Wild Horse and Burro 2026
Wild Horse and Burro articles for 2026
Speak up for Wild Horses before July 2 📣
The following is from the American Wild Horse Conservation:
The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing nationwide strategies that could shape how America’s wild horses and burros are managed for years to come.
Public comments close July 2.
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This is bigger than one roundup or one herd.
The BLM’s Programmatic Environmental Assessment could influence the tools and strategies used throughout the federal Wild Horse and Burro Program, including decisions about fertility control, helicopter roundups, population targets, holding facilities, animal welfare, and public transparency.
This is an important opportunity to ask the BLM to:
- Expand proven fertility control programs, including PZP
- Prioritize humane, on-the-range management
- Move away from routine helicopter roundups
- Protect genetic diversity and long-term herd health
- Reevaluate outdated population targets using current science
- Improve transparency and animal welfare protections
- Protect removed wild horses and burros from the slaughter pipeline
- Consider livestock grazing and other land uses when evaluating range conditions
You do not need to be an expert or address every issue.
The most effective comments are written in your own words. Share why wild horses and burros matter to you and which humane management approaches you believe the BLM should prioritize.
Submit your personalized comment before July 2.
Thank you for standing with America’s wild horses and burros.
American Wild Horse Conservation
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Clear the clutter and plan for what matters most 🌾
The following is from the American Wild Horse Conservation:
Spring cleaning often starts with closets and drawers, but it’s also a good time to organize the documents that matter most.
For many people, estate planning can feel complicated or like something to put off. In reality, creating a will or reviewing beneficiary designations can be one of the most empowering ways to protect your loved ones and reflect the values that matter most to you.
That’s why American Wild Horse Conservation offers free planning tools to help supporters take this step with confidence.
With our partner FreeWill, you can:
- Create or update your will for free in about 20 minutes
- Review your beneficiary designations to ensure your accounts reflect your wishes
- Explore simple ways to include the causes you care about in your long-term plans
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If you already have a will, reviewing your beneficiary designations is still an important step. Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and donor-advised funds often pass outside of a will, so keeping these designations updated can help ensure your wishes are honored.
Review your beneficiary designations.
Many supporters are surprised to learn that gifts through wills, retirement accounts, or life insurance policies can help protect the causes they love while costing them nothing today.
If you decide to include American Wild Horse Conservation in your plans, your gift can help defend wild horses and burros, protect their habitats, and advocate for humane management policies far into the future.
It’s a simple step today that helps ensure these iconic animals remain free for generations to come.
P.S. Already included American Wild Horse Conservation in your plans? Let us know so we can thank you.
A fresh start for your plans this spring
The following is from the American Wild Horse Conservation:
Spring is a season of renewal: a time to declutter, organize, and revisit the plans that help protect what matters most.
At American Wild Horse Conservation, we think about the future every day. Protecting America’s wild horses and burros requires long-term commitment, thoughtful advocacy, and a community of people like you who believe these iconic animals deserve to live free on our public lands.
This spring, as you review important paperwork, we invite you to consider a simple step that can bring peace of mind to you and help sustain the causes you care about: creating or updating your estate plan.
Through our free partner FreeWill, you can make or update your will in about 20 minutes. It’s a secure, easy-to-use resource that helps ensure your loved ones are protected and your wishes are clearly documented.
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You can also use FreeWill’s beneficiaries tool to review and update beneficiary designations for accounts like retirement plans, life insurance policies, and donor-advised funds.
Many people don’t realize these designations can override what’s written in a will, which makes this step an important part of keeping your plans up to date.
Review your beneficiary designations.
You’ll also have the option to include American Wild Horse Conservation in your plans. These optional gifts cost nothing today but help ensure that advocacy, habitat protection, and humane conservation efforts continue for generations of wild horses.
Spring cleaning isn’t just about tidying our homes. It’s also about making sure our plans reflect what matters most.
P.S. Already included American Wild Horse Conservation in your plans? Let us know so we can thank you.
A dangerous proposal just resurfaced.
The following is from the American Wild Horse Conservation:
For the second year in a row, a dangerous provision has reappeared in the President’s budget proposal.
If enacted, the FY27 budget language could open the door to outcomes for wild horses and burros that Americans overwhelmingly oppose:
- Allow the transfer of wild horses to foreign countries, including those with active slaughter industries
- Remove the long-standing ban on the killing of healthy wild horses and burros
TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to reject this proposal →
This should alarm everyone who cares about the future of America’s wild herds, Meredith. Last year, advocates like you helped stop similar language from moving forward. Together, we made it clear: the American public does not support slaughter, and we do not support sending wild horses out of the country to face uncertain and inhumane outcomes.
Now, the threat is back. And once again, Congress needs to hear from you.
AWHC is already working alongside partners at Animal Welfare Institute and bipartisan champions in Congress to ensure these protections are restored. But public pressure will be critical to winning this fight again.
The solution is not mass removal or slaughter. It’s humane fertility control, paired with responsible stewardship of our public lands — an approach that is proven, cost-effective, and scalable.
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We’ve done this before — and we can do it again.
Thank you for standing with America’s wild horses and burros,
American Wild Horse Conservation
This is the moment
The following is from the American Wild Horse Conservation:
The first roundups of 2026 have already taken place.
Wild horses have been captured.
Families broken apart.
Operations carried out with little time for the public to respond.
And now, a far larger number are still ahead. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to remove 14,830 wild horses and burros this year—many immediately after foaling season, when families are most vulnerable.
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Because once large-scale roundups begin, they move fast: Helicopters push horses to exhaustion as they chase them for miles, foals struggle to keep up, and horses of all ages lose their freedom forever.
That’s why AWHC exists, Meredith. We are:
On the Ground: Deploying observers to document roundups and expose the truth
In the Courts: Challenging unlawful actions and fighting for stronger protections
On the Range: Expanding humane fertility control to prevent future roundups
In Washington: Advocating for policy reforms that end this broken system
This work is urgent. And it’s happening right now. But it depends on the support of people who refuse to look away. Because what happens next—for this generation of wild horses—is still being decided.
Will you make a donation to power our work?
| DONATE NOW |
With gratitude,
American Wild Horse Conservation
Foaling season has begun
The following is from the American Wild Horse Conservation:
Right now, across the American West, new life is taking its first steps.
Foals are being born on the range—staying close to their mothers, learning how to move with the herd, experiencing their first days of freedom.
This should be a season of hope. But this year, it isn’t.
Because even before foaling season began, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) quietly carried out multiple “emergency” roundups—removing wild horses with little notice and limited oversight from the public lands they call home.
And now, a much larger wave is coming. The federal government’s 2026 plan calls for 14,830 wild horses and burros to be removed from the range this year.
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Foals will be born into active roundup zones, pregnant mares are at risk of being chased and captured, and families could be separated during the most vulnerable moment of their lives
We’ve already seen how this plays out. That’s why AWHC is already in the fight—right now:
- Documenting roundups the public is meant to miss
- Challenging unlawful removals in court
- Pressuring the government for transparency and accountability
- Expanding humane fertility control to stop this cycle at its source
But this work only continues with support from people like you, Meredith.
| DONATE NOW |
Because every foal born this season deserves the chance to grow up wild—not be swept into a broken system before their life has even begun.
With gratitude,
American Wild Horse Conservation