Dear Spartacus, I love the photo and the sentiment and I'd like to share a letter I wrote with/for my readers, because it seems we're like-minded on this!
WHAT GOOD ARE AMERICA'S WILD HORSES?
WHO: The federal Bureau of Land Management WHAT: is considering killing thousands of wild horses WHEN: about the time fiscal mismanagement comes home to roost WHERE: across the Western United States WHY: the Bureau was assigned to protect America’s wild horses in 1978
Thousands of children worldwide have asked me, in letters, emails and in person, to point something out to the government and other adults: killing is not protection. As the author of "The Phantom Stallion" a series of books about wild horses, I've taken these young readers' requests to heart and tried to sum up their five best reasons that wild horses are good for kids.
1. We identify with mustangs-- We know how it feels to be innocent and free. Though we don't want to give up food, parents and a warm home to be free, we admire them for it. Wild horses are part of our hearth language. Since humans first sat around campfires telling stories, they've told of wild horses' defiance in the face of capture. Do you want us to forget those stories?
2.Show us that MIGHT doesn't always make RIGHT-- BLM keeps saying it has the right to slaughter wild horses, but it hasn't felt like it yet. But now they might, because of money, and the horses don't deserve it, especially when the federal government, BLM's boss, is giving tons of money to the people who make our parents fight over money every single night. It is so cool that Madeleine Pickens is rescuing thousands of horses by using her might right.
3.Wild horses are good for keeping a "home on the range" -- Mustangs eat brush which could otherwise be fuel for wild fires. After eating those plants, wild horses spread the seeds in their poop. Anyone who sees or dreams about a herd of wild horses running free knows learns that not all land should be covered with houses, malls and highways.
4. Where mustang herds have to be smaller, use smart solutions--Don't let BLM bury its "mistakes." BLM knows contraception works on horses. There's a catch and release program for trout, so why not wild horses? Catch them, give them the contraception shot, and then turn them loose. Where the range is damaged by mining and sloppy recreational users, make them clean up their mess, just like we have to do.
5. Teach us that there's a good side to payback -- Horses carried us on explorations. They gave us wings, taking us places we could never have gone on our own two feet. They pulled our plows to help us eat. They fought our wars, running into swords and gunfire just because we asked them to, and we even used their bodies as barricades against our enemies. When you ask us to be loyal to our families and friends, then tell us not to get emotional when they’re killing horses, remember that.
6 comments:
SJ....I love the fact that you are including photographs! Nice.
Lori
Dear Spartacus,
I love the photo and the sentiment and I'd like to share a letter I wrote with/for my readers, because it seems we're like-minded on this!
WHAT GOOD ARE AMERICA'S WILD HORSES?
WHO: The federal Bureau of Land Management
WHAT: is considering killing thousands of wild horses
WHEN: about the time fiscal mismanagement comes home to roost
WHERE: across the Western United States
WHY: the Bureau was assigned to protect America’s wild horses in 1978
Thousands of children worldwide have asked me, in letters, emails and in person, to point something out to the government and other adults: killing is not protection.
As the author of "The Phantom Stallion" a series of books about wild horses, I've taken these young readers' requests to heart and tried to sum up their five best reasons that wild horses are good for kids.
1. We identify with mustangs-- We know how it feels to be innocent and free. Though we don't want to give up food, parents and a warm home to be free, we admire them for it.
Wild horses are part of our hearth language. Since humans first sat around campfires telling stories, they've told of wild horses' defiance in the face of capture. Do you want us to forget those stories?
2.Show us that MIGHT doesn't always make RIGHT-- BLM keeps saying it has the right to slaughter wild horses, but it hasn't felt like it yet. But now they might, because of money, and the horses don't deserve it, especially when the federal government, BLM's boss, is giving tons of money to the people who make our parents fight over money every single night.
It is so cool that Madeleine Pickens is rescuing thousands of horses by using her might right.
3.Wild horses are good for keeping a "home on the range" -- Mustangs eat brush which could otherwise be fuel for wild fires. After eating those plants, wild horses spread the seeds in their poop. Anyone who sees or dreams about a herd of wild horses running free knows learns that not all land should be covered with houses, malls and highways.
4. Where mustang herds have to be smaller, use smart solutions--Don't let BLM bury its "mistakes." BLM knows contraception works on horses. There's a catch and release program for trout, so why not wild horses? Catch them, give them the contraception shot, and then turn them loose. Where the range is damaged by mining and sloppy recreational users, make them clean up their mess, just like we have to do.
5. Teach us that there's a good side to payback -- Horses carried us on explorations. They gave us wings, taking us places we could never have gone on our own two feet. They pulled our plows to help us eat. They fought our wars, running into swords and gunfire just because we asked them to, and we even used their bodies as barricades against our enemies.
When you ask us to be loyal to our families and friends, then tell us not to get emotional when they’re killing horses, remember that.
Sincerely,
Terri Farley on behalf of her readers
Phantomstallion.com
Better not to find out.
Thanks for sharing, Terry.
I'm afraid now I'll just HAVE to read one of your books!
:)
sj
Good question and beautiful picture.
Here, here....
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