All The Pretty Horses Must Die

By Laura Leigh on September 9, 2017

Onaqui

This article published in The Daily Beast was two years in the making. Almost a “novelette” this amazing piece by Christopher Ketcham describes how our wild horses were “set up,” not only for failure since the 1971 Act to protect them was passed, but how this “push to slaughter” laid it’s tracks.

UPDATED articles added:

What is Trespass and what a wild horse advocate should know

Wild Horses and National Monuments in the same dirty hands; Zinke

For wild horse and public land lovers know that:

Ryan Zinke (now former), Sec of Interior, appointed by the President, is prohorse slaughter and has pushed for reopening plants in the US for years.

Karen Budd-Falen is the same attorney that brought “remove and kill wild horses” cases to court and is now Deputy Solicitor for Parks and Wildlife. She has been called “the darling of the sage brush rebellion.”

Brian Steed is acting with the authority of the BLM Director, in a likely illegal use of authority of an appointed position, was former Chief of Staff of Chris Stewart (R-UT) and helped author the “bullet in the head or send to slaughter” language in Appropriations debates (for 2019). Steeds finger prints are all over the document being used in the 2020 Appropriations debate, the “Stewart Alliance,” to gut the Act. (Action HERE)

While the events in this article were taking place, it is mind boggling to know that HSUS, ASPCA and Return to Freedom had already jumped into bed with this faction. They were cutting the legs out from under those actually in on ground advocacy as they made backdoor deals to get a slice of the wild horse. (More HERE)

The aim of this political wave is clear.

For now, grab a cup of tea and read… bookmark… and read again. This article was two years in the making and there is no “ending,” just the pending budget that threatens to shoot tens of thousands of our wild horses. Ketcham has written for Rolling Stone, Penthouse, Harpers, and more. His work is not for the squeamish.

All The Pretty Horses Must Die (click title to go to The Daily Beast)

The beginning

On the day I visited the wild horses of Onaqui, in northern Utah near the Nevada border, the night had been very cold, but when the sun hit noon and bathed the desert, they were relaxed enough to play.

The middle

Rep. Raul Grijalva wrote in a statement, “My staff and I take seriously all allegations of government waste, fraud and abuse that come to us. The allegations surrounding the events in Nevada related to wild horses, including known violations of federal law, are troubling and merit a full explanation.” One of his staffers added in an email to Leigh, which she shared with me, that they were “very concerned” for her safety.

The end

When she came to Nevada she expected something better for the horses that were wild and free-roaming. “You know, I think about Velma. Here she is, polio, this woman who beat all odds, and we’re going to lose all she fought for. When I beat the cancer, I thought that was the worst thing I’d ever face. But it’s not. Cancer I can take. This, what’s happening now, to these horses? Maybe the last myth of my youth is cracking. Maybe it was all bullshit, the wild and free horse, wild and free America, the American dream. That’s the mythology. Nevada is the reality.”

Read the article here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-cowboy-allies-say-all-the-pretty-horses-must-die

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