A dear friend of ours in the fight against slaughter and for the mustangs has just pulled of a minor miracle! She read the story of this magnificant stallion and how he tried to protect his mare and colt and felt his family needed to be saved! Three cheers for Valerie Kennedy!

John Holland
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http://www.denverpost.com/ci_2986908?rss

Article Last Updated: 08/31/2005 03:58:42 AM

Equine family finds a friend

By Electa Draper
Denver Post Staff Writer

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2005/0831/20050831_
035832_CD31_Pony.jpg

The palomino stallion stands with his colt at the BLM facility.
Normally, the two and the colt s dam would be separated. (Post /
Cyrus McCrimmon)

Cortez - Fortunes changed this week for a wild palomino stallion, a
sorrel mare and their gold colt, rounded up last week because they
strayed out of the fenced-in Spring Creek Herd Management Area.

Normally, the horses would have been separated. But this tiny outlaw
band from southwestern Colorado gained some notoriety and allies who
see wild horses as a symbol of American freedom and the spirit of the
West.

Horse advocates from Wyoming to Illinois have moved mountains of
Bureau of Land Management paperwork so the three horses can live
together on a ranch, at least until the colt grows up.

"There is so much that is sad and hard in the world, but sometimes I
run across a situation and think, 'If I work really hard at this, I
can fix it,"' said Valerie Kennedy, a Chicago mother who also has a
home in Boulder. She called the BLM.

The palomino and his band now appear bound for a ranch in Wyoming
owned by a benefactor who wants to remain anonymous.

There the horses will have as much freedom as any of Colorado's 800
wild horses.

"I'm told I should run the wild horse program like any livestock
operation," BLM manager Fran Ackley said. "But we manage human
emotions more than livestock. Even somebody living on the East Coast
who will never see a wild horse wants to know they're still running
free in the West."

Running free is a relative term because wild horses, roughly 33,000
in 10 Western states, are confined to herd management areas of
various sizes. The horses at Spring Creek - one of five wild horse
herds in Colorado - are kept within 22,000 acres of desert rangeland
they share with cattle and antelope.

The BLM recently gathered up 91 horses of the Spring Creek Herd,
which every four years or so grows too large for its food and water
supply.

The BLM released 40 of the horses back to the range. People adopted
28 horses. One broke his leg and was put down. The others, including
the palomino band, were sent to the BLM's wild-horse facility in
Cañon City.

BLM managers said the palomino's band had to leave the range because
they kept escaping into the San Juan National Forest and occasionally
grazed on private land.

But during the gather, the palomino stallion, a fierce and able
protector of his foal, earned the grudging respect of wranglers and
mention in a Denver Post story.

"I'm hoping this story has a happy ending," said Kennedy, who has
been joined in the cause by other horse advocates. "All of us are now
focused on getting these three animals out of harm's way. "

The BLM would have offered the 4-year-old mare and colt for separate
adoptions once the colt was weaned. But the 11-year-old stallion
faced an uncertain future. He is over 10 and therefore eligible for
either transfer to a sanctuary or for sale by the BLM. The agency
strives to avoid selling horses to those who would have them
slaughtered for European meat markets, Ackley says.

But the BLM can't control or know the long-term outcomes of sales,
says Chris Heyde, executive director of the National Horse Protection
Coalition.

Kennedy said that when she took on the palomino's cause and tackled
negotiations with BLM officials, she found them surprisingly
sympathetic.

"I admire what she's trying to do," Ackley said. "But there are some
realities. The stallion's 11. He won't be gentled. I hope the place
he's going has a stout fence."

Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or
edraper@denverpost.com

John
Great story. I just got a post from another group from someone who is looking for a pasture mate in VA. They had a horse die from cancer a few days ago and her mate is very sad. They are looking for a mare. If you are interested I will forward it to you. Please sned me your email address.
Becky

Hi Becky,

Sorry I didn't notice your post on this thread. I know of a TB mare just bought away from the killers at a West Virginia race track. I would be glad to connect the people if you think she would be interested. It is a very gentle mare and the lady only wants what she paid which is about $600.

John