Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Wild Horses: Admirers Can Kill with Kindness


This rare photo (courtesy of Bonnie Matton) shows the real Phantom in a rural neighborhood. When captured, his herd had been decimated by dogs and cars and only one mare and one foal remained with him

Dear Readers,
If you love wild horses, don't treat them like pets.
Don't feed them treats. Don't touch them. Don't let them come up and touch you.

Your magical moment might cost a terrible price. Wild horses might pay with their freedom or their lives.

Not far from my Nevada home, one neighborhood not only has basketball hoops, mail boxes and lawn sprinklers, but mustangs. The horses have learned the dangers of cars and dogs, and usually take their spring foals to the cool mountains in summer.

But not this year. Maybe the new herd stallion grew up up near people and saw no reason to move on. Maybe he liked grazing on lawns or got a horse laugh from his domestic cousins breaking down their fences to see his pretty mares.

But maybe the stallion just felt no reason to head for the mares because his band was being lavished with apples, salt licks and soft touches.

So far, these neighbors have worked together to balance civilization and wildness.
So far, the Nevada Department of Agriculture has not rounded-up the mustangs and taken them to be auctioned off by the pound.

Please don't teach a wild horse to trust people, She may learn too late that some human hands carry guns, not carrots.

Best,
Terri

Labels: neighborhood mustangs

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Posted by Terri Farley @ 11:31 PM

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Comments: well said, Terri.
nana
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