Sunday Post by R.T. Fitch ~ President/Co-Founder of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Every Single Advocate Plays a Vital Role
" Family Ties: The American Mustang" by Lee Mitchelson ~ Click on Image to vote and help the Wild Horses
Today is Sunday and as all of you regular readers know, we try to pull away from the bad and highlight the good. Likewise, my lovely bride rarely asks me to highlight a topic but from halfway around the world she is politely asking me to speak up on how everyone is so very precious and important to our ultimate mission to gain equitable justice for our national icons, the “federally protected” wild horses and burros.
Terry mans the phone and responds to dozens of email inquiries as I travel about and one of the most pervasive questions that staunch animal welfare advocates, from around the world, ask is;
“How can I help?”
Folks, just being here is step one. By reading and learning you garner a tremendous wealth of qualified and quantified opinions of, God help us, not only me but thousands of equine enthusiasts and animal welfare advocates from around the world. On an average we log between 1,500 – 2,000 unique hits a day with a peak of over 5,000. Not a big deal in the real world but considering the small niche that we occupy this sort of participation tremendous. I am only the paperboy and you good people are the customer so when you comment you afford a worldwide audience a glance at how we think in our small corner of the globe.
Secondly, you don’t have to live in the western states to be pro-active in what we do, we live in Texas and there are no HMAs in our neck of the woods. But a simple phone call, email or fax speaks volumes when we ask for your help in waking up our publicly funded legislative representatives in what we REALLY want and need in the way of change regarding the management or our wild horses and burros. (Stay tuned as we are about to ask your help in replying to the EA that was released by the BLM on their proposed “zeroing out” of North Piceance herd which we have been legally fighting over for the past year.)
Thirdly, if you can travel to a protest, stampede, conference, please do so. We know that money is tight but for myself I feel that if I do not do anything else with my life but help and aide in saving our wild horses and burros for future generations then I have done what I was placed on this world to do. I am elated to report that the West Douglas herd is still running free because of the efforts of dozens of people over the years and then the recent intervention of our Wild Horse Freedom Federation and esteemed plaintiffs. Sadly, if this is ALL I accomplish in my life then I can lay my head down on my death bed knowing that 120+ horses are running free due to our efforts, my mission would be complete. But being a Type A personality that is not enough, we need to set the record straight across the board. So I am asking you, and me, to witness for the horses in any physical way possible. If you can do it, your companionship would be greatly appreciated at all publicized events.
And finally, there are a multiple of FREE ways that you can help the wild horses and please allow me to give you an example or two.
We are blessed with many artsy-craftsy sort of folks in the wild horse advocacy. For crying out loud WHFF has two authors, two award winning photojournalists and two artists on our Board of Directors. Likewise our Advisory board is peppered with professionals like Emmy award winning cinematographer Ginger Kathrens, producer/director James Klienart, award winning equine photographers Pam Nickoles and Carol Walker. But besides these good folks donating their time we, also, have other artists donating their work to help the wild ones.
Right now, world renowned wild horse artist Lee Mitchelson has a stunning wild horse painting entered in an online competition. By simply clicking (HERE) and voting for Lee’s beautiful painting you have moved one step closer to helping the wild ones, for free. Currently she is donating funds to help the Fallon horses formerly what was once the Calico herd. She had been in contact with Terry and has expressed an interest in supporting WHFF so let’s pile on and help her help the wild ones. The original painting is still for sale so, if you are interested in owning an original Lee Mitchelson painting, please contact her directly at: Lee Mitchelson.
Likewise, besides sending your hard earned cash to our Wild Horse Legal Fund to pay our legal staff you can, again, for FREE, help us by using GoodSearch as your main search engine, Click (HERE). The search engine is driven by Yahoo but for every search that you conduct, if you are like me it is several dozen a day, one penny will be donated to the Wild Horse Freedom Federation’s legal fund. That may not sound like much but pennies DO add up and if you take into consideration that we have almost 5,000 friends and fans on FaceBook, alone, it quickly becomes a true source of income. Likewise, click (HERE) to learn about how a portion of your online shopping, at no expense to you, can be donated to the WHFF’s legal fund. How flipping simple is that? I just LOVE technology.
So in review; you ALL are a very important and integral cog in the wheel of saving the wild horses of the United States of America. We all do what we can do, when we can do it and extend ourselves as far as we can physically and fiscally allow ourselves to go. I consider each and every single advocate to be a very special and bright light glowing in a sea political of darkness…and if you simply mention our cause to your family and friends then you are a Superstar in my book and I love you from the bottom of my heart.
May the “Force of the Horse©” be with each and every one of my very special friends and associates…I am so proud to know you.
Related articles
- HSUS Misses the Mark on BLM Wild Horse Stampedes (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Sheldon Wild Horses and Burros: We Will Not Forget You, Again (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Today Marks 40th Anniversary of Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act Passage (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Obama’s BLM Announces Wild Horse and Burro Stampede and Abuse Schedule for Summer 2011 (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Solidify and Simplify (artandhorseslauraleigh.wordpress.com)
- Movie Review: Wild Horses & Renegades (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Breaking News: Congressman Grijalva Letter Seeks Congressional Support for Wild Horses (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Will post of my profile and ask ALL my FB friends to climb aboard again for the Wild Ones!
Thanks RT!
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Great post, RT. Thank you all for all your hard work.
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Lee is such a talented artist and extremely generous in her charitable donations. I certainly hope our networking can put her ‘over the top’ for the competition and hopefully someone will step up and buy the original.
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Me 2
R.T. Fitch Author – “Straight from the Horse’s Heart” President of the Wild Horse Freedom Federation The Force of the Horse®, LLC 1-800-974-FOTH http://www.wildhorsefreedom.org http://www.rtfitch.com http://www.sfthh.com
Sent from R.T.’s iPad
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While we often take different paths in this epic battle, we are all together in our hearts and our love of the horses. I am incredibly proud and humbled to be a part of such a historic and monumental undertaking with such incredibly diverse people – united in a love beyond most people’s comprehension – that will probably make the history books in some future time. Thank you all for what you are doing – and for giving me the courage to get up from every disappointment with renewed energy and commitment to never stop fighting till our goal is a reality. Blessed Be!
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Help Stop Obama/Salazar/BLM/USDA/USWS from Cruelly and Cowardly Murdering American Wolves, Wild Horses, Mountain Lions, Bears , Coyotes and Birds, Fish & all wildlife. Subsidized Cruelty to American Wildlife and to taxpayers CLICK HERE;
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beautiful family, Lee. thank you and bless you
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Rt, thank you again. I always look forward to your posts to see what is happening. I will use the search engine and tell all my friends to do so too. I received a wonderful piece from Chris Hyde, Animal Welfare Institute entitled,
“Managing for Extinction”. It is excellent and has many good facts regarding the Wild Horses and Burros. Go to their website if you are interested. Have a great day and try to stay cool. And let the “Force of the Horse” be with you!
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Thank you so much for showing my ‘Family Ties: The American Mustang’ painting here. I appreciate it deeply. Do Americans realize these horses are supposed to belong to the American people, Native and otherwise? I
I am so ashamed to have an anti-animal-welfare president in the White House. What an absolute disaster, he fooled me, wanting to get his daughters a dog. Yeah.Right. But, I digress.
This painting is for sale with all my net proceeds going to Valley View Ranch Equine Rescue for the costs of pulling equines, our horses and burros, out of the Fallon feedlot and transporting them to new homes. At the feedlot are stallions, geldings, pregnant mares, mares with tiny foals at their sides, orphaned foals whose mothers have been sent to slaughter, our childhood ponies, ancient souls, draft horses, PMU survivors…..and our wild horses! Help me fight back against the most horrifying thing to me in my life, the horse slaughter industry. Link to art on my website: http://leemitchelson.net/blog
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R.T. Thank you again for your work on behalf of our beautiful wild horses and burros. I think Jade covered everything fully above. I wish I could do more, not only financially but physically, to help our horses. Every week when I go out to my horse kept at a sanctuary for the physically and mentally damaged horses, I am reinvigorated at what it means to save these majestic animals. The owner’s challenges are great but I see her cry for the 82 horses she had saved and given love before they went over the Rainbow Bridge. I see her cry for all the horses that need help today, as I do, and wish we could save them all. She goes without in order that her charges have hay, supplement feed when necessary and the extra human touch that we hope will help them. God willing we will soon see the help all these horses need. I, for one, wanted to get a horse captured from the Calico roundup, the Freedom Horse. I love black horses and have two horses coming from Oregon that were starving to death in a pasture. They, as well, will be kept at the sanctuary with my other horse. May all the rescues and sanctuaries that are in business honestly and doing it for heartfelt reasons get lots of help from those of us that love these animals. We will persevere until we win. God Bless you R.T. and Laura. I don’t know why God has let this happen to our horses or why, but I hope the reign of terror for them is coming to an end SOON, with all of our efforts and fighting the evil and uncaring BLM, killer buyers, and all who hurt our horses for greed and self serving reasons.
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THUNDERBEINGS COME FROM THE STARS TO BRING THE HEAVENS DOWN,FATHER THUNDERS CHILDREN REIGN IN SPIRIT,REIGN IN HEART AND REIGN IN ALL THAT IS AND WILL EVER BE,THE THUNDERBEINGS LIVE AT A MUCH HIGHER VIBRATION THAN MANKIND, THEY CAN NO LONGER REMAIN, WITH HUMANITY BEING INSANE,OKCHA 2011
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!!! Wow I’m glad to find out about GoodSearch. I have Zazzle and Cafepress shops and I can mention it on my main website. The only catch is, all the links go straight to my shop. I’ll have to figure out a way to show those Good Search coupons or something… What a great way to help the wild ones at the same time!
It’s just to bad Amazon doesn’t work with them anymore. I order a lot from them.
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I know sometimes it is overwhelming, esp when the gathers start up again. It is easy to get so stressed that you want to sit one comment period out. Its easy to think the BLM doesn’t pay attention anyway so why should I bother. Only you can’t, its the pennies and the little voices that add up and together will help our horses. Without the pennies and the individual voices the horses will all be dead and gone. Raise your lone voice and send your pennies.
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In keeping with the Sunday tradition of posts, I’ve borrowed this from Anna Twinney’s recent post as it seemed an appropriate reminder for me when I have my moments of wanting to dissolve into tears underneath the computer desk! LOL I share it with all of you who work so tirelessly for our wild ones. Our efforts DO make a difference!!
Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or works to improve the lot of others … that person sends forth a ripple of hope. And crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Robert F. Kennedy
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This is an absolutely beautiful painting. I’m still trying to figure out how to vote.
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Louie…click on the painting and it will take you to the site where you hit the FaceBook “Like” button. The number of “Likes” will determine the winner.
rg
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The painting is beautiful. I didn’t know how to vote either but do now.
Many thanks for all you do, R.T. and everybody. Onward !
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Thanks so much for sharing this and for doing what you do!!!!! Sharing out.
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RT
I had an amazing experience in Yellowstone. I was at a place called Mud Volcano and right below me (I was on a different boardwalk than the one at Old Faithful) was a STUNNING bison (buffalo).
I have pics of him pawing and rolling in the dirt. He would get “territorial” when kids would run on the boardwalk. He didn’t like the thumping sounds of the kids. He had his mouth open and his tongue out. He got annoyed cause another bison came fairly close and he wanted his time with the visitors I guess!
Then obviously I have pics of Old Faithful erupting. I have a few pics of a moose that I took on the way home to my sis. Not sure of the quality of focus yet.
I’d like to know if there is a way for me To set up some kind of Paypal deal where I can simply donate ALL the proceeds to you and Ginger. I would have a set price for my needs (paper and ink) and then simply split proceeds equally between you and Ginger.
Obviously I need to wait til I’m home and post a few samples. If you’re interested please email me and let’s talk.
I will be heading down to Rock Springs soon and hope to get some pics of these herds before all those horses are ripped apart. They too could be part of all this.
I am NOT in this to make money for me or glory. I want to help the horses and burros. I normally don’t try to sell my stuff EVER. But I want to help.
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Thank you R.T. and Terry for showing the world what we already knew – that those of us who love and respect horses and other equines will never give up doing the right thing for them. We will continue to be their voice, and our voice is getting stronger and more powerful every day. We are waking up people all over the United States and around the world with what has been happening to our wild and domestic horses, burros, and other equines for years.
Thank you Lee for this magnificent and evocative painting of a Mustang painting. You can see in this painting how important family and freedom is to our wild horses.
All of us make a difference, all of us together are creating the change that is so important, and vital for all equines. I am so proud to be a part of this amazing group of people!
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I meant to write – Thank you Lee for this magnificent and evocative painting of a Mustang family..
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