A Battle Over Thinning the Herd

I think someone should declare environmentalists  "feral humanoids" worthy of extinction.

I have problems with environmentalists, but not with conservationists.  Environmentalism is just that, another "ism", a religion to be sold to, or imposed on, fearful people. I'm all for the preservation of the environment and the pursuit of the arts. I'm also for America, freedom, free markets (the freer the better), free people and a free world. I'm opposed to any fascist groups who've decided they're the master thinkers. Religious, scientific or political groups who believe they have the answer to the world's problems and seek to impose it through fear or irrational thinking, can consider me an enemy.

Let the mustangs live! Find them a new home.  Cull the herd if necessary, just like we cull the deers in California by hunting a certain yearly quota. Let rational people decide and keep the nutcases with their agendas out of it........

Horses are certainly beautiful animals and our relationship to them has changed over the years.  Reading this article, I was reminded of The Electric Horseman, in which Robert Redford steals a prize horse to free him from the people who have kept him doped up.  It's a charming film about a man's relationship with a horse.

In New York City, at the time Central Park was created, horses and horse-drawn carriages were pretty much it for vehicular traffic.  Now, of course, the riding of horses in the park (and elsewhere) is the ultimate yuppie sport and that's all.  Except for mounted police officers, horse riding in the city is purely recreational.  The numbers reflect this; in the 19th century, there were over 25,000 horses in New York.  Today, there are fewer than 6,000.  There were not enough street cleaners at the turn of the last century to handle the massive volume of horse droppings.  The problem with horse droppings in those days was so bad, the automobile was seen as the answer to the pollution problem!

I say it once more just for effect:  the automobile was seen as the answer to the pollution problem!

Ah yes, another problem to face!  We settled the problem of the cattlemen and the sheep herders in another era, I thought, and now we must decide what to do about the horses.  About the time an indigenous species appears to have adapted to its territory, someone else wants to move in.  Probably the Native Americans felt that way about the settlers here in the west when the explorers arrived with smallpox.  Something always spoils the fun.

 DPR, that was indeed a most effective statement about the automobile as an answer to NYC's pollution problem.  It seems to be a matter of time, and on some level, of history repeating itself.  Who'da thunk in a century the Mustang/car would become the polluter and we'd be worried about four-legged Mustangs!

Surely the veddy veddy rich who are buying up all of the land they can find (no one seems to be making land anymore) in Wyoming, etc., could find some space for wild horses.  Where's old Noah when we need him? 

Wild horses don't belong in America... but grazing cattle do?

Last I checked, neither species was native.  

Are environmentalists seeking to restore the American bison to its native habitat?  If so, there's a lot of people to kick off the plains! 

No mention yet of THE MISFITS...

If we do not all learn to be both conservationists AND environmentalists to some degree, our heirs will have to try to live in an incresingly toxic and ultimately uninhabitable world. I disagree with tarring all members of any group with the generalizing brush. I mean, I've even met some politicians I like! Also, the term "fascist" ought to be reserved for those who truly deserve it, and not bandied about carelessly-it is a potent signifier for focusing attention upon evil.

I've never understood why outdoorsmen and women, especially those who love to hunt, are not more ardent in their conservation and environmental preservation efforts. Where will they find animals to hunt if not in restricted-use natural environments? I suppose some might be happy with shooting rats at the dump...

If the herd of needs thinned, so be it. Let those who enjoy killing animals kill them, let those who would eat horsemeat eat it. I hate to see life wasted too. Just as the developed world struggles to make a place for all, so the wild spaces need to be managed, for lack of a better word, so that all species may at least have a chance at survival. Like it or not (and there are many who would prefer to shirk responsiblility and focus on exploitation), we have become stewards of our home world, and I believe that it's time to step up and demand responsible behavior, whenever and wherever possible, for we who use this rare thing, this habitable planet.

Capitalism has its benefits and it's down side as well. Too-free markets are what gave us the robber barons, the Teapot Dome Scandal, the Savings and Loan Debacle, and now the Housing Crunch. Those are just a few results of an unregulated "free-market" process. Capitalism has also given us the world's highest standard of living, but at what cost? We now can see the near-instantaneous benefits of reining in our wasteful ways with gasoline-I hope we as a society get the message, that conservation can also improve our standard of living. I believe that capitalism works best when oversight is vigilant and penalties for abuse are strictly applied, for corporations have neither soul nor conscience and, like developing children, need to know their limits.

Woody Guthrie said it well, in "The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd":

"Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen."

Ok, I'm off my soapbox, I'm going to walk into a bar, ask the bartender for a Double-Entendre, and see if he gives it to me...

Every time I tell that joke, nobody gets it, but I'm betting that won't happen here.

Grrrr, I hate TYPOs!!

Olivia,

Very well said indeed.  There are however, quite a few corporations that have or at least have been forced to develop a conscience.  It's the corporations that understand the long-term gains and bigger picture that will be wise enough to be socially and ecologically responsible and still be profitable.

I'd be honored to buy the next round.  I like my Doubl-Ententres on the dry side.

 Be well

Thank you, Peter, but is it a conscience they've developed, or just adoption of a better business model? I confess to a brisk skepticism.

I'm with you at the bar-a Dry Wit is one of my favorites! I'm a little disconcerted at the current propensity for obscene drink names, but I suppose that's a topic for another day...

Okay gang.  Today's history lesson.  The Spanish introduced the horse into the new world in the 16th and 17th centuries.  According to the best source I know of, the Plains Indians incorporated them into their culture about 1700-1740.  Then, with the western warring that went on, horses of both the indians and the cavalry got loose and became feral.  Remember, we call any domesticated animal that gets away and learns to live on its own as "feral"; horses, cats, dogs, pigs, etc.  This then becomes a problem for the eco-system.  There is usually a natural balance setup within an ecological region that keeps things in workable numbers as they pertain to the other animals and plants in the area.  There simply wasn't enough preditors to keep the equine numbers in check and when those preditors' numbers started to increase, we killed them off, the wolves, the bobcats, the wildcats, etc.  So the mustang numbers grew un-incumbered.  So, if we want to keep the herds well and healthy, their numbers must be kept in check.

I worked a good many years in an equine genetics research lab and we got blood samples every year from the Nat. Park Serv. round-up.  These animals were often very sickly and mal-nourished.  We also found that the "founder effect", the genetic tracing of the sires of these animals, was also getting precarious.  Too much in-breeding.  The NPS tried to move some of these herds around to get an infusion of "fresh blood" but I don't know where that has gone now.  Also, remember there are the horses on the Carolina outer banks.  They are even more isolated and in danger of simply dyeing off because of genetic weakness.  There is a strong program of adoption for all of these horses with newly imposed restrictions on what you can do with them.  No more buying them for slaughter for food. 

So, yes, it is indeed a complicated problem with no easy answers, but I wanted you to see it in a more balanced perspective.  These are beautiful animals that man brought here just a few hundred years ago.  Mainly because of our not being able to deal with the strangers that got to the mid-west a couple of centuries before us, and they with us, just as we discussed a couple of days ago, these animals found themselves adrift and fending for themselves.  At some point, we must start to be responsible and... ah-ha!  Existential! and find some way to take full responsibility for our actions.  I don't have the answers, but maybe this little dissertation will start you all thinking of something that would truely work.

Olivia,

In most cases, it is probably just the dawning of a better business model.  I just need to make the occasional leap of faith and hope that some corporations act responsibly because it's the right thing to do . . . .  "having my cake and eating it too" kind of thing...

Spinner,

Your history lessons are always very informative, enjoyable and when appropriate.... very entertaining.  I've learned a lot and I thank you.

I have bad experiences with environmentalists who ruined housing projects for low income people with excessive and irrational demands.  Many builders/developers will not build because of environmental impact rules and "green" concepts. These rules/laws increase the building cost, cutting not only into profit but increasing the purchase price.  This defeats the purpose of the low-income housing.

Here in L.A. there is a movement to build low-income transit villages.  The cost of building will be offset by tax money......the areas built will become slums eventually. They'll either be inhabited by the under-employed or by immigrants passing through.  The desire of most immigrants is to have a single family home and a backyard. They don't want to live in a high-density area even if it has trees and squirrels running around.

Of course, the builders won't build because of regulations, restrictions, low-profit margins and a construction defect law that imposes liability ten years past the project. In fact, insurance costs have increased because of the problems associated with the unknown consequences of 'green' building.

I know many builders who are ready, willing and able to build decent low cost housing.  But the current regulations and restrictions make it un-profitable. Most, if not all builders, build what makes a profit......they also suffer the consequences when the market turns against them.  The current trend is smaller houses.

My use of the term "fascist" refers to authoritarian groups who have have decided that "Big Brother knows best". Give free enterprise and a free market a chance and there would be decent housing and decent paying jobs. The current system actually maintains the status quo.

There is a particular issue that is related....historic preservation.  I don't have a problem with historic homes.  I have a problem with groups who desire to stop me from renovating an old house to make it habitable  not because they have any real interest in preservation but because they have a power-trip. Their lives are probably inadequate and this is how they gain importance. Most I've dealt with could be described as fragile narcisstic personalities.  Not all....the others are often just misinformed. Museums are nice, but I don't want to live in one.

Now about Bison/Buffalo........150 years ago an estimated 60-70 million of them roamed the plains.  Does anyone know what kind of damage they did to the environment?  Their loss had what kind of impact on the environment? if environmentalists had been around then do you think there would now be 100 million Bison roaming the plains.  of course, it wouldn't matter because we'd all still be living in the 13 original states.

Hey, that was a pretty good rant.......I await your responses. I know everyone on this site will have a response.......not a reaction.

Incidentally, I don't make sweeping generalizations of individual people.....I reserve that for groups with agendas. I like people who are individuals, who can actually think and make a cogent argument for their position; and can understand the other person's view even if they continue to believe what they believe.

There are overzealous and misguided environmentalists, and then there are people like Rachel Carson, who literally saved the world as we know it, and helped us all understand how to keep it functioning as it should. There are builders and developers who help people, and cause useful and wonderful structures to exist. Currently, in my area, there is a group of builders/developers who are busily and brazenly bribing or bullying City Council members and Water Board members to allow them to erect luxury houses right upon, and in the catchment basin for, our drinking water reservoir, that supplies hundreds of thousands of people with clean water every day. I shudder to think what the quality of that necessary liquid will descend to if they succeed in drowning the public outcry with corruption.

Builders who won't build because regulations require them to do safe, quality work, and who don't feel they make enough profit from the honest application of capitalism, should find another line of endeavour, IMHO. Those regulations were written to protect people, in reaction to previous poor practices, so all those innocent and golden-hearted builders must suffer for the sins of their unprincipled peers and predecessors, sadly. Historically preserved neighborhoods with strict building and remodeling regulations have become a source of community pride and a boon to our tourist industry. They are people-friendly and resource-conserving, with walking and bike paths, easy access to services and shops, and even affordable housing for low-income residents who want a decent detached bungalow with a wee garden for an attainable price. It looks like civilization to me. It's environmental, and it works.

I think the difference between what impact millions of bison (or horses, to keep on topic just a little bit) and their equivalent number of humans have had on any given environmental system speaks for itself. Would that we were able to live as lightly upon the earth...

PeterLake and Olivia,

I submit that it does not matter whether corporations have developed a conscience or merely a new business model.  If a corporation that used to deal badly with me is suddenly doing much better for my interests, their motives could not possibly interest me less.  If you run a factory that used to be poisoning the air and now, all of a sudden, you have changed your practices and are generating less harmful emissions now, what do I care whether you are motivated by conscience, greed, or the divine guidance of the great god, Ygdrassil!  Just as long as it gets done!

* (yes, Ygdrassil is a genuine mythological deity though I admit my spelling may be off.)

While Rachel Carson did not directly advocate the ban on DDT, she did inspire environmentalists to seek a ban on DDT in America and worldwide.  DDT is a chemical that suppresses mosquitoes that cause malaria. Malaria kills hundreds, perhaps thouands of people, especially in Africa.  The use of DDT would prevent this.  She may have been right about a Silent Spring without songbirds, but I find a silent world without humans less desirable.

Olivia....good conversation....thanks!

Yggdrasil was the ash tree that holds heaven, hell and earth together in Norse mythology, I believe, but point taken and totally agreed with!

For obscure gods, I like Crom and Concordia. I know there are those who wish I'd follow Muta too. Nehalennia has been useful, for sure, and I love to hang with Tempestes! Beware Dagon and Gozer, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!

Okay, now I'm totally off the rails, and IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, DPR!

Olivia:

I, too, have little time (or money) for builders or developers who have poor safety records and poor customer satisfaction.

The building boom in Asia....specifically China and eventually the entire Asian, Middle Eastern and African region, will show the extent of poor development judgement. These areas will be overpopulated, lack adequate resources to sustain its cities, and be flashpoints of poverty inspired violence. The pollution from these areas will be very unpleasant. And much of the area is a hotbed of Islamic fanaticism.

Builders in that region are not building because of customer wants and needs, not building for profit and a project well-done, they are building mostly for the glorification of authoritarian, freedom-hating and free enterprise-hating  regimes. 

DDT was properly banned because it was improperly used. I agree that its judicious application can save lives, but I hope we keep doing research for good preventive and therapeutic medical treatments for malaria, since everyone on the planet now has this potent carcinogen in their adipose tissue (along with plutonium and dioxin, alas).

The Law of Unintended Consequences always comes as an uninvited guest to the party...

ExPat, you are so welcome, dear. Please don't hesitate to come round anytime you want properly sorted out! *places tongue frimly in cheek*

OMG, 'frimly' *rolls eyes*

to:DPR

Some corporations lead, some follow, and some are forced to do the "right" thing.  The main difference is that the leaders usually have a lot less baggage to drag along and resistance to face, so they are able to get there quicker and more effectively.  But as you say, just as long as they get there.

Malaria is a disease that had almost completely been obliterated in the U.S. until the ban of DDT.  Now, it has made a comeback.  If a helpful substance is used improperly, go after the errant users, not the substance itself.  Just imagine what would happen if Harry Lime had provoked a worldwide ban on penicillin. (sp?)

ExPat,

It's interesting that you mention the word "fascist" and "Big Brother" in the same sentence.  Orwell was, I think, the first to point out that the word "fascist" had lost virtually all of its original meaning and was bandied about enough to mean virtually anything that the speaker finds distasteful.  It's worth noting that everyone uses the word now in the lower case.  But the Fascists were a political party with a very specific party line and I do think that the word is best applied to movements that are reasonably similar to the initial definition.  The basic treatise of the Fascist party was that everything was for the State, by the State, and of the State.  Those who would curtail an individual's fundamental freedom in order to promote government endorsed environmentalism certainly seem to fall into that category.

As we discuss this extremely modern concept that humans might be somehow less important than trees and animals, I am reminded of a zoo exhibit in which a certain bird was described as being preyed upon first and foremost by humans.  Then it said "their only natural predator is..." I forget what animal.  But what struck me was this:  As members of the animal kingdom, why aren't we a "natural" predator?  What makes our status as predator any less natural than that of a lion, tiger, or bear?  (oh my!)

Olivia,

I like worshipping the Great Green Grape... by mail!

I gather nobody besides me SAW The Misfits, (1961)  directed by John Huston, written by Arthur Miller, and starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift, sometimes described as "A New Western" and depicting, among other things, a roundup of wild mustangs to be turned into dog food...

Any horse owners in this crowd? 

Willie Trask:  I had a charlie horse last week, does that count?... oh dear, that was left over from yesterday's attitude... sorry.  I'll go away now.

ExPat: I, for one, understand your frustration with "environmentalists."  I'm from a part of Florida where the farming contingent and the environmentalist contingent go toe-to-toe over "wetlands."  The problem is not the desire for conservation--I'm all for preserving the swamps, even if in the end, the gators prefer a nice golf course because the pickins are better--but the difficulty seems to be in defining terms.  If the cows wear a low spot on the way back from the field which fills on account of the high water level and generally tropical weather, does that constitute a "wetland" worthy of protection?  In at least one instance, (extreme, I admit), it did.  Five minutes from now I'll even remember the name of the court case.  Does the canal dug 40 years ago that ran in back of my house constitute a wetland?  (The EPA says so.)  How about the disused brickworks?  Where do you draw the line, ultimately, between environment and architecture?

The other related issue I have is this notion that the environment is some static condition whose only consistent defining condition is that it existed before now.  Populations wax, wane, and move around.  "Nature in balance" is a death match, and we really don't have the capability to point to a moment in the endless jockeying for evolutionary supremacy and say, hold it, at this time all is right in the world.  Think about it in terms of people:  the Saxons were introduced to Britain in the 5th C. as mercenaries to fight off the Picts.  (I think I've got the history right; correct me if I don't.)  They moved in aunts and uncles and cousins and beat the "native" Britons back into Wales, having a similar effect on the indigenous population as these horses apparently have on turtles, or whatever.  Yet the suggestion that these introduced populations be controlled (or removed) is unthinkable.  Why isn't it unthinkable when we talk about animals? 

That said, I don't believe horses have a right to any particular precedence over the turtle or whatever.  I used to ride, so I like them, but I don't ascribe to them any particular nobility.  I just happen to think that attempts to create balance only swing the homeostatic pendulum farther out over the abyss.

When I used to train and show horses, there was a federal mustang adoption program in effect, with small financial incentives. For people who already had several horses, the incremental expense was small. Moreover, mustangs placed with trained horses tended to deferalize.

tmd's last sentence is both visionary and something confirmed empirically over and over.

In the spirit of a joke motif above, I'll add one (attributable either to Martin Amis or to Salman Rushdie).

What did the Buddhist say to the bartender?

"Can you make me one with everything?"

Willie,

Sure I've seen The Misfits.  It was both Clark Gable's last movie and Marilyn Monroe's last movie.  Some say that the scene wherein Gable gets dragged along while roping the horse contributed to the heart attack that killed him at age 60, later that year.

It's actually not a favorite of mine.  I like it alright but I felt that everyone involved has done better work.  Interestingly, Arthur Miller wrote the script when he was still married to Monroe and intended the part for her.  She took it as an insult, calling it "just another dumb blonde role" but I think she was being unfair.  She confused the character's actual nature with the way the men in the movie saw her.

Anyway, so far, we've mentioned The Electric Horseman and The Misfits.  Any other good movie appropriate to this topic?

Having been to a carriage show this afternoon and then closing up the barn where my stepdaughter rides this evening, I am feeling somewhat in favor of the horses.  How can you ignore Hidalgo when Vigo Mortgansen (sp?) rides the mustang across the african desert.

All this horse loving aside, having read Spinner's comments some time ago I see both sides.  Having lived on the fringes of the adirondacks for years we saw a growing deer and turkey population which was sometimes controlled by a severe winter, sometimes by an increase in deer tags.  Now the moose and the wolf are repopulating, not a bad thing but they will soon wreak havoc on our human order of things.  We seem to be the interlopers here, expecting animals in the wild to conform to our wishes.  Why did that damn moose destroy my garden, why did the deer hit my car, why am I listening to coyotes and who forgot to teach those mustangs birth control?  Left alone nature tends to control itself, or it evolves.

Other places control things differently, living in West Virginia a number of years ago I heard about them controling the turkey population by releasing rattlesnakes to eat the eggs.  Probably made sense at the time, but they released the rattlesnakes near populated areas, particularly some schools.  Personally, I'll take the turkey.  The horses will sadly succomb by natural or unnatural means.  Whether the powers that be consider what is left a managable population will be seen.  In the mean time I'll take one here to pull a carriage.

I error on the side of TMD. As cold as it sounds, I am for an ebb and flow of species.

I grew up on land. When I was eight, I found a snake that had been cut badly by the lawn mower. My father brought me a spade and told me that there was only one way to 'help it.'

And so I did it.

Survival of the fittest, he said.

But I read this article and I am so, so sad for these beautiful creatures. And they are not snakes. And, sorry, I do discriminate between the two. And if my father brought me a spade, or his shot gun, I would not know what to do.

But sometimes it is good to not have the answer.

I live in the 'Greenwich Village' of Detroit. I will take one Mustang, please. And all these bleeding heart, 'green' mother-$%&*#@% can say what they like when my horse has tramped down their boxwood hedges. Let them put their money where their mouth is.

What would Mr. Ed say? . . . . . . it's been a long daaaaaaaayyyyy

Toabruptly change subjects here, as a swimmer (state butterfly champion and state record holder for my (old) age bracket 16 years ago) let me be the first to say in this forum, WAY TO GO, MICHAEL!!  8!

Missive,

Detroit has a "Greenwich Village"?  Tell me more!

Back in the '70s I was married to this gal and we bought an old farmhouse on top of a hill with 10 acres of pasture and a barn. A young lady named Lisa from the city, a pretty gal, (single too, but I was married) wanted to board her horse with us and I agreed. I was afraid of horses, so big an powerful and all, so I would just watch her when she came out to ride, admiring her like you do when you watch skiers gliding down the mountain but have never skied yourself. She handled the horse well. He was a big horse, a 15 hand dappled Appaloosa gelding named Shokee. At least that's how it was pronounced. It was Indian for something. Every day I would take an apple or carrot out to the fence and pretty soon whenever he saw me he would come up to the fence and take whatever I was offering that day. After a few weeks I started going inside the pasture and feed him the treat while I patted his neck. Then I started using the horse brush that was kept with all his other tack in the barn, and brush him down afterwards and he would just stand there, seeming to enjoy it. One day I got up the courage and sat a large wooden box next to him and climbed up on his back. He didn't seem to mind, and I sat there holding his mane for balance while he wandered around the pasture grazing. It was a great feeling. After awhile I would jump down and just walk around with him. One day Lisa showed up and was happily surprised to see me up there on Shokee. She showed me how to put a bridle and saddle on him. Showed me how to neck rein and gave me a few other pointers.
"Now I won't have to feel so bad about not coming out here very often." she said.
She showed me how to use the hoof pick and said I should use it to clean his hoofs after every ride.

I was out there a lot, eventually leaving the pasture for the trails along Spring River behind our property, or riding around the section with my neighbor up the road Mr Parker. He was eighty years old and drove teams of horses for the highway department back in the 30's and 40's, pulling mowers along the highways. He had always had horses as long as he could remember, and as we rode the section a couple time a week he would teach me riding technique and point out things I was doing wrong. Taught me how to take care of a horse and keep it healthy.

Lisa moved to Arkansas and took Shokee with her so I bought a beautiful bay mare cross between a Welsh and a Tennessee Walker named Sugar. Not as big as Shokee but she sure was pretty, and neck reined real well. She seemed to instinctively know what you wanted and would turn easy like a cutting horse, and would back up nice. I could get off her and drop the reins to the ground and she would stay put until I came back every time. We would ride out along Spring River and like bird she flew over the trails. The most fun I had would be to don my Lawrence of Arabia outfit (white sheik wedding clothes I had acquired during the Gulf War) with sash and dagger, and gallop through municipal park without stopping, turning heads along the way. Or put on my long black riding boots, black cape and top hat and ride through the park on misty mornings. She was spooky though, and more than once I went head over heals when she saw a scary tree stump or a big rock. I would lay there on my back staring at the sky, wondering what had happened and she would come up and lick my face as if to say she was sorry.

I made the bad decision to accept a job in the city and we sold the farmhouse and moved away. I gave Sugar to Mr Parker and he said he would find a good home for her. And about the time I realized I had made a bad bargain and the city sucked, I received a check from Mr Parker. He had sold Sugar along with saddle and tack to a young lady in Golden City. I hadn't bawled like that since...well that's another story. I still have her saddle blanket in the back of my Jeep for padding. I can't turn loose of it.

I live out in the country now on three acres overlooking Shoal Creek, the highest falls in Missouri. No place to keep a horse on such sloping land, but I noticed my neighbor about a quarter mile down the road has a pasture and barn so I'm thinking I may go horse hunting pretty soon. And my property is right along side a huge municipal park too!

In the meantime I'll send what coin that I can to the Black Hills Horse Sanctuary. I don't know what else I can to to help the situation up there. Who knows, I may even borrow my brother-in-laws horse trailer and go fetch one.

Great subject! I love horses.

DPR,

You are a tour guide!!!! I so get that.

It's called (don't tell anyone else) Royal Oak. Uber chic, and liberal, and humanitarian, and. . .

More poetry readings and wheat grass bars than should be legally possible.

Loft condos up the @#$%. . .

It makes this country girl a little ill at ease. . .

So are you planning a get together for all of us, or should I? I'm so serious.

Miss Ive, we are so scattered to the four points of the compass, but I still think it's worth trying to organize something...

Tiberius, I'm an Arkansas girl whose uncle raised Tennessee Walkers. One of my earliest memories is being set upon a huge black stallion and led around the white fenced paddock, green grass, black horse-very strong memory. Another uncle had a King Ranch quarter I used to ride. She was a feisty filly like me, so we didn't get on well.

I didn't care for The Misfits either.

Expat, about the bison...

Their feet impact the American soil differently than cattle... it's the cattle that cause damage, not the buffalo.  The bison, in fact, helped perpetuate important plant species, whereas cattle damage helps perpetuate delightful herbs such as musk thistle, another foreign "import" (unintended) for which there are not natural controls as in Europe.