Wild Horses

Native American Nations across the West have long revered the horse as a cultural symbol as well as a weapon of resistance to conquest by European settlers. Today, thousands of wild horses live on Reservations and are managed by Tribal Nations. Ashley travels to the Spokane Reservation in Washington to meet a woman who is finding a new path for the horses rounded up there. The Spokane have long been a horse people, and today the tribe is managing wild horses on their reservation in ways that keep horses in balance with other animals, plants and medicines the tribe values. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Boo experiences his first trip in a horse trailer.

As my wild horse paws at the snow and eats hay in my pasture, I look at him and wonder what I’ve done. I would sit with my mustang, Boo, every day all winter, into the spring. Just hoping he’d start to trust me – and want to be around me. It had to be his choice, to come to me, to choose me.

The first time I visit a government holding facility for wild horses is in Burns, Oregon. I’m thinking about adopting a wild horse – one of thousands that the U.S. government rounds up each year. They’re kept in large corrals until they’re adopted, and some live out their days in captivity.

The BLM often uses helicopters to round up wild horses and get them off the open range. The images and videos are hard to watch: groups of horses racing through the sagebrush trying to escape, foals separated from their mothers. Some get caught in barbed wire or are injured and have to be euthanized. Activist groups say the roundups are cruel and should be stopped. Ashley visits with activists in Reno who claim fertility control (read: mustang birth control shots) are the solution to keeping wild horse numbers in check. Perhaps easier said than done. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ashley keeps fattening Boo up and wonders if he had a choice, would choose the easy life or the wild life?

Just as her new podcast “Mustang” is dropping its premiere episode, Ahearn visits with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about her very personal … and now, quite professional, passion.

The Bureau of Land Management estimates that western ecosystems can support about 30,000 wild horses. The problem? There’s almost triple that. And that number rises by 10-20% every year. Too many wild horses – just like too many cows – is bad for the fragile, arid rangelands of the West. The horses can overgraze the native grasses and destroy creeks and riparian areas that provide critical habitat for the Greater Sage-Grouse and other creatures. To find out what this looks like on the ground, Ashley heads to Nevada, the state with the most wild horses in the U.S., and gets out in the sagebrush with biologists there. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Ashley spends some time getting to know her skinny, scared mustang and wonders what the hell she’s gotten herself into.

For $125 the federal government will sell you a wild horse. So, that’s what Ashley Ahearn did – she bought a mustang from Oregon. What could go wrong? Wild horses have long roamed the open stretches of the American West and the American imagination. They are a powerful symbol that have made their mark on everything from Hollywood to the automotive industry. But now they are caught in the crosshairs of environmental and cultural controversy as their numbers increase and people fight over how to manage them. Do we round them up? Leave them out there to keep reproducing at unsustainable levels? What does the mustang mean to us, today, and what does it tell us about our history? Join Ashley as she meets her mustang for the first time, and starts to explore the complex world of wild horses in the West today.

For $125 the federal government will sell you a wild horse. When I met my mustang he was skinny and he was scared. The government says western ecosystems can support about 30,000 wild horses. Problem is: there's almost triple that out there – and that number rises every year. I’m Ashley Ahearn and I hope you’ll check out Mustang – a new podcast that explores the complicated world of wild horses.

When did horses become a part of Western Indigenous communities? That’s the focus of a recent study that challenges long-held ideas. But it also highlights the importance of decolonizing science.

Several environmental and wild horse advocacy groups are suing the federal government over a wild horse management plan in Wyoming. The controversy comes as more roundups are being scheduled this year across the Mountain West.