average cost about $4,000 per foal.
They’ve never had problems with overpopulation. The yearly auction brings in tourists and money for the island and the herd, and the foals are sold. The ponies have an average lifespan of 20 years, compared to the average mustang’s lifespan of 15 years. While the unique environment of the island means the ponies deal with some nutritional deficiencies, they are generally quite healthy.
This is an incredibly efficient system. The ponies aren’t stressed by the swim, and they’re treated like celebrities by the tourists. More often than not the ponies sell out, with thousands of dollars raised for the ponies’ welfare outside of citizen’s tax dollars (on average about three million US taxes go to the mustangs, and that’s only for the captive horses that can’t be adopted). The fire department is even sustained by this, enabling them to buy better equipment.
Why isn’t the same being used for the mustangs?
The Current Situation
In contrast, the Bureau of Land Management is in control of the mustangs. The BLM estimated at the beginning of 2023 that the average wild mustang and burro (wild donkey) population is 82, 883 herd members. And that’s before the foaling season is in full swing. If the population increases by 20%, that equals roughly 99,460 mustangs and burros by 2023. Roughly there are about 1.6 million households (not individuals, just families) who own a horse. Doing the math, that means for every horse-owning family, there are about 16 mustangs and/or burros.
And because of the laws that mustang lovers have fought so hard for, it’s almost impossible for anyone out of the state that the horse is in to adopt a mustang, or for anyone to adopt a mustang for that matter. The regulations and rules of what kind of barn, pen, and pasture you have to have are so strict that most people give up without trying. They’re not going to rebuild their corral for an unbroke mustang when they can get a broke horse without the regulations.
The same thing that plagues the animal rescue industry has been creeping into the BLM. In the “interest of the animal”, regulations have been instituted so that you have to jump through a million hoops before you can bring the horse home. You nearly sign your life away when you adopt a cat. These are just a few of the regulations that the BLM has:
Shelter Requirements:
- Minimum of 400 sq. feet of corral space per animal,
i.e. 20’ X 20’ (untrained animals)
• Minimum of 144 sq. feet per animal, 12’ X 12’
(trained animals that are exercised daily)
• Suitable materials: pipe panels, wood post,
planks (min. 1.5” thick), horse fence ( V Mesh or
2” X 4” square)
• 5’ High for yearling or gentled horse of any age
• 6’ High for an ungentled horse two years or older
• 4.5’ High for a burro of any age
• Shelter that meets the minimum requirements
chart for wild horses and burros based on the
state or region in which the animal resides, unless
otherwise stipulated by the authorized officer.
Trailer Requirements:
- Applicant must provide a stock or horse trailer
with a rear swing gate and covered top. Provided the
dividers are removed or folded back, slant trailers are
acceptable. Drop-ramps are acceptable if there is an
additional back gate to the trailer. Two-horse trailers
approved on case-by-case basis. No one-horse trailers
are approved.
State-by-State Requirements:
- CO, ID, KS, NV, NM, OK, TX, UT, WA/OR (east of the Cascade Mountains)
Minimum requirement:
Shelter shall be available to mitigate the effects of inclement
weather and temperature extremes. The requirement is at the
discretion of the authorized offi cer and will vary dependent on
the severity of weather in the region.
Example:
Natural cover (tree, etc.) or man-made structure (plywood or
other material on side of corral, stall, etc.) - NE, WY
Minimum requirement:
Natural cover or man-made structure that provides a wind break.
Example:
Tree (etc.) or structure with a side (plywood on side of corral,
stall, etc.) - AL, AR, AZ, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA
Minimum requirement:
Natural cover or man-made structure that provides shade.
Example:
Tree (etc.) or structure with a roof (wood, metal, etc.) - CA, WA/OR (west of the Cascade Mountains)
Minimum requirement:
A two (2)-sided shelter with a roof.
Example:
Structure with sides and a roof (wood, metal, etc.) - AK, CT, DE, IL, IN, IA, MA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NH, NJ, NY,
ND, OH, PA, RI, SD, VT, WV, WI
Minimum requirement:
A three (3)-sided shelter with a roof. Heated water source
(Alaska only).
Example:
Structure with sides, a back and a roof (wood, metal, etc.
There aren’t as many regulations here as adopting a cat, but these are just the general guidelines.
The other problem with the mustangs are the mustang lovers. Now, I love wild horses, and I’m not saying it’s wrong to love them at all.
The “Mustang Lover” that I’m talking about is the city slicker who knows nothing about how the West works, but thinks that it’s horribly wrong to capture these creatures and they should always stay free, regardless of who else could benefit or lose from it.
Basically, it’s the person who puts these horses first instead of people.
Cattle ranchers are often the ones to take the hardest fall. There are a lot of cattle ranchers in the West who have to pay taxes for these mustangs that not only compete with their cattle for grass, but also are protected by law and he’s not allowed to herd them away. He loses money when these horses come onto his land, gets closer to being bankrupt, and he can’t do anything about it.
Doesn’t sound fair, does it?
Wild Horse Annie went to Washington in the 1970s and historically changed life for the mustangs; many people forget she was a cattle rancher. Her father was a cattle rancher, and so was her grandfather, as well as her husband. She never wanted the mustangs to be chosen over people– she just didn’t want them to be so cruelly treated as they were. She said that they were useful creatures that could be tamed, could be used, not thrown away like trash.
So why are mustang advocates undermining the people whose families shaped the west? Why aren’t they encouraging more horse adoptions?
Solutions, Anyone?
There’s more media featuring wild horses than Chincoteague ponies. Why aren’t more mustangs being adopted instead of living the rest of their life in a government facility?
Think about the message from the Chincoteague pony books. It makes people want a pony of their own, to be like Paul and Maureen and have their own pony
In contrast, most mustang movies emphasize the idea that all mustangs should be free, that taming them is wrong. By advocating for this cause, they are actually driving away adopters and contributing to the problem.
Second, it’s a much more complicated process, and all for a horse that isn’t broke. No one wants to do a bunch of paperwork in order to get a horse that could take years to fully train, meanwhile burning through feed. For the ponies, it’s a simple auction and payment through cash or check, and there are enough pony lovers that the foals end up in good homes.
This is where programs like the Extreme Mustang Makeover are so cool. Trainers both young and old train one mustang and then sell it at auction in a nation-wide contest. The buyers get a broke horse, and more mustangs are adopted.
Why aren’t there more trainers of mustangs? They could buy a group of young horses, train them, and then sell them to buyers like a middle-man. If these mustang advocates love the horses so much, why don’t they adopt the horses already in holding pens and train them for resale? A broke horse, as Maureen and Paul discovered in Misty of Chincoteague, sells for more than an unbroke horse.
Pony Penning Day works because it’s an open. continuous event. Tourists know that even if they don’t get a foal this year, they can get one next year. Why isn’t there a Pony Penning Day for mustangs? Why aren’t more herds managed by a smaller group of individuals like the firefighters in Chincoteague? If the ranchers are having to pay a grazing fee, why not let them organize a yearly auction that keeps the numbers down?
Maybe if mustang advocates stopped romanticizing the West and began advocating mustang adoptions more, there would be more mustangs being adopted. Because in reality, mustangs are overgrazing the land and creating a dust bowl, which leads to drought. It won’t be long until the mustangs have completely eaten themselves into a surefire death by starvation or dehydration.
If more people understand the full picture instead of what only one side says, they will be more equipped to deal with the issue at hand. What do you think could be done to solve the mustang problem? Do you think a Pony Penning Day for mustangs could be an answer? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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