I recently watched this movie on Netflix.
Although, this was a beautifully crafted film, I have to note that it was obviously underwritten by the BLM. What seemingly started out championing the superiority of the natural selection of mustangs, quickly turned into a propaganda piece promoting the removal of wild horses from public lands.
There were outright lies about the number of wild horses on the range, their breeding habits, and the effect they have on the ecology of the land. There are over 6,000,000 cattle grazing on public lands and approximately 50,000 wild horses. They want to reduce that to 20,000. It is cattle that destroy the land. Horses are always moving. As stated in the film, horses typically travel 26 miles per day. They never stop long enough to destroy forage. Cattle on the other hand stay in one place until they've decimated the landscape. They are then moved to another area where they do the same thing. The man who picked up the remains of a clump of prairie grass blamed that on the horses? No way.
The BLM's plan for removal and birth control will render the herds' breeding unviable. Under it, our American Mustangs will soon be extinct. This is what the BLM wants. They are in service to the cattle and mining industries.
At first glance to someone not familiar with equines, this is a very romantic and exciting film. But to any horse person, these young men were careless in their planning, and reckless in the execution of the trek. That resulted in some tragic consequences.
I am sorry if this film has any influence with the public over wild horse management. It doesn't represent the truth on this issue.
