America's Wild Horses

SAVING AMERICA'S WILD HORSES

And the Lord God said to (IYOV) JOB: 

"Did you give the horse its strength?

Did you clothe his neck with a mane?

Did you make him able to leap like a locust?

His majestic snorting is frightening!

He paws fiercly rejoicing in his strength,

Then charges into battle;

Mocking at fear, afraid of nothing.

He does not shy away from the sword.

The quiver rattles against his side,

His gleaming spear and javelin.

Frenzied and eager, he devours the ground,

Scarcely believing the shofar has sounded.

At the sound of the shofar he whinnies;

As from afar he scents the battle,

He cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds."

IYOV (JOB) 39: 19-25

For years I have been following the plight of America's Wild Horses and for years this issue has brought unbearable pain to my heart. What has been happening and what continues to take place with the removal of America's Wild Horses from their habitat is tragic and heartbreaking to say the least. Viewing the video footage on-line of the brutal and inhumane treatment of these amazing family oriented creatures can only be considered a tremendous injustice.  

I have been writing letters, sending emails and telephoning the BLM, government officials and President Obama's office to plead with them to stop the Wild Horse Roundups but the travesty continues as I write this post. As a horse trainer and horse lover and as a decorated Vietnam Combat Veteran I do not appreciate being in this position of what seems to be utter helplessness. It seems that no matter how many voices in our country cry-out to stop the round-up and imprisionment of our Wild Horses our voices continue to fall on deaf ears. 

Just over one hundred years ago two million wild horses graced our ranges in this country. Now, over forty-four thousand of our wild horses are in holding pens across this country and the present figures state that less than twenty-five thousand wild horses remain in the wild today; and those numbers are being constantly reduced at this time. 

I remember a film of a true story I viewed some hears ago titled "In Pursuit of Honor" starring Don Johnson. This film portrayed Calvary horses caught in the cross-hairs of a military that was suddenly going mechanized and the solution put forward was to simply exterminate the horses since they would no longer be needed or deemed necessary by our government. This is a tragic account of how incredibly insensitive the powers that be can be. This film brought tears to my eyes and outrage to my heart. I recommend this film to any horse lover desiring to witness a historically accurate account of gross governmental insensitivity and a total lack of respect for this dignified species.

Each day when I awaken to go out and take care of my own horses and to run my little ranch here in Central Oregon I desparately attempt to fight-off the invading thoughts of what is happening to our Wild Horses. If I manage to forget about the plight of my equine champions for even a moment there can be a little peace that temporarily rests upon my heart yet this peace never lasts very long. At such times I suddenly realize that I cannot forget what is taking place and when I do manage to find temporary peace in fleeting moments I am left feeling like I have deserted them and the tragedy of what is happening to them. And then suddenly when I find the issue invading, once again, the deepest areas of my heart I again experience deep physical pain that is almost unbearable. I live with this pain daily and am often times unable to sleep for nights on end.

During these painful times I pray to the Lord to give me the strength to act in whatever way necessary in order to aid America's Wild Horses. What is happening to our Wild Horses, even as I write here today, is not unacceptable and it is time for true Americans to act swiftly. Horses are sacred creatures as all of creations creatures are however, in some way that I cannot really put my finger on, our Wild Horses are not only the embodiment of honor and grace and dignity but let us not forget that they embody the Spirit of free people in America and everywhere. As we stand by and allow the round-up, abuse and imprisonment of these majestic creatures free people everywhere will lose a part of themselves that is never again to be regained.  

If there is no cause great enough to take a stand for living becomes a passionless, pointless and empty existence of self-indulgence and self-centerdness.

LET US DO THE RIGHT THING AND COME TO THE AID OF OUR WILD HORSES AND BURROS! THEY WAIT FOR US TO DO THE RIGHT THING.