Category Archives: Horse Care/Protection

How Can We Promote the Health & Safety of America’s Horses?

Slaughter-bound Wind River mare Amazing Grace and 6 foals rescued from a CO kill pen arrive at TCF equine vet Dr. Lisa Jacobson’s ranch in late August of 2023 to begin their road to freedom.

March 1 was National Horse Protection Day, we wanted to take a look at an important pending federal legislation to protect our beloved equines – the Save America’s Forgotten Equines, or SAFE Act, H.R.3475/S.2037.

What is the SAFE Act? It would amend the 2018 Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act, which bans the slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption, by adding the words “or equines” to the prohibition – thus protecting our nation’s most beloved companion animal species from the horrors of the slaughter process.

Roughly 20,000 American equines are exported every year to meat companies in Canada and Mexico, where they are subject to horrible cruelty before being butchered and their meat exported to foreign countries for human consumption — including China and Russia. For decades, advocates have worked to get this important bill passed, but despite broad public support, our efforts have been thwarted by the political influence of meat industry groups.

But now we have a two-pronged opportunity to get the protections needed.

First, Congress is now considering the 2023 Farm Bill, a must-pass piece of legislation that was the vehicle for passing the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act in 2018. As with that bill, we are asking Congress to add the SAFE Act as an amendment to the 2023 Farm Bill.

Second, even if the Farm Bill strategy is unsuccessful, the SAFE Act will continue as a free-standing bill that Congress can pass on its own merits. A majority of House members have signed onto the bill making it eligible for a committee hearing, yet it remains stuck with no hearing scheduled.

Here is where we most need your advocacy — to convince Congress to schedule the bill for a hearing so it advances to the full House for a vote.

The slaughter pipeline is an unimaginably horrific experience for horses and other equines. As natural prey animals they experience extreme misery and terror throughout the process. The entire slaughter pipeline — including the terror and chaos of the auction barns and kill pens, the misery of transport on crowded trucks to Canada and Mexico, and the killing itself — is incapable of being humane.

If we are unsuccessful in adding the SAFE Act as an amendment to the 2023 Farm Bill, it will be another FIVE YEARS before we have another Farm Bill opportunity. Similarly, if we are unsuccessful in getting it to move forward as a free-standing bill, we will have to wait until the next Congress in 2025 to begin the process again.

In other words, the time to act is NOW – and what better time than National Horse Protection Day?

Please give this legislation a look. If, like so many, you feel that it’s time to take our equines out of the slaughter pipeline – as we did for our dogs and cats – please let your congressional representatives know that you support H.R. 3475/S. 2037 – The SAFE Act of 2023.

Please join us in working to make a significant impact in eradicating slaughter for America’s horses — wild and domestic.

The Cloud Foundation
www.thecloudfoundation.org

Wyoming’s Wild Horses Are under Attack: Stop BLM’s Wild Horse Extermination Plan

As we start a fresh new year, BLM Wyoming is finalizing its disastrous plan to further destroy wild horse herds in the southern portion of the state. 10 years in the making, this plan includes eliminating all wild horses in the Salt Wells Creek and Divide Basin Herd Management Areas (HMAs) and sterilizing all horses in the White Mountain HMA.

In October of 2021, The Cloud Foundation released a national opinion poll, which was conducted online by The Harris Poll. The poll found that more than 2 in 3 Americans (69%) oppose removing all wild horses from 1.5 million acres of public lands in southern Wyoming to accommodate the oil/gas and livestock industries.  Yet sadly, in 2024, BLM’s goal to destroy wild herds to accommodate commercial livestock interests continues.

How do they get away with this? It’s disgusting that commercial interests seem to continually prevail over the will of the people. The biased and inhumane treatment of our wild herds is unforgivable. But we are more fortunate than most people in the world — we have our voice. We know that when Americans act en masse, government will listen.

So, here is OUR call to action: show up and speak up! Will you join us?

Please take a moment to join The Cloud Foundation in opposing this ill-conceived plan by signing our petition. Then, please share this alert with friends and family.

Thank you for ALL that you do — because together we will make a difference!

The deadline for public comments: January 17, 2024

For those who would like to submit your own comments, you may do so by visiting the BLM Rock Springs RMP Revision Eplanning page and selecting the “participate now” button. If needed, you may use the talking points included in the above petition for ideas to help craft your personal comments.

The Cloud Foundation
www.thecloudfoundation.org

BLM Is Rounding Up over 1000 Horses

Photo ©GingerKathrens

More of Nevada’s wild horses are being taken from their homes and families.

On Oct. 22nd, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began its wild horse roundup on and around the Roberts Mountain Complex located in Eureka County, approximately 20 miles northwest of Eureka, NV. The roundup operation is being conducted using helicopters.

According to a BLM statement,

(the) Roberts Mountain Complex encompasses approximately 556,500 acres of public and private lands and has an Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 110-184 wild horses. The complex includes the Roberts Mountain, Whistler Mountain, the northern portion of the Fish Creek Herd Management Areas, and the Kobeh Valley Herd Area. Based on the March 2023 population stats, which does not include foals born this year, BLM documented 1,161 wild horses within and outside the management areas of Roberts Mountain and Whistler Mountain HMAs – over 6 times above the high end of the established appropriate management level.

As of Monday, Oct. 30th, BLM had captured 589 Wild Horses (229 Stallions, 270 Mares, and 90 Foals). Their goal is to remove about 1,068 wild horses deemed “excess,” and treat up to 19 mares with GonaCon before being released back to the range — along with up to 19 stallions.

DEATHS
BLM’s Gather Status report states that 4 horses have died as of Oct. 30. This does not include 7 horses who were killed when the truck transporting 36 horses on Monday CRASHED:

A contracted semi-truck transporting horses gathered during the ongoing Roberts Mountain Gather in Nevada to Utah’s Axtell Holding Corrals turned over on its side on Highway 50 outside of Delta, Utah on October 30. The truck was transporting 36 horses. Three horses were killed in the accident, four were humanely euthanized due to their injuries, and many suffered minor cuts and bruises. BLM transported the 29 remaining horses to a holding facility in Delta where they continue to be evaluated and closely monitored by the on-site veterinarian. The driver was not injured. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
(BLM Gather Report)

We hope that the remaining horses continue to do well and there are no further deaths or complications as a result of this crash.

Once this roundup is completed, approximately 110 wild horses will remain in the HMA, as well as 122 wild horses left uncaptured outside of the HMA. This roundup is expected to last up to 19 days.

Livestock grazing in this area? Yes. Mining in this area? Yes.

You may follow the daily reports for this roundup here:
Roberts Valley Wild Horse Roundup (Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Daily Gather Reports to read detailed comments.)
Roberts Mountain Complex information hotline: (775) 861-6700.

The Cloud Foundation
www.thecloudfoundation.org

Sad Days Indeed for American Wild Horses and American Taxpayers

An Iberian mare reducing wildfire fuels on the Oregon-California border near the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. She is also re-seeding the native plants and grasses she is consuming in her droppings (dung), which completes the life cycles of the native flora that is critical to the co-evolved native fauna, including small and large mammals, insects, and pollinators. Photo: William E. Simpson II

There’s really no such thing as a ‘feral wild horse’; it’s an oxymoron. So why do some people and agencies keep using that tag?

Recent news that 6,500 Wind River wild horses were rounded up is distressing to say the least. It’s a move designed to make room for the more profitable use of public and tribal lands for livestock production.

A preponderance of the latest scientific data strongly suggests that wild horses are not an ‘invasive species’.

On the other hand, it is settled history and science that cattle, sheep, and goats are an invasive species in North America, and are devastating* when introduced into American wilderness ecosystems.

*Land Held Hostage: A History of Livestock and Politics; Thomas L. Fleischner, Ph.D.
Citation by: Professor Thomas L. Fleischner, Ph.D.: “The most severe vegetation changes of the last 5400 years occurred during the past 200 years. The nature and timing of these changes suggest that they were primarily caused by 19th century open land sheep and cattle ranching.” View here.

The term ‘feral’ as used by some people in regard to wild horses is just a name tag assigned to wild horses that have wondered off the protected Herd Management Areas (‘HMAs’) run by the Bureau of Land Management or Wild Horse Territories run by the United States Forest Service.

The term ‘feral horse(s)’ is nothing more than a construct that is used for legal jurisdictional purposes and has no relevance as to evolutionary biology or genetics of any horse, let alone a wild horse with genetic markers traced back 500,000 years and more, as with some of our local Iberian horses.

The ongoing mismanagement of native species American wild horses is about greedy people who have no vision other than for money, not what’s right, not what should be, not what the Creator would want, not what’s good for ecosystems, and certainly not what’s good for the American taxpayer.

The ongoing widespread decimation of wild horses, a native herbivore, and even elk in some areas is only about eliminating low value herbivores and replacing them on the landscape with animals that make more money for a small group of profiteers, which now includes some Tribal Nations.

This exchanging of native herbivores for invasive species herbivores (cattle & sheep) is about money and not preserving or protecting wilderness ecosystems. In fact, introducing invasive species ruminant herbivores (cattle & sheep) into North American wilderness ecosystems is the worst thing anyone could do.

It’s become clear that greed will be the undoing of humankind on this planet, unless more intelligent, logical people prevail.

As we now clearly see, even some indigenous tribes are rounding up wild horses (a.k.a.: Spirit Horses) and selling them off with many (most) ending up in slaughterhouses.  So much for indigenous wisdom? So much for preserving cultural and spiritual heritage?

It seems that these tribal nations have forgotten their past and what the Creator and Nature intended for the lands…

Not that long ago, 50-60 million buffalo, millions of elk and deer, and 20 million wild horses ranged over North America. Then European settlers came and decimated the buffalo and now some indigenous peoples have joined the government’s effort to decimate the Spirit Horses. In a way, it just seems to be a continuation of government’s agenda to erase all traces of the culture of the indigenous peoples here in American and around the world, just to steal resources. Is nothing sacred anymore?

Then we have the scientifically ignorant (or willfully ignorant) advocates and gold plated big dollar nonprofit orgs who are shooting wild horses with high powered (deadly) rifles using heavy syringes filled with chemicals that sterilize them, ending their life cycles — a highly unnatural and idiotic process to make money.

That right, it’s now profitable for even some wild horses advocates like American Wild Horse Campaign and others to join ranks with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), United States Forest Service (USFS), and state Fish and Game agencies and get millions in Federal grant dollars to chemically sterilize native species American wild horses to help accomplish the monetary agenda of exterminating wild horses from the American landscape to make more landscape into cheap livestock grazing (welfare ranching) available!

The Brazilians wrecked much of the Amazon rainforest for money. They’ve burned off hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforest to create cheap livestock grazing. It has been said, ‘no rainforest — no rain.’ And now there are reports that the water temperature in the Amazon River has reached nearly 100 degrees!

Now American government agencies are showing their banana republic logic as well, by arguably allowing wildfires to burn extensive areas of forest as ‘managed burns’, thereby creating large deforested areas that fill in with grass and brush, thus trading life giving forests for livestock grazing areas.

Wild Horse Fire Brigade has a proven, nature based solution that gives wild horses a valuable place in the wilderness, where each wild horse deployed into a wilderness wildfire fuels management role provides value in the amount of approximately $72,000.00 to Americans. That is at least forty times (40x) the value of a fatted steer at market.

Will YOU help our all-volunteer nonprofit organization, Wild Horse Fire Brigade, to accomplish its re-wilding and relocation goals to save genetically relevant populations of American wild horses before it’s too late?

It’s easy to donate to our work via PayPal: Click Here.

Wild Horse Fire Brigade is results oriented and driven!  We don’t rescue 2 horses and then ask donors for $25,000 like American Wild Horse Campaign recently did, even as they are sitting on $3 Million in their fat bank account!

We have already saved one entire heritage herd of approximately 150 wild horses by gaining the ownership and management rights to the herd that were once considered ‘feral’ horses. And now they are protected under California law.

There is strong fossil and cultural archaeological evidence that our local herd, here on the Oregon California border on and around the present day Cascade Siskiyou National Monument (‘CSNM’), are the descendants of wild horses documented by Sir Francis Drake in 1580 during his exploration of the area, as cited in the doctoral thesis of Dr. Yvette ‘Running Horse’ Collin.

We also have and have studied the historic photo album and personal diary of the famous local cowboy George F. Wright (born in Henley Hornbrook, CA 1897), who was a Deputy Sheriff for Jackson County Oregon and a BLM range rider, whose personal diary and photo album (dated 1911-1957) contains mentions of ‘wild horses’ and the ‘wild ones’ in the area of the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument on both sides of the Oregon-California border.

Interestingly, the local Bureau of Land Management depended heavily upon George F. Wright for information about the natural history and cultural archeology of the area that is today the CSNM.

We recently sued the BLM and won, stopping the roundup of the remaining Pokegama Herd of American wild horses. (See Siskiyou News article here.)

We are a tiny all volunteer 501 c 3 nonprofit public benefit organization. And we need your help! We cannot do our work unless we are properly funded. People need to clearly understand that fact.

We are the ONLY organization that is doing this important work, while some others pretend and fake it… and pay themselves nice fat salaries and live in the lap of luxury using donations.

In addition to saving the herds mentioned above, our team of volunteers have worked cooperatively to successfully rewild 61 Mustangs into the heritage native herd that we own and manage.

And we are conducting the scientific research with free roaming wild horses in a balanced wilderness ecosystem that is desperately needed to show the important value and benefits that wild horses provide to wilderness ecosystems. We cannot do these things without proper funding.

It’s up to you… Will you help our genuine program?

We are currently under-funded for the effective programs we have envisioned. We are making progress with every dollar we get!

PLEASE make a tax-deductible donation: CLICK HERE.

Or please send a check make payable to:

‘Wild Horse Fire Brigade’
404 So. Main St.
Yreka, CA  96097

Thank You!

Visit www.wildhorsefirebrigade.org for more information.

Urge Park Service to Preserve Horses in Teddy Roosevelt National Park

Previously we have asked you to submit comments to save wild horses in the Teddy Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). We are sorry to say, we have to ask you to speak up once more. Despite North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and the state’s Senator John Hoeven pushing to keep the wild horses, the Park Service is still pushing to remove the vast majority of horses or all of them.

TRNP, located in North Dakota, is dedicated in honor of President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and his leadership in conservation policy.  While these horses are not protected under Federal law and are referred to as “livestock,” they have been cherished cultural icons for decades. When Teddy Roosevelt was young, he visited the area and experienced the magnificence and beauty of the natural landscape which included wild bison and wild horses exhibiting natural wild behaviors — living in family bands, with stallions protecting their families.

The Park Service continues to propose to either get rid of all of the horses or allow only 35-60 — of the nearly 200 horses living in the area — to remain. The Park Service manages the Park for cultural and natural resources and claims to rely on public input for Park management. PLEASE SPEAK UP for these magnificent horses NOW — they truly are CULTURAL ICONS!

Please tell the Park Service the following (in your own words):

  • Preserving the Teddy Roosevelt horses MUST be a cornerstone of the Park’s livestock management plan, since they contributed to President Teddy Roosevelt’s wonder at the natural world, leading to his CREATION of the NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.
  • Horses have lived “wild” in TRNP for generations and MILLIONS of Park visitors cherish these animals as an integral part of the cultural heritage of the Badlands.
  • These horses must be managed to preserve natural behaviors just as Teddy Roosevelt would have experienced. He would have seen stallions protecting their families, foals with their mothers and aunties, and the entire repertoire of natural “wild” horse behaviors.
  • To protect the GENETIC HEALTH of the herd and promote its genetic viability, the minimum population should be 150 or more. By allowing the horses to use additional areas of the TRNP, the herd can – and should – be managed at a HIGHER MINIMUM POPULATION LEVEL.

Your voice makes a difference.  Please submit your comments directly to the Park Service by clicking here. The deadline for submitting comments is October 25, 2023.

The Cloud Foundation
www.thecloudfoundation.org

CAS Upholds FEI Tribunal Decision Imposing 10-Year Suspension for Horse Abuse Case

Following lengthy appeal proceedings, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed and upheld the FEI Tribunal’s decision in the case against Andrew Kocher delivered in June 2021, which saw the US Athlete suspended for 10 years for the use of electric spurs on several horses throughout a prolonged period of time.

Other sanctions in the FEI Tribunal decision rendered two years ago also included the disqualification of results from eight FEI events between June 2018 and November 2019 where evidence supported the athlete’s use of electric spurs on horses, alongside a CHF 10,000 fine and legal costs to the amount of CHF 7,500. Kocher appealed the said FEI Tribunal decision on 1 July 2021, seeking to eliminate or otherwise reduce the sanctions imposed.

The FEI Tribunal decision was the result of a lengthy investigation by the FEI, starting in June 2020 following allegations of electric spur use reported to the independent Equestrian Community Integrity Unit (ECIU). It was alleged that Kocher had used electric spurs on a number of FEI registered and national horses in international and national events, as well as during training.

Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the FEI formally opened disciplinary proceedings against Kocher in October 2020. During the proceeding before the FEI Tribunal, it was also discovered that Kocher instructed his employees to use the electric spurs on specific horses. For that purpose, Kocher provided to his employees several electric spurs devices which he manufactured himself.

In its decision, the CAS Panel reached the same conclusion as the FEI Tribunal, to the effect that a ten-year suspension was merited, during which Kocher is barred from participating in or attending, in any capacity, including as a spectator, any competition or event that is authorised or organised by the FEI or any National Federation. The provisional suspension served by Kocher since 28 October 2020 shall be credited against this period of suspension, which will therefore come to an end on 27 October 2030. The CHF 10,000 fine was also upheld, and Kocher is furthermore ordered to pay costs of CHF 7,500.

“We are extremely satisfied with this outcome and that the sanctions the FEI Tribunal imposed, to reflect the severity of the offenses committed by Mr Kocher, have been upheld by CAS,” said FEI Legal Director Mikael Rentsch.

“It may have taken two years to complete this process, but it confirms that we had the right decision to start with, and that there is no room for leniency when it comes to cases of horse abuse.

“We have rules and regulations in place to protect the integrity of our competitions and the wellbeing of our horses, and when these rules are breached and their welfare is jeopardised, we will continue to seek to impose maximum sentences.”

The full CAS decision is available here.

The FEI Tribunal Decision is available here.

Media contact:

Olivia Robinson
Director, FEI Communications
olivia.robinson@fei.org

BLM Proposes Massive Burro Roundup + New Cattle Grazing

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing a MASSIVE roundup of burros in Arizona’s Three River Complex, which includes the Alamo, Big Sandy, and Havasu Herd Management Areas (HMAs). BLM plans to round up 1,794 of the estimated 2,259 burros living in the area, leaving behind just 465 burros. Livestock grazing in the Big Sandy HMA is equivalent to 1,000 year-round cows; BLM only allows 139 burros to live in that same area.

America’s wild burros face a genetic crisis due to BLM’s mismanagement of these hardy little animals. The agency keeps most burro populations so small that inbreeding is inevitable.

BLM plans this massive burro roundup while at the same time the agency proposes ADDING COWS to graze in the same area! After nearly 30 years of no livestock grazing in the Alamo HMA, BLM wants to add cows despite claiming the HMA is over-grazed. This is CRAZY.

BLM’s unscientific “Appropriate” Management Level (AML) is a rigged system where any animal over BLM’s arbitrary quota is considered “overpopulation.” The only way to address this is to reduce livestock grazing and increase the number of burros allowed on the range.

Please take action NOW by signing our two petitions here and here, which call on BLM to ditch the massive roundup and reject the proposal to add new livestock grazing in the Alamo HMA.

The Cloud Foundation
www.thecloudfoundation.org

Wild Horse Fire Brigade Updates

Photo: Michelle Gough

Maybe you can imagine the frustration of having a vaccine that is proven to cure cancer, but not having the money to produce and distribute the cure.  Even as people are dying.

That is the kind of frustration that we are dealing with in regard to saving wild horses!  We have the cure for the wild horse management debacle. Now we just need the money to get the cure effected.

Unfortunately, an industry-wide slowdown in funding, partially caused by more nonprofits than ever entering into the wild horse nonprofit marketplace, is diluting donations and slowing progress on our projects critical to implementing a permanent, humane, and natural solution to keep American wild horses wild and free.

People are being fooled into funding the widespread sterilization (a.k.a.: Fertility Control) of wild horses to augment the genetic damage being inflicted by reducing populations via BLM roundups. This slowdown in funding is coming at a time when some people are asking and pleading with us, “Is there any way we can get the Wild Horse Fire Brigade plan accomplished faster?”  Of course there is, but it takes proper funding… we can only go as fast as our budget allows us.

Stanford produced a white paper that addresses the serious issues that arise from under funding a worthy nonprofit:

The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle

“Funders must take the lead in breaking a vicious cycle that is leaving nonprofits so hungry for decent infrastructure that they can barely function as organizations — let alone serve their beneficiaries.”

(Note: In the case of Wild Horse Fire Brigade, the ‘beneficiaries’ are the wild horses being abused, tortured, and on the brink of extinction.)

“Our research reveals that a vicious cycle fuels the persistent underfunding of overhead. The first step in the cycle is funders’ unrealistic expectations about how much it costs to run a nonprofit. At the second step, nonprofits feel pressure to conform to funders’ unrealistic expectations. At the third step, nonprofits respond to this pressure in two ways: they spend too little on overhead, and they underreport their expenditures on tax forms and in fundraising materials. This underspending and underreporting in turn perpetuate funders’ unrealistic expectations. Over time, funders expect grantees to do more and more with less and less — a cycle that slowly starves nonprofits.”

Sure, we’ve gotten some great national media exposure, and we’re very grateful for it. But people incorrectly assume that will be the ticket and we should now have financial wings when it’s not the case.  Honestly, national media articles help build brand recognition, reputation, and equity, but are less effective at bringing in donations these days than in prior years.

Until we can secure a major grant or large-scale donor, or a solid following of monthly donors, which as a newer nonprofit, we don’t have yet, our progress is restricted by budget.

We are far from having the kind of financial support we need to fully and speedily execute our novel, multifaceted approach to change the ongoing disastrous wild horse management and 30 years of failed advocacy.

Doing more of the same isn’t going to save wild horses in a manner that provides sustainable, humane, natural conservation that keeps them ‘wild & free’.

Too many people keep ignoring the evident facts that wild horse roundups have been greatly accelerated in coordination with horrific sterilization programs, both of which are carefully and scientifically designed to decimate wild horse populations.

This is the Bureau of Land Management’s end game.  And the biggest nonprofits are cashing in on the BLM’s plan, to the great detriment of wild horses.

Our end game is to use the combined experience of our team, along with the unparalleled extensive knowledge and experience, gained by managing our herd of 150 free roaming wild horses in a wilderness for the past 9 years, including during a catastrophic wildfire, to re-wild and relocate tens of thousands of wild horses into appropriate remote wilderness areas on parts of both public and privately owned remote wilderness.

There is approximately 353 million acres of privately owned for forests in America. About 50 million acres of that is very remote and unsuited for livestock, but ideal habitat for wild horses, that can make these areas more wildfire resilient.

Of the 115 million acres of publicly owned ‘designated wilderness’ (unsuited for livestock), all of which is at grave risk of incineration by wildfire, at least 30 million acres of that is very remote ideal habitat for wild horses. We only need to utilize a total of 20 million acres in order to re-wild/relocate 100,000 horses at the rate of 1 horse per 200 acres.

Here’s what we have in progress that can change everything for American wild horses:

(1) Our pilot herd of wild horses helped CALFIRE to stop a deadly 38,000 acre, wind driven catastrophic wildfire from incinerating the national treasure called the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. THIS IS A CASE STUDY. And we need to continue our ongoing research with this case study herd. We are needing to acquire some electronics for an advanced tracking system for our lead mares. This will open the door to much more important scientific information. The telemetry package (electronics, etc.) we need costs $20k. We currently don’t have that in our budget.

By way of the wildfire fuels management year after year, when the fire struck in 2018, the fuels had been managed by the wild horses and were minimal, and that made CALFIRE’s wildfire suppression efforts more effective.

Our herd of wild horses had created and maintained a fire resilient landscape year-round, and they can do the same job elsewhere.

Saving what we can right now – working with our extended family of volunteer advocates, we have rescued 60 mustangs that would have ended up in a Mexican slaughter plant.  Here is a video showing one of the groups that has their freedom restored: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntqV QeeVMs.

We must continue to offer the lesson from our wild horse management experience to legislators, forest managers, firefighters, ecologists, and wild horse advocates. Our empirical experience transcends textbooks, academic hypotheses, and certainly BLM mythology.

We can teach and inform others.  Education is one of our key strategies, and will help our future re-wilding partners to understand how and why our plan works, and how to successfully scale our plan onto very large landscapes of 100,000 acres and larger.

(2) Articles & publications:

Anyone who has been college educated can recall the huge time requirement and effort to write a term paper, right?

Now imagine having to crank out a term paper every week, for years in a row! That’s what we’ve been doing, and we have NO STAFF.  Of course, that’s on top of dealing with hundreds of emails per week, phone calls, etc.

In addition to doing daily field work in the wilderness with wild horses and all the chores it takes to live off grid in the wilderness, Wild Horse Fire Brigade’s founder William Simpson and co-researcher Michelle Gough have been producing articles and papers weekly that average 2,500 words each (in Simpson’s case, for the past 9 years).

We must continue authoring and publishing articles and white papers that inform decision makers and educators about the genuine value of maintaining natural herds of wild horses on the appropriate landscapes. This is a very time-consuming endeavor (writing researched articles and getting them published).

Wild Horse Fire Brigade’s founder, William E. Simpson, is a professional writer and published author (Ulysses Press), and recognized by Simon and Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/William E Simpson/169118167.

A few of our published articles and informational stories are platformed on our website (www.WHFB.us), providing the public with quick single point access to important, accurate information about wild horses.

Many other articles are published elsewhere, such as these example outlets:

*Pagosa Daily Post (Colorado): https://pagosadailypost.com/author/william simpson/

*HorseTalk (New Zealand):  https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/author/billsimpson/

* Sierra Nevada Ally: https://sierranevadaally.org/author/william e simpson ii/

(3) Utilizing our wilderness research station/ranch:

Our free roaming wild herd in the wilderness coupled with our onsite research station can serve as a center for the college field studies of wild horse ecology and ethology. This could turn out a new army of resource managers into the real world who know the truth of wild horses.

Our research station/ranch is set in the wilderness among a herd of free roaming wild horses. This provides our team with the opportunity to have visiting university students and scientists to learn about wild horses using what we call the ‘Goodall Method’.  Through an alliance with an accredited University, we hope to soon be offering a certificate or fellowship program in Wild Horse Ecology Ethology.

(4) Video and photographic education:

Producing documentaries and edutainment videos that can help inform the public at large. We have already produced over 230 such videos. Some of these videos have thousands of views, and provide a library of video information to the public.  We need to get the word out about this body of work.

(5) TV, radio, and internet interviews:

Bringing out the truth about wild horses and their importance on the American landscape is vital to our mission, and yet another important way to inform the general public. Wild Horse Fire Brigade’s founder spends dozens of hours every month preparing for and giving interviews, on site at the ranch, on the radio, on TV, and via the internet and webinars.

Recently, Wild Horse Fire Brigade’s Vice President, Kelsey Stangebye, authored an outstanding paper that was published at Midwest Reining Horse Association’s magazine, and can be read here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mZWo2FJd1D1RtK2AWCq8yQK2sYBVcauM/view?usp=sharing

Thank you for reading this, and please do share it.

Please donate here.

Visit www.wildhorsefirebrigade.org for more information.

The 2023 Hampton Classic Kicks Off with a Focus on Equine Welfare

Left to Right: Gabriella Pizzolo, Jill Rappaport, Serena Marron, Valerie Angeli, and Kevin Santacroce Photo @ Marianne Barnett

What better way to start the 2023 Hampton Classic Horse Show than by focusing on the welfare of America’s horses in need of forever homes? The EQUUS Foundation partnered with the Hampton Classic to showcase adoptable horses on Sunday, August 27, during the Opening Day Ceremony in the Grand Prix Ring, and on Monday, August 28, for the annual Adoption event sponsored by Gotham Enterprizes and Georgina Bloomberg.

The Opening Day ceremony previewed the adoptable horses that would be participating the next day and featured popular actress, Gabriella Pizzolo of TV and Broadway; renowned animal welfare and adoption advocate, TV personality and best-selling author, Jill Rappaport; Serena Marron, EQUUS Foundation Advisory Council member; and Valerie Angeli, EQUUS Foundation VP Engagement.

The highlight was the presentation of a $4,000 check to the EQUUS Foundation from ConnectOne Bank, a new sponsor of the Hampton Classic. ConnectOne Bank’s Long Island Market President, Kevin Santacroce, said, “As ConnectOne Bank continues to grow on Long Island and serve the community, I am delighted to honor the EQUUS Foundation with this donation for their long-standing commitment to ensuring the welfare of America’s horses and fostering the horse-human bond.”

Equine Adoption Day

On August 28, Georgina Bloomberg and Jill Rappaport joined Valerie Angeli to emcee the annual Equine Adoption event. Participating EQUUS Foundation Guardian charities included Bergen County Horse Rescue, Rising Starr Horse Rescue, and Sunshine Horses.

Over 100 attendees were able to enjoy not only hands-on experiences with the adoptable horses but also learning experiences, including tours of the state-of-the-art HEART Horse Ambulance and a demonstration of blacksmithing and equine leg anatomy by Tim Fitzgerald of the Long Island University College of Veterinary Medicine. There was also interactive fun featuring Bouncy Horse Racing and Horseless Show Jumping. The Long Island University Equestrian Team volunteered in full force.

Christine Fitzgerald, Executive Director of The Rider’s Closet, was on hand to remind attendees that the donation trunk would be onsite all week. The Rider’s Closet, founded by Georgina Bloomberg and now an EQUUS Foundation program, makes equestrian sport more accessible to all riders to pursue their equestrian dreams.

How You Can Help

Angeli added, “If you can’t adopt a horse, you can still help by lending your voice. Join us as a #HorseProtector by taking the pledge here that you will be a friend and advocate for horses in need.” While no donation is required to take the #HorseProtector pledge, each individual who takes the pledge will have their own customized fundraising page to encourage donations from among their family, friends, and associates. Pledge takers who give or raise $100 or more starting now through August 31, 2024 will be entered into a drawing to win prizes donated by our HorseProtector Sponsors.

There were several adoptions at, and shortly after, the event as well as ongoing interest in all the horses that participated, as a direct result of exposure both in person at the event, and through word of mouth and social media.

A special highlight of the day was the adoption of the Mustang mare, Abracadabra, from Rising Starr Horse Rescue. “Abra, a victim of the government roundups to rid wild horses from public lands, is a symbol of the plight of all American wild horses who are fighting for their lives and who are now desperate for and dependent on new-found purposes once removed from their family herds and natural habitats,” said Angeli. Abra’s life had taken twists and turns for years since her removal from the wild, and this adoption was particularly emotional and triumphant.

Sunshine Horses educated and amazed spectators with their stunning off-track Standardbred horses who were looking for special homes after their harness racing careers had ended. “The stories these horses could tell – from racing, to auction, to almost shipping to slaughter, to being purchased to work as cart and buggy horses for years, only to be sent back to auction – will break your heart,” said Angeli. “The lucky ones find their way to rescue, rehab, rehoming and hope – but many will not. That’s why we are here today, to share their stories and to work together to make sure no horse winds up at risk.”

To learn more about the many horses available for adoption from our Guardian charities nationwide, please visit: equusfoundation.org/adopt.

Enough Is Enough

How do you spell cruelty? At the Cloud Foundation, we spell it:  R-O-U-N-D-U-P.  Specifically, helicopter roundup.

The BLM’s Antelope Valley Complex roundup commenced on July 9th and is unfortunately making our point for us. In 16 days, 19 horses have been killed. At least 7 tiny foals have died from the stress of the BLM miles-long run in hot and extreme temperatures. It’s unknown how many may have collapsed out on the range during the helicopter stampedes. Mares have been driven so hard that they’ve broken their necks – likely crashing gates.  Stallions have lost their lives, as well – one dying in the loading process (broken neck), and another that admirers named Mr. Sunshine for his palomino color breaking his leg jumping the 6′ high trap in a valiant attempt at freedom, which ended in a three-legged, 35-minute chase from both helicopter and horseman before his suffering was finally ended. Meanwhile, the cruelty continues.

BLM reports 19 deaths so far.  With the roundup still in progress, final reports are yet to come. An accurate count may never be known.

“The undercounting of deaths is, unfortunately, all too common,” says TCF Founder, Ginger Kathrens. “It is BLM practice to eliminate foals from the death count, as if they were never born and cared for by their mothers and the rest of their family. BLM literally gets away with murder.”

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! This kind of horrific cruelty needs to stop. There’s no accountability.

If you agree, please take action!

The Cloud Foundation
www.thecloudfoundation.org