Want to try and let horses be 'wild' again?

Question

Well, as city people take up more of the room, less room in left for wild animals, such as deer, wolves, horses, birds, squirrels, ect, ect. I have 100,000 acres (I am a cattle worker and a farmer) and only use 20,000 of my acres. The other 80,000 is fenced off with fifteen foot fencing. I have already put eighteen deer in there, and some wolf hybrids. I was thinking about letting some horses go 'free' out there, too. I want them to live just like they did in the wild: looking for food, predators, breeding, ect. I want some horses to have the chance to be wild. There is all the natural resources in this place, food, water (there is small 'lakes' or ponds and creeks and one actual river in the property). I am going to get one stallion and I'm nt sure how many mares. How old should the stallion be? How many mares should I get? How old? Maybe two stallions and make two herds? It won't get 'too' over populated out there, since the wolf hybrids will want to eat, too, but they might find deer are easier then horses, but I'm sure if they can't find deer a horse that is hurt will be just as good (I am not planning on hurting the horses, but they get hurt in the wild, they also get diseases). The deer, horses, and wolf hybrids can breed and be wild and happy. Does it seem like an good idea? If not I'm going it anyway. How many mares should I get for my herd? How many stallions? At least say two where they can go a couple generations without inter-breeding.

I am very sorry if I sound dumb when it comes to horses. I have never touched one before. I use ATV's to round up the cattle, oh! I can put some cattle out there, too.

Answer 1

You are not the first person to come up with this idea. Check out how it went for this guy:

http://www.9news.com/seenon9news/article.aspx?storyid=114503&catid=509

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/convicted-wild-mustang-murderer-jason-meduna-gets-off-easy/



Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rfsuqWQrOo



He had the same idea you did. Some wild stallions running with their band of mares (you may only start with one stallion but that number quickly goes up when they start breeding).

Answer 2

I think that you should not even think about trying this without consulting vets, trainers, and a local BLM office near you. Just setting a stallion loose with mares is irresponsible breeding. If you have no experience with horses then you are setting yourself up to hurt a lot of animals - plus people selling horses probably aren't going to sell them to be part of a grand experiment like this one.



Don't say that there are no horses running free. There are BLM offices across the nation that manage the mustang herds living throughout the west. Any horses that you buy are going to be domesticated, and will not have the survival skills necessary to live in the wild.



Frankly, your viewpoint of "Even if it's not a good idea, I'm doing it anyway," is irresponsible and I think you should seriously rethink this experiment.



EDIT: The more I think about this the more unrealistic this whole thing sounds. Having 100,000 acres would make for a serious piece of land - even the biggest ranches around aren't that big. Second, 15-foot fence is almost unheard of - a standard game fence is 6-7.5 ft. I think she's just trolling this site for fun.

Answer 3

Lots of things wrong with your reasoning there. But you have good intentions. Just please go get some horse experience FIRST (basic handling and care, like controlling mosquito population, vaccines, colic prevention). Read up on herd interactions and illness, those two things will be really important for your project. Then look into adopting some mustangs. They will already have the 'herd dynamic' down. Make sure your horses have decent confirmation and survival skills. There is a massive overpopulation of domestic horses so free breeding like you are planning is going to cause a big problem in just a year or two... you might consider those factors (maybe open a free range horse rescue? that would be rather productive and ethical). Anyway, go see an adoption, the BLM needs help really bad, they're ruining the mustang population. (might let some rabbits loose for those wolves to eat... so they don't go after the horses? :-)

Answer 4

Please contact the BLM, The U.S. Bureau of Land Management who are faced with slaughtering many wild horses due to lack of space, they currently have 30,000 wild horses and burros being cared for in government-run pens.



Not only would they be able to give you all the information and help you require to ensure your project is successful, they would probably be able to find you a supply of wild horses, which will be far more suited to coping in the wild than if you just bought riding horses and set them free.



I think it is a brilliant idea and wish you the very best of luck.

Answer 5

Not the best idea. If someone caught you animal control would be all over you!