30/10/2023
https://www.facebook.com/100057683996611/posts/770193924913400/?mibextid=95YSWs
I've hesitated to post this photo here, for fear that it sends the wrong message. It requires an explanation.
In 2018, I embarked on a 14,000 mile 'wild horse road trip'. In a camper with my husband and dog, this was a photographic journey with one goal: to share the stories behind these magnificent American mustangs, in the hopes that more people would help keep them protected.
I always keep a respectable distance from wild mustangs, using long camera lenses, and ensuring that my presence from a distance is not changing their behavior in any way. It is of utmost importance.
One morning just after dawn, we were travelling through the Bighorn Canyon area of Wyoming, when I saw some wild mustangs on a ridge and decided to hike up the hills. The horses disappeared into a canyon and I turned back, just thankful to have seen them.
I hiked to the road and started to walk back to the camper. I was looking at the images on the back of my camera as I was walking, when suddenly I became aware that I was being followed.
I turned around.
A stunning wild stallion was within a few feet of me.
I stopped, stayed still and kept my body language calm. The stallion had a beautiful, gentle demeanor, and took a few more steps towards me.
Should I have backed away immediately, and put some distance between us? Absolutely.
For those few seconds, it felt like I was in an energy field that I can't explain. I was looking directly into the eyes of a wild American mustang.
He wanted nothing from me. Yet there is something that we can all give to the American mustang: the right to exist, wild and free, peacefully with their families, and an acknowledgement that their free spirit once reflected ours.
But somehow we have lost our way.
Wild mustangs can teach us everything we need to know about ourselves, if we take the time to listen.
From the camper, my husband saw this moment unfold. With no knowledge of camera gear, he grabbed one of my cameras and pressed the button, hoping the photo would work out.
The wild stallion left the road and called out to his mares, who joined him moments later. I watched as they disappeared over the ridge.
At this moment, thousands and thousands of wild mustangs have lost their freedom- subject to horrific helicopter roundups. Somehow, over time, the private livestock industry and other extractive industries have taken control of your public lands. They want the American wild mustangs eradicated from public lands, and the U.S. government is on a path to do just that.
Follow the money, follow the greed.
Please add your voice. Ask your elected officials to
Contact the Director of the BLM, Tracey Stone-Manning
202-208-3801
Contact your Representative:
202-224-3121
Contact the White House:
202-456-1414
Contact Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland:
202-208-3100
Thank you all.
