The Virginia Range Wild Horses

The Virginia Range Wild Horses

By George Yates

We recently returned from a trip to observe and photograph the Virginia Range Wild Horses. The Virginia Range, located in the Nevada high desert, is vast. It runs for some 30 miles north to south between Reno and Carson City. Additionally, the range is quite wide, covering a span of some 40 miles east to west. Located in NW Nevada, the Virginia Range is bounded by Interstate 80, Highway 95A, Highway 50 and Highway 395/Interstate 580.

The history of wild horses on the North American continent is replete with all the drama to be expected from any topic involving conflicting cultural, economic, and political interests. There is ongoing debate if the horses are indigenous or invasive; if they are wild or feral; indeed, if they should be completely eradicated. The good news is that the wild horses are currently protected by both federal and state laws.

Wild horses are defined by federal law as unbranded, unclaimed, free-roaming horses found on public lands in the United States. Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) protects and manages wild horses in balance with other public resource values on 177 herd management areas across 26.9 million acres of public lands. The phrase ‘in balance with other public resource values’ in the previous sentence exposes the basic, to date, unresolved conflicts between wild horse advocates and ranching interests, among others. The BLM is in the midst of this political tug-of-war charged with the nearly impossible task of finding a universally accepted mustang management policy.

Spanish settlers likely first brought horses to the Americas in 1519, when Hernán Cortés arrived on the continent in Mexico. At this time, North America was widely covered with open grasslands, serving as a great habitat for these horses. The horses quickly adapted and spread across the nation. Around 1550, the first known feral horses escaped Mexico City, and more followed over time. Native Americans began to capture and ride the horses, spreading them further across the continent. The oral histories from Indigenous groups tell of interactions with horses prior to colonizers arriving in their homelands.

Although it has been over five centuries since the Spanish Mustangs return to North America, they are technically a non-native species and therefore the wild horse population is not indigenous. This is also true of cattle, sheep, and goats; however, desert bighorn sheep and mountain goats are indigenous.

So, in 2023 given the conflicting cultural, economic, and political interests there are heated debates involving the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), state and local governments, farmers, ranchers, land developers, and wild horse advocates involving the best use of the land and the control of the wild horse herds. Personally, I just like observing wildlife and taking their pictures.

The Virginia Range is almost completely privately owned. Management of those horses is not applicable to management of wild horses in the 10 western states on federal public lands. The Virginia Range mustangs are managed by the state of Nevada.

The history of the Wild Horses of the Virginia Range dates back to the 1800s. Over time, some of these horses were released or escaped from their owners and established wild herds. The Virginia Range Wild Horses are descendants of these horses.

In 1955, Reno resident Velma Johnston, better known as “Wild Horse Annie”, led a movement to protest the ruthless manner in which wild horses were being rounded up by the Nevada Department of Wildlife for commercial purposes. She lobbied state legislatures to stop rounding up Nevada’s wild horses on state land to sell to pet food manufacturers. Her movement led to the passing of the “Wild Horse Annie Act” in 1959. Today, these majestic animals are known as “Annie’s Horses”. In 1971 the federal government followed suit, further protecting these wild animals with the creation of the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 1971, which provided legal protection to the Virginia Range herd.

Despite the legal protection and public support, these horses still face many challenges. One of the main concerns is the rapid population growth, which can lead to overgrazing and damage to the range. Another is the risks of collisions between the horses and vehicles on the roads that run through the range.

To mitigate these risks, several management strategies have been implemented, including controlling the population through fertility control and roundups, reducing the risk of vehicle collisions by installing fencing, and working with the residents to educate them about the importance of protecting the Wild Horses.

When in an unfamiliar area with limited time it is advisable to hire a local guide. Hiring a guide serves two purposes; they know where the horses are, and you save the wear and tear on your own vehicle. We hired Marty Wright to show us around in our quest to view and photograph the wild horses.

Although the majority of the horses roam areas away from human settlements, this trip gave me a very different take on the Urban-Wildlife Interface. Horse bands are often seen wandering the streets of the small towns along Hwy 50 and are mostly welcomed by the residents. These animals are fully habituated.

We drove into a development and spotted a band of around a dozen horses meandering toward a house, so we ventured onto private property to observe their behavior. The homeowner came out to greet us and turned out to be very welcoming. Frank told me that he and his wife had lived here for about 25 years and really enjoyed the wild horses.

We watched the band stroll through the property, and it turned out that they were on the way to a water trough maintained by another homeowner. On the Virginia Range it is acceptable to put water out for these horses, but it is illegal to feed them.

The behavior of wild horses at water troughs is fascinating and I have observed it on at least two other occasions. There was already a band lined up to drink from the trough, each horse patiently waiting its turn. The band we were following simply queued up at the end of the line.

We were also fortunate to witness another well-known aspect of wild herd behavior. When a male reached an age where the lead stallion sees it as a potential threat to its dominance, it will drive horse out of the band. Often the bachelor will attempt to reunite with the band, only to be driven out once again. In the image below the horse on the left had been nudged and forced across a road and left to gaze at its lost band. The lead stallion (left) watched for some time to make sure that the exiled bachelor would stay put.

Satisfied, the stallion took a triumphant roll in the sand. Watching horses roll is always a fun experience. As well as for enjoyment, a horse will roll to help with shedding their coat and to maintain their coat and body temperature too. Mud and dust can act as a skin conditioner as well as a natural insect repellent.

While driving to another location, Marty told us of the significant high tech and industrial developments along Hwy 439, which is also referred to as the USA Parkway. Tesla has constructed the huge GigaFactory1, which is still under additional construction. Google has a facility also with ongoing construction and Microsoft has acquired land and plans to build a large data center. Although this industrial activity will affect the local herd behavior, it is a small area compared to the overall size of the Virginia Range.

Driving along the USA Parkway you get a sense of future development; hills are being leveled, mile after mile of active construction equipment building roads, and preparing additional infrastructure.

Another stop was Carson City Centennial Park. When we parked at the far end of the park, we immediately spotted several horses doing their very uninteresting grazing. The Wild Horse Trail is a fairly short climb up to a ridge overlooking the park. We spotted no horses as we climbed towards the ridge. Sure enough, upon returning to our car, six to eight mustangs appeared on the ridge.

At Washoe Lake State Park we were fortunate to witness wild horses do what wild horses naturally do. A bachelor stallion was initially quietly grazing and we continued on to a parking area to view the many horses along the lake side. A large dark brown stallion (likely the bands Lieutenant stallion) came galloping up to the parking area, the reason being that the bachelor stallion had decided to make a move to enhance his life by attempting to capture mares from the local band, while the dark brown stallion did what he had to do to protect his band.

The dark brown stallion was able to successfully defend the band and no mares were stolen. After the skirmish, the invading stallion turned and trotted away, and the dark brown stallion took up a position watching the invader saunter back to isolated grazing. A very interesting/exciting moment to witness this natural order amongst the wild horses.

The Wild Horses of the Virginia Range have a long and rich history, and they attract visitors from all over the world. They are a beautiful sight, and are thought of, by many, as a symbol of American heritage. Driving home, our final view of the mustangs was of a large group quietly grazing along the shore of Washoe Lake.

For additional information: The Wild Horse Preservation League and the Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association are volunteer non-profit organizations dedicated to keeping Nevada’s mustangs and burros wild and free. For more information about them, visit https://greatnonprofits.org/org/wild-horse-preservation-league or https://vrwpa.com/.