The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) winter roundup season is in full swing. As I write this, BLM helicopters are hunting down wild horses, rounding up every one of the estimated 180 mustangs living in the Humboldt Herd Area on 219,000 acres of public land that has essentially been turned over to private, commercial ranching interests.
Even as the helicopters fly, AWHPC is working tirelessly to change our government’s heartless and costly roundup program. We’re…..
…Waging court battles in four states, defending wild horses from legal attacks by ranchers and their political allies.
…Implementing on-the-range management programs that Keep Wild Horses Wild and prevent removals of wild horses from their homes on the range.
…Growing the grassroots movement and getting more people involved. This is the cornerstone of the effort to save America’s wild horses and burros.
Make no mistake; this is a dangerous time for our national icons. Sworn enemies of wild horses and burros, such as U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), champion of ranchers, miners, drillers and loggers, are taking the reins of House and Senate committees that oversee public lands management in the West. They’re already gunning for wild horses… scapegoating them for environmental damage caused by massive livestock grazing.
We wanted to send you a reminder that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wyoming Resource Advisory Council (RAC) is meeting in Laramie, Wyoming on February 2-4, 2015. This citizen advisory board has within its jurisdiction all of Wyoming’s 16 wild horse Herd Management Areas.
The RAC advises and makes recommendations to the BLM on public land management. These meetings are open to the public and provide the public an opportunity to make comments to the citizen-based council. We encourage you to attend and provide comments if you can! AWHPC is submitting comments, asking for the RAC’s support for humane reform of the BLM wild horse program and fairer treatment for Wyoming’s last remaining mustangs.
WHAT: BLM Wyoming Resource Advisory Council (RAC) Meeting
WHEN: Monday, February 2, 2015, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 8 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Public Comment Period February 4, 2015, beginning at 8:00 a.m.
WHERE: Holiday Inn, 204 S. 30th Street, Laramie, Wyo. 82070
We’ll submit your signatures to the RAC to deliver a strong message that citizens across America want our wild horses protected on our public lands. The agenda for the meeting is available here.
Thank you for standing strong for Wyoming’s last remaining wild horses,
For most people, racing nearly 30 miles and climbing 13,000 feet up a mountain—and back down again—alongside a pack burro might be the most challenging experience of their life. But for world champion pack burro racer Hal Walter, raising an autistic son has brought many new unexpected trials that were much more serious than a 900-pound donkey barreling down a mountain path. Hal recognizes and explores the parallels between these two important elements of his life, pack burro racing and fatherhood, in his new book, Full Tilt Boogie.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects people’s ability to communicate and understand certain social interactions—some people with autism may have trouble interpreting sarcasm, or understanding the facial differences between a smile and a grimace. Hal’s wife, Mary, is a nurse, and started recognizing potential signs of autism, such as sensory issues, early on in their son, Harrison. They ultimately received an official diagnosis from Denver Children’s Hospital when Harrison was almost four, which Hal describes as a “certain comfort,” despite initially resisting the necessity of the label.
In raising Harrison, Hal was able to draw on his experience as a pack burro racer, noticing the similarities between the two situations. “The real key to success with either burros or autistic children is extreme patience and allowing them to find their own way,” Hal writes in Full Tilt Boogie. “Each is a unique individual and one cannot exert command over either one with good results.” The “patience” approach has proven useful in both Harrison, who is now 10, and Hal’s career as a pack burro racer, which has spanned 30 years and multiple world championships.
Hal introduced Harrison to donkeys at a young age—his first overnight packing trip took place the summer after he turned three—and drew on the established benefits of hippotherapy (or in this case, asinotherapy). Although, like most kids, Harrison might now say he’d prefer to be playing Angry Birds on the iPad than riding burros, his parents have seen a change in him after riding. “We noticed right away that on the days when Harrison rode, and even on days following a ride, there was a marked improvement in his disposition and behavior, and fewer tantrums,” he says. Hal isn’t sure exactly what it is about the donkey riding that helps Harrison—whether it’s the soothing motion, the fresh mountain air, or a combination of several things—but the positive effect is undeniable.
According to Dr. May Dodd of the Donkey Shelter of Australia, donkeys work well as therapy animals because “their gentle and affectionate nature brings a calming effect over all those they come into contact with.” She says donkeys are particularly useful for distressed people, as their relaxed nature can balance and calm anxious, agitated emotions. Hal has noticed his donkeys’ caring nature, especially as his son was just starting out as a rider. “I think the better ones have a sense of taking care of the less capable riders,” he notes.
In pack burro racing, Hal attributes his multiple wins and places as being skilled—but perhaps not the best—at both the running and animal training elements. He notes that in order to get a win, “everything has to come together on that day for me,” down to the smallest variables and pieces of luck—and those can’t always be predicted, or even planned for. “The unpredictability of raising an autistic kid is a lot like burro racing,” he adds. “Only when they believe something was their own idea do they truly excel.”
Wyoming has only 2,500 wild horses left, and they are under attack…from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the State of Wyoming and powerful ranching interests seeking to wipe out wild horses to increase taxpayer-subsidized livestock grazing on our public lands. Right now, we have an opportunity to speak up for them.
The BLM Wyoming Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet on Feb. 2-4, 2015 in Laramie. The RAC is a citizen advisory board that has within its jurisdiction all of the state’s 16 wild horse Herd Management Areas (HMAs). BLM RACs are generally stacked with ranching interests and against wild horses, despite the American public’s strong support for wild horse protection. The mission of RACs is to represent interested stakeholders in public lands management. Please join us in asking Wyoming RAC members to work together with us on humane and cost-effective solutions that Keep Wild Horses Wild. Two weeks ago we collected over 11,000 signatures in just four days on a similar petition to a RAC in Oregon. Will you help us beat that record by clicking below? It takes just one minute to help…and Wyoming’s mustangs need all the help they can get!
On December 31, 2014, the world lost a very special man at 82 years of age and I lost a very special friend. I heard about Von Twitchell long before I ever met him. Bishop Mule Days is an annual rendezvous for mule and donkey lovers from all over the world and I remember how excited I would get when I heard the name Von Twitchell echoing from the announcer’s booth. I would run as fast as I could to watch him and Miss Kitty in the gymkhana and cattle roping events. I knew I would be in for an amazing demonstration of teamwork and skill between a man and his beloved mule!
Von was a cowboy in the truest sense of the word. When not in Bishop, he cared for and managed cattle ranching properties in the Western states. He was unpretentious and humble…a quiet, honest, trustworthy and simple man with a down-to-earth sense of humor. His life was about love of family and the animals in his care. When I interviewed Von in 2009 for our Those Magnificent Mules: TheBishop All Stars documentary, I asked him, “Von, you had a mule, Miss Kitty, that was inducted into the Bishop Mule Days Hall of Fame and we’d like to hear about that mule.” To which Von responded, “I bought her from a hippie.” I was taken aback and laughed out loud, “You bought her from a HIPPIE?!!!”
Von calmly explained, “I bought her from a hippie. They was gonna farm with her and she was four years old and I bought her for $400, and three or four years later I brought her down here (Bishop)…and she was a world champion. And, she was four times a world champion down here and three times reserve world champion. At 19 years she won the world champion gymkhana mule here and when she was 20, I think she was 23, I retired her and started riding this mule (Silky) here (at Bishop) and I’ve been riding her ever since.”
Von has numerous friends at Bishop Mule Days and no doubt, everywhere he went. He made the annual trek every year to Captain the Drill Team for Nita Vick and to carry the American Flag in the Grand Entry that opened the performances on Saturday and Sunday. I remember one year I was so honored when he asked me to ride with him and carry the California flag beside him! To me, he was a celebrity and I was the proverbial awestruck fan. I accepted his offer in utter disbelief! I carried that flag proudly (even though I was from Colorado) because to ride beside Von Twitchell was a privilege indeed!
Every year I looked forward to seeing this very special man with the kind face, warm heart and the twinkle in his eye! He always greeted me with a big smile, a humorous story and a great big bear hug! He has a wonderful family and a lot of friends, and we will all miss him terribly, but I like to believe that he and Miss Kitty are still riding the range and smiling down on all of us…another very special cowboy angel in Heaven!
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) plan for the Fish Creek Herd Management Area (HMA) in Nevada has a number of things right. The agency is increasing use of fertility control and maintaining the natural sex ratio of the population instead of artificially skewing it to favor stallions. However, the BLM intends to remove 200 of the 600 wild horses in the Fish Creek HMA in the next few weeks. The plan includes additional horse removals over a ten-year period to reduce the population down to a maximum number of 170, which may compromise the genetic viability of these herds.
Tell BLM it’s headed in the right direction for managing this HMA, but must take the final turn toward a truly humane and publicly-acceptable management program by forgoing removals, permanently reducing livestock grazing and prioritizing bait trapping over helicopter roundups for fertility control application. Also tell BLM that any methods used to capture horses should incorporate strict requirements to safeguard their welfare, including respecting and maintaining the integrity of their social groups at all times. Please click below to endorse AWHPC’s comments to the BLM!
“There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born & the day we discover why.”
A popular quote and I can see why. My birthday is Sunday and all I really want for my birthday is a chance for the horses to win their freedom.
I think I was born to do something great for the horses and I am not the only one with that purpose. There are many of us, all over the country, all over the world, who finding our voices and standing up for horses.
Last month I spoke to the local Rotary Club about my mission and how it has evolved. I am now teaching youth on how to make a difference too and through my journeys with the horses we are impacting our communities in many ways.
My current mission is to create an educational performance that can travel to schools (locally at first, then statewide and then throughout the West and America) promoting wild horses and youth involvement in protection and conservation efforts. I need to reach as many kids as possible.
But all my work, it won’t mean anything if the horses don’t survive. I think the single greatest threat to the horses’ survival is the stripping away of their rights and protections. There’s not that many left in America. The roundup schedule for this year is brutal. Just look at the roundups that are planned to begin between now and February 1st! 1,000+ will be gathered, 640+ will be removed, and 200+ will be treated with fertility control.
Please help us to keep fighting for horses and keep reaching kids and adults with the message that you too can make a difference.
On Monday we are getting Mikey gelded. He is the last of our colts to get the procedure. We are preparing to have our three colts Rocky, Mikey and Ikey (aka Moose) to perform in an educational program together. We have another important step to take before we can “take the show on the road” – we need to obtain liability insurance for the school appearances. The sooner we can complete these steps the sooner we can start reaching more kids.
A lot has changed at Lucky Three Ranch since 1980—and sometimes the only way to see all that progress is from the sky! Luckily, aerial photographer Ryan Hofmeister, of Heaven’s View Photography in Sterling, Colorado, has had his camera focused on the ranch since the very beginning, and has captured some truly amazing images from the air throughout that time.
Ryan first met Meredith shortly after she moved in to Lucky Three Ranch. He had captured an image of the young ranch on one of his routine fly-bys, and stopped by to inquire if she wanted the photo. She did, and that image became the cover of Lucky Three Ranch’s first Christmas card. Unfortunately, Ryan didn’t print Meredith’s name on the cards that first year, and she had to sign all 300 cards individually by hand. “I never made that mistake again!” he joked.
For his most recent shoot, Ryan also included a rare bonus: nighttime shots of the ranch. All photographers know how challenging it can be to capture images in low light, as even the slightest shake of the elbow can cause a blurry image—trying to do the same from the air requires a special technique. “It can be done with a tripod,” Ryan says, “but that doesn’t do much good when you’re moving 100 miles per hour through the air.” Ryan flies with another pilot, and they position the aircraft in a way that the plane is almost suspended in motion as Ryan holds his breath and takes the photo, trying to keep as still as possible. Ryan takes each and every photo himself on a handheld camera, including manually focusing it for each shot.
This photo session took around three hours to complete, progressing from day to night, and resulted in more than 600 photos on Ryan’s trusty Nikon. By the end of the session, they were flying in complete darkness, but the day certainly resulted in some incredible photos.
For more information about Ryan Hofmeister and Heaven’s View Photography, please visit heavensviewphotography.com.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will meet next Monday and Tuesday, January 12-13, 2015. The RAC is a citizen advisory board that considers public testimony and makes recommendations to the BLM on issues related to public lands management. The Southeast Oregon RAC has in its jurisdiction 16 wild horse Herd Management Areas (HMAs). We expect a small but vocal group of ranchers to be present at this meeting to call for increased removals of wild horses from Oregon’s public lands. The horses need YOUR voice to counter this opposition….Please help us collect 5,000 signatures in five days to present at the meeting. Click below to take action and get details of the meeting in case you are able to attend in person.