Wild Horses
of the West

If you landed here because of the recent wild-horse debate, start with a few numbers.

The full Wild Horses of the West research hub is still under construction. In the meantime, these two graphics help put the current debate in context.

How many horses are we actually talking about?

Federally protected wild horses are only one part of the much larger U.S. horse population.

Breakdown of the U.S. horse population, including domestic and free-roaming horses
Breakdown of the U.S. horse population · August 2026 · Steppelands Foundation
One important distinction A free-roaming horse is not automatically a federally protected “wild horse.” BLM and U.S. Forest Service horses covered by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act are a specific legal category. Tribal, state, private, and other free-roaming horses may fall under very different rules.

How many U.S. horses go to slaughter?

The export pipeline has fallen sharply from a decade ago, but it never disappeared after domestic horse slaughter ended.

Year Mexico Canada Total
2014105,37540,410145,785
201584,93840,670125,608
201679,24129,472108,713
201765,93012,27378,203
201870,90810,56881,476
201953,16210,48663,648
202029,9666,91936,885
202118,2925,13923,431
202521,4303,69825,128

Source: Animal Welfare Institute, using USDA data ↗

Read the slaughter-policy argument ↗

The full site is coming.

Wild Horses of the West is being built as a research and information hub on ecology, management, federal and tribal policy, history, data, culture, and perspectives that are often missing from the national debate.

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