released an investigation this week that found some wild horses removed from Western rangelands and sold by the Bureau of Land Management later moved through livestock dealers and toward slaughter. Many of the horses were sold for $25 each.
Bureau of Land Management Sales
The Bureau of Land Management says it does not sell or send feral horses to slaughter. The investigation puts that statement beside a sales chain that can continue after the agency transfers horses out of its direct control.
Oregon State University Extension estimates a mature horse is 1.25 animal units and consumes about 988 pounds of forage per month. It estimates a cow with a calf is 1.0 animal unit and consumes about 790 pounds per month, a comparison that helps explain why land managers have pushed horse removals on Western public lands.
Wind River Reservation Removals
On Wyoming's Wind River Reservation, an aerial survey in 2022 estimated between 9,000 and 10,000 feral horses. More than 6,500 horses were removed in 2023, and 1,057 horses were removed in 2024, after a tribal management plan called for maintaining fewer than 500 feral horses.
Those figures show how quickly horse numbers can move when removals begin, especially where forage and water are shared across animals. The Bureau of Land Management also estimates wild horse and burro populations substantially exceed appropriate management levels on Western public lands.
After the Sale
The unresolved issue is how many of the horses sold by the Bureau of Land Management ultimately end up at slaughter. For now, the investigation has drawn attention to what happens after a $25 sale and whether the public agency's assurances match the path some horses take once they leave its hands.
