Join us in celebrating America’s iconic wild horses by watching “The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses,” available starting March 2 at pbs.org and on the PBS app.
Out of concern for what the future may hold due to dramatic changes in Washington and the plan laid out in Project 2025, which calls for the culling of wild horses and burros, we hope to nourish a broader appreciation of them and a better understanding of the challenges that they face on our public lands.
We are asking that you watch and tell your friends about the “The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses.” The documentary received great reviews at film festivals and on public television. Now it’s going to be available to watch for free!
The streaming premiere coincides with National Horse Protection Day (March 1) and Wild Horse and Burro Week (March 2-8), which is centered around the March 5 birthday of the late Velma Bronn Johnston, also known as Wild Horse Annie. She led the public effort resulting in the passage of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burro Act, a law providing a measure of protection for wild herds that were vanishing from the West.
We will add action items to this page as needed. Watch our social media or see our Take Action page for updates.
You can help!
- Please post the link for the film — https://www.pbs.org/show/the-mustangs-americas-wild-horses/ — and urge your friends and followers to watch and share it.
- The film will be available to watch starting March 2 at the link above or on the PBS app on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TVs, Chromecast, Android TV, Google TV and Vizio Smart TVs.
- Share our posts about the film @returntofreedom on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok and Bluesky.
- Please tag @returntofreedom and @themustangsfilm and use the hashtags #mustangsfilm and #wildhorseconservation.
A BIT OF BACKGROUND
In the more than 50 years since the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burro Act, the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service have tried to control wild horse populations by conducting controversial helicopter roundups and removals.
As of March 2024, the BLM estimated that there were more than 73,520 wild horses and 13,955 burros on designated Herd Management Areas it oversees in 10 Western states.
Sadly, there are now nearly as many — about 66,000 wild horses and burros — no longer roaming free but instead living warehoused in government corrals or on leased pastures at ever-greater cost.
The future of mustangs — a symbol of freedom that has inspired generations around the world — now hangs in the balance.
We at Return to Freedom strongly believe that humane oversight of wild herds and holistic management of public lands are possible, but it will take all of us to ensure a better future for America’s wild horses.
ABOUT THE FILM
“The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses” is an engaging, award-winning documentary that introduces audiences to wild horses, the remote rangelands where they live, and people working to help them in different ways all across the country — including here at Return to Freedom’s American Wild Horse Sanctuary.
Robert Redford, Patti Scialfa Springsteen and Jessica Springsteen executive produced the documentary. It features songs by Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson as well as an original song written by Diane Warren performed by Blanco Brown.
The film’s streaming premiere is a wonderful opportunity to help spread the word about the mustangs roaming free on our public lands!
Wild horses on the Onaqui Mountains Herd Management Area in Utah. Photo by Meg Frederick.