Original Poem by one of our users, Anna. Raw, pure, unedited and completely from the Heart!
I recall the day you; O’ Mustang were born…
the day your Mother gave birth to you in the wildflowers of the meadow…
I can recall the days of warm sunshine… cool breezes;
when you and your Mother would romp in the meadow to play…
I can recall the time you were wandering in the Giant Sage;
and how you got mesmerized with the Giant Sage and the aromas of the land…
how you went wandering to the Giant Sage; looking for green edibles…
and how you wandered too far; engrossed in the scents of the wildflowers;
I smiled when you looked up…”Mother….Mother …where are you ? you whinnied;
then you looked and there was your Mother standing right behind you!; she had followed you into the Sage Brush to protect you…you ran to your mother and kissed her Mane…
How well I recall when you were older; as your Mother and Grandmother watched you as you began to grow bigger and sought out to seek a mate…
“Good Luck my son; Good Luck my grandson; the Mother and Grandmother said to you;
and you found a pretty Mare to be your marriage mate and how you sired many sons and daughters…as you grew older you settled in serious meditation;
You stood in the fields at midnight and you watched the stars and the moon rise and set;
You stood in the meadows during the day watching out for the youngsters…whinnying if any danger approached; you galloped up and down the mountain to teach the youngsters how to gallop over rocks and crevices…
when you got to be a quarter of a century years old; your eyesight began to fail; I recall how Mother Nature enhanced your other senses so you could live by sense of hearing and sense of smell…YOU ARE THE ELDER OF THE HERD oh great one !
oh great magnificent elder mustang; day after day; you stood perfectly still; no one wanted to know you; no one wanted to own you; they thought you were just a foolish feral on a hill…
but they did not know: your wonderful eyes saw the sun coming up; your beautiful eyes saw the moon coming up; your beautiful eyes saw the “world spinning around…
Your beautiful eyes saw the colts growing; you led them to the choice Giant Sage fields;
You watched herd after herd grow up; and you escaped ‘the man made giant silver bird 5 times; you escaped the blm giant silver bird once when you were just 5 yo; and your Mother hid you in a thicket; when you were 10; the silver bird returned but did not find you;
when you were 15; the silver bird men searched for you but they could not find you; then when you were 20; the bad silver bird men scoured the mountain top searching for you;
and YOU ELUDED THEM BECAUSE YOU ARE INTELLIGENT AND A SURVIVOR oh great one…
and then when you were 25 years old; they finally “captured you and did bad things to you…
YOU OH FERAL ON THE HILL; YOU ELUDED THE ENEMY 4 TIMES; I SALUTE YOU ! Oh Great Stallion! Thank you Sire !
aw usa “May I learn to be as intelligent as this Stallion ! ! !
BLM WROTE: 15) 25+ YO grey stud horse. Euthanized by contractor for serious physical defects, that were severely broken and missing teeth. One eye missing, pre-existing, and the remaining eye was only partially visual, non-gather related.
July 2010
Related articles by Zemanta
- Lightfoot, the Tuscarora Stallion Who Took My Heart Today — My Impressions (humaneobserver.blogspot.com)
- The Cloud Foundation Expands Lawsuit to Protect “Cloud’s” Wild Horse Herd (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
Categories: The Force of the Horse, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
This is by Anna White in Connecticut. She is over at Art and Horses these days. In the past year I have heard several stories about wild horses that have survived the odds because there is more than adequate forage and water for even injured horses to survive in the wild. BLM ruthlessly kills these wonderful survivors rather than turn them loose. it has never failed to amaze me. What Anna has done is lovely and this wild stallion and other wild ones cut down- deserve respect from us all. Above all we need to change things so this practice will stop. Thanks Anna in CT. mar
LikeLike
this is a wonderful tribute to all the wild horses out there who have survived through all the unnessary roundups! they the oldier horses have survived for so long without human interference and then the blm decides to round them up and put the oldier ones down !! instead of letting mother nature do her own thing like she has done for hundreds of years!! 25 years old is not that old!! some live to 40 years old!! such a shame!! blm you’re out of line!! you’re susposed to help the horses not destroy them!!
we need people in there who actually care for the goodness of the horses!!
LikeLike
I don’t see the necessity in any of the raids but particularly insulting is the manner in which they declare the elders as useless. Sadly that same attitude towards elders is echoed in society in America as a whole. While the elders of the mustangs do show the young pups they also must have the other herds for their survival. Lone elder horses roaming the range alone would not make it for long. Of course the raids disrupt every aspect of a functional family system that we as people should honor and emulate.
LikeLike
To Anna: so moving. goosebumps.
LikeLike
Anna, so very eloquent and haunting. Thank you.
LikeLike
This is beautiful. It really makes you think about the elders and how and why they are so important.
LikeLike
I have a friend who took an old horse so that he could live out his last years in comfort. He lived to be 40. He was still competing for the attention of her 4 year old filly. The other old horse that she had and still has is 25.
LikeLike
The BLM runs and runs the older horses. Then when they stand there hot, sweated down to thinness..the BLM says old and thin this 25 year old mare that just ran 40 miles!
Then the BLM shoots them. refuses to give them up alive to the MANY people who offer!!!
sickening horse killers the BLM. mustang haters for 40 years and counting. sloppy caretakers of the publics land and wildlife.
LikeLike
To Anna: That was so beautiful. I felt the heartbeat of the horse, and saw with his eyes!
The sadness makes me shake.
My old ones were both 33 when they passed over.
LikeLike
Thank you Anna…god forbid that when we are old, we are called “defective” and euthanized for only that reason…what possible harm could have come from returning this horse to his land, to live out the time remaining? Isn’t this what most of us ask for? It struck me hard when I had read this in their report, My broodmare band leader is advanced in age and I know her time is limited, but I have treasured her and valued her skills, and will not be parted from her until the time comes when she is down and cannot rise..This stallion survived the “chase” that the 4 year old stallions did not, even with his eyesight failing..and you..the B L (bloody) M(murders) took it upon youself to treat him like garbage. Hell can be somewhere else, or it can be here on earth..i would like yours to be here and now, where I could enjoy every minute
LikeLike
Thank you Anna.
“Non gather related” would have been to NOT have gathered him at all – that he would have died at home on the range where he belonged.
LikeLike
After passing on all his wisdom. As it should be.
LikeLike
I read about that old horse–may his genes live on in his offspring, and their offspring–he is a true survivor. How does BLM consider the gene pool in their culling and killing? Oh –yeah–it’s BLM— This whole story is so sad— another trail of tears— but keep on sending those letters to the White House– and comments to BLM. We are fighting for those horses– and for their history and their ancestry— My words for BLM could not be posted on a public page! A soul-less agency. Thanks Anna.
LikeLike
Todays upate posted @ TMP, they returned an old mare who was too old to need PZP, course that was in their own self interest, but I thanked them anyway, would have liked him to have been her companion
LikeLike
hello my friends; thanks for all of your lovely replies; I am glad my peom got the message out that I wanted…the American Indians are greatly into “Elders; so I must thank the American Indian Nations for “enligtening me as to the significance of Our Elders !
hey; maybe I should write poems more often ! THANKS SO MUCH
ps I thought the pix of the grey mustangs R.T put up “was perfect !
pps I honestly and truly think we are making progress daily; I hope
LikeLike
ps and to the BLM; “25 is not that old; as is said; some live to be 40; I heard of a pony who lived to be 50+ years old; in good condition; and the way the blm says: “over 10 is old ! ridiculous !
thanks for replies ! anna white 1951
LikeLike
I care for 15+ horses every day, and I’ve watched over the years as the older horses teach the younger ones. Now my youngest gelding, age 5, is stepping into the hoofprints of the oldest male horse in the herd. He’s shadowed this elder from the beginning and is slowing growing into the herd’s protector and guide, while still treating his elder with the love and respect he deserves. He even stands over & guards the old guy while he sleeps.
This “education” is a significant part of shifting herd/family dynamic. It’s what keeps the family healthy and functional, especially in the wild where survival is key.
Without the guidance of the herd elders, the younger horses are at a huge disadvantage. I wish more people understood this.
LikeLike
Agreed, Nora, most astute Wild Horse folks are fully aware of this. Ginger Kathrens has been preaching the harm that stripping the herd of it’s knowledge by targeting the older horses breeds nothing but disaster.
Another side of the coin is if you pull the older Stallions out of the herd the entire breeding process accelerates as now you have the young, inexperienced bachelors with the key the cookie cupboard and they have yet to learn control. It’s like giving a 10 year old the key to the school bus.
The only people who do not truly understand these facts, or much at all about horses, are the employees of the BLM.
Go figure.
LikeLike
Yes, go figure. 😦
Sadly, we struggle with our own human family dynamics. Our lifestyles have become so convoluted, with our elderly often living seperately from us, and our kids learning more socially from their peers in many ways than they do from their own parents and teachers. Just walk through any high school in my area and you’ll see that the “inmates are running the prison,” so to speak.
We have so much to learn from our horse brothers and sisters. All we have to do is pay attention.
LikeLike
I have come to believe in a more cynical method to their apparent madness. This came to me just a couple of months ago. Nothing said had really rang true to me – how can this agency in charge of these horses for 40 years not come to understand them?
This is my conclusion and the only thing that makes sense to me (along with cattle interests):
I think in less than one decade of rounding them up they recognized the increases in breeding. And went “yippee” – because that makes BLM self sustaining and more than that makes their 2 contractors RICH.
LikeLike
hello: interesting and informative replies; about The Elders of the Herd; most people do not have an inkling of how: Elders teach youngsters; not just in the wild; but in domesticated settings too;
in the wild; a Mother is considered to be the absolute authority; for example when a Mother in the wild lies down; the foal (or fawn;pup
will “automatically lie down next to her mother; this is “The Maternal Instinct…”; survival for the young depends on this…thnx.
oh ps I must confess; I got the inspiration for the “Ode to the Elders” after I was looking at the newest pix of “Cloud and his herd on The Cloud Foundation’s Website; by Ginger Kathryns;
if you see the pix on the Cloud’s website; you will see what I mean!(esp. the part about “the son; mother and grandmother…it’s all too beautiful Mother Nature is; and the BLM is “all too ugly…imo Anna
LikeLike
This is a recent letter from Representative Nick Rahall (or Senator?
the instructions I received with this email from Int’l Fund for Horses
copy and paste the following e-mail from N. Rahall to your own
Representative and your Senators of your district and homestate:
thank you; ps I put at the top of my letter I sent: “from Nick Rahall:
(copy and paste to your Congressman from “Rahall to “Salazar..a.
The Honorable Ken Salazar
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
Dear Secretary Salazar:
Recent media accounts have documented still more deaths of wild horses during Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) roundups. Just this month, 12 horses, including three foals, died
during the Tuscarora Complex roundup in northeastern Nevada as a result of deeply flawed
methods. This tragedy was only the most recent in a string of reports of wild horses dying
during BLM roundups this year.
We are concerned by the inability of your agency to acknowledge these disturbing outcomes,
change what seems to be deeply flawed policy, and better manage the gathers so as to
prevent the unnecessary suffering and death of these federally protected animals.
Specifically, on Saturday, July 10, with temperatures hovering near 100 degrees, the BLM, in
a time-span of two and half hours, captured and corralled more than 228 wild horses after
running them more than 8 miles. During this time, public observation of BLM activities was
prohibited. This ill-advised plan resulted in the deaths of 12 protected American Mustangs,
most due to water intoxication; three of the dead were foals less than six months old. By the
time the roundup was halted, 17 horses had died.
While we applaud the speed with which you temporarily halted the Tuscarora roundup after
these deaths, the roundup has now resumed. Apparently, BLM continues to bar public
observers, despite a court order affirming the right to “reasonable access.” So far, 410 more
horses have been gathered and, according to BLM’s own account, the death toll has risen to
21.
The BLM is repeating the mistakes made during the deadly round up in the Calico Mountain
Complex last winter. That roundup resulted in the deaths of over 105 horses, along with the
stress-induced late term abortions of at least 40 mares.
Given this pattern, and the continued threat of death and suffering to these animals, we
request that the Tuscarora Complex roundup be suspended, along with any pending gathers,
until the agency demonstrates that it has addressed the failings of the current program and
can ensure the safety and well-being of the animals you are charged with protecting.
Specifically, the BLM must account for temperature extremes and the impacts of stampeding
young, elderly or injured animals across long distances when planning roundups. The BLM
needs to ensure transparency by allowing members of the public to observe agency
activities.
Further, we remain concerned that roundups are conducted at great expense to the taxpayer.
As we have pointed out in the past, BLM’s aggressive use of roundups has resulted in
unsustainable increases in the number of horses in holding facilities (now at 38,000) and
continues to undermine the BLM’s overall budget. Unfortunately, the frequency of roundups
has only increased under this administration.
To address these and other flaws, we recommend an independent analysis of the National
Wild Horse and Burro program, conducted by the National Academy of Sciences. This
analysis will provide a clear determination of the most accurate, science-based methodologies
to estimate wild horse and burro populations, provide an assessment of Appropriate
Management Levels based on the goal of maintaining sustainable herds and provide an
assessment of practical, effective, non-lethal and publicly acceptable management
alternatives to current BLM policies.
We strongly urge you to refrain from any further action until a clear plan is in place to
sustainably manage and protect our wild herds. Only then can we move forward with a
more informed, open and deliberate process, based on input from all who are concerned
with the health, well being, and conservation of this animal which embodies the spirit of our
American West.
cc:
Mr. Bob Abbey, Director, Bureau of Land Management
LikeLike
ps that is a nice thought though that a poster wrote; about how this Stallion and the others who have been “destroyed by the blm…
How these Mustangs’ genes will carried on by their offspring…
that is comforting…thank you very much and plz. keep up the good work y’all; this is important; for us; the mustangs and nation!
LikeLike
Anna, is there an Advocates’ Oath?
If not, I nominate you to work on one!
LikeLike
Hello? “an Advocate’s Oath ? I will do my best; actually I was thinking about writing a little “play…about what life is like inside the corrals of the Fallon Sandpits…kind of like…”A Day in the Life of A Calico foal; with Feathers (a sad story); being the main character; I find it amazing how I was able to communicate with this poem; I did not know poems and haikus communicated so well
http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20108010336
Terri Farley’s lastest news article: well back to writing and thanks !
ps 30 Mustangs have perished during the lastest roundups! Gosh !
LikeLike
hello: concerning “The Equines’ Advocates Oath…
no. ?
“I shall Brush; Comb and Curry comb thy Equine atleast weekly; the Equine shall have the Hooves hosed with water occassionally; the Equines face will be washed with a warm wash cloth if necessary; to remove dust and bacteria; thou shalt feed they equine with a good flax supplement to add luster; brush the tail…
just a rough draft…ya’ see; I don’t want my Mustang to look like:
http://www.kbrhorse.net/wclo/blmnev01.html
@ the Palomino Valley: just imagine what those Mustangs would look like after a good “bath and expert grooming! ps part their mane on the side of them which “hides the hideious BLM tatoo;
and be sure to hose the mud from PVC from their hooves ! pps the blm shows pix of their mustangs with the mane parted to show the tatoo ! this deters people from adoption ! so does the mud !
i have a pix of a mustang standing in mud covering his hooves @ PVC…where would the Stang lie down if he wanted to rest? Anna
one Mustang from PVC looks like he has “thorns stuck in his coat !
LikeLike
ps those “yellow ribbons around the PVC mustangs don’t help much to enhance their beauty…nor do the tags nor the tatoos;
I wonder about what goes on in the minds of the BLM Managers !
do they purposely try to make the Mustangs look bad with mud
why is there so much mud at Palomino; if Nevada is like a desert?
LikeLike
REPLY FROM BLM:
Over the years, the BLM has considered conducting some trial projects where
we geld stallions to release back to their herd area, but there are many
potential problems associated with such an endeavor. We continue to be
open to consider how such a trial could be conducted.
This is the BLM’s answer as to why the BLM does not “release the Geldings back into the HMA…
anne’s comment: What potential problems are there with putting Geldings back into the HMA”s…
except “Geldings don’t breed; so the BLM won’t have any “excess mustangs to gather; if they put Geldings into the HMA’s…
comment BLM We continue to be
open to consider how such a trial could be conducted.
anwer: Just geld the male mustangs and let them go back to herd !
(just like the blm puts stallions back to breed; put geldings instead!
SAVE THE GELDINGS ! SAVE THE STALLIONS ! SAVE MARES!
LikeLike
They could do vasectomy on stallions and then they can act natural and breed mares and be shooting blanks.
However, don’t want to see the BLM use the drugs they use now to get hands on the stallions to vas. them!!! The stallions are aware with the current BLM drugging and that is HARMFULL to the stallions. Use a dart method, quick snip vas by a pro-Vet and then a drug to wake them and get out of their sight!
and ID those horses with something a thief can’t remove!
LikeLike
Hey, hey, hey, hey…don’t forget that there are a few red-blooded stallions grazing around the perimeter of this herd and such talk makes us cross our legs, grimace and groan loudly.
So be gentle with those scalpels, please.
Ouch!!
(you must know that there is a story to tell, there. Maybe one of these nights over the campfire with a big mug of Wrangler Iced Tea…?!?!?)
LikeLike
I would much rather see the gelded old guys in holding put back on the range – absolutley. I feel their suffering every day, their depression.
Having listened to Gingers account of sex ratios and reading below the idea about fixing – I do think this needs more thought. First hand accounts of messing with sex ratios has already proven to be very hard on the mares – add more stallions that cannot get mares pregnant – as mentioned by those more horse savy than I think they will try even harder.
Maybe I am wrong on this.
We certainly do need all these ideas thrown out here though – who knows each spark may bring better answers.
I would prefer of course that horses now on the range just be left alone, have the land taken away from them returned, and return them to “primary users” – not cattle as primary users.
I am stuck on this math – there are NO excess horses – just do that math – 1/2 of the land taken away – 1/2 of wild horses in holding. 1/2 + 1/2 = a whole.
I don’t know how many cattle are actually on just the horses portion of the public land – that being current amount of public land for horses AND the whole of what is supposed to be horses primary use or I would do that math.
So looking at ridding all public land of cattle – at cattle to horses 50 to 1 – even, as some have argued, one horse equals two cows and even granting for the sake of argument that cattle are only there 1/2 of the year – that means removing each cow would allow for 12.5 MORE horses. Since there are depending on which report, about 250,000 cattle on public lands that means removing all the cattle would allow for another 75,000 horses, no fences, and save taxpayers up to 1 BILLION DOLLARS a year.
LikeLike
Anna,
Thanks so much for this wonderful poem about “the old ones” especially the old grey stallion the BLM destroyed. I missed this post due to being in Chincoteague and watching a roundup where “no ponies were harmed” and all of them “much loved” by over 30,000 spectators! Further up on Assateague Island the NPS wild pony herd wanders at will–a friend just sent me a photo of a mare and new foal wandering around the beach blankets and people and then taking a dip in the ocean! This herd is PZP(each mare is allowed to foal at least once) by Jay Kirkpatrick but they do not endure “gathers”. They live and die on the island. Some of the mares are now living to 30 years old!
Again thanks for your beautiful work!
LikeLike
Barbara, thank you for sharing your trip! How comforting to know they are not subjected to cruelty during roundups.
Other question on stallions/geldings/ etc.:
Stallions shooting blanks I would think would try to breed the mares more often as they wouldn’t be pregnant, right? Would that cause hardship on the mares?
I know mares push geldings around. . . have also heard that stallions do, too. Would they form their own bands of geldings?
LikeLike
Could a mare lead a band of geldings? Would one? And would her offspring drive the geldings away from her band?
If all older stallions were gelded & put back on range, would they continue to act like stallions? How would that affect mares, young, and other younger (and presumably less “wise” geldings?)
What are the various behavior scenarios to expect?
LikeLike
Ginger Kathrens as shared her first hand account of even just messing with sex ratios on one of her talk radio spots.
This is as best I recall – that mares that get caught away from the band actually can get gang raped by the young stallions.
Band Stallions have too many challengers trying for their mares – as they chase away one or two, three or four just come in the meantime – just major chaos – lots more injured animals – mares unable to keep thier band families together thus creating lone mares.
Just a brutal mess of hormones flying all the way around.
LikeLike
I read the new replies and am comforted others have similar feelings about the Roundups by the BLM.gov…The BLM should not go around “tampering with the female/male mustang ratio…
Mother Nature’s Natural Breeding Selection produces the best !
Geldings could easily be put back to the herd with no problems; imo; thnks for sharing your trip Barbara; best to you and everyone
ps to Roxy: “do you have the article by Ginger on “the sex ratios?
I understand previously the ratio was “50 / 50; today its 60/40; (i think this means for every 60 mares they release; they release 40 stallions; hey why not just release the geldings back to the herds?
LikeLike
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/arrest-salazar-blm-catoor
LikeLike
Summary on that Petition:
Charge Salazar/BLM/Catoor with Animal Cruelty & &&&&&&
Target:Eric H. Holder, Jr. – US Attorney General
Sponsored by: American Citizens, owners of the Wild Mustangs & Burros
The death toll in the Calico roundups is 119 and rising daily. A federal judge advised the BLM not to do these roundups but they did it anyway. Two colts had their hooves literally run off when chased relentlessly by the helicopters, they laid in agony on the cold ground for 10 days before they died. The mustangs are suffering metabolic breakdown and languishing in captivity. Animal cruelty as described in Section 574.100 of NV law prohibits the overdriving, overloading, torture, cruel beating or unjustifiable injuring, maiming, mutilation or killing of an animal as well as deprivation of necessary sustenance, food or drink. On the last day of roundup, 30 horses were left in traps overnight without water after being chased many miles by helicopter, which in itself is torture. THESE MUSTANGS WERE STOLEN FROM THE AMERICAN PUBLIC: Theft is usually defined as the unlawful taking of another person’s property without their consent & with intent to permanently deprive the victim(s) of the property. WE THE PEOPLE DID NOT GIVE OUR CONSENT FOR THESE MUSTANGS TO BE REMOVED FROM OUR PUBLIC LAND. No one is above the law and Ken Salazar, Bob Abbey, and Catoor need to be arrested and charged with Animal Cruelty/Torture/Neglect and Theft of Property and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
My comment by my signature:
Our media is only serving special interests, who own them. Our elected officials are serving the very same players.
The American taxpayers are disenfranchised. Our laws, however, are still on the books.
Who do our judges serve?????
LikeLike
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/arrest-salazar-blm-catoor/
hello folks; 16 signatures are required on this Stop Salazar Petition for the petition to be valid when petition reaches 500 sigs.
Please sign petition; only takes a few seconds to fill in…thanks alot
I wrote: Stop the Roundups…Start Wild Mustang Sancturaries ! ! !
LikeLike
done and signed!
Do not understand why BLM/contractor gets away with not following even the basic laws of the state they work in.
LikeLike
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culvert
Is that the BLM “destroying the Mustangs’ Water Hole? and then “falsely saying the Mustangs at Tuscarora are “dehydrated?
If that is not the BLM destroying this spring culver; then who is it?
Please Cross post this video far and near…thanks a lot; Anna Wah
LikeLike
“I believe that animals should not be forced to experience needless pain and suffering and I have worked to advance legislation to protect animals throughout my career in public service…”
quote by Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut; 2010…ps Sen. Dodd has been in public service for about 30 yrs.; Dodd was instrumental in “getting better protection for shelter dogs/cats…”
LikeLike