Sheath Cleaning?... what about wild horses?

Feral horses die between 10 and 15 years old because nature is cruel, and only the young and strong survive.

Domesticated horses, with proper nutrition, medical care, and upkeep, can live up to 40-45 years.

A mustang, if taken off the range and domesticated, has as much chance as living a long healthy life as one born in a barn.

Trying to continually compare horses who have to find their own way in the world versus those who are taken care of by humans, is a futile effort.

The only reason our domestic horses live so long is because of the care they receive from their human handlers. If they were thrown out into nature, their lives would be as brutal and short as their feral cousins.

Feral horses have smegma build up, too. They also have leg, feet, and back problems, as well as contract diseases. The only difference is that they don't live long enough to get old. Once a physical disability raises it's ugly head, the feral horse becomes food for a large predator.

Smegma buildup also has a lot to do with the ground that the horse is on. Here in Utah very few people clean thier horses sheaths. We have pretty hard ground and rarely does a "bean" form in a sheath. When I lived in the Sandhills of Nebraska I had to clean the sheath about every two weeks and would get a pretty good sized bean out of it.

you have no idea how many times I have said the same thing to people. Barefoot trimming is fine but don't think that mustangs have perfect feet and are never lame. There is just nobody to see them when they limp.

This is what I was trying to say, but SR put it so much better.

Well said SR!

Meh, I just get tired of people romanticizing the feral horses.

They're really no different than our domestic, barn born animals.

In fact, most of what people call 'mustangs' are runaways, culls, or abandoned horses from breeding programs, old Army remount units, and ranches.

These animals have been getting an influx of new blood pretty much every 30 to 50 years or so since the beginning of U.S. colonization.

A pure strain of mustang really doesn't exist, but it makes for better press if people think that somehow these animals are 'more special' than our regular, domestic bred horses.

Exactly, I wish the government would spend as much on my kids education as they do keeping a bunch of inbred junk horses alive.

The problem is.... there are not a bunch of crazy loud people who will scream and toss a fit if your kids do not get their education the way they will if their beloved wild horsies are not treated like the royalty they imagine they must be.



I totally miss why anyone thinks that a bunch of feral horses are any great symbol of anything.

But.......................

Natural breeding keeps those parts in working order, and it's the same with mares. It's just like not having their hooves trimmed because the rough terrain keeps them worn down.

I have no problem with keeping a few horses out on the range to be part of our heritage but htere are tens of thousands of "wild" horses in feedlots all over the country just waiting to die of old age. More than half of the total budget for the BLM is spent feeding these horses intead of managing land.