Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Wild Horse Annie Wild Horse And Burro Act Horses - 1,668 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

... feed. " (Amaral 23) For instance, in 1880, only 520 acres of hay were cut in the entire state. Horses and cattle simply roamed and many were never claimed in the annual roundups. Ranchers even turned horses out during periods of drought, when they had little of no feed.

The horses would then range for feed, and eventually join together to form bands. As long as horses were loosely ranged they were constant attractions to the wild herds. A rancher named Wilkinson turned out fifteen hundred mares on Diamond A Range of Elko county to range for the winter. When he and his crew returned that spring to collect them, they found that many had joined the wild herds and were virtually impossible to catch. Only a few were actually reclaimed. (Young 17) Horses were continually being added to the wild herds it seemed. During economic slumps, horse ranchers turned out their stock to be gathered at a future date.

Only many of those horses ran wild for the rest of their lives. When mining camps folded or small ranchers went bust, the horses that were not needed were simply turned loose. Numbers of wild horses were largest in Nevada, likely over a hundred thousand by 1900. There were enough of them to warrant legislation in the 1890 s to dispose of wild horses which ranchers considered predators of diminishing grass on the range. With wild horse numbers steadily climbing and the quality of the rangeland steadily diminishing, ranchers in Nevada followed the rest of the West and launched what seemed to be an all out war against the wild horses. A new form of cowboys arose for this time, a group of hard riding horsemen called must angers who made their living capturing mustangs.

Charles "Pete" Barnum was a well-known early mustangs. He came to Nevada from South Dakota in 1903 and joined the roundup. He was a bright guy, and noticed that the methods of capturing the horses currently used were wasteful. One such method was called "creasing", where a rifleman would attempt to graze the spinal nerve along the top of the neck in an attempt to stun the horse long enough for the hunter to tie it up. Obviously more horses were killed than captured by this method. Another technique used was to "walk down" a herd.

For this method two or more riders working in relays and would follow a band until the horses became too tired or footsore to resist. As it can be imagined this was a very inefficient method as it was a waste of time, (it usually took eight to ten days to wear out a herd) and this method too, often resulted in the injury or even death of a horse. Barnum began to look for alternative methods. He had noticed that the horses would not attempt to jump through or over anything that they could not see through.

This gave him an idea. Corrals had been used before, but they took several days to set up, and the construction would often make the horses in the area nervous and drive them away. Taking these elements into consideration, Barnum came up with his canvas corrals. Not only were they safer for the animals, but they were lightweight, easy to transport and could be set up in only a few hours.

He became quite successful at this business and retired at the age of thirty-eight in 1914. (Young 24) Progress, however, is inevitable and it was not long before airplanes joined the industry. Archie Meyers attempted the first aerial roundup in 1930 in Oregon and failed. But one Floyd Hanson flew the mountains of western Nevada from 1936 to 1938 and was successful. With his "siren wailing he would chase the horses, flying so low that the plane's wheels would almost touch the backs of the horses. " (Young 25) The plane proved to be quite effective, in fact too efficient. As the plane became a great tool in the horse roundups, a large market for marginal quality horses opened up in the growing pet food, and chicken feed business. And as Young said, "a pattern was established: planes kept supplying; the feed industry kept utilizing; the horses kept disappearing. " (26) As the success added more and more people to this industry, the incidence of horse abuse increased.

This abuse is what eventually caused an end of aerial roundups and indirectly contributed to the passage of laws, which essentially closed the door on mustang ing as a business. The horribly cruel and inhumane methods that were used to remove large number of horses from Nevada went virtually unnoticed until Velma Johnston brought the issue before the public. She had seen a truckload of exhausted and literally mutilated horsed on their way to slaughter one day in 1950 on her way to work. When she learned that they had been rounded-up by airplanes, her fight that earned her the name "Wild horse Annie" began. Later in 1952, when Velma learned of a proposed airplane roundup in the Virginia Range near her ranch, she and her supporters took a stand. Permission was needed form the Storey County Board of Commissioners before the roundup could take place.

Velma and others attended the meeting and expressed their views. They were convincing enough that the Commissioners denied the permit for that roundup and "a week later they passed resolution prohibiting the use of any airborne equipment during a roundup of wild horses or burros in the county. " (Young 26) From this encouragement, Velma took her ambitions even further. In 1955 she succeed in the passage of a law prohibiting the use of airborne and other motor-driven vehicles to hunt the wild horses, and making it illegal to pollute the watering holes to trap the horses. This was some protection for the horses, but not enough, more federal regulation was needed. Velma and numerous witnesses testified at the congressional hearings in Washington, D. C.

helping easily pass the Wild Horse and Burro Act. Pres. Nixon signed the bill into law in 1971, and with it assured the wild horse a legal home on the range. Velma "Wild Horse Annie" Johnston died in 1977 after a long, tough and successful fight. "Wild Horse Annie" was not the first to be concerned with the destiny of wild horses; she was simply the first to bring it to the nations' attention. Her efforts included the formation of two protection organizations: the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros (ISPMB) and Wild Horse Organized Assistance (WHOA).

These groups and a few others have kept active in trying to improve the lot of the wild horses. In that 1971 law wild horses were given the unique status of "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West. " This makes them neither wildlife nor livestock, they are "considered as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands", but only on that portion of public lands that they inhabited when the law was passed in 1971. (Young 28) Most of the lands that the horses currently run on, however, are BLM lands, which puts the federal mandate to manage, protect and control the wild horses on the shoulders of the Bureau of Land Management. And as Young said "What happens in Nevada is crucial to the effectiveness and success of programs initiated through the Wild Horse and Burro Act since 51 % of the protected animals inhabit this state. " (28) The agencies in charge of the horses today are directed to keep a current inventory of the wild horses, to determine appropriate management levels, make determinations as to whether overpopulation exists and what actions should be taken. The public opinion is taken into account through citizen groups that meet with the BLM to discuss horse issues and to make recommendations. Final decisions, however, are made by the agency. There are several methods currently in use to keep the wild horse population under control.

BLM conducts humane roundups in determined areas using helicopters to capture and trucks to transport the animals. An Adopt-A-Horse program is also in use and is a favored mean of disposing of the healthy horses. The adoption center is located in Palomino Valley, north of Sparks. Other adoption facilities are maintained throughout most western states and a few scattered shelters. Unfortunately, more horses are rounded up than are adopted. Thus a form of stud sterilization has been experimented with and appears to be successful, though not yet practical, as there are so many horses.

Amendments to present laws and new policies are still being enacted. Thankfully the wild horses and burros on the public range have been assured their right to existence by law. The dilemma remains what are appropriate population levels and how should those levels be attained. "The western mustang of yesterday was a remarkably durable species. Through the centuries, he managed tenaciously to survive the persistent attempts to obliterate him. " (Amaral) The wild mustang has disappeared from the present day stories, as have the tales of the Wild West. But the horses that roamed the plains for centuries are still here, and will be here, hopefully for centuries to come. The wild mustang "captured the west" along with the hearts and imaginations of so many.

It formed a union with Americans so intimate and profound that men still measure power by the number of horses. I hope that union will be remembered and with it, the wild mustang. Bibliography: Works Cited Amaral, Anthony. Mustang - Life and Legends of Nevada's Wild Horses.

Reno, Nevada: University of Nevada Press, 1977. Haines, Francis. Horses in America. New York: Thomas Y. Cromwell Company, 1971. Packet, Parley J.

Wild Mustangs. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1986. Wyman, Walker D. The Wild Horse of the West. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1945. Young, Cheryl A.

The Wild Horse in Nevada. Carson City, Nevada: Nevada State Printing Office, 1985.


Free research essays on topics related to: wild, nevada, horses, horse, public lands

Research essay sample on Wild Horse Annie Wild Horse And Burro Act Horses

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com