Seven Tears Into the Sea
Phantom Stallion Series
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Friday, July 04, 2008
Tell BLM what you think
Dear Readers,
Please go to this link to express your opinions via email to the BLM regarding their care of our wild horses and burros.
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html
Thanking you for the horses,
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 10:07 AM
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
BLM Must Cowboy Up
Dear Readers,
BLM has rounded up thousands of wild horses. Now, they may kill them.
I'm a fourth generation Westerner, and I live in Nevada, the state with the largest number of wild horses. I've resarched and written both non-fiction and fiction about the West's wild horses. I've witnessed gathers, branding, innoculating and adoptions.
I know this issue first hand and I've stood up for Bureau of Land Management staffers who know wild horses. But the current government has ignored knowledgeable staff members. This government spends huge amounts on helicopter round-ups, but won't fund assessment of range conditions or accurate counts of wild horses.
Check their news releases for phrases like this:
"There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses on the range..."
"Approximately 30,000 wild horses are in holding facilities..."
If BLM doesn't know how many horses are in pens, how can they expect us to believe their claim that there are too many on the range?
Yes, this agency is a victim of the same administration which marches thousands of Americans into the jaws of a financially disastrous war.
Yes, BLM expects its annual $39 million budget to drop to $37 million. They're justified in worrying. But, these funds are often misused and staffers know how and why.
According to Brookings Institution figures, the spare change from one day of the Iraq war could cover BLM's wild horse budget. Monthly, TWELVE BILLION dollars is poured into a war that's magnified the world's hatred for the U.S.
The greedy say conservation of wild horses is an emotional issue. So is art, music, so many worthwhile things that such an arguement has lost its sting.
Besides, the hearts of the world ached for us on September 11th. Many wanted to stand up for us and beside us.
That's changed.
It's worth remembering that hearts worldwide swell at the sight of a galloping wild horse. Many see the mustang as a powerful symbol of America's freedom and spirit.
BLM knows how to fix what's wrong, but some might say, they've got a wishbone where their backbone oughta be.
Generations of Americans hope BLM staff will find their backbones, then cowboy-up instead of bowing to another bloody cover-up.
Sincerely,
Terri Farley
# posted by Terri Farley @ 8:44 AM
Monday, June 30, 2008
What a wonderful day
Dear Readers,
Today I ate fresh pineapple, outside, for breakfast.
I watched my first polo game and loved it and I just gently relocated a teeny tiny gecko that was watching my laptop screen from his perch atop my bare shoulder.
Tomorrow I leave Hawaii for home.
With research, book sigings and workshop teaching behind me, it's time to write the next book!
I'm recharged and ready,
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 12:40 AM
Monday, June 23, 2008
Roughing it -- with horses!
Dear Readers,
Check out the new additions to my photo album.
http://phantomstallion.com/photo_album.shtml
Wish you'd been there!
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 7:23 AM
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Hold a Wild Horse in Your Hand -- and Hope
Dear Readers,
Each time you see a quarter this summer, check to see if it shows Nevada's wild horses. Soon, that might be the last place you'll see them.
Those of you who've read my books know I haven't been very critical of BLM in the past. I believe the agency employees some good people doing their best for the horses. Sadly, that's not enough.
Talk of ending the adoption program, of "zeroing out" wild horse herd management areas, and slaughter in Mexico and Canada is more than rumor.
Right now, BLM is proposing to round up wild horses in the McCullough Peaks area of Wyoming In an area with 200 wild horse, they have proposed removing 100.
In Nevada, plans are underway to helicopter herd 1700 mustangs off their home range and into pens.
In this news clip, you can see the capture of Oregon's wild horses.
http://www.king5.com/video/eveningmagazine-index.html?nvid=253866
As you watch it, listen and you'll hear a wrangler say "there's an adopter for every horse."
That's just not true. In fact, this week BLM asked people to apply to use their lands for new long term holding pasture facilities located anywhere in the continental United States.
BLM is spending millions on helicopter herding, gas for big horse trailers and paying citizens to to provide homes for up to 2,500 horses each.
And there still hasn't been a reliable count of how many horses still exist.
In the Old West, people traveling on trains shot buffalo because their wooly brown herds seemed endless. In a short time, the buffalo and the Native Americans depending on them were on the brink of extinction.
Likewise, it doesn't make sense to capture thousands of wild horses because it SEEMS there are lots of them. We know how to count wildlife ; why aren't we doing it?
I'm collecting those wild horse quarters and saving them...
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 11:43 AM
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Come see me!
Dear Readers,
I'll be running around a lot this summer. If you're going to be able to come visit with me, please email me and let me know at farleyterri@aol.com!
JUNE
Behind the Barn Door:
Secrets of a Writer Teacher
Children's Literature Conference
June 27
Oahu, HI
Borders Book Signing
98-1025 Moanalua Rd. Aiea
June 28
12:00 - 2:00 pm
and on the same day...
Bookends
600 Kailua Rd. Kailua
3:00 - 4:00 pm
JULY
Cheyenne Frontier Days
Barnes & Noble
1851 Dell Range Blvd.
307-632-1164
July 19
1:00 - 4:00 pm
Barnes & Noble
5835 Sky Pond Drive
Loveland, CO
970-663-9503
July 20
AUGUST
Wild Horse Sanctuary open house
Shingletown, CA
August 16
# posted by Terri Farley @ 11:51 AM
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
SHACKLEFORD EXPEDITION
Who: 5 Earthwatch volunteers (women 19 - 58), 2 college interns, 1 24-year-old Ph d. candidate working on research for her degree in animal behavior, 1 ranger with a specialization in all things equine
What: researching the behavior of the wild horses
When: May 28 - June 11, 2008
Where: an uninhabited island, part of Cape Lookout National Seashore
Why: to help determine if population controls interfering with the natural social groups of wild horses on an uninhabited barrier island?
How: every day we hiked the sand dunes and beaches of the island, watching for harems and bachelor bands of 2 - 10 wild horses. Each time we spotted one, we identified the horses through binoculars and up-close observation, then watched them for 45 minutes, documenting exactly what each horse was doing (grazing, digging for water, nursing new foals, fighting, dozing in the shade...) every three minutes.
I'll get more photos to you soon, but right now, if you'd like a glimpse of where I was, watching wild horses, take a peek here :
http://www.shacklefordhorses.org/default.htm
The photos haven't been updated recently, but it's very cool for me to see horses like
Paula
Bo
Hardee
Julius
Lennon
Dusty and the amazing black stallion Dionysus as younger horses.
Are these equines ponies or horses? It's an often-asked question. To me, they looked like horses which had adapted to their small island environment, becoming smaller over the generations. Many of them are 14 hands high. And how did they get there?
More about that later!
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 12:52 PM
Tell BLM what you think
Dear Readers,
Please go to this link to express your opinions via email to the BLM regarding their care of our wild horses and burros.
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html
Thanking you for the horses,
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 10:07 AM
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
BLM Must Cowboy Up
Dear Readers,
BLM has rounded up thousands of wild horses. Now, they may kill them.
I'm a fourth generation Westerner, and I live in Nevada, the state with the largest number of wild horses. I've resarched and written both non-fiction and fiction about the West's wild horses. I've witnessed gathers, branding, innoculating and adoptions.
I know this issue first hand and I've stood up for Bureau of Land Management staffers who know wild horses. But the current government has ignored knowledgeable staff members. This government spends huge amounts on helicopter round-ups, but won't fund assessment of range conditions or accurate counts of wild horses.
Check their news releases for phrases like this:
"There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses on the range..."
"Approximately 30,000 wild horses are in holding facilities..."
If BLM doesn't know how many horses are in pens, how can they expect us to believe their claim that there are too many on the range?
Yes, this agency is a victim of the same administration which marches thousands of Americans into the jaws of a financially disastrous war.
Yes, BLM expects its annual $39 million budget to drop to $37 million. They're justified in worrying. But, these funds are often misused and staffers know how and why.
According to Brookings Institution figures, the spare change from one day of the Iraq war could cover BLM's wild horse budget. Monthly, TWELVE BILLION dollars is poured into a war that's magnified the world's hatred for the U.S.
The greedy say conservation of wild horses is an emotional issue. So is art, music, so many worthwhile things that such an arguement has lost its sting.
Besides, the hearts of the world ached for us on September 11th. Many wanted to stand up for us and beside us.
That's changed.
It's worth remembering that hearts worldwide swell at the sight of a galloping wild horse. Many see the mustang as a powerful symbol of America's freedom and spirit.
BLM knows how to fix what's wrong, but some might say, they've got a wishbone where their backbone oughta be.
Generations of Americans hope BLM staff will find their backbones, then cowboy-up instead of bowing to another bloody cover-up.
Sincerely,
Terri Farley
# posted by Terri Farley @ 8:44 AM
Monday, June 30, 2008
What a wonderful day
Dear Readers,
Today I ate fresh pineapple, outside, for breakfast.
I watched my first polo game and loved it and I just gently relocated a teeny tiny gecko that was watching my laptop screen from his perch atop my bare shoulder.
Tomorrow I leave Hawaii for home.
With research, book sigings and workshop teaching behind me, it's time to write the next book!
I'm recharged and ready,
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 12:40 AM
Monday, June 23, 2008
Roughing it -- with horses!
Dear Readers,
Check out the new additions to my photo album.
http://phantomstallion.com/photo_album.shtml
Wish you'd been there!
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 7:23 AM
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Hold a Wild Horse in Your Hand -- and Hope
Dear Readers,
Each time you see a quarter this summer, check to see if it shows Nevada's wild horses. Soon, that might be the last place you'll see them.
Those of you who've read my books know I haven't been very critical of BLM in the past. I believe the agency employees some good people doing their best for the horses. Sadly, that's not enough.
Talk of ending the adoption program, of "zeroing out" wild horse herd management areas, and slaughter in Mexico and Canada is more than rumor.
Right now, BLM is proposing to round up wild horses in the McCullough Peaks area of Wyoming In an area with 200 wild horse, they have proposed removing 100.
In Nevada, plans are underway to helicopter herd 1700 mustangs off their home range and into pens.
In this news clip, you can see the capture of Oregon's wild horses.
http://www.king5.com/video/eveningmagazine-index.html?nvid=253866
As you watch it, listen and you'll hear a wrangler say "there's an adopter for every horse."
That's just not true. In fact, this week BLM asked people to apply to use their lands for new long term holding pasture facilities located anywhere in the continental United States.
BLM is spending millions on helicopter herding, gas for big horse trailers and paying citizens to to provide homes for up to 2,500 horses each.
And there still hasn't been a reliable count of how many horses still exist.
In the Old West, people traveling on trains shot buffalo because their wooly brown herds seemed endless. In a short time, the buffalo and the Native Americans depending on them were on the brink of extinction.
Likewise, it doesn't make sense to capture thousands of wild horses because it SEEMS there are lots of them. We know how to count wildlife ; why aren't we doing it?
I'm collecting those wild horse quarters and saving them...
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 11:43 AM
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Come see me!
Dear Readers,
I'll be running around a lot this summer. If you're going to be able to come visit with me, please email me and let me know at farleyterri@aol.com!
JUNE
Behind the Barn Door:
Secrets of a Writer Teacher
Children's Literature Conference
June 27
Oahu, HI
Borders Book Signing
98-1025 Moanalua Rd. Aiea
June 28
12:00 - 2:00 pm
and on the same day...
Bookends
600 Kailua Rd. Kailua
3:00 - 4:00 pm
JULY
Cheyenne Frontier Days
Barnes & Noble
1851 Dell Range Blvd.
307-632-1164
July 19
1:00 - 4:00 pm
Barnes & Noble
5835 Sky Pond Drive
Loveland, CO
970-663-9503
July 20
AUGUST
Wild Horse Sanctuary open house
Shingletown, CA
August 16
# posted by Terri Farley @ 11:51 AM
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
SHACKLEFORD EXPEDITION
Who: 5 Earthwatch volunteers (women 19 - 58), 2 college interns, 1 24-year-old Ph d. candidate working on research for her degree in animal behavior, 1 ranger with a specialization in all things equine
What: researching the behavior of the wild horses
When: May 28 - June 11, 2008
Where: an uninhabited island, part of Cape Lookout National Seashore
Why: to help determine if population controls interfering with the natural social groups of wild horses on an uninhabited barrier island?
How: every day we hiked the sand dunes and beaches of the island, watching for harems and bachelor bands of 2 - 10 wild horses. Each time we spotted one, we identified the horses through binoculars and up-close observation, then watched them for 45 minutes, documenting exactly what each horse was doing (grazing, digging for water, nursing new foals, fighting, dozing in the shade...) every three minutes.
I'll get more photos to you soon, but right now, if you'd like a glimpse of where I was, watching wild horses, take a peek here :
http://www.shacklefordhorses.org/default.htm
The photos haven't been updated recently, but it's very cool for me to see horses like
Paula
Bo
Hardee
Julius
Lennon
Dusty and the amazing black stallion Dionysus as younger horses.
Are these equines ponies or horses? It's an often-asked question. To me, they looked like horses which had adapted to their small island environment, becoming smaller over the generations. Many of them are 14 hands high. And how did they get there?
More about that later!
Terri
# posted by Terri Farley @ 12:52 PM