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Wild Horses on the Dole

Submitted by Roanman on Fri, 02/04/2011 - 15:58

 

From News9.com via The Quarter Horse News (they run real fast for a quarter mile or so).

As always click the photo to link to the entire story.

 

$66 Million Tax Dollars Spent Housing Wild Horses

 

Amy Lester, Oklahoma Impact Team 

PAWHUSKA, Oklahoma -- Wild horses are roaming on private ranches across the state and Oklahomans are footing the bill.

"The question is, where do we spend the best dollar, the wisest for the American people?" asked U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, (R) Oklahoma. "We're just throwing money away."

Senator Coburn is against the way the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, manages the program. Right now, there are roughly 27,000 horses on long term pastures. They'll live there the rest of their lives. Oklahomans' tax dollars support them, at an average of $475 per horse, per year. That money goes directly to ranchers, including 13, this year in Oklahoma.

"There's not many things you can do in agriculture to change up your cash flow so this was a good program for that," said Ladd Drummond, a rancher in northeastern Oklahoma.

Drummond has 2,200 horses on his land. The government pays him $1.30 per horse, per day. That's $1.04 million a year. Drummond said less than 10 percent is profit, or close to $100,000. He has to dedicate seven acres to each horse. He gives them supplemental feedings in the winter and puts out salt and mineral in the summer.