Our work at Wild Horse Education deals primarily with free roaming horses and burros under federal jurisdiction. When people hear the term "wild horse," in legal terms the free roaming horses on federal land are the ones being referenced. However, the public often uses the term to apply to horses under state and tribal jurisdictions. Often this confuses the public (and members of media) when it comes to how to take action or write a story.

As laws are debated in Congress, under Appropriations and other bills introduced, that will effect our wild ones for a long time, it becomes very important to understand those distinctions. 

State jurisdictions: These horses are on state lands and governed by local, state, laws. 

Tribal jurisdictions: These horses are the private property of tribes and live on tribal land. 

Federal lands: These horses are managed by federal land management agencies and live on public lands. Under federal jurisdiction we have free roaming horses managed my the National Park Service (NPS), United States Fish and Wildlife (USFWS), United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

It is important to remember that the BLM manages more wild horses than all other jurisdictions combined. 

When you see articles about debates in Congress on issues surrounding wild horses, the horses on BLM land are at the center of debate.