Excerpt from The Horse Angels, Chapter 14 - Mark Neihart

   Excerpt from The Horse Angels, Chapter 14 

- Mark Neihart

Once the ranching business began in the western United States, conflict with the wild horse herds was a sure bet. It is the inevitable clash of economy versus nature. Now, as with every little thing, the issue has degenerated into frozen political polar opposites with one side claiming every attempt to manage the wild herds is an analog of Nazi death camps and the other side claiming that wild horses are ruining the range, over grazing, and putting ranchers out of business. Either argument is nothing more than wild-eyed hyperbole. The real truth lies in the middle.

  While it is true that the United States Federal Government is legally tasked with managing the wild horses as part of the wildlife management policies of the BLM, the tragic part of the story is that wild horses are not legally considered a ‘native species’. They are considered to be invasive and foreign. The political story is that horses died out in North America some 10,000 years ago and were brought back by the Spanish. While there is some evidence that disproves this assertion it still remains the view widely held by science and politicians.

 The fact remains that horses were a part of ancient North America, and the horse developed and adapted to the various rangelands occurring across the continent. The horse is as natural to our landscape as the deer, antelope, rabbit, or any number of other mammals living wildly in nature.

  But this isn’t a story about wild horses. No, this is a story about man and horse. More pointedly about the debt that man owes the horse. We have traveled to the moon and beyond; this would not have happened without our trusted evolutionary partner, the horse. We have perfected our techniques of food production, feeding billions of people every day. This happened because of our relationship with horse. Every part of the miraculous lives we are privileged to live has been made possible because of the horse. The horse has been our engine to prosperity, for thousands of years. From the ancient Scythian horsemen to our modern aged pioneers man has endured and grown because of our equine partners. 

  Now that our technology has replaced the horse is it right to simply forget the animal and what it has done for our cause? Is it right to simply cast aside the horse like an empty, spent cartridge because it is of no use to us anymore? To do so would be supremely selfish and ungrateful. I say we need to hold the horse in high esteem, to uphold our human values and recognize our indebtedness. We owe the horse something that cannot be repaid, by any means. Simply to understand this and hold in our hearts and minds a respect and reverence for our horses is all we can do and it will be enough.

 As our technology grows it is easy to forget the past. It is easy to shed off the history and reasons we live like we do. When it comes to the horse we should never forget. There are many, many people who understand this and have taken it upon themselves to educate us and to grow our awareness of the horse. These people I call the Horse Angels, those that spend their lives with and around horses, living that bond, caring for their animals and teaching other people to do the same. These people understand the debt we, as humans, owe the horse. These people are the ones remembering and doing the work. Teaching us the truth about the horse’s gentle nature and their willing spirits that remain to this day. These are the true Horse Angels.

Excerpt from Chapter 14 © 2013 Mark Neihart