Wild Horses Run Free... Don't They?

“… the Angel of the Lord descended… A wind whirled toward him, scoring red sand with its feet, scattering the dust with the blast of its nostrils, screaming with ferocity. Jibrail stayed the thundering cloud with his outstretched arm and grasped the fullness of it with his hands… The wild element condensed in Jibrail’s hand and by the majesty of the Living God emerged as the steed of the desert – the Drinker of the Wind.” ~ a Bedouin conception of the creation of a Horse; Carl R. Raswan

I know I said last week that I’d be posting some of the research I did for my work-in-progress. But I’ve been reading about the wild horses in America and wanted to do a post to highlight their plight.

UPDATE 08 JUNE 2018:
The US House of Representatives yesterday approved the use of barbaric, dangerous and very inhumane sterilisation procedures on wild horses. “This type of cruelty should not be inflicted on wild horses and burros when BLM (Bureau of Land Management) can’t even prove overpopulation exists in a court of law.” ~ Freedom4Horses.
This declaration by Simone Netherlands, president of the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, isn’t an easy read, but people need to know what these beautiful creatures are going to be subjected to.

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love horses. I used to say when I grew up, I wanted to be a horse; that’s how obsessed I was. For me, horses symbolise wild, abandoned freedom.

Although I’ve never been to America, I’ve always wanted to see the wild horses roaming free. Next best thing, I watch them on tv and follow organisations like the Cloud Foundation.

“A thousand horse and none to ride! –
With flowing tail, and flying mane,
Wide nostrils never stretched by pain,
Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein,
And feet that iron never shod,
And flanks unscarred by spur or rod,
A thousand horse, the wild, the free,
Like waves that follow o’er the sea,
Came thickly thundering on,…” ~ Lord Byron, XVII, ‘Mazeppa’, 1818

I’ve come to realise that not all see horses in the same way. The very organisation that’s supposed to be acting in their best interest – the Bureau of Land Management – is doing all it can, it seems, to wipe them out.

‘Lawmakers are told again and again that there is a “wild horse problem.” The truth is that wild horses have been mismanaged by the BLM, which clings to an antiquated, inhumane and expensive system of helicopter roundups and warehousing of wild horses and burros despite the existence of safe, proven fertility control vaccine…’ ~ ‘Return to Freedom.’

The entire article on Return to Freedom’s website is an eye-opening read.

As is this, on the Cloud Foundation’s website – ‘BLM Scrambles to Write New Management Plan’.

But there are other ways, a more humane management plan that can be used instead – ‘The Cloud Foundation, the American Wild Horse Campaign, and 80+ Groups Release Unified Statement Against Horse Slaughter’.

At the end of the day, I guess it all comes down to money; wild animals have no profit, so replace them with something that can make a profit – livestock.

“When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.” ~ Cree Prophecy

That is no way to treat any living creature, especially one that has been so inextricably linked to human history and advancement.

“Wherever man has left his footprint in the long ascent from barbarism to civilization we will find the hoofprint of the horse beside it.” ~ John Trotwood Moore

'Napoleon Crossing the Alps' ~ Jacques-Louis David

As I don't live in America, I am severely limited in the ways I can help; when I’m able to, I donate. And I am grateful that my recent contribution was able to help Grey Oaks Equine Sanctuary save a beautiful mare from the kill pen.

If you live in America and you want to help these magnificent creatures, please visit the Cloud Foundation and Return to Freedom, and others – they have links to the various ways you can help, including writing to your senators and representatives.

“His is a power enhanced by pride, a courage heightened by challenge. His is a swiftness intensified by strength, a majesty magnified by grace. His is a timeless beauty touched with gentleness, a spirit that calls our hearts to dream.” ~ Unknown.

Surely there’s no reason for any of this. Surely if wild horses were as numerous as the number of cattle, they would be easily found, easily seen; there would be no need to spend days trying to find them just to take a photo.

The ‘nation’ of human has no right to wipe out another ‘nation’ of animal just because it suits them; we’re not that big a deal.

“For no animal shall be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.” ~ Henry Beston, ‘The Outermost House’.