Army says nay to 700 feral horses roaming Louisiana base

Herds of feral horses are roaming on thousands of acres in Louisiana where soldiers conduct intensive training, posing a danger and a nuisance to troops at risk of being kicked, bitten or unpleasantly surprised by random piles of manure, Army officials say.

“Sometimes training has to be halted while they shoo horses out,” said Kim Reischling, spokeswoman for Fort Polk, a 198,000-acre base about 20 miles from the Texas state line.

The officials are trying to find a way to deal with the approximately 700 “trespass horses,” and are holding a meeting today to hear input from residents and animal rights groups, among others.

Most of the horses can be found on about 48,000 of the 90,000 acres of forest land that the base uses for training, said Jim Caldwell, spokesman for the 604,000-acre forest.

Roundups are difficult because the horses spend much of their time in the forest, officials said. In addition to presenting a nuisance for the soldiers, they also put a damper on local hunters’ efforts, according to Caldwell.

“If you plant wildlife foods for deer or turkey, the horses are right on those foods because they’re fertilized, and more nutritious.”

Reischling said one problem is what the horses leave behind: “horse manure in the areas used by soldiers.”

Reischling said a roundup in 1993 snared 41 horses, which were placed with two local ranches. Another in 2000 placed only eight with new owners.