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The first 3 rescued at risk Wild Horses RuN Free Now on thei
LWH Supported Equine ReWilding Wildfire & Climate Change Protection Land Studies are Beginning!
By Lex Talamo | September 20, 2022
(Special Thanks to Lady Free Thinker for covering this story!)
Twenty wild horses, including several captured by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), have once again been set free, on 480 acres of private property in northern Nevada, and will become part of a new study by indigenous advocates dedicated to proving the horses should have the right to roam.
Love Wild Horses, a California-based nonprofit, since 2010 has helped rescue and re-home at least 98 wild horses rounded up as part of the BLM’s routine “gather” operations. Seven of the horses in the new herd came from BLM operations, the organization told Lady Freethinker.
The organization said in a press release that many of the horses in the new herd are native wild horses reportedly bound for slaughter – including Cosmo and Fortuna, two of the three spirited horses the group released on Earth Day. Love Wild Horses told Lady Freethinker they caught the third horse, a buckskin now named Wakan, before he was surrendered to a livestock auction.
Wakan’s name pays tribute the Lakota word for “sacred, holy, or spirit,” to honor the relationship between horses, the earth, and Native Americans — a balance the group says is being destroyed by the federal government’s brutal roundups.
“We need to put the government imprisoned wild horses back on the land, so they can once again heal and protect the land from climate change and wildfires,” said Chief Lee Plenty Wolf, a board member for Love Wild Horses. “We need to do this right away, because the horses can help us prevent wildfires and the damaging affects of climate change.”
The BLM says on its website that it conducts the gathers “to protect the health of the animals and health of our nation’s public rangelands” but does not address why grazing allotments for livestock are permitted within the same contested areas.
Love Wild Horses has long taken issue with that discrepancy.
“We need to tell Congress to put better policies in place to steward these beautiful animals that are a keystone species and play a vital role in protecting and sustaining grasslands and their ecosystem,” said President and Founder Jetara Séhart.
The herd of 20 rescued wild horses — whose herd was complete as of Sept. 16, and whom Love Wild Horses promises will live the remainder of their lives safe and forever free from slaughter — will be part of a free-ranging study to determine the role the horses have in agro-ecosystems, mitigating climate change, and preventing wildfires.
A land owner of Native American ancestry is partnering with the organization for the first study.
“There is a natural mutual understanding of the benefits for the land, the horses, and the surrounding community,” Séhart said. “There is a connection with our study that we will focus on weaving traditional ecological knowledge and science together to understand best how to save wild horses and their natural habitats, wild ones, and wild grassland ecosystems.”
The current study is in Phase 3, which involves completing the herd and planting native trees to create a forest, seeding of native grasses, and support for the acclimation of the herd, which will be followed by a fourth phase that involves healing the soil, she added.
“At this early stage, the first notable positive impact is showing in the appearance, the peaceful demeanors, and overall filling out and muscle development in the horses,” Séhart said.
Two Native undergraduate students will be hired for each study to help document findings, and the organization also plans for the herd to support Native communities.
“Wild horses have so much to teach humanity about our own humanity and our connection to wild lands,” Séhart said. “This study offers this opportunity, too, as we will be supporting Native spiritual and educational ceremonies, empowering healing for at-risk Native youth, and supporting elder wisdom and culture. In this time when so many are experiencing significant loss, especially in indigenous communities, the horses and these studies with hope will provide healing and empowerment.”
As for the three horses rescued last April, Séhart said they’re doing great.
“They are looking so magnificent in just the four and a half months that they’ve been running free in our supported equine re-wilding climate change wildfire mitigation-land healing study,” Séhart said. “It’s incredible how the small, newly introduced, and unacquainted groups of wild horses all accept each other near immediately and join up as one!”
Love Wild Horses keeps newcomers in a corral until the rest of the herd greets them, and both parties show calm, peaceful curiosity, Séhart said. When issues arise, they often resolve quickly.
“With the last release of the 5 Warm Spring native horses, Wakan ( a B.L.M. branded wild one from Utah), the herd leader or second in command, exhibited some boundary setting with Thor and testing of his boundaries and willingness to join up with the herd peacefully,” Séhart said. “The stand-off was over in a matter of seconds, and there was an energetic posturing of respect and confidence toward each other and a holding space of the other horses as Thor and Wakan figured things out.”
Every single equine life counts, and Lady Freethinker applauds this organization for honoring these animals and taking a dedicated stance toward keeping them wild and free. Those interested in keeping up with Love Wild Horses’ work can check out their Instagram, TikTok and Facebook accounts.
But there’s still so much to be done. If you haven’t already, please sign our petition urging the Bureau of Land Management to stop their cruel helicopter roundups of wild horses.
Join us to Sponsor these Wonderful Studies!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: HEROES Saving WILD HORSES !
February 6th, 2020 By Jetara Séhart
Michael and Nina Archer, of Windsor, Colorado, along with the help of a non-profit, are preparing for an exciting rescue and the creation of a new and permanent home for some extraordinary and historic wild horses to roam free upon their land.
On October 19th of 2018, The Archers were in a fortunate position to buy 60 acres of land to support their love of Nature and in the hope that they could do something with the land that was dear to their hearts for themselves, their family, animals, and the environment which now is becoming Freedom Acres.
So, on January 8th, when Nina saw an urgent post and call to action on Love Wild Horses, California based 501C3 Facebook page, the "Wild Horse Protection Act," to save government captured Double Devils Garden Horses from imprisonment and possible sale to slaughter, she was compelled to respond.
Nina, shared with LWH, that she had 60 acres of property and could help save some of the horses. The discussions and re-wilding vetting process and research began for Nina and the non-profit and the Modoc National Forest Service Agency, to explore if together, that they could make this happen.
The USFSA DD Garden horses are at an especially increased risk of being sold for slaughter, in part because the USFSA is nearly offering the magnificent horses for free at just $1.00 a horse. The good news is the barbaric slaughter of horses is still illegal in America. However, the bad news is that hundreds of thousands of domestic and wild horses still are presently quietly being sold to kill buyers in Mexico, Canada, and Japan.
Eighty percent of Americans stand opposed to horse slaughter; therefore, it is high time to stop exporting horses for slaughter. Freedom Acres is one example to the extent that people love wild horses and how gathering and working together can and is saving them.
The Archer's "Freedom Acres" is Love Wild Horses' first "Wildfire and WildEquine Protection Act, cooperative re-wilding model." Love Wild Horses is casting a wide net out in social media and community circles to spur public, public trust, tribal and private safe land to open to save and return the endangered captured BLM and USFSA horses to live once again in peace and freedom and to protect the open space they roam upon. As the government races to clear public land of all the wild horses, this non-profit is racing to put the horses back.
Free-roaming wild horses are a forgotten natural resource in reducing Wild West wildfire threat, damage, and fire abatement costs for all who are fortunate enough to live near wherever the horses are granted to roam. Naturally, migrating horses also add essential moisture to the West's depleted topsoil, thereby helping to prevent and heal desertification and global warming.
The battle between wild horse freedom and the corporations and private parties who want Western public land the horses roam upon has grown tired and old and 60,000+ wild horses are calling from behind bars in wasteland like facilities for their freedom and to be granted the right to perform the job only they do best, to run free at one with the land and wind, unencumbered by man. Can you imagine the magnificent sight of the wild horses returning to freedom?
Synonymous with the native wisdom that many Indigenous people possess, involving living in harmony, respect, and balance for humans, animals, trees, plants, land, water, and the air around us, is what the LWH and the Freedom Acres project represents, along with hope to be a vehicle for much-needed change.
Nina, whose Native Hopi ancestral name means "Strong," has always loved being close to Nature and is also an equestrian enthusiast for many years. Nina and Michael are taking the heroic leap of faith in saving the lives of 13 historical horses. While this couple is not independently wealthy, they are incredibly rich in love and courage, and they are being supported with funding for fencing by LWH and will be working together to make Freedom Acres a happily ever after story unfolding. Nina has already begun journaling about this exciting experience and hopes to write a book about this wild adventure.
For today, there is work to be done to fix the fences and ready the land for the 13 sacred horses whose sacred hooves will be touching the ground to run free in Colorado in March!
There was a caring representative at USFDA who contacted Nina to ask her.. if they could take just one more mare because she was part of this unique herd and otherwise would be left behind. Nina and Michael's answer was a definitive yes..because honoring family and a natural herd dynamic is the right and wise thing to do. 5 lucky geldings and 8 mares, soon are heading to Freedom Acres, to settle in and acclimate to their new home. One of the sacred girls is with foal, and so their herd of 13 will be 14.
"Horse Hill" is one free-roaming model, located in Mill Valley, California, that is happening with 14 domestic and privately owned horses who freely migrate upon approximately 55 acres. The horses keep overgrown grasses at bay year-round, and about 6 months a year require supplemental feed.
Although Colorado and California's climates differ, still "Horse Hill" is an exciting model in comparison to acreage and the number of horses who roam there. HH has successfully operated for 25 years in keeping the surrounding community safer from overgrown top-loading wildfire fueling grasses, as well as in providing an inspiring place for young and old at heart to come and see and to also enjoy multiple land use with the horses in harmony.
Saving wild horses takes courage, and the help of many helping hands to roll up their sleeves and to open their hearts lives land and wallets to donate and to participate in this worthwhile wild mission.
To help with a tax-deductible donation for re-wilding setup and care of the wild horses and for more information: please visit the non-profit's web site: www.lovewildhorses.org
Love Wild Horses in 2020 and Forever!®©
Links for Reference:
https://www.facebook.com/doubledevilwildhorsecorrals/
https://www.fs.usda.gov/modoc/
http://www.animalsangels.org/media-news/animals’-angels-usa-exposes-truth-horse-slaughter
https://lovewildhorses.org/wildfire-wild-equine-act
https://www.marincountyparks.org/parkspreserves/preserves/horse-hill
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