Hello and Happy Saturday to everyone!
HAPPY I LOVE HORSES Day!
What a way to end an incredible week where so many people came from near and far to express their love for the wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home!
I promised to give a recap of the week after my day “off” yesterday. I decided to start with Monday….
On Monday, Mary Koncel from American Wild Horse Campaign, Ginger Fedak from In Defense of Animals along with her wild horse advocate friend Debbie, and Jen Britton from Drexel University – all landed in Southwestern North Dakota. We all met for dinner and made our plans for Tuesday where I would take them out to the park to meet the TRNP wild horses.
Mary and I joked that we have been having an “online” relationship for over 3 years now! It was nice to finally meet in person! Mary came in from Massachusetts to support us at the rally!
I had the honor of meeting Ginger, Debbie, and Jen at the Save Our Wild Horses conference in Washington DC in April. I was honored when I emailed them about the rally that really without hesitation, these ladies came from Colorado and Pennsylvania to support us and the TRNP horses at our rally!
We headed out to the park and got to spend time with Teton, Nicols and Trooper’s bands. We also got to visit with Wild Rye who is still hanging out with Arcola and now his son, Anthem. All of these horses were hanging out along The Loop Road.
Jen Britton took the photo above of us while we sat with Wild Rye, Arcola & Anthem.
The highlight came when we went down to the flats and got to experience the wild horses with the beautiful backdrop of the Badlands of North Dakota! It is ALWAYS breathtaking no matter how many times I experience this!
They got to meet Stallion Gunner and his impressive band of 20, our most beautiful red roan – Stallion Ollie Jr. and his band, of course no trip to TRNP is complete without a visit from Stallion Flax – and he graced us with his presence as well! We also visited with Stallion Flash’s band and Stallion Maverick. All in one place. Relaxing in the beauty of the day and only running when the pronghorn let them know it was time to run – as you see in the photo attached to the top of this post.
They all agreed that these horses look amazing!
Jen, who earlier in the day seemed to have a tone of doubt in her mind about how magical things are on the flats, looked at me and said, “You were right Chris, this is a magical place!” She added the coordinates to her GPS and visited the area a few times over the next couple of days.
After spending the day with them, Gary and I went to the Medora City Council meeting. The discussion about the City of Medora signing its own resolution asking the park to keep the horses was up for discussion. After a heated debate, the council voted 3-2 to adopt the City of Medora Resolution 01-2023! They will be sending their own resolution to the park and our federal delegates asking that the horses be allowed to stay IN Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The resolution does NOT change things – BUT – it does gives strength to our advocacy efforts!
Wednesday morning was our meeting with NPS Director Frost and Superintendent Angie Richman along with other NPS staff.
And THAT is where we will pick up tomorrow!
Thank you for your support and have a GREAT weekend!
Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is committed to advocating for a wild horse management plan and protection for these unique wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home! We are fighting for a management plan that is guided by science especially when it comes to decisions regarding the removal of horses and the administration of birth control. Many other wild horse management plans have proven to be successful with their science-based plans. We are asking for the same for this amazing group of wild horses that call Theodore Roosevelt National Park home.