Wild Horses

Apparently, here in the great white north, we don't believe wild horses exist. In the US they've been protected since 1959 and many have been registered tracing their lineage back to the original spanish horses brought over in the 1600's by the conquistadors. In Canada we have one. 

There is a parcel of tribal lands in BC where the horse still roam free but are regarded by the powers that be as feral. In Alberta, that great liberal, forward-thinking province, the wild horses are regarded as a nuisance, stealing grass from domestic cattle. There are even drive-by shootings of wild horses which don't seem to be investigated too thoroughly.

So here in Canada, last bastion of the natural world in North America, champion of the environment, an animal that has been part of the natural world here for almost half a millenium is treated with no more regard than ground squirrels or rats. An animal that helped open the west and spawned the horse-culture of the North American natives is getting shot from the back of pick-up trucks and left to rot.

And why? I can only guess that the government is afraid to annoy the great Alberta ranchers. And of course there is that systemic reluctance to modify a position taken by previous governments. Think about the blood supply scandals of the 90's.

So the wild horses of the great plains, once highly prized for their intelligence and stamina now are forced to life lives of quiet desperation in the scrub forests of the Rockies. Oh Canada. We suck.