trueCOWBOYmagazine Michelle Rose May 2010

magazine

may 2010

Wild & Free...Andrea Maki

Return to Calico Mountain The Economy, Horses & Craigslist

A rose by any other name

Michelle Rose

Heard roun’ the waterin’ trough Doesn’t it seem a bit to quiet for you?

The calm before the storm, if you will. I can feel it, smell it, damn near taste it.

And I don’t like it.

Big issue on slaughter threat looms large and we must keep those emails going in daily to stop this very misrepresented and misunderstood inhumane and often brutal end to our mighty horses.

Did anyone catch Jill Starr of Lifesavers on the tube? Keep emailing the station, KCET/LA to repeat the show again, heck, ask em to air it at least once a week. Can’t hurt. Squeaky wheel gets the oil.

James Kleinert has been riding the trails with his film and screenings in Los Angeles, D.C., New Mexico and he can come to your town anywhere if you can host him and his movie...have film, will travel.

Lots of good stuff inside this issue. Once again I want to thank all the generous, talented, compassionate folks who help tirelessly to save our mustangs. And, humbly, a big gracias from me, your mild mannered reporter, publisher and mustang advocate to all who helped with our May issue of tCmag. Vivo Los Mustangs!

Besos & rockets.

Calamity

Publisher Equine Angle unique marketing & PR Advertising EMK online 818 642 4764

Editor & Creative Director Calamity Cate Crismani Cover/Pictorial Photographer Bristol MacDonald Contributing Photographers Craig C. Downer Jay Fishback Andrea Maki Marcia Moss Alicia Nation Contributing Writers Craig C. Downer Jay Fishback John Holland Andrea Maki Marcia Moss

VIVO LOS MUSTANGS! SUBCRIBE TODAY Paypal online Apple iPhone download Print On Demand (POD) Advertising EMK Links available at www.truecowboymagazine.com

“Please take a moment now to go to this site and donate to OUR wild mustangs survival! www.ispmb.org Greatfully appreciated, Amigos!� Calamity Cate.

FEATURES 12 Wild & Free...Andrea Maki 22 Return to Calico Mountain...Craig C. Downer 28 The Economy, Horses & Craigslist...Marcia Moss 32 Our May Buckle Bunny….Michelle Rose 42 Slaughter ~ The Director’s Cut?...John Holland 46 The Unforgotten Love...Jay Fishback 50 Back in the Saddle...Jamie Hicks 54 Wild Horse Annie & the Last of the Mustangs ...David Cruise & Alison Griffiths

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Wild & Free...

Andrea Maki Andrea Maki is a contemporary visual artist. Born on the west coast in 1966, she graduated from NYU in 1988 with a painting degree. Her art career spans over two decades, exhibiting and in collections nationally. Maki's work reflects her (our) relation to universal energy, life and oneness and her deep connection with the animal world. Maki's mixed media work is intimate, yet interactive. Following her 1999 wild horse series, she created "The Wild Horse Project" in 2005 to promote support and awareness, stemming from time spent with the wild horses at Return to Freedom.

While it is an ongoing project, it originated with a self-produced 2006 wild horse calendar featuring her photos and recognizing RTF, greeting cards and artwork to support the cause. Since, she continues to spend time with the wild ones both in the wild and at other rescues, actively pursuing the preservation of the wild horse.

Travels to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2002 with author Peter Matthiessen and a small group, had also resulted in a selfproduced 2003 Arctic calendar featuring her photos, to promote support and awareness for this sacred place. In both instances these self-created projects included Maki personally gifting (550) signed calendars with personal notes to every Member of Congress as gifts of awareness and requests to act with compassion and understanding.

Currently she resides in Seattle and is working with Doro Lohmann to help the wild Challis mares and their young.

Visit www.andreamaki.com for more. 206.954.7733

www.ahdf.org

www.equinewelfarealliance.org

The Let Em Run Foundation is a non-profit organization in partnership with government, businesses and the community committed to the protection and preservation of the wild mustang and the heritage of the American West.

Call 775~847~4777 www.letemrun.org 501(c)3

Return to Calico Mountain

By Craig C. Downer On Monday the 29th of March, 2010, and a certain mixture of dread and anticipation in my heart, I revisited the Calico Mountain Complex of wild horse herd management areas (HMA’s) where large-scale, draconian helicopter roundups had just deprived 1,922 wild horses of their liberty.

Accompanying me were Dr. Don Molde, a long-time animal advocate from Reno, who generously drove his 4WD vehicle, and Mrs. Terri Farley, of Verdi, Nevada, popular author of The Phantom series of books depicting wild horses.

Along with the animal defense group In Defense of Animals, both Mrs. Farley and I are Plaintiffs in an ongoing legal suit that has been brought before federal district court in Washington, D.C. this past December to try to halt the Calico complex wild horse helicopter roundups.

Forewarned of the terrific winds and oncoming storm, we set off from Reno undaunted a little after 7 A.M., first taking I-80 to Wadsworth then turning north on State Highway 447. As the day progressed and particularly in the afternoon, violent gusts dropped down from a 200+mph jet stream blast that was assailing this part of Nevada, causing murky dust and alkali clouds to rise thousands of feet in gigantic and unhealthy, ominous clouds.

After skirting the vast, dry Winnemucca Lake on 447 for nearly an hour, we finally arrived at the stark desert town of Gerlach, whose buildings are strung out along a parallel highway and railway line.

Gerlach is an old mining and ranching center where an Italian American by the name of Bruno has operated a thriving restaurant-bar-hotel for over a half century. Refreshing ourselves here, we finally set out about 8:30 AM. proceeding NE on State Route 34. This route skirts the east flank of the impressive Granite Range that is the southernmost wild horse HMA in the Calico Mountain Complex of five herds: Granite Range, Calico Mountain,

We had been enthralled by the pure beauty of the fineboned, light-colored, black-maned andtailed horses present in the high altitude meadows we visited.

These appeared to be true Spanish mustang types, bearing many Warm Springs, Black Rock West, and Arabian features, like the dishBlack Rock East. The populations of shaped face, the large eyes and flaring nostrils. Yet even way back the these five wild horse HMA were then, these horses were having to cruelly gutted by BLM contracted put up with the machinations of lohelicopter roundups starting in late December, 2009, and ending on Feb- cal ranchers who had over-fenced the Granite Range wild horse herd ruary 5th, 2010. area, blocking off vital water Though I carefully scrutinized the sources from access by the horses.

South East side of the Granite Range HMA for wild horses, none were In those days, BLM officials were visible and no signs encountered and trying to open up waters for the wild I feared that this once magnificent horses here, but since that time, the mustang population had been sent situation for these wonderful horses into a tailspin, reduced to very low has only become more adverse and numbers that would be genetically reports from locals with whom I renon-viable. I remembered this herd cently spoke indicate a large-scale from as far back as summer of 1980, disappearance of these mustangs, when I toured the range in an official especially from the southern and 4WD Chevy LUV pickup and accom- central portion of the Granite panied by a cheerful BLM wild horse Range. It seems the ranchers are specialist for this area. This was getting their way nearly 100%, esback in the days before Ronald pecially now that BLM officials side Reagan’s election when BLM offinearly 100% with them in their hoscials displayed much fairer attitudes tile demands. Indeed, these officials toward the wild horses and their adare themselves largely drawn from vocates during Jimmy Carter’s presi- the ranching community. dency. go to next page

I had observed Lightning last October, playing with his palomino son and sporting with some of the mares and stallions, carefree and free. Fellow biologist Bob Bauer and I had spent a few hours with four associated bands in the valley here.

Those were halcyon times, and Toward midday, we proceeded north the horses seemed undisturbed by along Route 34, entering Leadville our presence. Perhaps they sensed Canyon and the southwestern part of the Calico Mountain HMA. No sign of that we were their friends, not their enemies. the strapping pinto stallion was seen here, though for years I had always Tragically, nearly all of these spotted him at the entrance to this canyon. Proceeding north, it was not until wild horses have now lost their freedom and languish in that glowe neared the old Leadville mining rified concentration camp alluded works that a band of four wild horses to above and located several was spotted. This consisted of three miles north of the town of Fallon buckskins and a sorrel who were very on private land where public wary, beating a hasty retreat out of viewing is limited to two hours sight except for the young sorrel who remained recumbent, perhaps due to an on Sundays – yet this has been cancelled today, Easter Sunday, injury sustained during the recent and no alternative day has been roundup. given. Recently a serious outbreak of pigeon fever has been Several colorful bands that I had obobserved and threatens to spread served for years were conspicuously absent as I scoured the vast mountains throughout the ca. 1,800 wild horses being held in these pens in and valleys of the Leadville and old Swingle Ranch areas to the north of the crowded conditions. band. I knew that the stunning paloAs mentioned before, 1,922 wild mino with the dramatic white zigzags horses plus unborn ones being on his left flank named “Lightning� carried in the womb had been was missing, as I had recognized him helicopter gathered by the Cattor in the new Fallon wild horse holding family livestock gather company facility located on the private lands of based out of Nephi, Utah. the Broken Arrow corporation.

Of these130 have died, many as aborted foals – signaling a death rate of around 7%. Some, particularly younger horses, have had their hooves worn off or nearly so while being chased over rocky ground by helicopter, and were or still are in extreme pain.

animating and enhancing the character of this awesome and majestic region, most of which lies within the 1.2-million-acre Black Rock Desert-High Rock CanyonEmigrant Trails National Conservation Area that is visited by thousands each year.

Many have just fallen into a decline After peering through my binocuafter losing their families and their lars for twenty minutes, I spotted a freedom. band three miles off to the SE at the I have made weekly trips to visit base of the 7.281-foot Sheep Peak. these horses often accompanied by I had observed this band of several the diligent humane observer Elyse beautiful, steel-gray horses since Gardner and by other sincere, caring 2006 and was comforted to realize and usually quite knowledgeable wild that at least one band had escaped horse advocates; and the horses seem the monster clutches of the Cattoor to appreciate the fact that some of us capture team. With muted, landhumans still have a heart for them. scape-blending colors, perhaps these These wonderful horses are a grace to horses had escaped detection. But America and contribute positively to how I missed the colorful paints and the ecosystems they inhabit, but they pintos (orange-brown and white, or have been victimized by biased offi- black and white), the rich mahogacials and a tradition of public lands nies, and the startling, flaxen-maned exploitation consisting especially of palominos who had so graced this livestock interests who target them sweeping landscape and such a for discrediting and elimination, for short time ago. It was hard to bebeing in the way of their version of lieve that now they were practically progress. all gone.

It is my hope and the hope of so many that the appointed federal judge hearing our case will soon release these wild horses back to their now largely empty herd areas in the Calico complex. Here they have every right! Here they contribute so much that is truly positive in nature,

Early in the afternoon we veered off of Route 34 to the NE on the rough jeep road to High Rock Lake.

I glanced to the north, into the Little Rock Canyon wilderness, scouring the Butte Springs Hills in hopes of catching a glimpse of the lanky, go to page 60

2010 BLM GATHER SCHEDULE This gather schedule is subject to change

State, Agency, Herd Management Area Complex, Start Date End Date # Planned Gathered, # Planned Removed species NV BLM Calico Mt Complex 1/28/09 2/28/09 3186 2806 Horses CONCLUDED...1,922 CAPTURED‌39 DEAD UT BLM Confusion 1/15/10 1/21/10 200 185 Horses POSTPONED CA FS McGavin Peak 1/24/10 1/29/10 20 20 Horses NV BLM Eagle (WC/DLC) 2/7/10 2/20/10 727 643 Horses POSTPONED CO BLM West Douglas HA 2/21/10 2/28/10 60 60 Horses AZ BLM Cibola-Trigo 3/4/10 3/10/10 90 90 Burros NV BLM Hickison 3/2/10 3/15/10 92 75 Burros AZ BLM Alamo 3/11/10 3/14/10 35 35 Burros AZ BLM Black Mountain 3/15/10 3/20/10 100 100 Burros NM BLM Bordo 6/1/10 6/10/10 147 147 Horses NV BLM Owyhee 7/1/10 7/18/10 620 520 Horses OR BLM Stinking Water 7/1/10 7/6/10 100 60 Horses OR BLM Cold Springs 7/11/10 7/16/10 156 81 Horses NV BLM Moria 7/20/10 7/22/10 72 72 Horses UT BLM Winter Ridge HA 7/18/10 7/24/10 200 200 Horses UT BLM Hill Creek HA 7/25/10 7/31/10 250 250 Horses NV BLM Lahontan 8/1/10 9/30/10 68 58 Horses NM FS Jicarilla 200 200 Horses CO BLM Piceance/East Douglas HMA 8/6/10 8/16/10 280 240 Horses CA FS Devils Garden 8/18/10 8/24/10 200 200 Horses UT BLM Frisco 9/1/10 9/3/10 100 70 Horses UT BLM Conger 9/4/10 9/8/10 110 80 Horses CA BLM Twin Peaks 8/3/10 9/14/10 156 135 Burros CA BLM Twin Peaks 8/3/10 9/14/10 1000 649 Horses CA BLM Buckhorn 8/3/10 9/14/10 596 536 Horses NV BLM Antelope 8/20/10 9/20/10 932 746 Horses NV BLM Rock Creek 9/22/10 9/30/10 527 427 Horses OR FS Murders Creek 9/22/10 9/28/10 100 100 Horses Winter 8387 6972 Summer 6131 5071

TOTAL: 14,518

12,043

The Economy, Horses and Craigslist

By Marcia Moss Blair’s Equine Rescue Inc

The Economy has been hard on pretty much the entire population of the United States. People have lost jobs, been laid off and lost their homes. This has not just affected people but also the animals. There have been a larger number of animals turned in to Shelters because the owners can no longer care for their pets or they have lost their place to live and have no other option but to give them up.

As a rescue I have seen first hand what the economy has done to horse owners. Many are giving up their beloved companions because they can no longer afford them. The price of feed, hay and Vet care has gone up. I have had numerous calls and e-mails where the owner has lost their job and they want to do the right thing by finding another home for the horse.

Or the horse has a medical problem and the Vet tells them that they will have an extensive bill and they can’t afford to get the horse help. Some are contacting rescues like myself. I commend these people for trying to do the right thing for the horse no matter how heartbreaking it is for them.

There are quite a few that are trying to sell their horses by putting them on-line. Now this is where Craigslist comes in and it worries me. Back in January we were contacted about a listing for a Registered Palomino Mare for 100.00. In the ad it was stated that if not sold the owner would take her to our local sale. The kill buyers frequent that sale and I knew pretty much what her fate was.

A FaceBook friend sent us the money and we bought her. Candy is a gorgeous horse but she does have severe trust issues. We will never know what this horse went through before we got her. All we can do is try to win her trust and hopefully find her a good loving home one day.

Since. then I have gotten on Craigslist and there are horses being given away or sold for near to nothing. There are registered horses of all breeds listed; some are even former racehorses. Some ads have pictures with descriptions. Some horses already look like they are on a downhill slide with their weight. This is just what the kill buyers are looking for cheap, free horses and people that are in a bind. There have even been some ads listed as people wanting free horses to give them a good home. When you question them the ad mysteriously disappears. Unfortunately there isn’t anything illegal about placing an ad asking for free horses. Even though it’s a good chance that it is a Kill Buyer there is nothing that we can do.

This is my advice to those who sell their horses. Don’t be afraid to ask the buyer questions. You can even ask for references just like the rescues do. Go visit where the horse is going if at all possible. You can let the buyer know that you would like to come visit from time to time. That way you know that the horse is being taken care of. If financially possible let them know that if it doesn’t work that you will take the horse back for a fraction of the sale price. If the buyer gets offended then that should be a red flag. Most who are in the market for a horse and are genuine will not be put off by these requests.

There are so many horse owners that don’t realize that our horses are ending up on slaughter bound trucks. Then there are those who just don’t care. They look at them as just an animal and that they don’t have feelings. We need to be aware of what is going on and stop the kill buyers where it hurts them the most…. our horses. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that they just send the sick and old horses to slaughter. This is far from the truth. They want the young healthy ones because they can get more on the pound for them. Yes there are some sick and old ones that do go to slaughter but this is not the norm. Or I should say they are not suppose to sell the sick horses but this does happen and it happens quite a bit. Regardless no horse should be slaughtered. We do not raise our horses as part of the meat group.

This is cruel beyond words and if you don’t believe me you can go online and watch a slaughter video yourself. Unless you don’t have a heart this will stay with you forever.

Last but not least if you find yourself in dire straits don’t be afraid to contact your local Equine Rescue. Though many are full they still may be able to help you place your horse through other means. We have always put pictures of available horses with the owners contact information on our site. We don’t have to actually have the horses to be able to help.

There are also other Organizations out there that use horses for Special Needs Children as Therapy horses. There are options out there do your research first before you try to sell your horse on an on-line site like Craigslist. You may not like what happens to your horse if you do.

a rose by any name is still…

Michelle Rose Born and bred in La Jolla, California, our May Buckle Bunny, Michelle Rose, could barely walk when she put on her first pair of ice skates and was hooked. Rose figure skated competitively for 15 years and ultimately reached the Junior level when she began her studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara leaving the sport of skating behind, but not the passion for it.

To her good fortune, Rose fell in love with another sport; trail riding in the bountiful hills of the Santa Barbara wineries. “Being out in nature on top of a beautiful, gentle horse is a breathtaking experience”, smiles Rose, “and then to top that off with a vintage bottle of Cab, life doesn’t get much better.”

Graduating with a BA in film studies and Spanish, Rose moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting while honing her craft and furthering her studies at the American Musical & Dramatic Academy. Featured roles on CSI:NY and on the Conan O’Brien Show keeps her working in television but Rose is also a stunt woman and can be seen in this summer’s Stallone release. In between this hectic schedule, Rose performs in the Waterworld Stunt Show at Universal Studios in Hollywood. “I’ve been fortunate,” she smiles, “but I’m still waiting for my figure skating lead role!”.

“The cool thing about Los Angeles is that you can be in a hectic city, in a crazy industry, and within a few miles in the country, on a horse”, Rose says, “horses give me peace of mind. I can’t conceive that someone would hurt one, nevertheless, round them up, pen them and slaughter them inhumanely. Their backbones are literally the reason we are here. They are engrained in our culture.

Besides can you imagine a John Wayne film without a horse?”

No, partner, no we can’t . But we can imagine our May Buckle Bunny on one! Gratitude to Michelle Rose.

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Slaughter -The Director’s Cut?

By John Holland Equine Welfare Alliance The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) recently released hidden camera footage from an investigation that took place at the two largest horse slaughter plants in Canada, Bouvry Exports and Viande Richelieu.

So horrific are the conditions depicted at both plants that they have prompted Bill desBarres, Chairman of the Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada (HWAC) and a long time proponent of horse slaughter, to declare he believes the footage was fabricated by groups opposed to “any animal agriculture”.

Bill desBarres and his organization have repeatedly praised the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) and its inspectors for their diligence in assuring that horses are treated humanely at the slaughter plants and his organization lists the CFIA as a “resource partner” on their web site. The Horse Welfare Alliance appears to be nothing more than a front for the horse slaughter industry.

CHDC's Eastern Region Director, Shelley Grainger said of the footage, “The evidence provided compelling proof that puts into question the effectiveness of the assembly-line slaughter of horses. The evidence demonstrates that both the facilities in Alberta and Quebec fail to meet humane slaughter standards.”

The footage is incontrovertible. In a court of law it would stand the test of cross examination as evidence.

Now, faced with such absolute evidence of the true nature of the slaughter process, desBarres has elected to use the Nixon Gambit and make the outrageous suggestion that the video is somehow fabricated. “One has to wonder,” says EWA’s John Holland, “does desBarres believe the CHDC tortured horses in staged mock-ups of the plants or does he think they hired Steven Spielberg to produce a digital fantasy?”

“The evidence obtained on the footage at both facilities was random – these instances we see of horses suffering terribly happened on those random days, and we can be certain this treatment happen every day.

As there are only two government-approved methods of stunning horses in Canada - captive bolt gun and rifle - and both methods have been shown to cause prolonged suffering in horses, it is evident that these animals cannot be slaughtered humanely in today's slaughterhouse assembly lines" says Grainger.

Grainger’s conclusion is supported by similar under cover footage from a Mexican slaughter plant and appalling photos of horses at a US plant released by the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) under a response to a citizen request through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. The revelations are even more problematic for the CFIA who has yet to respond publicly to findings of a study published recently in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology showing that horses given the banned carcinogen Phenylbutazone had routinely slipped through the inspection process and been slaughtered for human consumption.

The CFIA has been more circumspect than the HWAC, indicating only that such actions are unacceptable and that they will investigate the abuse issue.

Shelly Grainger commented, "As of July 31st, all slaughter bound horses in Canada must have an Equine Identification Document (EID) verifying they have not received Phenylbutazone, Clenbuterol, or various other drugs and steroids. As well, there is an extensive list of medications that require a 6-month withdrawal period."

The dual controversy comes as bills have been introduced into several state legislatures in support of horse slaughter. “They are just ignoring reality,” says EWA’s Vicki Tobin, “They can’t keep ignoring the drug concerns, the horrific conditions at the slaughter plants and the cruelty inherent with the entire slaughter pipeline. The only states that want horse slaughter are those who have never experienced it.”

It is time to take back our horses from the predatory slaughter industry.

EWA urges all horse owners to contact their legislators and insist that the federal horse protection legislation be passed immediately. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

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The Unforgotten Love

By Jay Fishback A good friend once told me his grandmother’s family was considered middle class because she was able to ride the family horse from their farm to the plaza in Santa Fe. To my friend’s grandmother, the horse was a symbol of status, something to be cherished. Today, too a large extent, horses are considered a nuisance to society pinnacled by reports of mustangs shot and killed in Nevada for no reason other than for fun.

Once the iconic symbol of the Wild West, wild mustangs and horses are now corralled into a pen of recollection.

Fortunately, a revival is underway to change the current treatment of mustangs. In a world that has lost track of these magnificent creatures, a national campaign to save them has been underway since the BLM announced, in 2008, they were considering euthanizing over 33,000 horses in their long term holding facilities. The Unforgotten Love is a documentary photography project about Alicia Nation, founder of the New Mexico Chapter of the American Mustang and Burro Association, who keeps the passion of horse ownership alive and currently works with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to help educate people on wild horse management. Nation saw a need for immediate action and left for the BLM facility in Colorado with a trailer to adopt a couple of horses. As she watched the men load the horses into her trailer, she could see the fear in the horses eyes. Witnessing the horses harassed by yelling, chasing and slamming gates would set up the adoption process for failure from the start. Frightening the horses gave them little reason to trust or choose to associate with humans. She knew something had to change Wild horses have little understanding of a pleasure ride or even relaxing around humans. Nation was determined to demonstrate that a nonprofessional horsewoman, without prior wild horse experience, could safely transition wild horses to domestication. Her mission is to educate potential adopters and promote compassionate, practical and ethical solutions for wild horse management. At Shaking Wind Ranch, Nation’s current barnyard, she cares for her four domestic horses and three mustangs. Nation uses a natural and holistic approach that invites the wild horses to be willing partners.

She rarely offers food as treats or rewards for good work and is careful to avoid introducing behaviors, like reaching for handheld food, which could teach a horse to bite. Nation sings and lavishly praises the mustangs for standing quietly for saddling.

The horses respond to encouragement and having things explained without rushing and pressuring. There are no grudges, punishment or whips, just clear leadership and redirection when they do not understand. Nation takes the necessary time and patience to work with the mustangs at their own pace and safety. The payoff for the extra effort is a deep bond of friendship and a willing equine partner.

The trusting alliance between Alicia Nation and her horses has been key to the success her project. For more information or if you would like to make a donation please visit www.shakingwindranch.com nmmustangs@gmail.com

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BACK IN THE SADDLE

By Jamie Hicks

Today’s horse market is at an all time low, with an estimated 100,000 unwanted horses in the USA looking for homes. It has become apparent to us that there is no way to RESCUE ourselves out of this surplus horse situation. With horse neglect and abandonment on the rise, we believe that proper population control is one of the missing links to solving this problem. What better way to help control the unwanted horse population than by stopping it at its source, with castration.

Since the average cost to geld a stallion is $300-$500, many horse owners are forgoing the procedure simply due to the cost. This results in many stallions going un-gelded, thus contributing to the large number of unwanted horses. Back in the Saddle Project (BITS) was founded with the intent to be a pro-active approach to horse neglect & abandonment, not simply another horse rescue. We believe that through our efforts we can help the horses by educating horse owners on the many issues that face them today, the largest of which is overpopulation. Therefore, BITS set out to make it affordable by offering gelding procedures for as low as $50 to horse owners.

As a relatively new organization, the Back in the Saddle Project’s Low Cost Gelding Clinics have been a tremendous success. We have gelded 24 stallions in our first 8 months of operation in part by hosting Low Cost Gelding Clinics and by procedure sponsorship with donated funds. We set a goal to geld 100 stallions in the year 2010, with the intent to reduce the number of unwanted horses in our area. We have our work cut out for us.

Our past two clinics have taken place at The Shiloh Foundation in Auburn California. Cheryl Rankin, founder, was happy to allow us access to her state of the art barn, since she knows firsthand the problems associated with irresponsible breeding. Each clinic has the capacity to geld between 10-15 horses thanks to our generous equine veterinarians, Dr. Jennifer Dewey DVM, owner of Bear River Mobile Vet in Grass Valley, and her colleague Dr. Jen Jeske DVM. We are fortunate enough to have solid group of volunteers from our BITS family along with several students from the UC Davis

Veterinary School lending a hand. Together we are striving to be a solution to the problem! We are fortunate enough to have solid group of volunteers from our BITS family along with several students from the UC Davis Veterinary School lending a hand. Together we are striving to be a solution to the problem!

Individuals who qualify to bring a horse(s) to our clinics can be either from an approved equine rescue or stallion owners who cannot afford the cost of gelding. All stallions must have two descended testicles, be in good health and at least 4 months of age. Thankfully many horse owners share in our concern as reflected in the fact that we currently have a 30-horse waitlist. Without continued support in the form of private donations, we will not be able to meet the demand. We are looking for both monetary donations and equine veterinarians in surrounding counties who can donate procedures to our cause. With help, the number of unwanted horses we can save through our program is infinite!

While we applaud and appreciate the proper breeding of our nation’s finest horses, we believe the unwanted horse population is a result of irresponsible breeding. Many of the horses being indiscriminately breed today are faced with a life of health, conformation and re-homing issues. Without proper altering, they will continue to breed a new generation of horses with no homes. We know that low cost gelding alone will not solve the surplus horse problem; education to horse owners is also needed. One of our supporters, Kathy Hall said it well "Keeping a stallion can be expensive and dangerous. Raising a foal is even more expensive." We encourage horse owners to breed with integrity in an effort to improve the quality of the breed and understand that papers alone do not make good breeding stock. If we can reduce the number of mares being bred we can shrink the number of available horses which will in turn add value to those on the market. By working together, we can turn this horse market around and improve the future for the horses.

About the Author: Jamie Hicks, President and Co-Founder of Back in the Saddle Project, has been passionate about horses since a very young age. Together with Co-Founder Deb Steward, she hopes to make a difference in the lives of horse owners and their horses. To find more information about BITS and their other programs visit www.backinthesaddleproject.com or you email Jamie directly at Jamie@backinthesaddleproject.com

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www.equinechia.com Buckaroo Leather Products, the brand to demand is absolutely the perfect thing to say about the bitless bridle the Brand Family sent me for Raider. Not only is it the highest quality, supple leather, but it is also very attractive and by Raider’s snappy response, comfortable. Raider is an 8 year old former racehorse and pulled all the time on the bit...seemed painful to me...so we went bitless, and in class, with the Buckaroo Leather beautiful bitless bridle and reins. In black, of course, but available in brown also.

Visit them online to see their find selection of tack and gear www.buckarooleather.com

Wild Horse Annie & the Last of the Mustangs

By David Cruise & Alison Griffiths An excerpt After Velma Johnston discovered a truckload of brutalized mustangs bound for a rendering plant she resolved to find out as much as possible about wild horses in the West. In the process she stepped back into an era when catching mustangs was viewed as a romantic pastime.

Velma found books by admirers and students of the wild horse, authors such as the famous Texas folklorist and mustanger, Frank Dobie, who opined that there were plenty of dumb men in the world but he had never come across a dumb mustang. “No one who conceives him as only a potential servant to man can apprehend the mustang,” he observed. “The true conceiver must be a true lover of freedom – a person who yearns to extend freedom to all life. Halted in animated expectancy or running in abandoned freedom, the mustang was the most beautiful, most spirited, and most inspiring creature ever to print foot on the grasses of America.”

Other mustangers wrote fulsome and self-aggrandizing accounts of their escapades; a few offered poignant descriptions of an era and a vocation that were receding into history by 1950. Wild horses had been chased and captured from Mexico to Canada for over three centuries. Most old time mustangers had at least a grudging respect for their prey. Many were professionals whose livelihoods depended on capturing as many horses as possible, but the animals had to be in good condition or they couldn’t be sold.

A few mustangers became celebrities, their exploits and record numbers of captures admiringly reported in the popular press. Former buffalo hunter Buffalo Jones reinvented himself as a flamboyant mustang showman in the tradition of Buffalo Bill Cody and in 1912 he staged a mustang chase through the streets of New York City.

To be a successful mustanger, a man had to know the habits and understand the instincts of wild horse herds. “We had to use our heads because the fuzztail sure used his,” wrote cowboy and novelist Will James in one of his 1920’s bestsellers.

Part of the wild horse’s canniness, according to professional horse runners, was a sort of moccasin telegraph that alerted the herds to danger. “[Horses] will gossip about these things,” wrote author Walter Goldsmith in 1944.

There were grave consequences to underestimating mustangs. “You never knew for sure about the stud,” advised Herman Smoot, who chased wild horses in the hills outside Carson City in the 1920s. “Sometimes when he saw you coming he would lay his ears back and charge up to you, maybe fifty feet or so just to bluff you while his mares took off…. He then usually turned right around and flowed after them.. That was one type. I’ve seen others: they’re rare, leave their herd and trot up to you like some friendly horse wanting to have its nose rubbed. Then, when they were close enough, they’d explode in a lunge that stopped your heart. My god! You don’t know fright until you have a stud towering over you with hooves and a gaping mouth almost big enough to swallow you.”

The most intriguing mustanger of any era was Charles “Pete” Barnum, dubbed “King of the Wild Horse Catchers” by Life magazine. Little is known of his early life other than he grew up in the Dakotas, the son of a federal Indian agent, and attended college at some point. Barnum was in his late twenties when he arrived in Reno around 1904. He knew horses but he didn’t know mustangs, so he threw in with other horse runners to learn the craft.

Early in Barnum’s career in what he called “the truest sport and finest business in the world,” he earned a reputation as a maverick while attempting to capture a particularly elusive palomino stallion nicknamed El Rio Rey. The stallion and his herd were chased for eighteen miles by relays of riders. First the foals dropped off, followed by the lactating mares and finally the weaker males. Only El Rio Rey and four other horses were left by the time the final rider, Hank Connors, took up the chase. .

The palomino was still fresh enough to show Connors his tail. Rather than admit defeat, an infuriated Connors viciously spurred his saddle horse until he was close enough to aim his .44 revolver. Just before he fired, Connor’s horse jumped a pile of brush and landed in a hole, snapping its front legs. When Connor hit the ground, his cocked gun fired, killing him on impact. Barnum and the other riders discovered the corpses of horse and rider.

“Poor Hank,” one of the men said after a lengthy silence.

“Poor horse,” snorted Barnum, then pointedly reined his horse over to Connor’s fallen mount where he observed a separate moment of silence.

Dobie, J. Frank, The Mustangs, (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1952), 72.

James, Will, Cowboys North and South, (New York: Scribner, 1926) 200.

Goldsmith, Walter, “Wild Horses and Outlaws”, Western Horseman, NovemberDecember, 1944.

Amaral, Anthony, Mustang: Life and Legends of Nevada’s Wild Horses, (Reno, Nevada: University of Nevada Press, 1977),56.

Barnum, Charles, “How I Trap Wild Horses”, Sunset Magazine, August, 1908.

A percentage of sales proceeds will be donated to the International Society for the Preservation of Mustangs and Burros. www.ispmb.org

The Extreme Mustang Makeover comes to Horsetown, USA. NORCO TRAIL CHALLENGE OFFERS MORE THAN $9,000 Trainers from six states take on cross-country event

The Extreme Mustang Makeover will return to Norco, Calif., May 1416, 2010, and with it comes one of the must unique and challenging equine competitions in the country as trainers and their wild horses will compete for an estimated purse of $9,250. Tickets are now on sale for $16.50 at www.extrememustangmakeover.com or $20 at the door for the event freestyle finals May 15. All other events are free. Proceeds benefit the Mustang Heritage Foundation.

More than 30 trainers from six states will compete in Horsetown USA at the Extreme Mustang Trail Challenge. Mustangs and trainers will be asked to take the competition along trails in the foothills and through downtown Norco where they will encounter obstacles such as getting the mail and crossing creeks.

"The Extreme Mustang Makeover Trail Challenge is one of the favorite events of the year and allows the public to see these gentled wild horses at their very best," said Mustang Heritage Foundation Executive Director Patti Colbert. "What’s even better is the public can see these horses from the streets of Norco or hike up into the hills and watch them perform on the trail."

An event highlight will be held Friday evening May 14 when Ray Arris and Hail Yeah, Norco's official mascot, will take on Extreme Mustang Makeover Western Stampede Champion Wylene Wilson of Queen Creek, Ariz., in a Mustang "Smackdown" competition. This event is free to the public

. Mustangs were picked up by trainers at the Ridgecrest Regional Wild Horse & Burro Corrals in Ridgecrest, CA, in early February and will have had approximately 90 days to gentle the animal selected for them by lottery. The purpose of the competition is to showcase the beauty, versatility, and trainability of these rugged horses that roam freely on public lands throughout the West, where they are protected by the BLM under Federal law. The BLM periodically removes excess animals from the range to ensure herd health and protect rangeland resources. Thousands of removed animals are then made available each year to the public for adoption. All of the animals involved in the "Makeover" competition will be available for adoption May 16.

Adoption fees will be set by competitive bid with initial fees being determined by the level and quality of training each horse has received. To qualify to adopt, one must be at least 18, with no record of animal abuse.

In addition, adopters must have suitable facilities and can adopt no more than four animals. Adoption applications may be obtained and approved on the spot.

The Extreme Mustang Makeover is powered by Wheaties FuelTM and sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, Western Horseman magazine, Martin Saddlery, Vetericyn, Smith Brothers, Gist Silversmiths, Equestrian Singles and Daily 72.

Cont. from pg 25

muscular, sixteen hand high, olivecolored stallion and his colorful band that I had observed in October of 2009. Scouring the landscape for nearly one-half hour, I did not spot a single band here, whereas before at least three had been detected.

To me, a very empty landscape lay before me. Before it had been filled by the lively and alert mustangs.

A grim reminder, however, of the violent helicopter roundups suddenly caught the corner of my eye. Lying on the south side of a “non-WildHorse-Annie” cattle guard in a ditch lay the recently stripped skeletal remains of a wild horse. Though coyotes, vultures, ravens and other scavengers had been rapidly reducing this body, the blood was still a vivid red around some of the leg joints and the time of death easily fell within the time of the helicopter roundups that had mainly occurred in January.

These remains were certainly not present this past October, and it is very probable that it was the helicopter roundups that had caused this panicked horse to run inadvertently into the “non-Wild-Horse-Annie” cattle guard, i.e. one without rebars between its rails.

Through these gaps, hooves can pass and get caught, breaking the legs of their unfortunate victims, causing their gruesome and painful deaths.

Annie was aware of how some unscrupulous sorts chase horses into cattle guards with the malicious intention of bringing their terrible demise.

Concerning man’s inhumanity to animals, during my investigation of the Valentine’s Day wild horse massacre of 2006, I learned that four horses had been gut-shot in the Calico Mountain HMA. This was in order to score high kills for a hunting competition. The dying, bleeding horses drew scavengers that hunters then shot in order to win prizes for the most varmints killed.

For the animals involved and especially for the horses, this whole recreational fling was an agonizing bloodbath.

I observed the coyotes that had been shot at this site. Only their lower mandibles had been removed as proofs of kill for the contest.

Early on in the history of the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, during the 1970’s, the federal government was more sympathetic and merciful toward the wild horses responding favorably to Wild Horse Annie’s strong urgings to adopt the humane regulation of installing rears in all cattle guards in or around any of the approximately 350 wild horse and burro herd areas on USFS or BLM land where the law legally protected these animals.

It is a discredit to the presidential administrations of the 1980’s and to subsequent administrations that this very important regulation has not only been forgotten but reversed. Consequently now in and around nearly all herd areas, wild horses and burros have to contend with these death traps. It is also particularly telling that during the inspection required in gather areas by BLM officials for hazards to the horses before helicopter roundups, these death traps go uncorrected – though I can hardly believe they go unnoticed. It seems that with the record budgets BLM has been receiving from Congress, much more attention would be paid to correct these inhumane structures as well as to remove abandoned barbed wire fences, into

which I have observed the helicopters to have driven wild horses, e.g. Little High Rock HMA wild horse helicopter gather, September, 2006.

To make my point concerning the cattle guard perfectly clear: the sawed-off leg bone of the horse who had so unfortunately perished shows how persons had extricated this horse’s body from the cattle guard by sawing off its leg clean through the bone due to the hoof’s being stuck below the railings (see photo), hopefully after his spirit had mercifully departed this world. This whole scene gave the three of us the shudders as we proceeded NE toward the High Rock Lake.

After a few miles of ambling along over the rocky terrain in 4WD, we came upon a meadow area and were able to detect a few fresh signs of wild horses in the form of droppings and tracks. I recalled from my trip in here last October the sighting of a statuesque black stallion standing at the edge of a bluff to the north and silhouetted against the light blue sky decorated with luminous white clouds.

I hiked around the meadow near the Little Smokey Creek, but saw no horses. The wet muddy meadows had affected the road and caused us to turn back here, but before our departure we were finally

rewarded by observing the muscular black stallion, alone as before, marching stalwartly though forlornly toward the spring.

Driving back to Route 34, we proceeded north and finally were able to observe a few near and distant wild horse bands at the northern end of the Granite Range and the Butte Spring Hills. These horses were in good shape, but justifiably very leery of people and keeping a safe distance from our vehicle and from us.

this time.

Though two BLM law enforcement agents were assigned to the case and an unprecedented $15,000 reward was posted for the apprehension of the culprit(s) in towns around the site of the crime, such as Gerlach, Nevada, and Cedarville, California, to date no one has been charged.

Ominously, the reward posters were repeatedly torn down when posted in the town of Cedarville.

All totaled this day, we observed 41 wild horses in areas where I knew the bands to inhabit and where before we could easily have encountered three to four times this number. Though BLM’s WinOn the way back later in the afternemucca District Manager Gene noon, Don Molde spotted a handsome Seidlitz and his wild horse specialwhite horse I had observed in 2006 ist Jerome Fox estimate that ca. while investigating the illegal shooting 600 wild horses still remain in the of four similarly light colored horses. five wild horse HMA’s composing As already mentioned, this horrendous the complex (whose population has crime occurred on St. Valentine’s Day just been gutted by 80-90%), our of 2006. Evidence pointed to the culrecent foray casts doubt that even prits very probably being hunters this many remain in these vast engaged in a hunting contest during

legal HMA’s totaling 550,000 acres.

But even if this number remains, this would be the equivalent of only one individual horse for every 917 acres of HMA territory. This is a near emptiness and signals a true devastation of a once healthy wild horse population. These herds had been thriving here in spite of the crimes against their members. They were not doing any damage to their habitat, but rather enriching and enhancing such, contributing wholesomely to soil building, plant seed dispersal and germination and concomitant food availability, water retention and availability, fire reduction, and, hence, to the survival of so many symbiotic plant and animal species.

With these species horses and their kindred have co-evolved over thousands of generations, millions of years, right here in their place of origin and cradle of evolution: North America. And while so Doing, and of necessity, these species have come to help rather than to hinder each other. For this reason, it is no lie when the Wild, FreeRoaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 in its preamble states: “… wild, free-roaming horses and burros … contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.” (Public Law 92195)

These animals truly deserve to live free upon the land of their origin and ancient through recent ancestry – and moreover upon the land where their future and greater destiny still calls!

Telephone: 775-901-2094.

Email: ccdowner@yahoo.com

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