R.T. Fitch’s life has been anything but ordinary. Straight out of high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force Band during the Vietnam era, and while stationed in Hawaii, he spent weekends at Sea Life Park training penguins, sea lions, and whales. His path through life has taken many unexpected turns—including more than a few lessons in love—until meeting his wife, Terry, brought a lasting partnership and a shared passion for animals.
Over the course of his adult career, R.T. worked internationally in multiple countries, gaining a broad, global perspective that colors both his worldview and his writing. Now rooted in Texas, he and Terry live on a small farm surrounded by four-legged companions with paws, claws, and hooves. Together, they have devoted years to equine rescue and wild horse protection.
An ordained volunteer chaplain and professional Santa Claus for a local historical society—with Terry by his side as Mrs. Claus—R.T. brings warmth, wisdom, and joy to every season. His work reflects a life of service, wonder, and connection to both people and animals.
He is the author of Straight from the Horse’s Heart, a moving collection of true rescue stories and spiritual reflections, and Fangs of Light, a supernatural tale steeped in symbolic and metaphorical storytelling. The first in a planned trilogy, Fangs of Light blends myth and mystery to explore themes of identity, redemption, and the power of empathy—offering readers not only suspense and intrigue but a deeper look at the light and shadow within us all.
It’s Sunday and I am attempting to hold true to the promise that we will not publish any bad news, on this day, but instead attempt to inspire and refresh so put on your swim trunks and hold your nose, we are about to jump into that cold mountain stream.
Now this is not a done deal for the American horse; the Bill comes up for the vote of the entire house on June 15th, along with this amendment, and renegade Wyoming State Rep. “Slaughterhouse” Sue Wallis, the Queen of bloody horse slaughter, is calling up the dredges and dark demons of hell to launch a phone calling campaign to kill the horses.
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – Horseback Magazine has confirmed that a long awaited report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been leaked. The report, titled The State of Horse Welfare in the United States Since the Cessation of Horse Slaughter in 2007, was quoted at the Summit of the Horse held in Las Vegas in early January.
Washington, D.C. — The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press urged a federal appeals court this week to order a federal trial court to reconsider its decision that a photographer’s First Amendment rights were not violated when she was not allowed to photograph the roundup of wild horses on federal land in Nevada.
“Let the Cruelty Begin” Documented inhumane contractors will be spending hundreds of thousands of your dollars to cruelly chase federally protected horses across our public lands. Heat of the Summer, still into foaling season, the only thing left to do will be to count the bodies, just like […]
A great victory for the American horse occurred this week when the House Appropriations Committee voted on an amendment to reinstate formerly existing language in a bill that prohibited wasting tax payer’s hard earned dollars on funding inspections of horse slaughter plants (5 million dollars worth). That language was voted on and inserted in 2006 representing the opinion of over two thirds of the American public who stand firmly against the inhumane practice of horse slaughter in this country. The only reason that Rep. Moran of Virginia, an enlightened horse supporting state that makes money off from equine development, was forced to add the amendment was due to the back room, special interest finagling of Rep. Lummis and her off the wall cohort “Slaughterhouse” Sue Wallis a lowly and third rate state representative from Wyoming. (IMHO)
Chicago (EWA) – The Equine Welfare Alliance and Animal Law Coalition applaud Rep. Jim Moran and House of Representatives Appropriations Committee members who stood up for the horses this week. Rep. Moran introduced an amendment to the proposed agriculture appropriations bill to make sure commercial horse slaughter in the U.S. remains illegal.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of lobbyist Beverlee McGrath, and Senators Mark Manendo and Allison Copening, there’s a good chance that Senator Copening’s bill to ban horse tripping, SB 364, could be resurrected in the next day or two. But the effort needs your help.
As you likely know, the current Nevada Legislative Session ends this Friday, June 3.
Cases of EHV-1 and EHM have been identified recently in horses that attended the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Western National Championship event in Ogden, Utah held from April 29 to May 8, 2011. The NCHA has notified State Animal Health Officials of horses from their states that were entered in the event and may have been exposed to the virus. State Animal Health Officials have contacted the owners of potentially exposed horses. Standardized recommendations were developed by state and federal officials and are being followed to isolate exposed horses, monitor them for clinical signs of EHV-1, and work with private veterinary practitioners to test and treat horses affected with the disease. Biosecurity procedures have been recommended for premises with suspect and confirmed cases to mitigate further disease spread.
May 29th was a blustery day on the Pryor Mountains as we bounced up Tillett Ridge Road in a gale force wind blowing out of the north. Icy rain fell in intermittent sheets—the polar opposite of the weather on the day of Cloud’s birth.
Sixteen years ago the sun was shining. It was warm. Light clouds floated overhead. I set up my camera and was filming a brash, young stallion who was flirting with his father’s newly acquired filly when I spotted a flash of white moving through the trees and panned the camera. A pale colt tottered out of the forest beside his palomino mother. The rest of his family followed—Smokey and Mahogany, his sisters; Diamond, his yearling brother; and the other mares, Isabella the pale buckskin, and Grumpy Grulla. Pulling up the rear was Cloud’s stunning father, the unforgettable Raven. The foal struggled to keep up with his mother on their trek uphill to snow drifts under the canopy of Douglas firs.
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