What Is a Wild Horse Roundup ?

​A wild horse roundup is the government use of helicopters flying close to the ground to herd and gather wild horses, removing them in large numbers from public lands in the Western regions annually. For several decades, wild horses that roamed too near cattle or other livestock were considered a threat, and they were usually often captured or slaughtered. Farmers often used airplanes or cars to chase these animals and round them up. In some instances, farmers contaminated water holes with poison in a bid to get rid of these grazing lands.

This practice of slaughtering horses generated a lot of outrage from several residents of Nevada. So, Velma Johnston, otherwise known as "Wild Horse Annie," pioneered a national campaign to ensure that both federal and state governments acknowledged the wild horses as a cultural symbol of the American West and took active steps to protect them. Consequently, in 1971, Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. This law empowered only agents of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to gather the horses into trucks and take them away from federal lands.

After being taken away, the horses are stored in a holding facility. At the holding facility, wild horse specialists are invited to separate the animals based on their gender and age, as mares, and their foals are kept in a different facility. After doing this, some of the horses are given up for adoption while others are taken back to the range or federal rest home. As of March 2023, the BLM is responsible for the care of around 61,826 wild horses and burros in facilities away from their natural habitats.

Critics have claimed that this method comes with a high price tag, burdening both taxpayers and the horses, stripping them of their liberty, separating them from their families, and, at times, even costing them their lives. During the fiscal year of 2022, the BLM spent $138 million managing the Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Further, a number of animal activists have considered the BLM a government agency dedicated to protecting ranchers' interests. Most are of the opinion that horses should be allowed to roam freely because the population of farmers' livestock surpasses the population of wild horses by a significant amount.

In response to these arguments, The BLM has stated that roundups, or "gathers," are done to ensure that the horses do not multiply in the ranches beyond a reasonably sustainable degree. The bureau also noted that the wild horses' reproduction rate stands at 18 percent per year. They argue that with little to no predators, the wild horses' reproduction rate might result in an uncontrollable explosion of their population in these ranches.

The bureau noted that an explosion in the wild horse population might result in a scarcity of limited resources on the ranch, resulting in a significant amount of the wild horse population dying from dehydration and starvation. They also noted that not making active efforts to control the population of wild horses on the ranches might facilitate the spread of diseases and cause drought and fire outbreaks. In response, the Wild Horse and Burro Freedom Alliance have stated that wild horses have a diversified grazing habit, so they barely trespass into cattle-grazing areas for food or water.

Thomas Hartshorn

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