Idaho Falls

be found in either band, and some stal- lions travel alone. They move up and down the high elevation as the season's change, based on food availability. In the early spring, the horses gather in larger groups, which break apart into bands as the year goes on. While everything may seem perfect now, there is trouble in paradise. Horses aren't indigenous to the U.S. Any horse that lived here prehistorically, e.g. the Hagerman Horse, was much smaller and had a much different build. These new horses are more like tanks, causing more destruction in their wake. This was recently observed in a 2014-2018 study, "Impacts of Wild Horses, Cattle, and Wildlife on Riparian Areas in Idaho." The study concludes that too much exposure from ranch animals and wild horses on land tramples water banks and reduces plants to stubble. However, the ranch animals aren't the issue, because how long ranch animals spend in one area to graze can be manipulated by the BLM. The hors- es, however, are free to roam and graze where they please. The Challis HMA alone has an appropri- ate management level (a recommended max limit based off of natural resources) of 185-253 horses. Currently, the popu- lation estimates are 366, not including young foals. In all HMAs over the US, the recommended population is just under 27,000 horses. The population as of now is over 70,000 horses. The issue becomes how to limit the population ethically. There are four ways this can be done. The first population control method is a bait trap, where they use bait like hay, and trap the horses in an enclosure. The sec- ond is a helicopter roundup, where they use a helicopter to drive horses toward paneled corrals slowly, and a prada horse leads the horses into the enclosure where they're separated and sorted to avoid inju- ries. After any trapping, through selective capture, some horses are released, and the others are taken in by the BLM. The third management technique is the sterilization of horses to keep them from breeding. The fourth technique is a vaccine called PZP, which doesn't render a horse sterile, but instead works as a contraceptive. All of these have pros and cons. Helicopter roundups, while very effec- tive, are met with great activism for fear of the horses' safety. Sterilization, also met with activism, potentially changes horses' behavior. This leaves the bait traps and PZP to be most commonly used. The problem with these techniques is that the PZP must be darted or injected frequently to the same horse to be effective, and in a 2017 Challis bait trap, only 20 horses were captured, barely scratching the surface of all 366 horses. Because of the ineffective nature of PZP and bait traps, the helicopter roundups are performed carefully once every few years. When a bait trap or helicopter roundup is performed, and horses are taken in, they are made available to the public. Since 1971, the BLM estimates 245,000 horses and burros have been purchased or adopted. This program also has difficulties. In 1997, news broke that 90 percent of the mustangs removed from the range by the BLM and adopted, were then sold by their new owners to slaughterhouses. Because of incidents like this, the BLM has made the adoption procedure much more strict, not allowing buyers to resell the horse for a rea- sonable period and making frequent check- ups ensuring the horse's quality of the home. One organization that works alongside the adoption is 4H. They have a youth pro- gram to train wild horses and then show off the skills in the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. High School students from across the state use this program as their senior project. Each takes in a young wild horse that has had little interaction with humans, and soon it will be in front of a human audience alongside a human costar. In the past, the program was mostly filled with young women training the horses, but this year, a few young men got involved. This year's horses were born in Idaho BLM facilities from the pregnant mares of a Rock Springs Wyoming gather. Now that I know where the horses are, I remain restless from the answer. The horses' condition is far from what it used to be, some for better, allowing for safer lives, and some for worse, with a popula- tion issue. Once horses are captured, they are either adopted or take up space and money in facilities. If you ever see the wild horses, which I recommend doing, try to understand the complexity of the issues surrounding them. IF IDAHOFALLSMAGAZINE.COM 39

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