horses and wildfire - Pitchstone Waters

Sign in Subscribe

horses and wildfire

A collection of 27 posts

How Donkeys Help Prevent Wildfires in Spain

horses and wildfire

How Donkeys Help Prevent Wildfires in Spain

Meet Catalonia's newest and furriest firefighters: a herd of 62 rescue donkeys.

Wildfire management via horses

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

The 2026 Ranger Road Fire Proves Livestock Grazing Alone Has Failed — And Opposing Wild Horse Rewilding in Unsuitable Lands Is Recklessly Negligent

The 2026 Ranger Road Fire has reignited debate over how America manages wildfire fuels.

America Is Repeating Brazil’s Amazon Disaster — While Systematically Destroying the Only Animal That Could Prevent It

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

America Is Repeating Brazil’s Amazon Disaster — While Systematically Destroying the Only Animal That Could Prevent It

This post argues that decades of livestock-focused land management and wildfire suppression have degraded public lands, while wild horses may offer a natural, low-cost solution for reducing fuels, restoring ecosystems, and improving resilience.

wild horse eating grass on a roadside

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

C.S. Lewis's 1944 Lecture "The Inner Ring."

The Wild Horse Fire Brigade offers a natural solution: horses graze the grass and brush on vacant wild-lands, and manage fuels that cattle avoid and that fuel extreme fires, creating safer landscapes without costly mechanical treatments or prescribed burns that often release even more toxins.

Wild Horse Grift song - thumbnail of a Youtube video

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

Wild Horse Grift

The song "Wild Horse Grift" is a powerful, truth-telling country-western style track that exposes the exploitation of America's wild horses by certain large "advocacy" nonprofits.

The Compelling Case: North American Wild Horses Survived The Ice Age In Splinter Populations And Are More “American” Than Bison, Elk, Or Deer

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

The Compelling Case: North American Wild Horses Survived The Ice Age In Splinter Populations And Are More “American” Than Bison, Elk, Or Deer

While most large mammals disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene (~11,000 years ago), multiple lines of evidence now prove that splinter populations of caballine horses survived the Ice Age and persisted into the Holocene in North America.

Wildfire (and RxFire) Smoke More Toxic Than Previously Believed

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

Wildfire (and RxFire) Smoke More Toxic Than Previously Believed

This is a game-changing moment for wildfire prevention and public safety.

William Simpson: Proposal Aims to Cut Costs and Improve Wild Horse Welfare

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

William Simpson: Proposal Aims to Cut Costs and Improve Wild Horse Welfare

William Simpson Proposes Wild Horse Plan to Reduce Wildfire Risk. Cutting Costs, While Saving American Lives.

Spain’s Wild Horses Help Prevent Wildfires But Survival Under Threat

Spain’s Wild Horses Help Prevent Wildfires But Survival Under Threat

Wild horses in Spain's Galicia region have played a key role in wildfire prevention by clearing undergrowth, aiding in ecosystem preservation. However, the herd has dwindled significantly.

Meet The ‘Firefighting’ Donkeys of Spain

horses and wildfire

Meet The ‘Firefighting’ Donkeys of Spain

Known as Doñana’s Firefighting Donkey Battalion, this unit is responsible for preventing wildfires in parts of Spain—all thanks to their seemingly bottomless appetites.

Gavin Newsom’s “Zone 0” Disaster: The Governor’s Latest Wildfire “Solution” Is a Deadly Farce

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

Gavin Newsom’s “Zone 0” Disaster: The Governor’s Latest Wildfire “Solution” Is a Deadly Farce

California Governor Gavin Newsom has just signed one of the most arrogant, ignorant, and outright dangerous executive orders in recent memory: the so-called “Zone 0” mandate.

Report On The Ineffectiveness Of Forest Wildfire Mitigation Measures: Insights From The Bootleg Fire And Scientific Principles

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

Report On The Ineffectiveness Of Forest Wildfire Mitigation Measures: Insights From The Bootleg Fire And Scientific Principles

If we truly want less wildfires and toxic smoke, we need to embrace the hard truths that are arguably being suppressed for the sake of wildfire profiteers

Wild Horses Can Help Prevent Forest Fires

Wild Horses Can Help Prevent Forest Fires

Horses don’t tear out the roots of plants while grazing, unlike cattle and sheep, says Simpson.

Northern California Wild Horse Non-Profit Owner Looks to Make Federal Change Through BLM

Wild Horse Fire Brigade

Northern California Wild Horse Non-Profit Owner Looks to Make Federal Change Through BLM

“Once you understand the benefits they give to the landscape when they’re in the right place, you have an ‘aha moment’ and see these horses can provide $500 million in value to American taxpayers.”

Fuel, Fire, and Wild Horses

Fuel, Fire, and Wild Horses

Wildfire continues to devastate the American West at increasing rates. As this video is posted, wildfires are burning across more than 768,000-acres of land in twelve Western states, and 500,000-acres in Canada. Ten fires are in Idaho, which has been under a smoke cloud for days.

Wild Horses Coevolved with Wildfire on The North American Landscape

horses and wildfire

Wild Horses Coevolved with Wildfire on The North American Landscape

Here is a good article with many valuable ideas on managing wild horses. These are controversial to say the least. Let us think about this issue holistically: Horses are COMPLEMENTARY to — not COMPETITIVE with — the wildlife, plants, and water of North America because these coevolved over the last 40 million

Prescribed Burns – Are Not The Silver Bullet Suggested For Wildfires

horses and wildfire

Prescribed Burns - Are Not The Silver Bullet Suggested For Wildfires

“Quoting the author of the article below, “Most unfortunately, it seems that the most effective method for managing grass and brush wildfire fuels, using large bodied herbivores, is being overlooked in favor of methods that can be monetized”. NOTE: this article was sent to us, and written by, Willian Simpson

Equilibrium / Sustainability — Wild Horses Could Help Temper Western Wildfires

horses and wildfire

Equilibrium / Sustainability — Wild Horses Could Help Temper Western Wildfires

Using so-called “problem” wild horses to reduce wildfire is an idea whose time has come. NOTE: this article was originally published to TheHill.com on August 2, 2022. It was written by Saul Elbe and Sharon Udasin. As a massive wildfire rages along California’s northern border, one rancher

Controlled Burn Turned Disaster – Again!

horses and wildfire

Controlled Burn Turned Disaster - Again!

“As discussed in the article below, it is only common sense to use animal impact from goats, wild horses and cattle to replace the missing wildlife that formerly reduced fire hazards in our wild places. Fewer fires and better habitat will increase wild animal numbers. NOTE: this article was was

Wildfires and Wildfire Prevention: What’s Working, What’s Not?

Fighting Wildfires

Wildfires and Wildfire Prevention: What's Working, What's Not?

Are controlled burns environmental ‘silver bullets’ or environmental disasters? NOTE: this article is being published with permission of the author. It was written by William E. Simpson II – full credits / reference below. Wildfires and Wildfire Prevention: What’s Working, What’s Not? Fire retardant chemicals are known carcinogens and pollutants