KBR Wild Horse and Burro News
More scientific priorities set
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For a number of years the Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association (VRWPA,) occasionally assisted by other groups, have provided winter hay to wild horse bands in the Virginia Range. As techniques for monitoring these horses have improved, the wild horse groups have concluded that the adverse side effects caused by winter feeding exceed whatever benefits may be derived. As a result the field active groups have embarked upon more scientifically based range strategies intended to provide greater sustainability for the horses without degrading their natural instincts. |
Natural behavior? Horses "trained"
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Here are the problems.
Foals (who learn most of their survival skills in their first 18 months) do not learn how to forage successfully in winter conditions. They learn that if they get hungry, they simply need to seek out humans. We have a whole generation of horses that have come out of the Highlands to such places as Reno and Moundhouse that simply hang out for handouts in the winter. Eventually those not killed on the highways get removed from the range. Horses desensitized to humans will abandon their winter survival skills in favor of easy meals.
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