Every day of the year we celebrate horses! Beauty, grace, strength, inspiration.
Can you help us celebrate by taking these two actions today?
In 2004, Congress recognized December 13th as the National Day of the Horse. A day to honor the contributions horses have made to our country’s history, economy and national character.
The history of laws to protect equines goes back to before the U.S. was officially an independent nation. The Massachusetts Bay Colony drafted a law forbidding cruelty to farm animals, including horses, as early as 1641.
Right now, the Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act of 2025 (SAFE) is back in Congress. Specifically, this bill prohibits a person from knowingly (1) slaughtering an equine for human consumption; or (2) shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an equine to be slaughtered for human consumption or equine parts for human consumption.
This bill currently has 211 cosponsors in the House. Only 218 votes would be needed to pass this bill in the House and move it into the Senate. UPDATE: SAFE has 218 cosponsors, the number of votes it would take to pass the bill in the House. However that does not mean the bill will come to a vote unless lawmakers feel pressure to push the bill out of committee.
You can send a letter to your House and Senate Representatives by simply clicking HERE.
Another important day falls on the 15th making this a weekend to truly celebrate the horse.
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted on December 15, 1971. An additional press event for signing was on December 18th. As with many things “wild horse,” even the day of the Anniversary itself lands with a debate.
Wild horses and burros were fast disappearing from the landscape with only around 27,000 still remaining on public lands. (BLM sets a number they call “Appropriate Management Level” or “AML.” Over the last decade BLM has started setting a target number for roundups they call “low AML.” Low AML represents around 10,000 fewer than the number estimated when the law passed.)
Among the vital components of the law was specific language that stated that management actions would be “humane.” It took us years of litigation simply to get BLM to begin drafting standards for a welfare policy! BLM was supposed to review the draft standards and include public participation before revising the standards and creating policy.
For years we have tried to gain information on the promised follow-through. Every year we would ask. Every year we were told to be patient. In 2019 we finally fled a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain information. it took litigation to gain that information.
We have finally obtained the long-sought after information that shows exactly where and how BLM failed. They keep insisting to press, public and Congress that they have completed the process and “formalized” policy. No, they did not.
As the next federal spending debate begins in January, lawmakers have a clear opportunity. All they need to do is direct and fund BLM to do what it promised long ago: review and revise the standards, open them to public comment, and finalize a comprehensive, enforceable welfare policy worthy of the wild horses and burros the law is supposed to protect.
Take the pledge!
Today and every day, we celebrate our horses and burros!
From documenting field conditions and roundups to pressing Congress and the Courts for lasting reform, every victory is made possible because of your support.
WHE stands independent—without corporate sponsorships or federal funding, beholden only to the wild ones who depend on us. Together, we can protect their freedom, their families, and their future.
Your support fuels every mile, every courtroom battle, every victory for the wild.
Together, we stand for our wild horses and burros.
WHE will never back down.
All contributions will be matched up to $10,000. through the end of the year. Thank you for keeping WHE running for the wild!
Categories: Wild Horse Education
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