If words were bales of hay, feeding captive feral horses would be no problem (“Wild horses sent to slaughter,” HCN, 11/23/15). Presently, the government is the largest livestock caregiver in the U.S. Over 90,000 horses are either in lockups or on the Western ranges. In the meantime, one child dies every five seconds from malnutrition and/or diseases, which go hand in hand. The feral horse adoption fad is dead. This year, there were only 2,800 horses adopted — out of thousands that were available. I have the answer to the excess and a way to do some good also. Each 1,000-pound horse will yield about 800 pounds of safe, pure and highly nutritious horsemeat. When a quarter-pound of this meat is mixed with a good variety of vegetables, vitamins and minerals in a pure preservative-free juice, it will yield 3,200 cans of Mustang Stew. Multiply this by 90,000 horses and it will yield millions of cans of safe, nutritious food for all of those babies and lactating mothers.
John Radosevich
Wheatland, Wyoming
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A modest proposal — for mustangs.
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