Wild Horse Country: The History, Myth, and Future of the Mustang Cover
Podcast Mentions

Wild Horse Country The History, Myth, and Future of the Mustang

David Philipps

A Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter’s history of wild horses in America―and an eye-opening story of their treatment in our own time. The wild horse is so ingrained in the American imagination that even those who have never seen one know what it stands for: fierce independence, unbridled freedom, the...

Podcasts 1
Quotes 3
The MeatEater Podcast

The book explored the wild horse overpopulation issue and proposed increasing mountain lion populations as a solution, but was criticized for overlooking ecological complexities and the distribution of lions and horses.

"

it isn't that there are too many horses is that there aren't enough mountain lions.

— Episode: Ep. 126: Wild Horses

Episode: Ep. 126: Wild Horses

The book explored the wild horse overpopulation issue and proposed increasing mountain lion populations as a solution, but was criticized for overlooking ecological complexities and the distribution of lions and horses.

"

it isn't that there are too many horses is that there aren't enough mountain lions.

because the Bureau of Land Management has always seen the horses as livestock, not wildlife. It has never tried to understand the Mustang's place in the Western ecosystem, or tried to take advantage of the ancient relationship between the horse and its main predator, the mountain lion.

wild horse advocacy groups have blasted the plans and are preparing for a legal fight. In all likelihood though, none of these ideas will make it out of Washington. Particularly unlikely is the slaughter option. No one in Congress wants to vote to turn an American symbol into sausage.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.