By Terri Farley
Helping Wild Horses and Burros
1. KNOW THE FACTS
You’ll feel comfortable telling people what’s happening to wild horses and burros if you know what you’re talking about.
Check out these websites for news, statistics and resources. If you are working on a wild horse or burro report, these are good sites to visit.
American Wild Horse Preservation
The Cloud Foundation
Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, Equine & Neonatal Mustang Rescue
Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund
The Wild Horse Sanctuary
Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Wild Burro Protection League
Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation
Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue
Montgomery Creek Ranch
2. WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?
Websites can’t cover every single news story about wild horses and burros, but you can create a Google alert for wild horses and burros. Here’s how.
Pay attention to these alerts to see where your voice is needed before the damage is done to your mustangs!
3. Forward this to those who care or need to be educated about wild horses:
Forward this to those who care or need to be educated about wild horses and burros:
ANNOUNCING MustangMedia 101 by Terri Farley: Whose Home on the Range?
Wild horses and burros can’t speak their own stories. Once, that didn’t matter, but now wild horses and burros suffer and die at human hands. We take their food, water and homes. A few people want wild horses and burros taken off public lands so corporations can earn money from the land’s minerals, oil and grazing. But most people love wildlife and wild places. They’re learning to stand up for wildlife because the Western public lands belong to all Americans! Our hearts lift at their rough power and beauty.
Knowing mustangs inspires me to tell their stories as well as I can, before they’re extinct.
MustangMedia 101 by Terri Farley is my attempt to explain modern challenges facing wild horses and burros.
4. FOUR FILL-IN-THE-BLANK STEPS TO MAKE A LETTER-IN-WAITING
When you see an opportunity to comment about wild horses and burros online or in person, do it! For short Facebook or Twitter comments, use only Step One. For letters to editors, blogs, letters to government representatives, use all 4 steps.
STEP ONE: Make a statement and use BECAUSE to back it up.
EX:
“Wild horses and burros deserve freedom because laws have given them the right to roam public lands.”
or
“Wild horses and burros belong to all Americans and, because most American don’t believe in eating horsemeat, mustangs and burros shouldn’t go to slaughter.”
STEP TWO:
• Describe your personal connection to the issue in 2 – 3 sentences.
STEP THREE:
• Give 3 facts about the issue — 1 – 3 sentences
STEP FOUR:
• WHAT ACTION do you want people to take? – 1 sentence
That’s it! In 3 – 6 sentences, you will have explained why you want to live in a world with wild horses and burros.
You can keep that short document as a letter-in-waiting, but whatever you do — put your opinion out there!
You don’t have to be brave or brilliant; you just have to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, The Force of the Horse, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Wow, this is an effective way to write.
I’m honestly going to share my personal problem and maybe you can help me. If I read about the abuse of these majestic animals it affects me so profoundly that I can’t even sleep and become so immensely sad because that’s all I can think about. Then I shove my head in a cloud and turn away from these compelling stories.
Do you have any suggestions? I really want to become more involved.
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You might not be able to change the entire world, but at least you can change a small part of it, for someone. They say that one of the most common reasons we procrastinate is because we see the challenge before us as overwhelming, and that a good way to counter that is to break the big challenge down into smaller pieces and then take those one at a time–like one starfish at a time. And to that one starfish, it can make a world of difference. Here’s the story:
The Starfish Story
Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.
Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
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The Star Thrower was written by Loren Eiseley, himself a scientist often ostracized for being out of the mainstream in his time, like Wild Horse Annie. He remains iconic and overlooked but inspiring. We each have to not only be the starfish, but also the thrower, in the times and places we find ourselves.
https://www.amazon.com/Star-Thrower-Loren-Eiseley/product-reviews/0704530171
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ALWAYS remember that one person CAN make a difference
Wild Horse Annie Book Trailer
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I completely understand. There are special people in this world that can keep fighting despite the horrors they see and hear about. I am forever grateful for them. For those of us where that becomes overwhelming and threatens our own emotional state, go smaller – focus on a single thing you can do to make a positive impact with a protection or rescue group. Focus on things like fundraising, or computer work. All groups need ALL kinds of help. Hope that helps. (It helps me!)
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Great read Terri! So many people want to be involved but don’t know where to start. We need to increase our “army” of advocates, unite and be ready for any upcoming battles. This is a crucial year for the protection of our Mustangs, burros and public lands.
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I’m wondering if my previous comment is “awaiting moderation ” because of whatever caused the dust-up between RT, his site, and LL to begin with? Surely I’m not the only one in the dark who never understood the issues between them? (It really would be helpful to have a better understanding of this… RT?? )
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Sometimes less is more.
Besides, this is about having a positive impact upon children and not the politics of adults, we maintain our focus and move forward.
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Thank you, Terri Farley.
“What can be done to address the problems associated with public lands livestock grazing? There is a simple answer: end it. Get the cows and sheep off, let the wild creatures reclaim their native habitat, and send the ranchers a bill for the cost of restoration.”
http://www.publiclandsranching.org/book.htm
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Really helpful!!! The situation can be confusing and upsetting, and having guidance like this is great. Thank you!
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Thanks, all. My plan for the video was to create something kids & adults could show those who don’t know what all of the fuss is about. Kind of cool: my 30ish son, who saw his first wild horses when he was in a front pack, wrote the text in the presentation alone…from listening to me all these years.
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Obviously you made an impression…thanks!
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THANK YOU Terry. This helps all of us because it is hard to know where to start and there is SO much.
For anyone who is new to this, it was the CHILDREN who actually moved Congress to act in 1971.
OREGON 4TH GRADERS HELPED PASS 1971 LAW
Story by Vince Patton
http://www.opb.org/mustangs/children
/
In 1971, Joan Bolsinger wanted her fourth graders to write better, so she asked them to compose letters. Her assignment took on a life of its own.
The students at Roseburg’s Eastwood Elementary School became foot soldiers in what was then dubbed “The Pencil War.” Schoolchildren across the nation joined an effort spearheaded by Velma Johnston of Nevada, also known as “Wild Horse Annie,” writing to lawmakers urging them to protect wild horses.
The nationwide children’s lobby marshaled to stop the capture of wild horses for slaughter. In that time, horse meat was a common ingredient in dog food and was consumed by humans in other countries.
Her lesson has lasted a lifetime, he adds. “One person, a small group of people can still affect real change. You know you can make a difference.”
Congress passed and President Richard Nixon signed The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 (Public Law 92-195) as the children had wanted.
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I have trouble with letter writing, never was very good at it…Thanks Terri!
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