This site is dedicated to the preservation of America's Wild Horses and Burros and to pay tribute, within this site
is information from the most respected sites in the internet. -
I am very proud to announce, Rita Simonian, my assistant and one of my Board Members for The Wild Spirit
Horse. She is my U2 sister and a blessing to these wild ones, God Bless U2 as it's because of them I met
her. You can also follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/ritababy
I'm also very proud to be onboard EDUN, a wonderful company founded by Bono and his wife, Ali - Please check out their
site - Spring/Summer collection just got marked down up to 30%.
Animal imagery can be powerful, it can be fun; it can be completely unrelated to a song. But there's no doubt that U2
loves animals. They frequently feature them in videos and make references to them in songs and they love horses.
Speaking of horses, Bono must have had them on the mind in the early '90s, because Achtung Baby
and Zooropa contain no less than three separate songs with references to these beautiful four-legged
creatures.
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?" is the fifth track on Achtung
Baby; it is a dark song about lost love and regret. The singer sings about his empty heart, which has been left behind
by his love. The chorus of the song is steeped in irony. The singer, somewhat bitterly, recalls the words his lover has left
him with: "Who's gonna ride your wild horses?" The lover has a "gypsy heart" that needs to roam, but it hurts people, namely
the singer, in the process. But the simple fact is that no one can ride your wild horses except you, even if that hurts the
ones you love and the ones who love you.
How You Can Help Our Wild Horses..
Please share this press release with local
and national media, friends and colleagues, and voice your concerns with our government's management of our wild horses directly
to President Obama at ww.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/. Please also ask the President to support the Bill H.R. 1018...We need change in the Wild Horse and Burro Program to
protect our wild horses. Thank you.
for immediate release
Documents Reveal BLM Secret Plan to Destroy
Wild Horses
Documents obtained from the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) via the Freedom of Information Act by a Phoenix-based non-profit, The Conquistador Program, reveal shocking
and detailed plans to destroy healthy wild horses in government holding facilities as well as those still remaining in the
wild on public lands.
BLM employees as well as a USDA veterinarian
held weekly “Implementation Team” meetings beginning in July of 2008 in which they discussed and developed strategies
aimed at ridding BLM of thousands of mustangs. In October they completed a 68 page document entitled “Alternative Management
Options”. Tactics included in this document are reminiscent of those used to wipe out Native American tribes in the
1800s.
The BLM team created scenarios for killing
mustangs using barbiturates, gun shots, or captive bolts. Bodies would be disposed of through rendering, burial or incineration.
They discussed killing 1200-2000 wild horses per year. The document states that “the general public would be prohibited
from viewing euthanasia.” Additionally, the Team felt that “increased support from public relations and management
staff would also be needed to insulate those doing the actual work from the public, media and Congressional scrutiny/criticism.”
“Minutes from these meetings as
well as the Draft Plan reveal what amounts to ‘the final solution’ for the American mustang,” states Ginger
Kathrens, filmmaker and Volunteer Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation. “Despite a huge outcry from the American
public last year regarding BLM plans to kill wild horses in holding, the agency is still pressing forward with a plan to destroy
our American mustangs both on and off the range.”
Division Chief of the Wild Horse and Burro
Program Don Glenn told The Cloud Foundation that “no decision has been made to move forward on a large scale with this
plan, yet.”
BLM meeting minutes speak for themselves.
“Security at facilities and at gathers would need to be increased to combat eco-terrorism. Having the people that are
willing to put down healthy horses at gather sites could be a problem. Having vets putting down healthy horses at preparation
facility[ies] could also be a problem.” Meeting minutes reveal the psychological toll that employees would pay—“have
counseling for employees and contractors that have to euthanize the healthy horses because it is very stressful.”
The report created an option in which
wild horses of all ages could be sold “without limitation”. In other words, horses could be sold directly to killer
buyers in unchecked numbers. The Team admitted that “some wild horses will go to slaughter”.
“Once they are gone, they’re
gone” says Karen Sussman, President of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros. “To
lose this incomparable species would be a travesty.”
Team Members formulated ways in which
they could circumvent the National Environmental Policy Act, asking “How many (wild horses) could be euthanized during
a gather (roundup) without having NEPA?” BLM discussed ways to circumvent the federal carcass disposal law (43 CFR 4730.2).
Conversations included how many wild horses could be rendered at the Reno Rendering plant or “disposed of in pits”.
The Team concluded that “there will not be large numbers of horses euthanized during gathers or in the field. This is
due to state environmental laws.”
Recommendations include the creation of
gelding herds, and sterilization of mares to create non-reproductive herds in the wild in place of natural herds. The team
recommended changing the sex ratio from the normal 50% males and 50% females to 70% males and 30% females. Then the experimental
two-year infertility drug, PZP-22, would be given to all mares that are returned to the wild. Plans call for rounding up the
wild horses every two years to re-administer the drug.
“Mares on the drug will cycle monthly
and, with the altered sex ratio, the social chaos will be dangerous and on-going,” Kathrens explains. “Any semblance
of normal wild horse society will be completely destroyed.”
Kathrens has spent 15 years in the wild
documenting mustang behavior for her PBS television documentaries which chronicle the life story of Cloud, the now famous
pale palomino stallion she has filmed since birth. “Even Cloud and his little herd in Montana
are in serious danger if BLM implements these options,” she continues. “The BLM plans a massive round up in Cloud’s
herd beginning August 30, 2009.”
The BLM will not guarantee that Cloud
and his family will remain free.
"To heighten awareness of America's Wild Horses and Burros and to promote their preservation." Silver Springs, NV. -
Update
- The Wild Horse Freedom Bracelet was sent to The White House for President Obama, and was officially accepted on February
25, 2009. Three were sent. One for The lovely First Lady, Michelle, and the other two were for The President's two lovely
daughters, Malia and Sasha.
"The Wild Horse Freedom Bracelet" Designed by, Karen Mayfield, Jewelry Designer, Wild Horse Advocate. The bracelet is
71/2 inches and made with a diamond cut silver chain, and a sterling silver clasp. Its design displays two sterling silver
charms, one of a running horse, representing our wild horses, and the other, an American Flag, representing our great country.
It was designed to pay tribute to the endurance, strength, and freedom of our country and our wild horses.
Each bracelet comes with its own silver plated signature jewelry tag of authenticity that says, "Wild Horse Freedom Bracelet."
$25.00 - free shipping and handling. Custom sizes available at no extra charge. Money back guarantee. Also check or money
order payable to Karen Mayfield can be sent to PO. Box 1174 Silver Springs, Nv 89429, and please specify "Wild Horse Freedom
Bracelet"
For questions or comments mailto:KarenMayfield@U2audio.com Please allow 2 weeks for delivery on your delivery.
The proceeds from the bracelet help with some of the cost of volunteering such as field work.. however I'm in the
process of forming a 501(c)(3) to help the wild horses and burros ~ Karen Mayfield.
~ The Wild Horse Freedom Bracelet was also sent to former President George W. Bush for his wife, Laura.
Latest ~ A big thank you goes out to Kathy Ireland who has given support and has asked people to follow me
on Twitter to help give our wild horses exposure. Thanks for your support Kathy!
Please follow her @KathyIreland.
The Wild Horse Freedom Bracelet
Bracelet
Michael Blake - Author of "Dances With Wolves" Pays Tribute..
Less than one percent of humans who live in American have ever seen wild horses
running free. I have spoken with many of the few who have and each has said the view they made will never be forgotten.
As remarkable as a distant sight of wild horses can
be it remains the tip of a glorious iceberg. The actual lives of wild horses reveal to humanity the privilege having a life
on the planet earth and how vital it is to respect the privilege.
Twelve
the King is not a novel or a non-fiction study. It is a short memorial
based on a wild horse stallion in whose presence I spent nearly fifteen years of my own life. He never had anything put on
his back and was given all-access to the ranch he lived on after surviving a brutal capture in Nevada.
The book has been written to honor his existence and
share with anyone the inspiration and knowledge he exhibited each day of his life. It is hoped that those who read about horse
number 1202’s intimate state of being will feel something that will provoke action. Action that will oppose the
link between politicians and corporations which has been playing a shell game for generations to kill and remove every wild
horse in America.
- Michael Blake
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BILL TO RESTORE PROTECTIONS OF AMERICAN ICONS PASSES
HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Washington, DC (April 29, 2009) – The Restoring
Our American Mustangs Act (H.R. 1018) today passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee. Known as the
ROAM Act, the bill was introduced by Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-WV) and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee
Chairman Raśl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) earlier this year. It is
intended to restore protections for America’s wild horses and burros that were stripped out of
the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in recent years.
“Protection and management of the wild horses
and burros on our public lands is an important federal responsibility - but it is clear that the federal government has not
been adequately meeting that responsibility,” said Chairman Rahall. “This legislation will remedy many of the
critical lapses that are taking place under the 1971 Act by invoking a number of commonsense measures, including preventing
the BLM from resorting to slaughter as a solution for management.”
Originally intended to prevent the sale of America’s
wild horses and burros for commercial purposes, a key provision of the original 1971 Act was gutted when then Senator Conrad
Burns (R-MT) attached a midnight rider to an Omnibus spending bill in 2004 that instructed the Bureau of Land Management to
sell horses “without limitation”. In reality, this meant that the captured animals were destined for livestock
auctions where they would be purchased for slaughter.
“Ever since the Burns rider became law it’s
been a game of constant vigilance for the American public and members of Congress. The simple and right thing to do
is to restore this provision while revamping and improving the larger statute. Not only will the ROAM Act ensure that our
mustangs and burros are once again protected from slaughter, but it seeks to reclaim land – some 19 million acres –
taken away from these magnificent animals since the 1971 Act was signed into law,” said Chris Heyde, Deputy Director
of Government and Legal Affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute. “The Animal Welfare Institute is immensely grateful
to Chairman Rahall and Chairman Grijalva for their leadership on this responsible legislation.”
At a time when there are nearly as many wild horses
and burros in captivity as there are in the wild, the legislation has met with enthusiasm from the public and within the humane
and wild horse advocacy community. Passage of the ROAM Act will mean that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which
currently has primary authority for managing these animals, must focus on managing them as an integral part of the thriving
natural ecological balance.
“It is imperative
that we protect and preserve America's wild horses as a ‘living national treasure,’”
said Subcommittee Chairman Raśl M. Grijalva. “The antiquated policies concerning these magnificent creatures must be
change to reflect what Americans want for these horses today.”
The ROAM Act now moves
to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
The above is a wonderful Documentary "Mestengo."
This is the 5 minute trailer.
Follow me on Twitter, the place where Washington D.C. communicates.
H.R. 1018, To amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to improve the management and long-term health of wild
free-roaming horses and burros, and for other purposes
H.R. 305, The Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2009
H.R. 305 would amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the transportation of horses in interstate transportation
in a motor vehicle containing 2 or more levels stacked on top of one another.
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain conduct relating to the use of horses for human consumption.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 14, 2009
Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BILBRAY, Mrs. BONO MACK, Ms. BORDALLO,
Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr.
GALLEGLY, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. INGLIS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas,
Mr. JONES, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. KIRK, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. ZOE
LOFGREN of California, Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California,
Mr. MITCHELL, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. NADLER of New York,
Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of
Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WATSON,
Mr. WEXLER, Mr. WHITFIELD, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WU, and Mr. YOUNG of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain conduct relating to the use of horses for human consumption.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009'.
SEC. 2. SLAUGHTER OF HORSES FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.
(a) In General- Chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
`Sec. 50. Slaughter of horses for human consumption
`(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), whoever knowingly--
`(1) possesses, ships, transports, purchases, sells, delivers, or receives, in or affecting interstate commerce or foreign
commerce, any horse with the intent that it is to be slaughtered for human consumption; or
`(2) possesses, ships, transports, purchases, sells, delivers, or receives, in or affecting interstate commerce or foreign
commerce, any horse flesh or carcass or part of a carcass, with the intent that it is to be used for human consumption;
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years or both.
`(b) If--
`(1) the defendant engages in conduct that would otherwise constitute an offense under subsection (a);
`(2) the defendant has no prior conviction under this section; and
`(3) the conduct involves less than five horses or less than 2000 pounds of horse flesh or carcass or part of a carcass;
the defendant shall, instead of being punished under that subsection, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more
than one year, or both.
`(c) As used in this section, the term `horse' means any member of the family Equidae.'.
(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following new item:
This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory -- some to be missed, some gladly left behind.
From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America.
Although free roaming horses, or as some people call them, wild Mustangs, are still fairly easy to find in America, the true
"wild horse" may have long become a thing of the past. Today's free roaming horse herds are well-bred groups of animals managed
by default. That is what they have been for quite some time. Free-ranging horse herds can still be found in California, Eastern
Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. These herds exist in relative security under
the watchful eye of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with additional supervision from a handful of private organizations.
They thrive so well in fact, that the BLM has had to liquidate them by auction on a regular basis.
Equine historians
believe that the horse species originated in North America, and then they were then brought to extinction here between 8,000
to 13,000 years ago. This means that today's free roaming horses are most likely the descendants of domesticated transplants.
It is hotly debated as to whether these horses are to be considered genetically indigenous or not. Thousands of horses from
perhaps thousands of sources were released by either plan or chance into the wilds of America's vast frontiers. In virtually
all instances of release, the horses were originally brought to their new locations for human purposes. Upon release, whether
planned or accidental, they were indeed free range animals, however, they may never have been true native wild horses.
Spanish explorers are credited with reintroducing horses to their North American homeland.
Then, in the late 1600's, the Native American tribes of the Pueblo, Apache, and Comanche recognized horses as valuable for
use in hunting, warfare, and trade. They, and other Native American tribes, are to be credited with reestablishing and dispersing
the horse throughout western North America. Apparently, it wasn't until the mid 1700's that the European influx began to introduce
a large variety of horse breeds to mix with the earlier, Spanish-introduced stock.
It is estimated that 100 years ago,
as many as two million horses were roaming free within the United States. In 2001, National Geographic News estimated that the wild horse population had decreased to about 50,000 head. Currently, the National Wild Horse and Burro
Advisory board states that there are 32,000 free roaming horses in ten Western states, with half of them residing in Nevada.
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking to reduce the total number of free range horses to 27,000, possibly by selective euthanasia, stating that the department estimates it will cost up to $77 million annually to effectively
administrate free roaming horse management programs by 2012.
IN SUPPORT OF SENATE BILL 2278 (North Dakota) STATEMENT OF CLAIRE HENDERSON HISTORY DEPARTMENT BATIMENT
DE KONINCK LAVAL UNIVERSITY QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC CANADA 236 Rve Lavergne Quebec, Quebec, G1K-2k2 Canada 418-647-1032 (February
1, 1991)
INTRODUCTION
Traditional Dakota/Lakota people firmly believe that the aboriginal North American horse did not become extinct after
the last Ice Age, and that it was part of their pre-contact culture.
Scientists know from fossil remains that the horse originated and evolved in North America, and that these small 12 to
13 hand horses or ponys (sic) migrated to Asia across the Bering Strait, then spread throughout Asia and finally reached Europe.
The drawings in the French Laseaux caves, dating about 10,000 B.C., are a testimony to their long westward migration. Scientists
contend, however, that the aboriginal horse became extinct in North America during what is (known) as the "Pleistocene kill,"
in other words, that they disappeared at the same time as the mammoth, the ground sloth, and other Ice Age mammals. This has
led anthropologists to assume that Plains Indians only acquired horses after Spaniards accidentally lost some horses in Mexico,
in the beginning of the XVIth (16th) century, that these few head multiplied and eventually reached the prairies.
Dakota/Lakota Elders as well as many other Indian nations contest this theory, and content that according to their oral
history, the North American horse survived the Ice Age, and that they had developed a horse culture long before the arrival
of Europeans, and, furthermore, that these same distinct ponys (sic) continued to thrive on the prairies until the latter
part of the XIXth (19th) century, when the U.S. government ordered them rounded up and destroyed to prevent Indians from leaving
the newly-created reservations. Although there is extensive evidence of this massive slaughter, no definitive evidence has
yet been found to substantiate the Elders' other claim, but there are a number of arguments in favour of the Indian position.
Post-glacial remains
Some biologists have pointed out that Elders could indeed be correct, for while the mammoth and other Pleistocene mammals
died out during the last Ice Age in both continents, if the horse survived in Eurasia, there is no reason for it to have become
extinct in North America, especially given similar environment and climate on the steppes and prairies.
In Eurasia, scientists have been able to trace the domestication of the horse through extensive archaeological work,
fossil remains, burials, middens (garbage heaps) and artifacts. Such finds have, for instance, enabled them to determine that
peoples there ate horses, buried them with notables, and helped them establish that men started riding about 3,500 B.C.
By comparison, very little archaeological work has been done on the prairies due in large part to budget constraints.
There are also other problems. Whereas the Seythians, for instance, left magnificent gold jewelry which can be dated to 400
B.C., Indian petroglyphs are usually impossible to date accurately. Digs have also concentrated mainly on villages sites,
but if prehistoric prairie Indians had the same aversions to eating horsemeat as Dakota/Lakota people have today, then middens
(garbage heaps) would not contain the necessary evidence either. It is well known that Dakota/Lakota people have traditionally
eaten dogs, and indeed they still do at certain times, but conversely they would no more eat horses than Europeans would eat
dogs. So that if both these cultural traits, in regards to horses and dogs, are ancestral, it would be useless to seek horse
remains in garbage heaps.
Dakota/Lakota burial customs are well documented: Bodies were placed on scaffolds on the prairies, and the bones were
collected, cleaned and buried about one year later. As there is no tradition of ceremonial horse burials, with or without
humans, one can assume that horses were simply left to die on the prairies where wolves and other scavengers would have efficiently
dealt with their carcasses, thereby leaving scientists, once again, with few, if any, remains to discover.
So whereas the Eurasian cultural practices insured the survival of physical evidence of the presence and domestication
of the horse thousands of years ago, it might well be that pre-contact Indian cultural practices and environmental factors
are responsible for the absence of the same evidence on this continent.
The Indian pony and its characteristics
Dakota/Lakota people have an extensive "horse vocabulary," and they distinguish between their "own" horses, which among
other names they call "sunkdudan," the small-legged horse, and the European imported horse which they call the long-legged
horse, or the American Horse.
Between 1984 and 1987, this writer conducted extensive research on the prairies to retrace the itinerary of Louis-Joseph
LaVerendrie who left a village site near Bismark, North Dakota, on 23 July, 1642, in an attempt to find the "People of the
Horse." He hoped they would take him to the "Western (China) Sea," which Europeans had long sought in North America. He traveled
20 days, guided by two Mandans, and on 11 August (1642), he reached the "Mountain of the People of the Horse" where he waited
5 weeks for their arrival. In trying to locate this campsite, this writer used LaVerendrie' s maps and diaries, as well as
other documentation and interviewed numerous Elders and old ranchers. Eventually the site was located in Wyoming, and all
of the people he met and traveled with were found to be Lakotas. But these interviews also lead to a wealth of information
about the Indian pony.
According to Elders, the aboriginal pony had the following characteristics: It was small, about 13 hands, it had a "strait"
back necessitating a different saddle from that used on European horses, wider nostrils, larger lungs so that its endurance
was proverbial. One breed had a long mane, and shaggy (curly) hair, while another had a "singed mane." This writer contacted
a specialist in mammals and was told the Elders were describing the Tarpan and the Polish Przewalski horses, and that early,
independent eyewitness accounts ought to be investigated to confirm the Dakota statements. This lead to further research for
creditable European reports.
Frederick Wilhelm, Prince of Wurtemberg, a widely respected naturalist, traveled along the Mississippi and up the Missouri
in 1823. Prince Wilhelm had studied zoology, botany and related sciences under Dr. Lebret, himself a student of Jussieux,
Cavier and Gay-Lussac. An English translation of his diary, titled First Journey to North America in the years 1822 to 1823,
was published in 1938 by the South Dakota Historical Society. His memoirs show that he was a keen observer of the fauna and
flora wherever he traveled, and it was interesting to note his remarks on the Indian pony's characteristics:
"I interrupt my discourse, to say a few words concerning the horses of the Indians…At a cursory glance one might
mistake them for horses from the steppes of eastern Europe. The long manes, long necks, strong bodies and strait back make
them appear like the horses of Poland…On the whole the horses of the Indians are very enduring..." (So.
Dak. Hist. Soc., XIX:378).
He explained this curious phenomena (sic) by postulating that the Indian pony had descended from the Spanish horses,
but that it has "degenerated, " so that "They now resemble the parent (Spanish) stock very little."
If Elders are correct, and if the aboriginal pony did survive, it might well also explain why the ponies so closely resembled
the Tarpan or the Polish horses, and perhaps systematic extermination of these ponies by the U.S. government has deprived
science of very valuable information.
Early French manuscripts: Evidence of a Dakota horse culture prior to 1650
Other evidence exists which also militates in favor of the Indian position, that the aboriginal horse had already been
tamed and ridden at the time of (white) contact.
The first mention of horses in French manuscripts dates from 1657, and led to an amusing misunderstanding. In August
1657, Pierre Esprit Radisson traveled from Quebec to Onondaga (Syracuse, N.Y.) and during this canoe trip, a 50y/o Iroquois
told the explorer of a three-year trip he had taken as a young man to the "great river that divides itself in two" -- the
Mississippi. (Scull, Gideon G., Voyages, 1943:105). During that trip, he assured Radisson he had seen "a beast like a Dutch
horse, that had a long & straight horne in the forehead," and this horne was some 5 feet long. Following this story Radisson
(Scull:107) comments:
"Now whether it was a unicorne, or a fibbe made by that wild man, yet (that) I cannot tell, but several others tould
me the same, who have seene severall times the same beast, so that I firmly believe it."
Similar stories had also reached the Atlantic Dutch colonies. O'Callaghan' s Documentary History of New York (Vol. IV:77,
1851), has an engraving of this animal, with the title "Wild Animals of New Netherlands" which has been taken from a Dutch
work published in Amsterdam in 1671. The description of this strange bea(st):
"On the borders of Canada animals are now and again seen somewhat resembling a horse; they have cloven hoofs, shaggy
manes, a horn right out of the forehead, a tail like that of a wild hog, black eyes, a stag's neck, and love the gloomiest
wilderness, are shy of each other, so that the male never feeds with the female except when they associate for the purpose
of increase, then they lay aside their ferocity. As soon as the rutting season is past, they again not only become wild but
even attack their own." (Soull, 1943:107, footnote 42.)
The clue to the identity of this fabulous beast -- whose habits so resembled that of the horse -- was finally discovered
in the account of the western journey of the explorer Jean Cavelier de la Salle. He reached the Illinois River, in January
1680, and began to construct Fort Crevecoeur, at Piorea, Illinois. On 17 February (1680), two western chiefs visited him,
one of whom had a tobacco pouch made of "the foot of a horse with part of the skin of the leg." Upon being questioned, the
chief answered that 5 days west of where he lived "the inhabitants fought on horseback with lances…"
From this description, it became evident that the "unicorns" seen by the Iroquois, in his younger days, were simply horses
whose riders, perhaps hunting buffalo at a gallop, held their long spears in front of them, between the horse's ears. As for
the "cloven hoofs," these could well have been the seams of the hide horseshoes Indians sometimes used.
Concerning the identity of these expert riders, La Salle thought they were Spaniards:
"(These riders) had long hair. This circumstance made us believe that he was speaking of Spaniards from New Mexico because
Indians here do not let their hair grow long."
La Salle was at the time with Illinois Indians and had not yet reached the Mississippi, so he had no way of knowing the
hairstyle of other Indian nations, but Radisson had gone to "the great river that divides itself in two," in 1655 and again
in 1659, and had met Dakotas. Radisson (Scull, 1943:151) stated:
"Those people have their haires long. They reape twice a yeare; they were called Tatanka, that is to say buff (buffalo)."
Tatanka is of course the Dakota/Lakota name of the buffalo, and as Radisson states, it was -- and still is -- the sacred name
of the entire "Sioux" nation: Tatanka Oyate, or Pte Oyate, The Buffalo Nation. This passage is interesting because it contains
the very first Dakota word ever written by a European, and at the same time gives the true name of the nation, mistakenly
called "Sioux" by later Europeans.
Were these expert prairie horsemen indeed Dakota/Lakota people as Radisson's quote states? A manuscript map dated 1673,
but probably earlier still, and its lengthy accompanying text indicate that they undoubtedly were. The text states, and the
map shows the entire plains area, from Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains as "Manitounie, " a French transcription of the
old Dakota term for prairie, "Manitu," and "oni," to live. Hence Prairies Dwellers, a name which the Ojibwa translated into
their own language as "Mascoutens Puane," from "Mascoutens, " prairie, and "Puane/Boine, " the still current term for all
"Sioux" people. Both names were also translated into French as "Sioux des Prairies," Prairie Sioux. This same map, part of
the Cedex Canadensis, at the Gilchrist Museum in Oklahoma, also shows that near the confluence of the Mississippi and the
Missouri, where the Iroquois had seen his "unicorn," there were indeed "Nations who have horses."
Hence, French manuscripts indicate that the entire prairies, from the Mississippi to the Rockies, were occupied by the
Dakota/Lakota people when the first French explorers went there, and that they were skilled horsemen. Prince Frederick of
Wurtemberg, who witnessed the Indian technique for hunting buffalo, was dully impressed:
"The Indians are extremely bold and daring riders. This is shown especially in their hunting of the buffalo. In this
dangerous work it is often hard to say which has the greater skill, the rider or the horse. Since the Indian who manipulates
the bow and arrow can not make use of the reins, he must leave the horse entirely to its own discretion. The animal must be
carefully trained to approach the bison within a few paces. It must run close to the powerful and often angry bull, and must
be ready at all times to evade with the greatest swiftness the charges of the terrible oppoinent." (S. Dak. Hist. Soc., XIX:379).
The interesting point here is that several years prior to 1657, these Prairie Indians were already expert horsemen, having
developed remarquable riding and hunting skills. That such expertise was developed by 1650 is remarquable in many ways: It
implies that the original 11 head had so multiplied that within a few short years after the horses appeared, these Prairies
Dakotas had devised methods for catching them, had learned to tame them, had become expert riders, had devised the most efficient
buffalo hunting techniques on horseback, and had also devised techniques for training their horses in these skills. These
accomplishments, in so short a time, seem all the more extraordinary when examining the development of similar skills in other
areas of the world.
Eurasia: A comparison
By comparison, in Eurasia the thought of catching and taming horses took thousands of years. An easily accessible Time-Life
book, titled First Horseman, by Frank Trippet, describes the reasons why it took thousands of years for people first confronted
with horses, to even think of riding them:
"The horse's nature obviously had a lot to do with its initial failure to attract riders. Few men would have been tempted
to mount so unpredictable a beast -- and fewer still would have been able to stay aboard. (It) had evolved into the most temperamental
of all domestic animals, able to elude predators by its sheer speed -- the only possible defence on terrain (the Steppe) that
offered no place to hide. In body and mind the horse is perfectly designed for flight, not fight. The horse relies on its
uncommonly keen eyesight and marvelously acute sense of smell to send it galloping off at any hint of danger. Yet, once trapped,
it kicks, bucks, slashes out with its forefeet and bites -- often lethally. Also stallions protecting mares and foals will
attack."
"Perhaps most important, the untamed horse is naturally likely to go all but beserk when anything lands on its back,
simply because it has learned through the millennia that anything is likely to be a predator. Thus, if man had dreamed of
riding the horse much earlier than he did, he could hardly have expected a hospitable reception from the animal that one day
would become his partner." (Trippet, 1974:47).
Thus Trippet explains why inhabitants of the steppes only began riding about 3,500 B.C., thousands of years after they
first appeared on that continent. The same reasons, however, would seem to preclude Prairie Dakotas from being so bold and
so skillful, so quickly, not to mention adopting an entirely new horse culture in an exceedingly short time. Yet, another
point is even more interesting.
It has been argued that Indians had seen Spanish riders, and thus had developed their astonishing equestrian skills,
but an example from the Middle East, where a similar situation occurred, shows the time required from the arrival of this
"strange beast" into culture, to when its people rode awkwardly for several generations after it first appeared among them,
even when experts were there to teach them.
"More than a century passed before the Assyrians, learning from more skilled horsemen, like the Scythians, began to feel
at home on horseback…For example, Assyrain cavalrymen of the Ninth Century B.C. required aides to ride beside them and
manage their mounts so that they would be free to use their weapons." (Trippet, 1974:51)
These examples from other cultures make it difficult to believe that the aboriginal horse had indeed disappeared during
the last Ice Age.
First, the initial 11 head herd, released in the early XVIth (16th) century, would have had to multiply rapidly in a
few years, and to such an extent that horses in sufficient numbers reached the prairies. Then, between that time and at the
latest 1650, Dakota/Lakota people would have had to overcome their "mercurial disposition. " Prince Frederick mentions repeatedly
how wild these ponys (sic) were. Then, they would have had to learn to catch horses, tame them, learn to ride, become expert
horsemen, devise the best techniques for training their horses in these skills. Compared to the time required by the Assyrians
-- with expert teachers -- and indeed all other Eurasian horse cultures, to develop such accomplishments, the Indian feat
seems unbelievable.
Trippet (1974:47-48) concluded that: "In light of the horse's mercurial disposition, its eventual conquest by man seems
in many ways a fantastic achievement. " Even more fantastic, then, is the incredible speed with which a horse culture was
developed by the Dakota people. It might, however, be explained if the aboriginal North America horse had survived the Pleistocene,
and thus had been part of a long-standing horse culture before the arrival of Europeans, as Dakota/Lakota Elders contend.
And, therefore, that they had acquired these skills over the millennia, like their Eurasian counterparts, rather than in the
space of one or two generations.
Conclusion
Although there as yet (is) no conclusive physical evidence that the aboriginal horse survived the Pleistocene, and was
part of the pre-contact civilization on the prairies, there is sufficient evidence -- and indeed much more than is presented
in this short paper -- for experts to seriously reconsider that long-held theory that Prairies Dakotas had to wait for the
arrival of the white man to give them horses.
According to the Dakota/Lakota oral tradition, the aboriginal horse never became extinct and was part of their pre-contact
culture.
The horse is aboriginal to North America, and biologists can offer no scientific reasons for its extinction here and
not in Eurasia.
The absence of post-glacial remains could well be explained by Indian/Dakota cultural traits and environmental factors.
The astounding horsemanship of Prairie Dakotas within a few years of the appearance of the "Spanish horse," argues for
this having been a traditional skill.
The government pony-extermination policy may well have deprived scientists of unique specimens.
Many theories have taken root because of preconceptions and bias. In this instance, no one can deny a long-standing prejudice
against Indians, and the efforts which were made to minimize their accomplishments in many areas, and to discount oral history.
In light of the above, one might well wonder if the long-held theory regarding the Indian pony is not a survival of these
XIXth (19th) century prejudices.
Definite proof of the survival of the aboriginal North American horse, and of a pre-contact Indian horse culture, might
yet be discovered. Whatever happens, the few remaining Indian ponies should be treasured as part of North Dakota's unique
heritage.
Horses definitely originated here, and whether the few remaining ponys (sic) are throwbacks, or are they actual descendants,
they are a living testimony of the state's contribution to the advancement of many civilizations throughout the world. ------------
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -- PRESENTED BY Claire Henderson, Laval University, Quebec, Canada. 2-1-91.
YES WE CAN protect America's horses from the slaughter industry
YES WE CAN protect wild horses and restore their historic and legal ranges
With EVERYONE'S HELP....
YES WE CAN!
Let's make 2009 the AMERICAN YEAR OF THE HORSE
Let's paint the horse Patriotic, as horses were some of America's earliest patriots. They died
for this country, they're blood spilled on this land, they too fought for our freedom. In America - we will honor our
horses, not slaughter them.
YES WE CAN!
Also please visit my two myspace pages dedicated to the wild ones...
Musical instrument replacement fund developed by U2's The Edge to benefit musicians of the Gulf Coast who lost their
instruments and equipment in the 2005 hurricanes.
NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - TX - Missing AQHA Black
Reining Stallion - Van Zandt County - June 3, 2008
Colonel's
Might "DOC" - Missing in bad divorce. Suspect husband is hiding him in the se Smith/ne Cherokee counties area. Doc belonged
to wife prior to marriage, and she is afraid she will never see him again.
This horse is on medication for ulcers
and will become sick without them. Husband could contact local vet to treat ulcer or even to geld him, so please post in all
local vet offices, feed/tack stores, etc.
Please keep an eye out for this stallion, and email Claudette and let her
know you have her support!
reply:
stolenhorse@netposse.com Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never underestimate the power of one! Purchase
microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.
NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing
Horses and more ...
A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short
time period. Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members, friends and ask them to do the same.
If you put information on your website please link the info to NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating information and has the
only flyer ready to print and post for those who want to help. The Internet is great for spreading the
word but success stories show that most horse are found from a flyer. Thank you very much for your generosity in helping these
victims. -- Debi Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse International.
Please watch the below film, there have been many stories told from the back of a horse, this film tells one from the
heart of one. Please help save the american mustang...before it's too late.
Spirit: Stallion of The Cimarron
Wild horses aren't free
Failure to enforce a 1971 law endangers the mustangs it was supposed to protect.
By Deanne Stillman June 2, 2008
It's not news that America is a cowboy nation, but it may surprise many that we are destroying
the horse we rode in on.
Since the early 1970s, mustangs -- wild horses -- have been protected under the Wild Free-Roaming
Horses and Burro Act, spearheaded by Velma Johnston, a.k.a. Wild Horse Annie. In 1950, she saw blood spilling out of a truck
on a Nevada highway, followed it, and then witnessed injured and dying mustangs being offloaded at a slaughterhouse. She led
a battle to stop the cruel roundups, resulting in the passage of federal protection signed into law by President Nixon in
1971.
Under that law, horses are to be "considered in areas where presently found as an integral part of the system
of public lands." Their management falls to agencies inside the Department of the Interior, primarily the Bureau of Land Management,
which culls the herds based on the land's grazing capacity and what's required to sustain the wild horse population. But the
government also balances the needs of horses against other uses of the range -- and that means corporate cattle ranching.
Today, instead of being protected, mustangs are in danger of being "managed" out of existence.
At the beginning of
the 20th century, there were about 2 million mustangs in the wilderness; according to the government, there are about 23,000
on public lands in the Western states now, and more than half are in Nevada. Wild horse advocates, however, say the number
is much lower. Because the animals have been "zeroed out" from at least 100 of their 300 official herd areas (contrary to
the 1971 law's provisions), they may be on the brink of no return.
Many cattle ranchers have long regarded wild horses
as "pests" that steal food from their herds. The livestock lobby has tried to dismantle the wild horse and burro law through
four U.S. administrations, and it has the political clout to push policy toward a mustang-free America.
In 1990, the
Government Accounting Office looked at the situation: "Wild horses are vastly outnumbered on range lands by livestock. ...
Wild horse removals have taken place in some areas not being damaged by widespread overgrazing." Since then, cattle have
continued to flourish on the range. Today, at least 3 million cattle graze on the same public lands where mustangs make their
living.
One of the stockmen's victories has been a rollback in the 1971 law. When mustangs and burros are culled from
wild herds, they are warehoused by the government and offered for adoption. In 2005, the rules were changed. Now, if horses
aren't adopted on the third try, they "strike out," becoming eligible for sale to the lowest bidder along with mustangs more
than 10 years old (not old for a horse). This means an eventual ticket to the slaughterhouse.
This policy is aggravated
by federal grazing studies that, because of a lack of funding, are often out of date in terms of horse populations and favor
the livestock lobby's version of "appropriate management levels."
"AMLs are frequently inaccurate and not determined
in accordance with the law," says Patricia Fazio, an environmental historian who has monitored the mustang situation for more
than two decades. "Where oh where has scientific management and substantive public input for federal lands gone?"
Wild
horse populations also endure other stresses, such as unscheduled "gathers" during drought. (No other animal is rounded up
under such conditions, and the horses aren't returned to the range after being given a drink.) And none of this is helped
by media that parrot the view that the mustang is an invasive species.
In fact, mustangs are native to this continent,
linked by DNA to horses of the Pleistocene. They evolved in the North American West, crossed the Bering land bridge to Asia
and Europe, and then died out on their native turf in the Ice Age. They returned with the conquistadors in the 16th century,
and for the next 300 years, roaming free or put to work as trailblazers, Indian ponies or cowboy transportation, they were
an essential part of the West.
By the end of the 19th century, mustangs, along with the rest of the Wild West, were
heading toward anachronism. A hydra-headed horseflesh industry arose. Mustangers ripped into the herds, trapping horses and
selling them for chicken feed, or dinner in France, or service in foreign wars. So many were taken from 1920 to 1935 that
the era is known in some circles as "the great removal."
Today, the roundups continue under cover of what is left
of the law. Mustang posses are tax subsidized (although lone operators with guns hunt horses illegally as well). Federal contractors
hunt "humanely" by helicopter. During the last eight years, about 75,000 wild horses have been taken from the land. There
are now more wild horses in government custody than on the range.
Eighteen years after the first GAO investigation
of the wild horse and burro program, a new one is underway. Perhaps it will uncover the absurdity of protecting wild horses
and burros by reducing herds in unwarranted numbers, allowing them to languish in government corrals and making it ever easier
to send them to slaughter.
In the meantime, our heritage is being stripped from the land, with roundups scheduled
through the year. Now is the time for an immediate moratorium on wild horse removals, at least until population studies are
brought up to date.
"We need the tonic of wildness," Nixon said, quoting Thoreau when he signed Wild Horse Annie's
legislation. "Wild horses merit protection as a matter of ecological right, as anyone knows who has stood awed at the indomitable
spirit and sheer energy of a mustang running free."
Deanne Stillman's latest book, "Mustang: The Saga of the Wild
Horse in the American West," will be published June 9 by Houghton Mifflin.
Eight Bells for Eight Belles
A petition urging Churchill Downs to honor Fox Hill Farms' deceased filly Eight Belles by ringing eight bells:
Bob Richter: 'Horse slaughter on the border' tells a difficult story
Web Posted: 09/28/2007 06:02 PM CDT
The front page of Sunday's Express-News is dominated by a disturbing report and a horrendous photograph of something that
I'd guess most of us never have seen, nor want to see.
Lisa Sandberg's story, “Horse slaughter on the border,” illustrated by Jerry Lara's graphic photos of horses
being hacked to death in a Mexican "killing box" and then strung up to bleed to death, dramatizes the usually untold story
of what happens to Black Beauty when she gets old or can't run.
It's a vile situation that was set up when a federal court ordered the closures this year of the last three U.S. slaughterhouses
for horses: two in Texas, one in Illinois. While hailed by animal rights groups, the ruling didn't end the butchering; it
just moved the process across the border, to Mexico and Canada.
After you've read the piece and seen the photographs, you might be wondering what purpose is served by writing about a
process that occurs, albeit under the radar, daily in U.S. meatpacking houses where barnyard animals are butchered and processed
to become main courses on U.S. dinner tables.
There's a distinction, Express-News Managing Editor Brett Thacker contends:
"Yes, we slaughter cows, pigs and chickens by the millions every year in this country, but the practice of butchering and
eating horses induces a certain cringe factor. Thanks to their special place in American lore, horses have earned a status
similar to dogs and cats as companion animals, not beasts to be killed for consumption.
"The fact that it's socially unacceptable is a big reason the government shut down the slaughterhouses in Texas and Illinois.
Now, some entrepreneurial sorts have found a way around the ban and are making a few dollars by trucking the horses across
our borders. By shedding a light on the practice with this story, maybe Congress will follow through and close this export
loophole."
That justification notwithstanding, Lara's photos taken inside a Ciudad Juarez slaughterhouse were particularly lurid.
Several were published with Sandberg's story, making it easier for her to describe the process. About 30 more photos, shot
the same day, are here on MySA.com.
Lara, whose long body of work here at the Express-News includes scores of sensitive, artistic photographs, said officials
were "very accommodating" to his wants and "took pride in the facility," but he was troubled by the Juarez shoot.
"As kids growing up in the U.S., we are bombarded with images in movies, paintings and photographs of the majestic horse.
Seeing it reduced to a step in the food chain was trying. Seeing the animal stabbed, at times repeatedly, was tough."
Pam DelaBar is a bona fide local animal lover – a trained animal abuse investigator, horsewoman and president of
the World Cat Congress. She disagreed with the closure of the Texas slaughterhouses where, she says, horses were killed humanely
and the meat was shipped to places where it is legal and desirable to eat, including zoos.
"This is the fallout, this is the other side of that legislation," DelaBar said, "that horses won't be humanely slaughtered,
or they'll be starved to death."
Animal welfare advocates who lobbied to outlaw horse slaughter in this country now are lobbying Congress to outlaw the
shipment of horses across the border for slaughter. As Sandberg wrote: “No one disputes that slaughter-bound horses
have it far worse today than they did before .....”
While editors here expect an outcry, “Horse slaughter on the border” is an important story, and the newspaper
is justified in publishing it. However, my gut tells me that even if Congress bans shipment of U.S. horses across international
boundaries, the law won't work any better than current U.S. law does in stopping immigrants from illegally crossing our borders.
What do you think?
Bob Richter is the Express-News public editor. His opinions are his own. Contact him at (210) 250-3264 or brichter@express-news.net.
Read his blog at MySA.com, keyword: publiceditor.
H.R.249 Title: To restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and
burros. Sponsor: Rep Rahall, Nick J., II [WV-3] (introduced 1/5/2007) Cosponsors (17) Related Bills:H.RES.331 Latest Major Action: 4/26/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. House Reports: 110-93
Please go to the BLM Mustang page to see how you can help.
Although free roaming horses, or as some people call them, wild Mustangs, are still fairly easy to find in America, the true
"wild horse" may have long become a thing of the past. Today's free roaming horse herds are well-bred groups of animals managed
by default. That is what they have been for quite some time. Free-ranging horse herds can still be found in California, Eastern
Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. These herds exist in relative security under
the watchful eye of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with additional supervision from a handful of private organizations.
They thrive so well in fact, that the BLM has had to liquidate them by auction on a regular basis.
