Project Mustang

FinBee TAC, over the last few years, has diversified our geospatial services into many different fields. This includes imagery and advanced analytics for civil engineering, utility corporations, assessor's offices, emergency management departments, and of course agriculture and conservation. While we continue to grow and take on new industries, we can't help but show our roots and tell our story.

Project Mustang commenced in October of 2022, where FinBee sponsored and adopted wild mustangs from the high deserts of both Utah and Nevada. If you are even slightly familiar with conservation in the West, you have probably heard about the issues surrounding the sheer number of wild horses and the degradation of wildlife habitat. This is highly political and a breeding ground for polarizing opinions. While we do think the politics are important, especially for the preservation and rehabilitation of our public lands, we have found action is what truly matters on issues like this. While adopting two mustangs is a very small action for such a big issue, we still see the benefit especially if we can spread the word to others and show that these horses have value, using some sweat equity of course. Most importantly, we must find a solution to ensure our public lands remain healthy for generations to come. These values are exactly what we were built on - to continue this only makes perfect sense.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting most people to go out and adopt a mustang, hop on its back, and pray for the best. However, I am suggesting we take a look at some of these problems and search for viable solutions. The number of wild horses in the Western states exceeds 80,000. Multiple federal, state, and private sources explain that about a third of this number is actually healthy and sustainable for our rangeland and wildlife. Another alarming but simple statistic is these numbers are growing at 10-20% rate each year. Do just a few simple calculations and we see that we will have a big problem in a short amount of time. Roundups are carried out each year in the west, especially in my home state of Nevada, and they have reduced the number of horses on our rangeland but sparked a contentious relationship with activist and conservationists.

The majority of these horses wander on Bureau of Land Management land with very few natural predators to manage their overpopulation. The BLM has since began rounding up and staging these horses in corals, to gain some control on their overpopulated numbers. Negative ecological impacts from the overpopulated herds began to arise and prompted even more round ups which, in turn, sparked debates about what was happening to the horses that were taken off the range. Today, we have the Wild Horse and Burro program which offers adopters $1,000 for horses that qualify for the program after successfully raising the horse for a year. This incentivizes adopting a horse or two and also requires the adopters to take good care of the horses.

Tso'apa Nake and Pal are the horses we chose to take home and start training. Tso'apa is from the Owyhee HMA in Northern Nevada and Pal is from the Sulphur HMA in Western Utah. Tso'apa Nake means "Chasing Spirits" in the Paiute language, Pal is just short for palomino. We were drawn to both of them for different reasons. Tso'apa is curious, not easily spooked, and ready to see what's around every corner. She was very easy to train and adaptable to all situations. Pal was a great looking horse that ended up being just as dependable, it took a little longer. I attribute that to his Sulphur background, as they are known to be a little more challenging to train. We started slow getting them used to our presence, progressing to touch, then halter training. It is more of a straightforward progression than I would have expected, just like building any other relationship, you trade trust for trust. Eventually all of the small steps added up and we were riding Tso'apa within 2 months. Pal, the much younger Palomino, was halter trained and more recently getting used to a saddle. Pal was only 4-6 months old when we adopted him and is around a year old at this time. He has some time before we hop on the saddle with him, but he is well underway. They have created a bond with one another that is fun to be around. Playful, slightly mean from time to time, but wild like they both know where they come from.

These horses will be used for packing and hauling in the back country and ranch work as needed. There are many great things about these horses that I have come to love. They are smart, sure footed, and resilient, much like their quarter horse cousins with a wild twist. This success has sparked future projects for us. It has allowed FinBee to grow and search for solutions to problems related to conservation in the American West. We are founded upon these ideas; it is essential to have companies and people continue to fight for conservation and the values that exist within it. As our own population and expansion makes an even greater impact on the environment around us, people with different ideas and thought processes will be the difference.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.