National Day of the Horse!

National Day of the Horse, December 13th 

National Day of the Horse is observed annually on December 13.

National Day of the Horse encourages people of the United States to be mindful of the contribution of horses to the economy, history and character of the United States.

No other animal has contributed to the history of man the way the horse has. The horse literally helped us build our cities, fight our wars and explore our world. Horses have carried warriors and the sick and ill off the battlefield. We owe the horse a great debt. Yet how do we repay this amazing being? They have truly been the bearer of our burdens, both physical and the flaws in our human ways.

Today our horses, both wild and domestic, are under increasing threat of horse slaughter here on American soil. Americans don’t eat their horses, this has been shown time and again to be something the American market wont tolerate. Even dog food producers faced massive protest in the 1970’s against it. Yet today a big push is on in Agribusiness to try to reopen that market and reopen slaughter plants on US soil.

Our wild ones are truly amazing. They live in a highly organized society that has the family band at the heart. Strong, resilient and beautiful they stand as a symbol of what Americans once identified with. Have we forgotten?

Blaming the horse for everything from a failing economy to destruction of our ranges, slaughtering them is presented as a reasonable solution. Only about 11% of our public land is open to wild horses, we g=have massive degradation of all of our public land. Wild horses are not the problem, they are a scapegoat for failed on range practices and politics ruling our landscape, not common sense and integrity.

We have written, and will write, in greater detail about the threats and what we are doing to address them. Yet this week we want to take a moment to celebrate the horse! We renew our commitment to do all we can to keep our wild ones safe from abuse, slaughter and to continue the fight to keep them free on the range!

A generous supporter will match all donations this week in honor of “The Day of The Horse.” Double your donation by clicking the image below! Help us meet our year end goals.

Help us break our fundraising goals with a matching donor! Click here!

Note from WHE volunteers:

Every day is the “day of the horse” at Wild Horse Education (WHE). We fight to protect our wild horses and burros from abuse, slaughter and to gain sanity on the range. Our daily battle takes us to the range, behind the scenes meetings or into the courtroom when required. But the inspiration to engage lies in the amazing beings we call “horse.”

The equine eye is the largest of all land mammals–whales, seals and ostrich are the only other animals that have larger eyes. Perhaps it is that in that eye we see so much of ourselves reflected back in those eyes that both inspires to protect, and exploit, these amazing beings?

WHE is not a “traditional” organization. Most often we do not operate from behind a desk, but a moving dashboard. Our work is literally a “boots on the ground” machine that has a body of work that reflects our commitment. It is the road we chose, to learn from the horse first and incorporate that truth into the world explained and controlled by man.

Without you we would not have been able to make the inroads that we have created. The only court orders against roundup conduct in history (with the first handling policy now in roundup contracts) was because of YOU. Access to view handling and to open facilities is a huge court win that happened because of YOU. Our shutting down multiple roundups through legal filings and now without ever needing to file is due our ability to gain specific information from the ground, (includes Snowstorm, McDermitt, Jackson), and is because of YOU. Our ability to document trespass issues with livestock and fight to preserve the habitat our wild ones depend on to survive, is because of YOU.

We must continue the fight of accountability, across the board. Te lives of our wild ones literally depend on it.

On the “Day of the Horse” we renew our commitment. We reflect on triumph and tragedy. We celebrate the horse. We thank YOU.

With Gratitude,

Wild Horse Education

Just a sweet moment last spring in central Nevada with some little ones testing new legs.