Friday, October 5, 2012

The Mustang Mystique


Abigail Tucker argues that the round up of wild horses and mustangs is distasteful in the extreme.  She describes that when they round up the wild horses and mustangs, they use helicopters to get the horses running.  Then they release a “Judas horse” which is a tamed horse who runs in front of the herd.  The horse leads the wild horses into a corral and they close the gates.  Tucker develops this claim by first interviewing Melissa Farlow, a wild horse photographer, about her experiences around the wild horses.  She also spoke to Karen Sussman, president of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, who believes that the wild horses should be treated like wildlife instead of livestock.  Additional information was gained from Tom Gorey, spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, who tries to justify reducing herd sizes. Tucker lists statistics of how many horses are left out in the wild and how many are in long term and short term holding facilities.  Lastly, the author describes the difficulty of adopting the wild horses into good homes.  The adoption costs are low, but the cost to keep and maintain the horses is expensive.  Abigail Tucker’s purpose is to inform us of the wild horses and mustangs in order to help save them from becoming extinct.  This work is significant because it describes how many horses are still in the wild and what happens to the horses during and after the round up.

 
Tucker, Abigail. "The Mustang Mystique." Smithsonian 40.12 (2010): 68-73. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Sept. 2012.

 

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