Dear Friends of America’s Wild Horses,
These are remarkably trying times, considering the recent deaths of our wild horses in the West. Despite a public outcry against the massive and dangerous roundups of these treasured animals, the Bureau of Land Management is pressing forward, leaving the broken bodies of our mustangs in their wake. When we have unpreventable disaster like earthquakes and hurricanes, it is indeed frustrating to watch a man-made disaster unfolding on our public lands in the West against innocent wild animals who only want to live in peace with their families.
Despite our anger at being ignored by the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management, we must not let our emotions get the best of us. Any thoughts of violent actions or illegal behavior of any kind need to be put out of our heads. Instead, we must focus on legal methods to make a difference. Here is what you can do right now, today, and for the weeks and months that follow.
CULPEPER, VA (July 13, 2010) — HITS Grand Prix Veteran Aaron Vale and Paparazzi 10, owned by Thinkslikeahorse and Norman Peterson, won the $40,000 Strongid C 2X Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.
Vale, of Morriston, Florida, was one of 22 horse-and-rider teams to compete over a course designed by International Course Designer Olaf Petersen, Sr. of Paehl, Germany. Only three riders jumped clean in what turned out to be a very challenging first round which featured a double and a triple combination, as well as an open water obstacle.
“It was a tricky course,” said Vale. “You don’t come to Culpeper expecting to jump open water and Olaf [Petersen, Sr.] makes it challenging. You needed to do some real horseback riding on this course.”
As you all know, despite pleas and even a lawsuit from Laura Leigh, Project Manager of Herd Watch, trying to prevent the scheduled Tuscarora Roundup in Elko County, Nevada, the BLM still conducted the gather as scheduled. The gather started Saturday, July 10th and was scheduled to remove over 1,100 wild horses from the Elko County area. The gather started at 6:30 a.m. and by 9 a.m., the BLM contractor had gathered 228 wild horses. This is just too many horses, too fast, especially in the heat! Subsequently, since Saturday, we have now lost 7 horses due to dehydration and complications related to water intoxication during the removal process and/or at the holding facilities. It has rehashed memories of last winter’s gather in the Calico Hills, where we lost 100 innocent horses, as well as dozens of pregnant mares, in one of the bloodiest mustang operations to date. This is unacceptable and we cannot let this keep happening! Luckily, the BLM has issued a press release this afternoon (7/12/10) that it is temporarily suspending the Tuscarora wild horse gather. This has been deadliest roundup of the year. We are hoping that with your help, we can stop this gather and others from resuming.
**Please watch CNN’s Issues with Jane Velez Mitchell tomorrow, July 13th at 7pm Eastern Standard Time, as I will be on to discuss the Tuscarora Gather over the weekend, along with the Ruby Pipeline Project that will cut into five herd areas, and memories of the Calico Hills Deadly Roundup last winter. We must be a voice to our horses!**
Grand Prix dressage rider Lauren Sammis judged young riders recently at Lendon Gray’s Youth Dressage Festival in Saugerties, New York. (Photo by SusanJStickle.com)
Saugerties, NY (July 13, 2010) – Pan Am Gold Medalist Lauren Sammis, who is back in the Grand Prix show ring with Al Guden’s Sagacious HF, spent time with young dressage riders recently when she served as a judge at Lendon Gray’s Youth Dressage Festival at Hits-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York. Sammis, who worked for Gray as a working student starting in her early years, was thrilled to take part in Gray’s annual Youth Dressage Festival, an event that attracts young riders from around the world.
“I judged the 7-9 year olds and the 16-17 year olds and they were unbelievably cute and adorable,” Sammis said. “This is exactly what you want your children to be involved with because they were braiding their own horses and ponies, taking written exams and taking part in an equitation class series.”
CULPEPER, VA (July 12, 2010) – Mike McCormick chose the right time to arrive at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, Virginia. The Texas native returned to HITS Culpeper after attending a family reunion back home just in time on Saturday night to watch his wife Tracy Fenney ride MTM Take Me to the blue ribbon in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby to highlight the Showday National for hunter riders.
Fenney, of Flower Mound, Texas, scored an 85 aboard MTM Take Me in the first round of the Devoucoux Derby to capture the highest score of the first round over a course designed by Rian Beals of Saugerties, New York. Taylor Ann Adams and Don Stewart’s Triton entered the handy round in second place and quickly took over the lead. Fenney was last to show in the handy as the horse-and-rider team needed a strong performance to surpass Adams. Fenney and MTM Take Me scored an 83 in the second round en route to winning the blue ribbon. Adams and Triton finished in second place and Winn Alden rode Catalyst to the yellow ribbon.
Morton, IL (July 12, 2010) – Small equines and fans from throughout the nation are preparing to attend one of the biggest events in their industry. This year the 122nd Shetland Pony Congress Show will be held in Ardmore, Oklahoma on August 2-6th at the Hardy Murphy Coliseum. Participants will have the opportunity to compete in classes for driving, halter, jumping, youth, and costume. Competitors will be looking to win not only National Championship titles and show off their versatile ponies to the world!
The Shetland Pony Congress spectators can enjoy a diverse array of Shetland Pony classes. Admission is free to everyone at the show and spectators will have the chance to learn more about the American Shetland Ponies.
“We are excited to bring the American Shetland Ponies to Ardmore. Each time we come to a new show venue we are able to share our ponies with a new local audience. Since admission is free and classes run all day and into the evening, the Shetland Pony Congress is perfect entertainment for families, horse lovers and children of all ages,” says Johnny Robb, Director of Marketing for the American Shetland Pony Club.
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