Caught in the Spin: The Wild Horses of C.F.B. Suffield

by Dawn Dickinson

Feral Horses in Alberta

Although this book chronicles the total eradication of the feral horses at C.F.B. Suffield almost 20 years ago this issue is once again rearing its ugly head. Clare Tannas, a so-called “Range Inventory Specialist” has recommended the removal of all the wild horses in Alberta’s west country. He claims they could permanently damage the local ecology by overgrazing key rough fescue grasses. How 300 horses could be responsible for this when thousands of cattle are moved into the area by ranchers to feed during the summer months is difficult to fathom.

Out there in the grasslands a winter dusk draws close and the land is still. Shaggy-coated horses graze and move on what seems to be another plane of time; one that runs deeper than the endless arguments that fret the surface of human affairs. Only horses. Dark shapes through a fine mist of snow, lifting heads now and then to listen and watch. No distant roar of tanks maneuvering, no shells exploding, no wars or rumours of war. The Brits have flown like migrant birds across the Atlantic, to winter elsewhere. And the quiet season lies gently on these unfenced distances, where peace is so very much older than peacekeeping. - Dawn Dickinson

Wild or feral horses have roamed the grasslands of Alberta for what may well be over 200 years. These escapees from human control eventually filled, in part, the niche in the ecosystem that buffalo had occupied. In 1992, in response to a report about grazing impacts, Canadian Forces Base (C.F.B.) Suffield announced its intention of culling 500 of the 700 horses roaming the base. The culled horses were to be put for sale at public auction – in other words – most would go to slaughter. The inhumanness of this proposed cull led to an outcry from the public as well as a number of animal protection groups. One of these was Albertans for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (AETA), forerunner of Voice for Animals. In addition, Grasslands Naturalists of Medicine Hat pointed out in a letter to the base that the grazing report, the justification for the cull, was in error.

Dawn Dickinson of Grasslands Naturalists sets out in clear and beautiful prose the story behind the culling of the entire herd at C.F.B. Suffield and the steamrollering of public opinion by the Department of National Defense and the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). This book details how base commander Colonel Keith Eddy and acting head of CWS Tim Coleman ignored sound science, stacked committees, hid evidence, doctored minutes of meetings, lied to and deceived the public they were meant to serve.

Caught in the Spin is a fascinating book and a compelling account of the wild horses of Suffield and how they were betrayed by power struggles, deceit and politics.

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