The United States has a problem: the Bureau of Land Management rangeland in the Western states can accommodate about 26,000 wild horses and burros, but there are currently about 32,000 roaming free and 37,000 in pens awaiting adoption. So when you add in the costs of maintaining the horses, in the neighborhood of $25 million annually, the BLM needed to take action.

On Oct. 7, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar proposed a series of initiatives to improve long-term management of the Mustangs and save the taxpayers some money.