Wild horse ECOSYSTEM impact analysis research project

Welcome back, today we will be looking at the impact wild horses have on the ecosystem both benefits and negatives.

Let's start with the positive impacts wild horses have, the first big benefit wild horses have is their ability to reduce wild fire risks. In spring time, wild horses immerse themselves in the fresh green pastures, their favorite pastures in other words, this is what we call their summer grazing zones, By fall the wild horses leave these summer meadows for their winter grounds, this is where they will eat the overgrown and dry vegetation through out the winter months, this keeps the dead and dry fire hazard causing grasses at a minimum. Another interesting benefit is their seed distribution. Wild horses eat seeds, but never fully digest them, so they go out with the manure, this means wild horses can spread seeds as a means to keep the grass healthy and diverse. This is a feature specific to horses, cattle do not have any seed spreading ability. Horse manure helps revitalize and restore the land and soil through Fertilization. This also increases the soils ability to absorb and hold water.

So they increase nutrients in the soil, they reduce fire risks, they plant forests and meadows with their seed full manure and they help the soil to absorb water, reducing risks of area flooding.

Now lets take at some of the negative affects wild horses can have on the land.

first, in areas where there are water shortages it leave all wildife to compete for that water (good thing there is no lack of water in Alberta) this is not an issue we feel is worrysome in Alberta, there is evidently enough water for all the wildlife to share, including the wild horses. Over used water sources may also be eroded or damaged due to abundant activity. We have seen this issue, our opinion is that the majority of the water edge erosion is due to cattle, however we do see areas where the damage and erosion is from wild horses and that is undeniable, we can not place sole blame on the cattle, especially in areas like Yara creek where this is without a question a few select bands favorite water source around. At this creek we see about 10-15 bands we would say “linger” about and around this Yara creek water source, however, we have started to believe this lingering is not due to the Yara creek water source, or their favorite summer pastures, but in reality, we believe the lingering we see here in these areas appear to be due to the numerous salt blocks around and near to this paticular creek which keeps the wild horses lingering here. There are a few other areas we can think of where this same affect is notice, Williams creek, Fallen timber creek, and burnt timber creek all have the same noticable erosion in pastures and near these creeks….which all seem to be near unto salt blocks. We believe this is not intentionally done by the wild horses, nor would be done if there were not things enticing them and luring them in to stay, this is what we have decided to call lingering. And it will be a big topic in our wild horse research with more to come here, and further in depth studies to come on our blog. Which leads us into our main issue we want to talk about when it comes to wild horse negative ecosystem impacts.

Lingering- in most terms you could call this loitering. This is not natural behaviour for a wild horse in any sense. So lets look at the cause, the effect and the outcome of why this is an issue. First and for most wild horses (all horses for that matter) love salt and minerals. With domesticated horses, it is common to put a salt lick in the field or pasture as a dietary supplement for domesticated horses who are not on a natural diet. It is so important to understand, so we will repeat it again, domestic horses need salt blocks to substitute the lack of minerals they suffer from when in domestic care off of their intended natural diet.

When it comes to wild horses they have the ability to find the minerals they need, they just have to travel to find them. Wild horses are herd animals, flight animals, and migrating animals. With access to river banks and rocky cliffs they have every source of natural salt and mineral they need, just as our mountain goats and mountain sheep do. A wild horse will naturally and innately travel across vast ranges to find what they need, now if they find a salt lick, or salt block, the search is over, and better yet if its near a pasture and a creek, disrupting their natural 5-20km daily migration! This wild horse will soon learn that every so often someone will come and replace this salt block. Without any work needed, without any migration required, their food sources now travels to them and they know this. Theoretically if you have a meadow full of grass, a water source and a salt lick, the wild horse now has all its needs met in one place, this is unnatural and it goes against every instinct these wild horses have to continually move. Often times you'll find the desire for a salt lick over rides their desire to migrate, to explain how drastic this can get, sometimes you can find a wild horse every single day for a few months straight sometimes almost a whole year straight in the same meadow. This is not normal behavior. And soon we will go on a deep dive to compare wild horses who are habituated to humans and salt blocks, vs wild horses who have never associated humans with food, and how their behavioral differences are noticable and drastic.

For now, lets talk about the main affects we see and why we believe its linked to the feeding of wild horses in the form of salt blocks. First the main noticeable impact is the land surrounding the salt block. Quickly the grass disappears and soon we have a dust bed for rolling and marking scents, now this is not income to find areas where horses will gladly roll and have a dust bath, the issue is when you have 3-5 bands lingering and all using this as their dust bath, and all using the nearest meadow, and nearest water source, quickly over running these small salt block filled areas.

The best course of action to take (in our opinion) is remove all salt blocks. Now we know some farmers leave salt blocks for their cattle when their cattle are pastured on crown land, we believe though, that due to cattle only being present between july-october (usually) if the farmers take their salt licks with them when they round up their cattle in the fall, this would give wild horses the majority of the year to natural migrate to find their salt needs. Ensuring they do not linger too long in any one location. Wild horses naturally understand how to care for the land, how to migrate, how to ensure they do not over graze any one location, but the want for salt can over ride their natural instinct and this is where human interference is evidently causing more harm than good.

We know the majority of the wild horse country is still in good condition, still plentiful in grass with little to no signs of erosion from wild horses, but in our opinion it is clear to us around salt block locations there is clear signs of unnatural erosion, which we believe is mainly attributed to the use of salt blocks to attract, lure or keep wild horses close for tourists and/or personal interests.

Thanks for reading and until next time

-Wild Horse Advocates