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Eric, you are correct that free-roaming horses are more accurately described as "feral" than as "wild."  The ecosystems in the western US have changed a great deal in the 10.000 years since horses were a native and "wild" species here.  Horses adapt very well, and tend to out-compete other rangeland species, as well as damage the land itself, if their numbers are left unchecked.  That's another "symptom" of a species that is not native or "in synch" with its environment.

 

Heidi

     What do you (the collective you) consider a horse's "natural

environment"?  I know that I have always tended (without really

putting much thought into it) to consider the Western states as their

natural environment.  However, if I remember what I was taught in

primary school (back in the days of chalk and slate), the horses that

currently inhabit the western states are really ferral horses, and

are not native to that area.  So, Are there any truly "wild" horses

left in the world, and what is their natural environment?  Can the

ferral horses (or any long term domesticated animal like cats and

dogs) ever really be considered "wild/natural" after thousands of

years of domestication?

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