Predators
Natural predators keep herd numbers in balance. When we kill mountain lions, wolves, and coyotes we upset the natural balance of nature. Humans tend to want to hunt and kill off predators because they kill cattle, sheep, and chickens belonging to ranchers and farmers; but then we have larger numbers of deer, horses, and other prey animals because there are less predators.
The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) has the important job of managing our wild horses on public lands. It’s their job to serve as a predator in a sense, by rounding up the herds and culling them from the wild. The BLM gives the mares birth control and puts the younger horses up for adoption. In recent years, there has been controversy around just how many mustangs the BLM is rounding up.
As it stands now, there are more horses standing in holding pens then are running free. The American taxpayer is paying the bill for the expensive helicopter roundups and the millions of dollars it costs to feed the horses in pens. Each state has their own BLM and many BLM employees are skilled with horses and do their jobs well. On one side of the controversy, people are calling for more fair treatment of the wild horses and are afraid they are going to slaughter or living lives imprisoned in holding pens. The other side says that there are too many wild horses- they are competing with cattle for grazing and they need to continue to be rounded up.
In the fiction novel, Christa’s Luck, Christa and her friends discover that there are more horses standing in holding pens than are free in the wild. She doesn’t want to see them standing in a corral, separated from their families and their freedom because she has seen firsthand how intelligent they are in the wild, how complex their social structure is, and how important family and freedom are to each and every wild horse. Christa is determined to let everyone know that the wild horses are being fed on the taxpayers dime. She is convinced she can bring the town together once they know all those expensive helicopter roundups are financed by us. Christa is challenged to look for a solution that will benefit the ranchers, the BLM, and the wild horses. But she is running out of time.
Watch the exciting book trailer for Christa’s Luck!
Buy your own copy of Christa’s Luck today!
Learn more from these fantastic organizations:
The Cloud Foundation
Saving Americas Mustangs
Wild Horse Preservation
Return to Freedom
Mustang Monument