Feral Horses in Miller Creek

The horses are awesome and a unique part of living in Miller Creek. Why would the county waste money studying what to do. Leave the horses alone, and save the tax dollars spent on this unnecessary study.

The folks who actually lived in Miller Creek for decades are saying the obvious: leave the wild horses alone. They’ve been thriving without your “expert” intervention for years. Horse owners may know how to saddle up, but that doesn’t mean they’re qualified to dictate what happens with wild or feral horses. The real issue? A handful of people who can’t grasp boundaries or basic parenting, and somehow that means we should evict the horses? Brilliant idea. Let’s punish the animals for human incompetence. Maybe next we’ll ban trees because someone tripped over a root. Here’s a thought: stop trying to fix what isn’t broken and listen to the people who actually know what they’re talking about.

leave the horses alone they are happy and healthy! they are healthy where as if you catch and move them there is potential for them to not go to a good place. they have been there for so many years. leave them be!

They haven’t hurt anyone and they’ve been around WAY before any of these new developments were. Leave em be.

Let them be, they were their first we just happen to take their land

Leave them alone. Otherwise just pave the entire county over and shoot all the wild animals so no one is inconvenienced. Spend your time solving traffic and budget issues that actually matter!

I appreciate Missoula County communicating openly about the Miller Creek horses. I’ve lived here for seven years, and these horses have wandered through my yard more than once. I have three kids, and we’ve always felt completely safe around them. For many of us, they’re not a nuisance, they’re a unique part of what makes this part of Missoula feel like Missoula.

I understand the concerns around safety and habituation, but removing the horses feels like the most extreme option, not the starting point. Before we talk about getting rid of them, we should be discussing mitigation, education, traffic-calming, and partnerships with wildlife and equine experts who can help the County manage them humanely while allowing them to remain part of the landscape.

Missoula has always balanced growth with preserving the character of this place. These horses are part of that character. I hope the County’s upcoming process includes real community input, transparent options, and a priority on non-removal solutions that respect both resident safety and the animals’ long-standing place in our neighborhoods.

Let them be.

The deer are WAY bigger of. Problem. Leave them alone. They aren’t hurting anything. They are on our property 50% of the time in the summer. Does it suck to clean up the poop or replace a sprinkler if they damage one - yes. But they are fine. Why does the County think they need to control everything, it’s getting ridiculous!

Leave them alone. They are not a problem. They are part of living in Montana.

Been there for FIFTY PLUS years! And SUDDENLY, this is an issue? STOP letting the FEW determine what the MAJORITY are fine with! It's 100% OUTSIDERS complaining about this! Us LOCALS are tired of decisions like this being made by OUTSIDERS

Given the multitude of issues in Missoula County I believe our city and county government representatives have much more pressing matters than sorting out how to manage a dozen horses roaming Miller Creek. Please…focus on the ‘feral’ homeless transient population, our drug infested neighborhoods, affordable housing, reducing taxes, the list goes on and on. These horses have got to be near the bottom of the priority list when it comes to governing Missoula County.

I’m a 20+ year resident of Missoula and have lived in the Lower Miller Creek neighborhood for 8 years. My family didn’t even know the horses existed until the last 2-3 years when they remarkably showed up in our neighborhood. Since then we’ve encountered the horses a handful of times and our family values every experience with them. I would love to hear feedback from Miller Creek residents because I promise you the vast majority of us believe the wild horses belong in our neighborhood just as much as those of us that have chosen to live here.

Post signs to create awareness. Inform the public to keep their distance. But let’s not continue California-izing the state of Montana or city of Missoula with unnecessary government intervention where it’s not needed.

#saveourmillercreekhorses

For years, I've been witness to the roundups by the BLM. Many horses are injured, mares and their foals separated, and many foals dying. After the horses have been corralled, many are transported to the kill pens, waiting for the trailers to take them to slaughter.
Leave the damn horses alone! Please!

These are wild horses, not feral. They do not deserve unfair treatment just because someone decided to build cookie cutter suburban neighborhoods in their ranging area. They are beautiful and a magic part of being a Miller Creek resident. Teach your children that like all things wild, stay away and do not pet, feed or mess with them. The driver who hit the horse was speeding. These animals are not like deer, darting out in from the waist high grass. They are slower, bigger animals. It is not hard to see them. Besides, anyone going over 35 in Miller Creek is asking for it. Just put up signs .

I live in Lower Miller Creek and urge you to leave the wild horses alone and focus on larger issues affecting Missoulians.

Leave the horses alone. They are nice to see in our front yard. They do way less damage than the deer, and it makes people smile. There aren't enough of them that it's a problem. This is the first year they've been around so much. We may not see them as much next year.

People, the difference between FERAL and WILD is huge especially in this case, these are FERAL and don’t fall under any federal jurisdiction not BLM they belong to Missoula City and County, no one wants to eradicate or get rid of, just quietly manage, you can read my opinion down below.
Sincerely
Paula F.

Obviously leaving the heard is instrumental to their culture and ours, foals at weaning (6 months) can be caught and adopted in a silent sale, individually stalled where prospective owners could view them indoors at a horse facility or the fairgrounds indoors like in a building like the old dairy barn, open air stalls would scare them terribly definitely put a min. bid of $700 or higher to weed out people who want a cheap horse and horse traders, with the money being put in horse account for future needs for them. All the horses that appeared on the news, were exceptionally well built and straight legged, and because they are half tame, quietly capturing the offspring in small spots and with just a few horses around would be the easiest and less trauma for all involved, I would love to have that buckskin mare, she looks like a blooded QH, and her color was excellent, but I’m too old now unfortunately, Missoula has a very unique opportunity to not only manage the animals but create bidding wars (I always paid good money for nice looking and well built animals such as these, eventually you could swap stallions out with another quality stallion! You could make this a real draw for buyers and those who just love horses, pictures of foals would spread like wildfire, the sky is the limit with them ( like the wild horses in Europe each fall, they are rounded up foals weaned and sold privately in sealed bids. They even sell yearlings…
Keep us posted on how it progresses.
Sincerely
Paula F.

A very simplistic question to a not so simple answer.
Asking out of curiosity.
Can some be adopted?

The horses should be captured and transported to either wildhorse island or the Pryor mountains. The provide a significant safety risk to themselves and to residents and it would not be fair for them to be involved in a fatal accident when it can be avoided.