Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Save the Wild Mustangs

I am sharing this from a good friend and horse advocate Kathy Klossner:
Just found out my favorite herd of Mustangs that I have been photographing for the last 5 years is being rounded up today. I was told there are only two horses left in the wild and the BLM is adamant in getti...ng them all. I called the BLM Field Manager, Leon Thomas, and told him my concern of all the wild horses being rounded up and that these horses were not a threat to anyone. Unfortunately, five lame folks complained and the BLM doesn't want to deal with the horses any more. I think the public needs to speak up and tell the BLM that the horses are suppose to be protected in the wild. Government Holding pens are already filled up to the max with wild horses that are up for adoption. Guess what? A number of these horses that do not get adopted are then sold to slaughter houses.

 
Please call Leon Thomas and tell him you don't approve the removal of Deer Run wild mustangs - direct phone 775-885-6118.
 
We can't save this herd, but we can voice our opinion on watching the horses in the wild dwindle to nothing.
 
Pictured below is the herd back in Oct 2012. The black foal staring at me is the sweetest thing I called Marley:

 
 
 
Today,  many of these wild horses are running in fear -- in fear of the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which continues to round up and relocate them. The BLM’s reason is that the nation’s wild horse population is expanding so much that theses Mustangs must be relocated in order to prevent the exhaustion of land resources.
 
These senseless round-ups have caused many Mustang deaths, and wild horse advocates continue to fight to stop them. More than half of all Mustangs in North America are found in Nevada. Since the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act in 1971, the focus of wild horse policies has shifted from ensuring their survival from exploitation to determining how many and where they should remain. Currently, there are more wild horses living in government holding facilities than there are left wild on the range. Besides Nevada, these horses can be found in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. Six states have already lost their entire wild horse populations. 
 
Here is a blog post I wrote last year on this topic and about one of Kathy's incredible wild mustang experiences:
http://hippydirt.blogspot.com/2012/05/hippy-horses.html

Monday, February 4, 2013

Daily Dose of Vitamin "Sea"

Living in a Southern California coastal city affords me the time and luxury of daily trips to the beach -- to surf, walk or to just breath in some salty air. I'm aware of my daily sea fortune and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The ocean is my solace and inspiration.
In her book, "Gift from the Sea" Anne Morrow Lindbergh tells us how the sea can teach us many life lessons:
 “The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.” 
Every time I go to the beach, I try to dump any expectations and just go with the flow. But the one thing that is the same is the pure stoke, peace, giddiness and gratefulness I feel once my feet hit the sand.

Here is the beach through my eyes (or in this case, through my Android phone camera/Instagram). Every day is a different experience. Enjoy!