Wild Horses: The Destruction of the Largest Herd in Wyoming
October 27, 2010Wild Horses: The Adobe Town Wild Horses in Prison
December 6, 2010Wild Horses: A Message of Encouragement
Helicopter over 3 stallions in Adobe Town
This last year has presented numerous and daunting challenges in the fight to save our wild horses. Many people are feeling discouraged – that their voices are not being heard, and that is it is almost impossible to make a difference. I am writing today to encourage everyone who cares about America’s wild horses, and to ask you to keep up the fight.
Adobe Town horses, tired and sweaty from the relentless pursuit of the helicopter
Think about Wild Horse Annie, and how many years she devoted to saving our wild horses. At the time she started, none of these issues were in the public consciousness of our country. Today, thanks to the now thousands and thousands of people all over the country and all over the world writing letters. staging protests, calling their Senators and Representatives, giving interviews to the media, and using social media to get the word out, the issues surrounding wild horses on our public lands are much more widely known. I remember just a few years ago there were only a few dozen of us calling for an end to roundups.
Filly and Colt from McCullough Peaks - more alike then they are different
Wild horse advocates come from many different backgrounds and have many different opinions on how best to help the horses. I have had the privelege and opportunity to meet and spend time with advocates across the country who are all contributing to efforts to save our wild horses. I have been inspired by the people I have met. But we need to work together and try come together as much as possible. We are all united in our love for wild horses and in our desire to have them remain free. We must remember that THAT is the most important part.
McCullough Peaks stallion Washakie chasing a stallion away from his mares
The BLM is on the run. They are defensive and angry – just like a stallion driving a rival away from his mares – but not as beautiful! I have experienced first hand at the Adobe Town Roundup how truly unpleasant and hostile some BLM staff can be. All this means is that what are doing is working. We must continue to put pressure on the BLM to change their policies, to stop the roundups, and to be more humane in their treament of our wild horses. The public sentiment is on our side. Much of the media is as well. Social media is a powerful tool to get the word out and it is working against them.
Wild Family still free in Adobe Town stays together
This week, advocates from all over the country are having meetings on Capitol Hill with our Senators and Representatives, asking the Appropriations Committee NOT to approve the BLM budget for this year without a stipulation that their money cannot be used for roundups. The BLM is operating right now on a budget that has not been approved. We need to stop them in their tracks. http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/index.php/news-events-a-media/action-alerts/494-rein-in-blm-spending
Flint's colt and Firestorm's filly in the Pryor Mountains - the next generation
I have hope for the future, and I have confidence in the many people who are fighting as hard as they can to keep our wild horses wild and free. Thank you for all you have done and will do to help them.
Cloud's grandsonn Echo deserves to grow up wild and free in the Pryor Mountains
We need to keep the pressure on, and have faith that our efforts will ultimately make a better world for our wild horses. They need us to keep going.
My 2 McCullough Peaks mustangs remind me every day why I keep going
23 Comments
Hey Carol,
You know how I feel about the mustangs and how grateful I am that you are able to get out there as often as you do to photograph them. It seems that those in our govenrment are only intersted in controling everything rather than preserving any thing or our heritage right now. Hopefully through the images you take and others take there will at least be some references to the way things once was in our country.
These last fifteen or so years has shown us that our voices don’t matter much anymore but we still have the right to vote and instead of just voting for a party, we should look a little closer at who we elect. If we honestly desire to be heard, we have to keep removing those who don’t listen to the people as a whole and not just special interest groups.
We have not seen what was promised in the hype of presenting hope from past elections. Do keep up what you are doing and maybe people will wake up and take their vies to the voting booth rather than just wis those who are elected will do as they promised and that is to listen to the people and honor the laws that have been in place for a long time.
Take care and God bless,
Charles
Thank you for the write up, similar to the messages I’ve been trying to get across on my Mustang Meg page on fb, only you summarized it so much more eloquently. I look foreward to one day meeting you Carol. Thank you for what you do and the awareness you bring to our wild ones.
Never give up. Never give in. Never back down.
Sonya
aka, Mustang Meg
Sonja you know I’m right there with you & all who are fighting. I go day in & day out fighting & recruting people.
I’m really hurt by some news that I recieved from a life long friend. She & her father( old ranch hand) DON’T BELIVE BLM IS HURTING THESE HORSES IN ANY WAY & AGREE WITH ALL THEY ARE DOING! She believes that all pics. & videos are cruel jokes someone’s making up. She wouldn’t even believe me when I told her all about Blue Moons death & the wranglers negect to properly build a trap right on HER DOOR STEP. THEY LIVE IN BURNS, OREGON. She told me I better investigate! I told her I have, BLM & all.!
Well the good news is, Got others to join that I don’t know. I VOW NOT TO QUIT NO MATTER WHO LAUGHS AT ME OR HOW LONG IT TAKES!
HERE TO THE END
Well said Carol. I am not going to give up. Im goning to continue to do what ever i can to help our wild and domestic horses. It is our duty as Americans to do what we can and to fight the good fight for them all. It does get discouraging but you have to keep on keeping on. Sonya has it right never give up. Never give in and NEVER back down . Thank you and to all the others who are out there doing the work. I pray for all of you.
Lydia
Hi Carol! THANK YOU so much for your passion and dedication to saving the horses. Your tireless work and willingness to be out there in the field documenting the happenings of the roundups is critical to our effort. I have to have hope as well, even though this was a really difficult year. I am new to the fight but won’t give up easily! I am the one who started the Kids page on Facebook, and I truly believe we must engage the children in our efforts, especially those online and if we want to get the attention of media and the people in power, who will not be able to ignore the pleas of thousands of children from all over the country and the world.
I appreciate you so much, thank you for sharing your heart, your beautiful photos and your words with us!
Thank you Carol. Your work is fantastic. Our voices must be heard. If not by those who make decisions, then by those who do not know what is done to our mustangs and burros. The more people find out, the more momentum we gain for helping them.
Exposure and sharing is crucial – educating those who do not know. Most who find out the appalling truth, are angry and want to join ship. Please all do your part and never give up, never shut up and never stop.
Thank you.
Carol, your words strike a chord for so many right now. Scores of advocates have worked tirelessly in so many ways to have the voice of our wild horses heard and yet —- no response from the powers that be in DC. Very frustrating and can lead to people just giving up which is exactly the opposite of what must happen for our wild ones. We must never stop the fight for them as they have no voice without us.
You are so right when you say the BLM is feeling the pressure – they are tipping their hand on that point in a multitude of ways including the very ugly reception they are giving to the public who wishes to be engaged FOR our wild horses. While this is not comfortable, it is good, a sign that we ARE making a difference.
Thank you so very much for all you have done and all you are doing for our horses, for this iconic piece of our historical culture. You have been a champion for several years now and if you can keep up, so can all the rest of us. Please keep inspiring and sharing, we need you just as much as the horses do and just as much as they need all of us. God bless and keep you in this work.
Carol, thank you so much for writing this and giving some of us hope to continue the battle. I agree wholeheartedly with what Kathleen wrote…we are trying so hard to make a difference and have our voices heard and it seems to fall on deaf ears, and this does make people give up, turn away. We need to keep the pressure on and not give up but fight even harder. These animals are innocents in an ugly, greedy battle and we need to be the voice for them, before they are gone forever and only a distant memory.
Thank you for keeping up your fight and for your beautiful work….and for inspiring so many.
thank you for bringing this to our attention.and showing these wonderful photographs
incredible work you do…..i only hope we can make a difference and stop this!
as with all animals they have no voice of their own.
they put trust in us to help others to do the right thing even if it is against their human will and greedy nature and unfeeling spirit!
keep up the fight …is there a petition for us to sign?
Thank you for that, Carol.
We all need to hear it to keep fighting for the wild ones. I agree – in Idaho, the BLM feels the pressure. We must not let up.
I am inspired by your incredible passion, photography and advocacy. Weary and disheartened as I often feel, as disappointed I am with the current administration… I vow to keep going.
Although, I don,t live in the US,but in Canada, don,t worry, we see & hear, what goes on with these terrible-roundups! Its such a shame. Those wild horses sure don,t bother me & sure don,t bother anyone. They come and go, like the wind. They don,t hurt other animals, they don,t hurt people.WHY? Why, is BLM, being so rough with them? We know, greed & money is behide this, and its just Evil, if you ask me. Machinery takes over the old-fashion way of round-ups. Gee, it really looks like a war, image and its dangerous! Shame on this BLM, from us down here, and Hope we can all unite, to save these pretty animals and domestic, also. We don,t want Horse-slaughter, either, so, we work hard on our end, also. *Believe me*! Just a thaught from us who love horses, and care also,, to all of yous fighting, out there. (Qc) TKS, Merci.~~~~~Nov 20, 2010
I am so glad you sent out this lovely note and the images of the horses up-close, free, and happy. We see so much of the ugliness in our effort to change the government. I only became aware of the horse and burro abuse a couple years ago, but it has become my constant, earnest campaign. Now, wherever I drive, the images of the rogue BLM are shown on the windows of my little car and the plea to call to learn more is printed out for all to see. I carry flyers with me, too, and hand them to the curious. Thank goodness for the Internet and the ability to instantly expose misdeeds in visual form!
Thank you so much for this inspiring upper, Carol. I’ve been feeling pretty dismal of late myself. But, your words and those beautiful horses who need our help so desperately have roused me once again to keep fighting. We cannot let our horses down! Horses have ALWAYS been there for humans – now it’s our turn. They more than deserve all we have to give.
Thanks again!
I appreciate your love for horses but take exception to the exclusion of other’s desire for other animals and other uses. Most ranchers like most people love horses, cows, antelope, elk, and any number of creature that use open range. Why the hierarchy? Why not a balance? Why a horse above a longhorn or oxen, both of which were crutial to the developement of the west?
The BLM are not bad guys, they are professionals charged with the management of public lands to serve a great number of interests. Public lands are by law multiple use. Gold mines, gas wells, cattle ranchers, hunters, recreationists and others all have a stake. Should I who loves antelope with a passion write letters to congress condemning the number of horses which are abusing forage my favored animal could eat?
Or should I let the BLM just do the job we hire them to do.
I am not a rancher, or miner nor do I work for the BLM but I do live within walking distance of Ms. Pickens ranch.
Dear Ray,
I am actually asking for a balance – unfortunately our public lands are not being managed in a way that allows the wild horses to be a part of public lands – which are being managed to overwhelmingly favor the cattle and oil and gas interests – at the expense of wild horses. I do not believe that the BLM is capable of weighing all these interests and coming up with a fair and balanced solution – I have not seen it yet.
Carol, thanks your rational responce.
If one were to limit their information to horse advocacy sites you would get the impression feral horses populations were being reduced to nothing. That is not the case, what is being gathered are those in excess of what a good balance dictates.
I know of very few who want all the horses removed from public lands, Ranchers routinely ration cattle numbers based upon available rescourses either on their own or under the direction of the BLM. I am unaware of any request by an oil or gas interest to reduce the number of horses. Nor do I see a conflict between horses and gas wells.
The public relation attacks by horse advocate on other users and the blm serves only to make the management of these lands more difficult. The horses are doing fine, there is no point in causing us to hate them.
Ray, this just came out today from The Cloud Foundation, it is in “A Christmas Visit with Cloud” newsletter.
“At the current rate of removals, Dr. Caroline Betts, Associate Professor of Economist at the University of Southern California, “predicts rapid extinction in 11 years” of all wild horses and burros!”
I hope Dr. Betts is wrong.
Certainly, using that logic. If the cooling of fall weather continues earth will be -200F in 11 years.
The blm is gathering excess horses, they stop when numbers are met.
Thank you. I needed that. I’ll try and keep up the work, as your post really helps keep me going. I have rescues in my back yard and some at a sanctuary. I fight everyday to have our wild horses and burros RETURNED to their habitat, where they BELONG. I write, call, and email my Congressman and Senators, the BLM, Salazar’s office, etc., every week. One day, we WILL prevail.
Thank you Carol, you’re the greatest! Through this nightmare, you have given us the beauty and wonderful inspirtation for these absolutely majestic creatures. You are a gift to our beloved wild horses and to all who appreciate your time, talent and hard work, for our wild ones. You’re appreciated more than you know.
Thank you for the beautiful photos, encouraging words and dedication to the wild horses. It WILL make a difference.
For Carol and for everyone at the Cloud Foundation; Your dedication and love of horses wild and domestic are an inspiration to all of us. Having seen the PBS programs on Cloud and his family band in the wild I am deeply distressed by what is now happening in the West with the removal of our wild horses by the BLM and the subsequent sterilization of the remaining bands till there will be to few remaining to survive! What else is disturbing is how many horses are in holding pens and for how long till they are sold to the slaughter houses ! Heaven forbid. I am making donations and sending letters and emails. Keep up the fight for our beloved mustangs. Thank YOU all.
If a tiny strip of sand off the east coast can find a balance between endangered species (piping plovers, Delmarva fox squirrels), migrating birds, public education, public recreation, 4 x 4s, fishermen, sunbathers and surfers… and wild horses… surely the West can. Assateague Island (and the Outer Banks, which have their own Spanish Colonial herds) has struck an excellent balance, not perfect, maybe, but good. The northern herd is part of the Park Service (National Seashore) and is treated like other wildlife. Birth control is administered (with no natural predators, they would indeed overrun the island). The southern herd is managed the way they have been since horses first landed there; by residents rounding them up: with only the young ones (but not too young, you have to come back later in the year to pick up foals that were too young at the auction) sold off, and careful handling of rounded up horses. The wild ponies draw tourists to the island, pumping up the economy, creating jobs…and saving other wildlife, because most of those tourists end up at a Park Service program or three, learning something about the real nature of a barrier beach, and helping to keep it from becoming Ocean City south.
I got a wild black mare who’d spent 8 years running wild near Burns OR. She died at 29, having taught me more than most of my domestic horses. I hope experiences like this do not become a thing of the past.
Some recent articles in Audobon mag were quite negative toward wild horses; introduced species, non-native, invasive, “mutts”… (Yeah, some are “mutts” but many are true Spanish colonial horses, unique in their genetics) My experience with my mustangs (mine, those of friends), and with the wild ponies of Assateague has shown me: a. we need the genetic diversity (chosen by Nature, not by artificial showring standards), b. we need horses who have “horse culture”, have grown up in a herd with the natural behaviors, and social structures of a herd living on its own terms, c.we are the truly invasive species. I don’t hear anyone suggesting neutering and spaying of all humans… 😉
Strike a balance.