Attention Alberta. Genocide is not acceptable. Stop culling wild horses!

Did you know that anytime November 1st, the Government of Alberta can issue capture licenses to horse trappers? Did you know that 99% of the horses captured go to slaughter, and are sold for their meat?

Alberta has more cowboys than any other province in Canada. And apparently, many Albertans hate horses.

Stop the Cull of the Wild horses of Alberta Petition | GoPetition

The Past and Present of the wild horse in Alberta:

• Around 1630 the first horse was brought back into what is now Alberta by the Blackfoot Indians. Through wars with other bands, these horses began to roam free throughout the prairies in ever increasing numbers.
• The Cree, from the foothills and north, the Kotenai, from south-eastern British Columbia also began to obtain horses through raids on the Blackfoot or capture of the wild horses. By the 1800 hundreds horses were a common sight and important part of the Native culture and that of the White man coming to explore and settle in this area.
• John McDougal, a missionary, in his journals, dated in the 1850’s, documents wild horses and moose being preyed upon by wolves in the areas between the North Saskatchewan and Oldman Rivers. The North West Mounted Police, upon coming to this area to bring law and order, estimated there were thousands of wild horses in the areas that they settled.
• The horse became an important animal in helping settle and open this province. Canada's entire western culture and heritage focuses around horses and the chores that they performed for us. The horse broke the land, hauled produce and helped harvest  forests and crops. They helped the ranchers in the operation of their cattle ranches. They were an important part of the everyday life of the early Albertans being the only means of transportation.
• As late as the 1950’s, horses were still being used in various parts of the province in the same fashion. In more remote areas, coal and water would be distributed to farms by horse drawn wagon. 
• Any museum depicting early life in Alberta will include horses in almost every aspect and or picture. They are a fundamental part of Canada's western heritage, and of the heritage of the First Nations people. First Nations elders and the old timers who settled in this area, they will tell you stories of there always being horses running free and wild in this part of Alberta.
• As late as 1985, there were estimated to be over a thousand free roaming wild horses in the foothills of Alberta. Today less than 300 hundred remain.
• Contradicting history, the government now describes wild horses as feral, stray animals, which do not don’t belong in this area. 
• They may have been so at one time, but over the centuries, these horses have adapted to survive their environment. Their physique is unique to them: their hooves are large to carry them over the muskeg and to help them paw through the snow for feed. Their legs are short and thick for strength which carries them swiftly through deadfalls. Their bodies are short, stocky and very muscled for strength and endurance. This allows them to travel up and down steep hills and through forests with ease and grace. Their nose which we call, roman, is to assist them in their forage for food in the under brush and through the snow. This did not happen overnight. In nature these physiological changes in animals to suit their habitat, take long periods of time.
• If you study these horses and watch the way they interact as a family group, the way they flee predators and the way that they blend into ecological system in these foothills, you can have no doubt that they are truly wild animals.
• To watch how a stallion will sacrifice himself to protect his herd, to watch the older mares take care of injured herd member or the foals of herd, one can’t help be kept in awe of this. These horses are fighting a desperate battle for survival.

They are still being chased for sport, shot and killed for bear or wolf bait or for no reason at all. They are snared, roped , corralled and sent to slaughter. These last wild horses are on the run for their lives. We can help.

Stop the Cull of the Wild horses of Alberta Petition | GoPetition


Please take the time to educate yourself on this issue. Some links are included here, and there are many more to be found:
http://www.albertaprimetime.com/Stories.aspx?pd=3669
http://canadianhorsedefencecoalition.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/record-number-of-alta-wild-horses-caught-many-slaughtered-for-meat
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/alberta-wild-horses-captured-record-numbers-205001031.html 
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/tv/videos/video_description.asp?showNumber=23035
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/04/05/kevin-libin-mystery-surrounds-horse-kills-in-alberta/
http://northernhorse.com/wildhorses/index.php/photos-of-wild-filly-found-shot/
http://galileonetwork.ca/wildandfree/?q=node/101

And please, tell Alberta that genocide is not alright. Stop the Cull of the Wild horses of Alberta Petition | GoPetition

Air Amateur - your Tuesday smile

There is no better way to start the week than with a smile. This will resonate with everyone who has ever found themselves suddenly without a horse underneath!

I would confess, I've booked many a flight on this airline, and in spite of the fact the descents are desperately quick, the landings abrupt and often painful, and the airline highly unsympathetic (and often surprised), I keep going back.

Here's hoping your ride today is on friendly skies!

Extra! Extra! This week's edition of the Pony Express is now available

Find out what's happening this week in the world of horses - The weekly edition of The Pony Express is now available online!

Highlights from this week's edition include:

• News from the world of horse sport including a memorial to Sea Fox, an update on Lauren Hough, a tribute to Rapid Redux, and congratulations to Pamela Law, Jump Canada's Volunteer of the Year.
• An update on the state of wild horses and horse slaughter in America.
• Great information on holistic treatment of wounds, and what the natural horseman keeps in the stable emergency kit.
• ... and much, much more!

Thanks for checking out The Pony Express. If you have information you'd like to see included, please let me know!

Faith and Spirit

Horses play an integral role in the history, and the present, of the Americas. In recent months, there have been a great many articles about the BLM's wild horse roundups, the treatment of retired racehorses, of neglect and cruelty. The issue of horse slaughter (which is currently banned in the United States, but allowed in both Canada and Mexico) is receiving tremendous publicity both for the inhumanity of the practices associated with it, and because of the practice itself. 

"Faith and Spirit came to the farm on April 20th 2011. We received a phone call from the local kill pen that a foal had been born in their holding pen. We worked desperately to raise funds to rescue mom and baby. Joel, one of our dedicated volunteers, donated what we needed to save these two. We estimated his birth date is April 10th 2011. This colt literally saved his mother's life. There's no doubt the slaughterhouse would have killed her, pregnant or not. Faith and Spirit will remain at Day Dreams Farm until Spirit is weaned and then Faith will be up for adoption. Spirit will continue to grow up at the farm and he will choose which direction he wants his life to go."

The inhumanity of the kill pen, and the tragedy that faces horses who find themselves there, is illustrated in a wonderful video of a foal born in a kill pen while his mother waited for slaughter (http://youtu.be/WODPAmME1e8). There is a happy ending for them both, thanks to Day Dreams Equine Rescue and Therapy (http://www.daydreamsfarm.com) but there need to be many, many more. Horses, because they have outlived their usefulness in one role, should not be thrown away. They can certainly be retrained for another purposes. Like all domesticated animals, they have an important relationship with people, and one that is mutually beneficial. The unspeakable things we do to dispose of them reflects our respect for humanity as a whole, and it is time we step up for the human race, the animal population, and the planet. 

The issues around the treatment, management and slaughter of horses are complex, but the realities seem to be simple and come down to an all too common denominator - human greed.  Horses are expensive to keep, and if they are wild, can be inconvenient to have around. Crushing economic conditions have exacerbated poor conditions for many farmers and horse owners, with more and more horses suffering from neglect as owners are unable to keep them. A reduction in horse races and purses, and an increase in irresponsible breeding, have resulted in a glut of unwanted racehorses, many of whom have earned significant money before being consigned to the kill pen because their racing careers are over.  Rescue organizations are stretched, and advocacy groups fight an uphill battle in the face of a glut of unwanted horses. And, it is important to remember that, in North America, horses are not raised for human consumption, and the sale of horse meat is prohibited by the FDA for health purposes.

Please advocate to stop horse slaughter, and to address the root causes of this issue. And please, support your local rescues, shelters and therapeutic riding centres!