Original Poem by Rob Plisken
BLM’s killing horses just tryin to be free
Runnin them from Rock Creek, Little Humboldt and Owyhee
Towards a tragic future of captivity or death
While most Americans don’t even know and others hold their breath
And some unlikely heroes save 174
Pay for them in Fallon and help them find the door
Because this weekend they’d been in The Killer’s Lost and Found
Where they were just wild horses who went for 20 cents a pound
They said The Seven died because the tank was nearly dry
I’d say check the fences because fences never lie
Cattle drink and come to water to me it don’t make sense
When horses end up dying on the wrong side of the fence
And eyes like satin stars on coats of red white blue and brown
Don’t make no difference to blind men paying 19 cents a pound
All we’re trying to provide is a simple place to stand
Where all creatures live in balance but it takes a gentle hand
With all of us on every side good neighbors we can be
Its good neighbors make good fences, that means us, yes, you and me
Cause we no longer want to hear that high and lonely sound
Of ghosts of horses whinnying at 19 cents a pound
So if you’ve got mettle in your heart and basically agree
That if cows and oilmen can wander horses too can wander free
Put it in your boots and go do something good today
We can help the horses all together find the way
If you have that extra penny stick it under your hat band
Screw your hat down on your head go out and make your stand.
Because G-d’s writing in the tally book and needs help getting it all down
That wild horses’ weight is gold, not 19 cents a pound.
Rob Pliskin
Related articles by Zemanta
- Silent Vigil (Rob Pliskin) (artandhorseslauraleigh.wordpress.com)
Categories: Horse News, The Force of the Horse, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Thanks Rob. For putting this into words so beautifully.
LikeLike
Thank you, Rob
Is there any other phone number for the BLM except for the one we post, where no one ever answers?
LikeLike
Beautiful Rob, choked me up but beautiful
LikeLike
Thank you Rob. Beautiful.
LikeLike
I just printed a bunch of the flyers and am taking them to my farriers and one to the feed store bulletin board.
LikeLike
Super job Rob.
For those of you who don’t know or did not receive an invitation to join the new BLM facebook page ya need to jump in.
Hello Marge,
The Bureau of Land Management would like to invite you to visit the wild horse and burro program\’s new Facebook page. If you have a Mustang or Burro that is doing great things, we would like to know about it and we would love to share it on Facebook. We like stories with lots of pictures. Please take a moment to check out our site and share it with all your friends!
http://www.facebook.com/BLMWildHorseandBurro
No link for any kind of bitchin so I went to the adoption page and started a fire!
Check it out.
Marge
LikeLike
Thanks Marge.
Found this in an article linked from the page. Is this true that they just stand there and wait? Plus I woulld suggest that the water holes have “dwindled” every summer for the last 500 years – and so what? Though probably not to the degree that development and cattle have garnered water away in the last few decades.
“…Heather Emmons, a BLM spokeswoman in Reno, said the water holes in the range had withered to mud puddles in recent weeks. She said an aerial survey showed some bands congregating around a dwindling hole, though other water was within migrating distance.
“That’s the hard part with wild horse behavior,” she said. “If they don’t migrate, look for something else, they’ll stand there and wait.” …”
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul/12/blm-suspends-nv-horse-gather-after-7-animals-die/
LikeLike
I can’t believe this statement. My bet is these horses have been moved together and the Cattoors have been herding them in the direction of the capture pens which in this case seem to have been placed very poorly or very deliberately. Remember the reason the roundup is being done is “Drought”. BLM has to prove this and seems to be trying hard to. If the horses have been squeezed into the least productive and the driest areas of the HMA then this is a real set up. Done gradually over the years the horses who have been doing quite well are just simply losing their ground. Now they have the what no one else wants and BLM says they must go. Very nice way to get their lands.
The fact that the horses were not going to the river because people were camping there also seems like a stretch. Going camping in the roughest area out there and during a roundup??? mar
LikeLike
Now you know one of the reasons why Heather Emmons is my current fave…
My Apologies, Rob. I know this page is meant to honor the Tuscarora Horses, and it deserves better than my thinly veiled contempt.
LikeLike
I have read all the posts on the facebook page. I must say that Will did not do us any favors. His passion is genuine, but getting into name calling will only push people away and make us look bad (maybe he is the plant). You can say the same things, get the same points across without being insulting.
We call BLM and Cattoor names here, but that is HERE on our advocate page, but not in face to face debate in public.
We would be better off attempting ot understand where the points of view come from and simply stating facts and supplying links to facts. Otherwise we have stooped to the level of some horse haters that R.T. has allowed through to us.
Go back to Vicki Tobins Article a few weeks ago and follow her lead. Just link to news articles, Youtubes, to George Knapps reports, the many good articles here, etc.
LikeLike
Beautiful poem– let’s put it to music and play it nation-wide!
Super idea Shirley– every one involved in horses in any way (including actors/artists/photographers/musicians) should be on board with these efforts to keep the wild horses free on their lands and free from harassment and death. Every American should write/call/ email the President and the BLM/DOI and protest these actions to zero-out OUR wild horses. Your taxdollar supports the very agencies that are destroying the herds. That is just outrageous.
LikeLike
We have a BLM building here in town and I am going to get a permit to have a little vigil with some flyers out front before I leave town to go back out to find more threatened wild horses. It is a little thing to do and in the morning it is not hot. We have a new mural here in town, too. It is wild mustangs in a sunset. I think people here in Pagosa will want to know about this. The theater here also rents for private shows and I would like to see what it will take to get “Disappointment Valley” shown here this summer. If you are in a horse group maybe you can rent this film also and show it in your town. we need to be offering information and showing our own courage to the people around us. Please do all you can wherever you live. Show people the dignity we have and the sincerity of our cause. mar
LikeLike
Thank you Rob. Beautiful poem.
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing. I have spread this lovely poem far and wide.
LikeLike
you’re welcome everyone. and thank you. i will continue to put update comments on Art and Horses’ “Silent Vigil” page about going to the Fed Bldg in Cleveland.
LikeLike
Thank you Rob. It does the soul good to have feelings put into words so eloquently. Your silent vigil is more powerful than you could ever know.
LikeLike
That was simply beautiful Rob. Maybe you can come and see our new additions when they get to Lifesavers. There’s a pair of buckskin twins in the bunch, you know i fancy them. Could you write a poem about them? KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK HELPING ALL THE WILD PONIES!!
LikeLike
Thanks Angel, I’ll chew on the poem. I’d come out to gentle as a volunteer in August if the horses are someplace by then where the folks would like some help. I have a free plane ticket to use. I’ll watch the goings on.
LikeLike