Believe

“So I’ve been hearing this phrase y’all got over here that I ain’t too crazy about. “It’s the hope that kills you.” Y’all know that? I disagree, you know? I think it’s the lack of hope that comes and gets you. See, I believe in hope. I believe in believe. Now, where I’m from, we got a saying too, yeah? A question, actually. “Do you believe in miracles?” Now, I don’t need y’all to answer that question for me… but I do want you to answer that question for yourselves. Right now. Do you believe in miracles? And if you do… then I want y’all to circle up with me right now. Come on. Let’s go.”
~ Ted Lasso

I have been asked a crazy number of times tonight if I think we can still win this.

The short answer is Yes, I do believe we can.

The long raw answer is what I am going to give you tonight.

I wake up every morning between 3am – 5 am depending on how loud my brain is.  If I get up closer to the 3 am time, you guys get an early blog post that day.  If it is closer to the 5 am time, it might be a little later. 

I take my dogs for a 2 mile walk as we watch the sunrise. If we are lucky, we also get to see the moon setting.  These are the calmest moments in my day.  It is usually just me and my 2 dogs walking along the 2 mile path at the lake near our home.  I savor every second of that walk because while I may not know the insanity of what the rest of the day may bring, I know the schedule of the day will fill up faster than I will like.  I know that I will be able to get most of the things I want to get done completed but more than likely things will be left on the table for tomorrow or maybe even the tomorrow after that. But for about an hour, none of that matters. 1 hour.

The NPS 2022h document was heavy.  THAT was a lot.  I didn’t sleep more than 4 hours the night I found it.  I was up late reading and then up even later digesting it all.  SEEING so clearly the gravity of what we are facing to fight to save these horses. 

That was all still weighing heavily on me as I walked with my dogs the next morning.  By the time I got back home, between being completely exhausted and overwhelmed by everything, I was crying uncontrollably, much to the confusion of my husband who was waiting for us in the garage as we pulled in. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he held me. 

“It’s just a lot today.” 

More days than I admit, it’s A LOT for me. 

Deep down, I always hope that the other local groups that “advocate” for these horses also see the writing on the wall and are finally ready to put differences aside and work together to do what we can with the very little time we have left to save these horses.  The truth is, after I have personally asked repeatedly for that for 10 months now, I have little faith that will ever happen. 

In all honesty, I don’t even have time for the drama involved in those conversations. 

Instead, I am so grateful for the organizations that are supporting us in whatever ways they can.  We really HAVE built up quite the alliance. 

What I do know is that it is obvious that the Park reads our blogs and social media pages.  So please, don’t ask me to give away our strategy or what we are working on. 

What I can tell you is that I have several meetings this week to try to fight from a completely different angle.  I should know soon if this is a possibility and as always, I will share what I can when I can.

I had a nice long conversation with our Associated Press reporter the other day.  He will be writing a new article soon.  That helps raise the awareness of our fight on a national and maybe even international level.  I have also reached out to several other media outlets and have new ones contacting me. 

I talk to our lawyers and our friends at AWHC at least once a day it seems like, sometimes more depending on the day. 

I am in contact with our North Dakota state legislators regularly and also Senator Hoeven’s office.  Washington is a mess these days, in case you weren’t aware.

“Protective acts” are not a real thing right now and congress is not in a place to objectively hear anything about our horses. Senator Hoeven has asked that we wait to go after federal protection for these horses until this process is complete.  We choose to honor what the guy who said he will support that bill says. 

It is important to note that we have been trying to get federal protection for these horses since around 2019.  It’s too bad the groups spreading that misinformation now were not onboard with that thought back in 2019.  These horses could have been federally protected by now. 

The air is heavy around all this these days.  Suffocating at times for sure.

I can’t promise you that we will “win”. 

I can’t promise you anything more than that I will continue to do everything within my power to make sure these horses stay right where they are. 

I CAN tell you it will NOT be easy. 

I CAN tell you we have A LOT of work to do.

I CAN tell you I DO NOT QUIT – ANYTHING!

I CAN tell you that I do love a good challenge. 

I CAN promise to continue to turn over every stone in this path looking for the way through.

I CAN promise to give this fight everything I have.

I CAN promise you that we will take this fight as far as we have to in order to save this herd.

I will tell you now – THIS won’t be easy.  We have A LOT of hard work ahead of us.

In spite of ALL that, I DO BELIEVE.

So now I ask all of you…

“Do you believe in miracles?”

Because…

Now, I don’t need y’all to answer that question for me… but I do want you to answer that question for yourselves.

Right now.

Do you believe in miracles?

And if you do… then I want y’all to circle up with me right now. Come on. Let’s go.”

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