Category Archives: Wild Horse Sources

Madeleine Pickens Scheduled as Keynote Speaker at Equine Welfare Conference in Alexandria, VA

Madeleine Pickens, the Founder of Saving America’s Mustangs, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s Equine Welfare Conference in Alexandria, VA on September 28th, 2011.

Other distinguished speakers include: Congressman Jim Moran, Senator Landrieu’s Aide, State Senator Dave Wanzenried, Congressman Burton’s Aide, Paula Bacon the former mayor of Kaufman, TX, Ann Marini, Ph.D., M.D., Ginger Kathrens of The Cloud Foundation, Michael Blowen of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Facility, Keith Dane with The Humane Society of the U.S., Lonita Stewart with Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, Katie Fite with Western Watersheds Project, and authors Deanne Stillman and Alex Brown.

A complete list of the presenters can be viewed here.

Event Location:
Marriott Residence Inn
1456 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

CONFERENCE AGENDA
Registration Fees:
All 3 days, includes Tuesday night banquet $150
Individual Day $75
Student: All 3 days, includes Tuesday night banquet $75
Student: Individual
Day $40

note: banquet is only included with 3 day registration

Registration is now closed, but you can receive more information by contacting: iec@equinewelfarealliance.org.

website: www.equinewelfarealliance.org

WHINNY Awards to Honor Animal Rights Advocate Madeleine Pickens

The Women’s Horse Industry Network has announced that Madeleine Pickens has been selected to receive a WHINNY award. The awards dinner will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at the Radisson Hotel Opryland. It will be videotaped as part of a one hour special on HRTV.

“We are very happy to present this award to Madeleine. This woman not only works hard to help animals and horses but has put her money where her boots are and where her passion lives. People like Madeleine deserve to be recognized and applauded for their efforts.  We will do everything we can to help promote her and her efforts.  It definitely will be my pleasure to hand her this award,” states WHIN’s Executive Director, Catherine Masters.

Animal rights advocate Madeleine Pickens started her career in horse racing in 1983, a passion she shared with her late husband and Gulfstream Aerospace founder, Allen E. Paulson. They achieved enormous success in racing and had a total of 800 horses, including breeding and racing World Champion and U.S. Hall of Fame inductee, Cigar. They achieved much esteem for their successes racing many champion Thoroughbreds, breeding many brood mares, and creating three successful farms from the ground up. Together, they owned a breaking and training farm at Ocala and a breeding farm at Brookside North in Kentucky where many of their champions were raised. They also had one more facility in California. Madeleine managed all the business aspects, farm decisions, and race decisions for the entire operation. The Paulsons owned more than 115 winners of graded stakes races. To this day, they still hold the record for the leader of the most ‘Breeder’s Cup’ champion horses and earnings.

Today, she is still breeding a few racehorses, but adamantly opposes horse slaughter and the use of the drugs in these animals. Until that is cleared up, she won’t ever participate in the race world like she had once been.

Continue reading WHINNY Awards to Honor Animal Rights Advocate Madeleine Pickens

Help Protect Cloud and His Herd

Submit a response letter to BLM scoping notice

Lynx, in Cloud's band, could be removed next year as a yearling.

Dear Friends of Cloud, his family, and herd;
The time is rapidly drawing to a close for you to be submit your letter to help prevent another removal in Cloud’s herd in 2012. I know you all care deeply for Cloud and his family, just as I do, and it is of vital importance that we all stand together to help the Pryor herd. It is therefore of the upmost importance that you submit a letter in your own writing to the BLM Billings Field Office postmarked by August 30th.

We’ve written our letter, which you can read here. I encourage you to take a look at it, and use it to help you with your own letter if you haven’t written yours already. You can also read over some talking points to help you get started. A reminder that BLM is not accepting emailed comments (we crashed their server last time!), so you can mail them yourself to the address below or you can email them to us at info@thecloudfoundation.org and we will mail them for you. You can also fax your comments to (406) 896-5281. Although we are all frustrated that this unique little herd is continually being threatened, please remember to be polite.

I hope you will all take a moment to help Cloud and the Pryor herd. Thanks so much!

Happy Trails!
Ginger

You can mail your letters to:
Jim Sparks, Field Manager
BLM Billings Field Office
5001 Southgate Drive
Billings, MT 59101

Pryor Scoping Letter Issued

BLM Seeks Another Removal in Cloud’s Herd

Little Lynx. Photos (C) The Cloud Foundation

Dear Friends of Cloud, his family, and herd;
The BLM Billings Field Office mailed a Scoping Letter to interested parties on July 28th, stating their intent to reach an “Appropriate” Management Level (AML) of 90-120 adult wild horses, one year of age and older in the Pryor Mountains. If they carry out this plan 45 to as many as 75 horses would be removed in 2012. We cannot allow this to happen.

Our position is clear — there is absolutely no need for any removals.

It is important that you respond to an action which would threaten the continued existence of the Pryor Wild Horse Herd. Please write a factual letter to the BLM using some of the information provided here. Remember that BLM will not consider your response unless it is clearly your message — no copying of the list supplied here. Please use your own words to communicate your polite outrage at such an unwarranted proposal.

You will note in our list of recommended response topics, the support of PZP, the one-year infertility drug. This comes as a departure for TCF. However, the remotely delivered drug given at the correct time of year has reduced the foal population and it has given us a good argument to fight for no removals. We still strongly believe in the long-range goal of natural management without helicopters or bait traps or drugs. We see PZP as a means to an end, and that end is a hands off strategy in which Mother Nature calls the shots as much as possible.

Continue reading Pryor Scoping Letter Issued

Mustang Monument Receives One Million Dollar Donation from Nevadan Couple

Photo by: Marian Umhoefer - Review Journal

We are delighted to announce that Nevada residents, Stacie and Charles Mathewson, generously donated one million dollars to the Saving America’s Mustangs’ Wild Horse Eco-Preserve, Mustang Monument!

Charles Mathewson is the former president and chief executive officer of International Gaming Technology and recipient of the 2011 Governor’s Philanthropist of the Year. He and his wife, Stacie, have been notably philanthropic to many respected causes in Nevada. The Saving America’s Mustangs Foundation is honored to be chosen to receive such a substantial gift from them.

“We are over the moon to have received such support and generosity from our friends. It’s been really exciting to see so many Americans committed to Saving America’s Mustangs and our western heritage,” said Madeleine Pickens. Their significant contribution will facilitate growth and continued progress with the development at Mustang Monument.

Additionally, SAM has received so much encouragement from thousands of other residents in Nevada who excitedly await the grand opening of Mustang Monument. Communities are recognizing the positive impact that the eco-preserve will have on not only the wild mustangs, but also with our American culture.

Together, we will all provide a better life for our beloved American mustangs and our western heritage!

Saving America’s Mustangs

Stable Scoop Episode 152 – Madeliene Pickens’ Mustang Monument

Listen to Jamie and Helena as they chat with Madeleine Pickens. Heartfelt. Overcoming. Passionate. Inspiring. Four words that sum up Madeleine Pickens and her efforts to change the way Americans treat one of our most beloved national symbols: the mustang. Listen in…

Stable Scoop Episode 152 – Show Notes and Links:

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Listen, Download or Subscribe:

Madeleine Pickens Shares Her Story with the Horse Radio Network

July 13, 2011. Lexington, Kentucky, USA: The Horse Radio Network’s (HRN) Jamie Jennings and Helena Bee join together as part of the Women of HOPE series to bring you an incredible interview with Madeleine Pickens. This interview will air in a two part series on Thursday, July 14, 2011 and Friday July 15, 2011 on the live HORSES IN THE MORNING show at www.horsesinthemorning.com or on a smart phone at www.horsesinthemorning.mobi. Plus, it will be played in its entirety on Friday on the recorded Stable Scoop Radio Show at www.stablescoop.com.

Heartfelt. Overcoming. Passionate. Inspiring. Four words that sum up Madeleine Pickens and her efforts to change the way Americans treat one of our most beloved national symbols; the mustang. Madeleine Pickens is no stranger to challenges, and she is a role model for horse girls and women everywhere. She is the epitome of the successful businesswoman, a wife, mother and grandmother, a Thoroughbred racehorse owner, an animal welfare activist, philanthropist, and author. But above all, she is an American woman who is heartfelt, overcoming obstacles, passionate, and inspiring.

For example, Madeleine and her husband, Boone Pickens, led the fight to close the last horse slaughterhouse in the United States. Their work resulted in the passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act by the United States House of Representatives. During the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the Pickens donated $7 million to the Red Cross to aid the people of the city of New Orleans.

After the Bureau of Land Management announced in 2008 that the United States government was considering euthanasia and/or selling more than 30,000 wild mustangs to slaughterhouses overseas, Madeleine Pickens announced plans to develop a one million acre (4,000 km²) sanctuary for the horses. She did exactly that. It’s called Mustang Monument, and it is beyond a dream come true for anyone who appreciates the presence of these simple, yet stunning equines.

The Horse Radio Network (HRN) – the Voice of the Horse World – is the pioneer and leader in equine related online horse radio. With a variety of different shows from the serious to the sublime, the Horse Radio Network is your entertaining and informative source for everything horse. Listen to any of the nine popular shows on the network at www.horseradionetwork.com.

Willie Nelson and Family Win WHINNY Awards

Nashville, TN – July 12, 2011 – It’s become not only a mission with a passion, but one that has members of the Nelson family standing up and doing whatever they can to stop the slaughter of horses.

Willie Nelson has been an advocate against the slaughter of wild horses for years and of the almost 70 horses he owns, 25-30 were rescued directly from slaughter. He believes it’s our job to protect them and makes it a point to support many of the groups that work in this area. His passion and advocacy
is being shared by his family.

His daughter Amy and granddaughter Raelyn have joined in the fight testifying against the slaughter of horses and are making it a point to work with the State of Tennessee’s legislative branch to keep the dialog about any laws concerning these issues open.

“Here’s another great example of someone with high visibility taking the time to support this cause and who brings along not only his family but thousands of fans around the world to join him. There’s a reason why people like Willie Nelson. The man shows his dedication to horses and doing the right thing every day of his life. Willie definitely walks the talk,” states WHIA Executive Director, Catherine Masters.

The Whinnys are an awards program set up by the Women’s Horse Industry Association. The awards will be given out on October 6 in Nashville, Tennessee at the Rhythm and Hooves benefit to save horses. The event will raise funds for three equine charities: The Cloud Foundation, The Equestrian Aid Foundation and NetPosse.com. The benefit will be a part of the WHIA’s Annual conference (October 6-8 at the Radisson Hotel Opryland) where women in the horse industry will gather to exchange information and business.

For additional information on the WHIA and its upcoming conference and benefit, please visit Women’s Horse Industry or call 615-730-7833.

The Fight to Save Nevada’s Wild Horses

The Cloud Foundation files lawsuit against BLM

Dear Friends of our Wild Horses and Burros;
I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful 4th of July! In the spirit of freedom for our wild horses, the Cloud Foundation filed a lawsuit against the BLM in Nevada to prevent the removal and warehousing of over 1,700 wild horses from their vast 1.7 million acre home in northeastern Nevada (Maverick-Medicine, Triple B, Cherry Creek and Antelope Valley West Herd Management Areas).

The exhausted old mare run was nearly hit by the Sun J helicopter at Antelope in January

Taxpayer dollars paid to the infamous Sun J helicopter roundup crew alone will total approximately $600,000 and that’s just the beginning of the expenditures. The costs in short-term holding, where all the horses will go at least temporarily, will be $8,000 per day based on the target number of horses to be removed. Incarceration for life will add millions to the price tag — all funded by American taxpayers.

The cost to the horses is the permanent loss of family and freedom… what wild horses live for. Some horses will pay the ultimate price — losing their lives either during or as a result of this planned operation.

The Cloud Foundation is represented by attorneys Rachel Fazio and Julie Cavanaugh-Bill. We are the primary Plaintiffs in the case and are joined by plaintiffs Craig Downer and Lorna Moffat. In order for the judge to rule on our plea, the BLM has delayed the start of the roundup (originally scheduled to begin on July 7th) until the 16th of July, The hearing will be held at the Nevada District Court, 400 South Virginia Street in downtown Reno at 10 am on July 14th. Please come if you can to show your support of Nevada’s wild horses!

Continue reading The Fight to Save Nevada’s Wild Horses

Rhythm and Hooves Awards to Recognize Country Music Industry

June 29, 2011 – Nashville, TN – The Women’s Horse Industry is pleased to announce an awards program dedicated to the men and women in country music who have a passion for helping and saving horses.

The event will be held in conjunction with the Rhythm & Hooves benefit auction on Thursday, October 6 at the Radisson Opryland. Nominees from the country music industry will be presented awards for their efforts with horses. After the awards are presented, there will be an auction to benefit the Cloud Foundation, The Equestrian Aid Foundation and Stolen Horses/NetPosse.com. “These are great equine charities and we hope the Nashville music industry will help us raise money by providing items for the auction,” states Debby Lening, VP of the Women’s Horse Industry.

“I know that there are a lot of country music artists and other music industry executives who have a real passion for helping horses so we thought that it would make a lot of sense to identify, recognize and award them for their efforts,” states Catherine Masters, Executive Director of WHIA.

If you would like to nominate someone from the country music industry for these awards, please send an email to: whra44@yahoo.com with the nominee’s name and why they should be nominated.

Continue reading Rhythm and Hooves Awards to Recognize Country Music Industry