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Welcome
editFor the uninitiated ...
Decades ago the US Bureau of Land Management was tasked with managing the populations of feral mustangs and burros living on government lands in the West. A significant problem is that, because these animals have little in the way of natural predators, they reproduce too quickly and periodically run into bottlenecks where the herds are too large and there are not enough resources for them (and for other livestock owned by regional ranchers). To mitigate the problem, the BLM is forced to periodically collect some of the mustangs and burros to keep the herds a manageable size. Unfortunately, if the BLM cannot find homes for the collected animals, they must be held indefinitely in cramped holding facilities. Considering that people regularly spend thousands of dollars for a horse, it seems unimaginable that feral horses cannot find homes. The BLM has in fact sometimes paid ranchers to take some of the horses, something that is unsustainable.
Why does this problem exist? A conceit has developed in the equestrian community in which horse owners tend to believe that a horse must come from a well established pedigree to be useful. Horses culled from the wild are often seen as untrainable and unmanageable. Advocates for mustangs strongly disagree but it has been difficult to change the mindset of the wider equestrian world.
A few years ago, the concept of a "Mustang Makeover" was invented. The idea was to create a contest where dedicated horse trainers compete to train newly acquired mustangs in just a few months to turn them into successful working animals. The top competitors get prizes and all of the trained horses get auctioned off. Not only that, though, the attention these events draw creates interest in other mustangs that haven't been trained.
As successful as the Makeover events have been, the equestrian world as a whole has still been dubious about mustangs. To further promote the cause of mustangs, the Mustang Champions organization was created. Twin competitions were launched this year:
- The Mustang Challenge in Las Vegas, for competition in Western riding skills.
- The Mustang Classic in Lexington, for competition in English eventing skills.
The hope is that equestrian enthusiasts will begin to see mustangs as a viable alternative to other horse breeds.