Fun fact: Those wild horses are the descendants of domesticated horses who broke free. All members of genus Equus still native to North America went extinct thousands of years ago. Hm... I wonder how many generations it takes for "feral" to become "truly wild" again?
Domestication takes place on a genetic level, so it would likely take several dozen to several hundred generations to get to the point that they are distinct enough genetically to no longer be considered feral. Basically while these horses are called "wild," you could take one of their foals, raise it with other domesticated horses, and it would be the same as the domesticated ones.
All horses are feral, with the exception of Przewalskii's Horse which is usually treated as a different species. There's NO wild horses left, only ferals.
I'd suggest they're wild now. They don't socialize with humans. They live their lives on their own. The only human interaction is what you see above. They're not nasty, but they won't be coming over for pets either.
They're technically feral and always will be; feral just means "domesticated species returning to a wild state of living." There are no wild horses in the world (of the usual horse species), only Przewalski's horse which is usually considered an entirely different species
dumberthanyouraveragebear
Hey no horsing around near water!!
Whoisthisdoctorwho2000
Dude... free horsies... c'mon!!
sirdouglasbuttersworth
Oh to be a wild horse taking a cool dip on a hot day
cgt9803
Awesome
boringpigeon
Oh, this is where gandalf unleashes the water horses during the battle at the fords of isen; happens all the time.
oberkrom
Upon further reflection, wild horses _could_ drag me away…
tclothingw
Tealc
RetrogradeLlama
Not astonished... it's a regular thing there. A lot of the people are kayaking just to see them.
kimmmmmay
can confirm. i've tubed down the salt river a few times and ALWAYS saw the horses. it's part of the fun of doing it!
kaijuuGold
lots of horse powaa
Cyandvai
was just on the river yesterday, saw only 1 horse.
ch1ckensandw1ch
I feel so inspired
johnvilnis
A school of kelpies/riverhorses swimming past.
SnarfyMcSnarferson
A pack of wild equines could not drag me away
TheMayorOfTittyCity
shot I took ~10 years back of Red Mountain on the Salt River with the horses in the foreground
TheMayorOfTittyCity
bonus shot from Lake Pleasant on the other side of Phoenix of the wild burros with a coyote in the background
DonL9
"Yo! I'm swimming heeyah!" - horses, probably.
burningcouchwv
Wild wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Alsenoth
There's a reason why one of the local casinos is called the Wild Horse Pass Casino
Feralkyn
That gray is fucking stunning. Just a random unicorn with an invisible horn.
FattsoCattso
Someone post those snakes cruising down the river
iusedtodream
There goes the Wild West
TsubakiTragic
A river in Arizona with water in it... how quaint.
69Voltage
https://www.visitmesa.com/blog/wild-about-horses/
WellThatsJustWhatWeCallPillowTalkBaby
Goodbye horses, I'm flying over you...
https://youtu.be/SZkjka8WYE4?is=z1w61NFbUc1i_tMg
thedewser
fartharder
Oh
VincitQuiSeVincit
JohnnyLawlessEsq
fartharder
It's good that he had thicker skin by the time he had to work with Monk
Jaqdakloun
...what size?
TooSoonOldTooLateSmart
What do they know that we don't know??
Or
If you want him, come and claim him.
DevilsAdvocat
hey benni, look whose on the wrong side of the river!
ChazzK
Fun fact: Those wild horses are the descendants of domesticated horses who broke free. All members of genus Equus still native to North America went extinct thousands of years ago.
Hm... I wonder how many generations it takes for "feral" to become "truly wild" again?
Draygen
Domestication takes place on a genetic level, so it would likely take several dozen to several hundred generations to get to the point that they are distinct enough genetically to no longer be considered feral. Basically while these horses are called "wild," you could take one of their foals, raise it with other domesticated horses, and it would be the same as the domesticated ones.
Feralkyn
All horses are feral, with the exception of Przewalskii's Horse which is usually treated as a different species. There's NO wild horses left, only ferals.
RetrogradeLlama
I'd suggest they're wild now. They don't socialize with humans. They live their lives on their own. The only human interaction is what you see above. They're not nasty, but they won't be coming over for pets either.
Feralkyn
They're technically feral and always will be; feral just means "domesticated species returning to a wild state of living." There are no wild horses in the world (of the usual horse species), only Przewalski's horse which is usually considered an entirely different species
Feralkyn
In short, humans altered their genetics, they ARE domesticated, and they're regularly captured and sold/kept as riding horses.