The Past
Banner Image: A person lassos a running horse from a moving vehicle. Courtesy of Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation.
The origins of American wild horses are somewhat convoluted. Through genetic testing and historical accounts, some horses can be traced back to specific ancestry, such as Spanish mustangs. Additionally, many are believed to have come from military and ranching stock, having either escaped or been released as early as the 16th century.
That being said, the species itself, Equus caballus, evolved on the continent that is currently North America. However, it went extinct on the continent about 10,000 years ago, while the species perpetuated in Eurasia. In this sense, the introduction of horses to North America by the Spanish was a reintroduction, thousands of years after the species went extinct on the continent.
Since the 1500s, wild horses have ranged on American lands in herds of varying sizes. The persecution of wild horses and burros in the western United States became a point of contention in the 1950s. Spearheaded by Velma “Wild Horse Annie” Johnston, a movement was started to encourage legal protections for wild horses, of which over one million were killed in the first half of the twentieth century.
Velma Bronn Johnston with her horse and dog. Courtesy of BLM.
The advocacy by Wild Horse Annie culminated in government action. On Sept. 8, 1959, the “Wild Horse Annie Act” was passed, making it illegal to hunt wild horses and burros on public lands with the aid of a motorized vehicle. This act, however, did not regulate hunting of wild horses and burros past that, allowing for the continual decline of their populations.
On December 18, 1971, the “Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act” was signed into law by President Nixon after unanimous approval from Congress. This act included plans for wild horse and burro management and protection. This act declared wild horses and burros to be under the jurisdiction of the United States Secretary of the Interior, and prevented them from being killed or harassed. Under the act, these animals are to be managed in a way that maintains ecological health, with excess animals being humanely captured and cared for by the government and sick animals being humanely destroyed.
This act has been amended four times since its passing, and it still stands as governmental authority for wild horse and burro management.