Archive for May 29, 2012

Ginger Kathrens: Happy Birthday Cloud!

Posted: May 29, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Open letter from Ginger Kathrens, volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation

17 Years and Going STRONG!

Cloud, May 23, 2012 ~ courtesy of the Cloud Foundation

Today, May 29th, we celebrate the birthday of Cloud, son of the stunning, black stallion Raven and Phoenix, the palomino mare, who is 21 years young this spring.

Seventeen years ago today, Anni Williams and I were on Tillett Ridge in the Pryor Mountains engrossed in filming a young stallion trying to breed his father’s newly won mare. His father, Opposite, was off playing with nearby bachelors. The filly had successfully fought off the two year-old when his father returned to sniff his son, and I guessed that this young son would soon be “asked” to leave the family.

That’s when I noticed a flash of white in the trees to my left and had the presence of mind to pan my camera just as Phoenix led her newborn, nearly white son in front of us. The band followed close behind with Raven protectively pulling up the rear. As the newborn colt tottered by I whispered to Anni, “Do you know how special this is?” At the time I had no idea that the fragile colt would become an ambassador for all mustangs in the West.

Last week, Lauryn and I were elated to find Cloud and his family (Aztec, Jasmine, Breeze, the Black, Dancer, Agate, Ingrid, Lynx, Feldspar and her foal) in intermittent rain and snow.  All 11 were looking fabulous. The gray colt at Feldspar’s side instantly won our hearts. As we watched him play with Ingrid’s yearling son, Lynx (son of the deceased stallion Ferdinand), I sensed a band stallion in the making—if he survives. Cloud’s only living son is Bolder, but he was not raised by Cloud. The gray colt represents a chance for Cloud to raise a son. We laughed when the colt tried to mimic his father. Cloud had defecated on the spot where one of his mares had urinated. The gray colt sniffed the area and tried to urinate on the same spot. He missed the mark by about three feet, but he tried nevertheless!

Cloud himself looks grand as you can see. We watched him drive the band stallions Mescalero and Morning Star away. At 17 years of age, he has not missed a beat and still moves with the easy grace of his father and the fierce determination he first exhibited as a bachelor stallion. Cloud tried to start a family at the tender age of four and nearly died trying. At five, he succeeded in winning a mare in a most unorthodox way. Since that time his family has grown, and he has consistently led one of the largest bands on the Pryor Mountains

We hope you’ll share with us a birthday wish that Cloud might remain a powerful leader in his mountain stronghold. You go big boy! PBS is celebrating his birthday too with a short video update we just completed before heading up to Montana last week. Check it out on PBS Nature’s site.

Happy Trails!
Ginger

P.S. Cloud’s legacy includes his lookalike grandson, Echo, who could be removed in the upcoming summer bait trapping in the Pryor Mountains. Please send a message (or an additional message if you have done so already) to BLM asking them not to remove Echo, or any of the young 1-3 year olds that have been identified as genetically critical to the future survival this small, vulnerable population of Spanish-style mustangs.

Click (HERE) to view the dynamic, current photos of Cloud and his family

Many Warriors, but None of the Valor for Horses

Posted: May 29, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Rescue, Horse Slaughter
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By Debbie Stoutamire of the Galveston Daily News

Our horses have been willing warriors in many wars started by men

Mary Jane and Ventura recovering at Habitat for Horses

British author and ex-cavalryman J.N.P. Watson once said, “The horse is so lacking in malice and yet so dutiful and grave that when he suffers, it makes man so ashamed for the human race.”

Our horses have been willing warriors in many wars started by men. In the first world war, about 1.5 million horses were used as cavalry, and an estimated 500,000 died.

With few exceptions, horses sent to war in Europe did not come home. Some died in transit, many died from pneumonia from lack of shelter in England, and countless more died on the battlefield.

At the end of the war, those horses who survived were sold to butchers in countries desperate for food. Even in death, the horses served men.

Unfortunately, even today, horse slaughter — a cruel parade of death — continues. Canada and Mexico are the only North American countries that practice horse slaughter openly.

President Barack Obama recently signed a bill that will revive the U.S. horse slaughter industry, exporting horses north and south of our borders. Not only are horses being slaughtered in grotesque, inhumane ways, but the racing industry in our country has remained silent about slaughtered thoroughbreds.

In addition to horse slaughter and abuses by the racing industry, the Tennessee walking horse, sweet, gentle animals originally bred in the Southern United States to carry owners of plantations around their land but now trained to win championships that feature their high-stepping gait, are suffering in yet another war.

I was horrified while watching the abuse of these wonderful horses on “Nightline” on May 16, which included cattle prods, burning horses with cigarettes and applying chemicals to their pasterns and putting chains around their hoofs. What hurt my heart the most was a video showing Jackie McConnell and his helpers striking a horse around the face and head until he went down.

I cannot help but wonder if that was what happened to Ventura before he came to the Habitat for Horses in August 2011, bone thin. He bears his scars from a war that he did not enlist for — a crushed muzzle inflicted by man. He does not complain but nickers softly when I approach him. Ventura is one of the lucky ones.

He graduated from rehab at the habitat and has made a new friend — Mary Jane. Unlike Ventura, Mary Jane bears no visible scars. You can see the trust in her eyes. I shudder to think what might have happened to Ventura, Mary Jane and the rest of the horses at the habitat had they ended up on a truck bound for slaughter.

There are 150 horses who have been buried by the Habitat for Horses — casualties of their own wars. These horses were not willing warriors like those who have died throughout history.

Like Ventura and many others, they came in with many scars, but they were all loved and cherished by Jerry Finch, the man who has worked tirelessly for more than years in his rescue mission. Heartbreak has been his constant companion. He not only works to rescue horses, but also to end horse slaughter in this country.

When I see Ventura and Mary Jane waiting patiently at the gate, I see their eyes pleading — “please tell them about us, please help us to help them — please help us to end the suffering.”

Debbie Stoutamire lives in Galveston.

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Charleroi PA Passes Resolution to Support Federal Ban on Horse Slaughter

Posted: May 29, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter
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by ~ Pittsburgh Pet Rescue Examiner

“the right to govern is derived from the governed”

Although recent polls indicate that a vast majority of Americans are opposed to the slaughtering of U.S. horses for human consumption, a small minority of individuals have launched a  backdoor  misinformation campaign designed to re-open US horse slaughter facilities and in the worst case scenario factory farm horses for food.

Political support for  federal and state bans on horse slaughter continues to gain momentum. One political arena where elected officials have taken a stand aginst the slaughter of American horses is the borough of Charleroi Pennsylvania located along the Monongahela River in southwestern Pennsylvania. Once dubbed the Miracle City, Charleroi’s stand against horse slaughter and its support for controlling the feline population through trap/neuter/return may earn it a new name: the City of Compassion. In a proclamation supporting a ban on horse slaughter the Mayor and Council acknowledge that horse slaughter is inhumane and contrary to the values of its citizenry and the residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Charleroi’s  proclamation urges state and federal officials to support a ban on horse slaughter.

While some may argue that the proclamation is purely symbolic, that claim ignores the more significant aspect of the issue of horse slaughter. As all Americans know the United States is a nation founded on Locke’s belief that “the right to govern is derived from the governed.”  Recent polls by such groups as the ASCPA suggest that 80% of Americans are opposed to horse slaughter.

The action taken by the Charleroi council and its Mayor suggest that those elected to office in Charleroi take the concept of a representative republic to heart. Their stand against horse slaughter reflects the values and sentiments held by a majority of Americans. Simply stated, “Americans do not eat horses.”

The Borough of Charleroi is to be commended for its willimgness to take a stand against a practice which a majority of Americans oppose. It seems the the state of New Jersey will soon follow with a statewide ban on horse slaughter.  The only question that remains is why in a representative republic where the majority of the citizens oppose horse slaughter are other elected officials dragging their feet in passing a federal ban on horse slaughter?

Click (HERE) to visit Faith’s Examiner and to Comment
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