Hello again and Happy Friday!

WHAT A DAY THIS HAS BEEN!!!!

WHAT A WEEK THIS HAS BEEN!!!!

WHAT A YEAR THIS HAS BEEN!!!!(ALREADY!)

I know we are all excited about The Washington Post Op-Ed, but I wanted to also share that we have been talking to several other reporters over the last couple of weeks as well.  Some are still working on stories and others have been published.

The Towner County Record Herald also put us on the front page on December 23, 2023!   This paper belongs to the small town of Cando, ND.  They do not have a website, but I did ask the author if she could send me a copy of the text from her article so I could share it with all of you.  Her article is below. 

I share this because EVERY LITTLE THING MATTERS!

We have seen over the last year how so many little things can turn into big things! Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates has become the organization that the media turns to for answers and updates.  We are honored and take this responsibility seriously.  We have NEVER told the media that we had “no comment”!  We never turn down an opportunity to talk about these amazing wild horses and their current plight with anyone. 

As this crazy day winds down, please enjoy this article by Brenda Halverson.  Special THANK YOU again to our friend Frank Kuntz.  Frank could have easily made this article all about him, but he suggested to Brenda that she talk to us as well.  Brenda plans on writing a lot more on this subject!

Brenda let me know that this article became the talk of the town!  So many people near and far have no idea that we are STILL fighting for the freedom of these amazing wild horses!

Be sure to check back tomorrow – we have a BIG Call to Action brewing! 

Thank you for your support and have a GREAT night!

Wild Horse Advocates Working to Protect Herd at TRNP
by Brenda Halverson
Off the Record Herald

The horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) are awaiting a
decision from the National Park Board. During October and November, the
public was invited to comment their thoughts about preserving the wild
horse herd in the park, which resulted in overwhelming support for
keeping the horses. The situation is not that simply resolved,
however, as according to some reports, the National Park Board has not
been swayed by the opinion of the masses. (Though “masses” are
generally not associated with North Dakota, during a previous comment
period just under 20,000 people responded with only 45 supporting
removal of the horses from TRNP!)

While only a fraction of the issues surrounding the wild horses of
TRNP are addressed here as there need to be changes in managing the
herd, etc., an area of extreme concern is the treatment of these
intelligent and social animals.

The history of the plan to eradicate wild horses from public land is
depressing and infuriating, a story of the inhumane treatment of wild
horses by a relentless bureaucracy. This is not new; in North Dakota
it started in the 1950’s when the park was fenced in and the
decision was made to eradicate all the horses living there. They were
fed poisoned hay and some were shot. Others were rounded up and sold
to a dog meat factory, sold for slaughter, and/or euthanized. A
timeline of the history of the horses in TRNP is shockingly brutal and
includes comments from readers expressing dismay that our government
participates in this abuse of an integral part of our western and
Native American history.

As disheartening as it is, we need to know about the barbaric
treatment of wild horses across this country and to speak out against
it. For a blunt, horrifying, and factual presentation of specific
instances I suggest the American Wild Horse Campaign Facebook page.
Add to these horrors an experimental contraceptive injection that
causes abscesses and infection in the mares who receive it. These
atrocities are funded by $80 million tax dollars annually—it seems
like we could do better.

A veteran by the name of Frank Kuntz has been a leader in the fight
for the wild horses in TRNP for over 45 years. Local ranchers had
helped destroy some of the Nokota horses in the park, and then donated
their own stallions—Shire, Quarter Horses, and even an Arabian—to
mix with the wild herd. At a sale of some of the surviving wild
horses, Frank and his brother Leo purchased 52 of them and maintain
them as part of a privately owned herd. Over the ensuing years he has
studied and worked with this breed called the Nokota horse and knows
their history from centuries ago when the horses and buffalo ran
together on the plains.

Visiting with Frank is overwhelming. He has studied everything about
the Nokota Horse and has many strange and amazing stories about his
efforts to preserve the breed. His friends consider him the foremost
expert on the history of these horses and on what is happening in the
present. So far, even though Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one
of only a few national parks where wild horses can be observed and
draws many tourists and locals who document and photograph the horses
and know them by name, there has been no change in the goals of the
park service and the Bureau of Land Management to either cut the herd
to an unsustainable number, or to get rid of them altogether.

Kuntz says he has dealt with the park service for 45 years, and his
frustration is ill-concealed.

The park has classified the horses as “livestock”, which Frank
says is “a death sentence” for the horses.

The park also maintains that the horses were “reintroduced” into
the park area by the Spaniards, a theory which disrespectfully ignores
the Native American oral history of the Nokota horses.

Scientific evidence agrees with the Lakota oral history. In 1991
Theodore Roosevelt National Park sent the blood of 96 horses to be
analyzed by Dr. Doug Antvzok of the Baker School of Animal Health at
Cornell University, with the result that no markers for Spanish
Mustang horses were found.

This study and a Harvard study of the history of wild horses supports
the Native Lakota narrative that the Nokota horse lived with the
Lakota tribes long before Spanish horses could have appeared here.
Frank says, “The Nokota Horses are a separate breed!” and wants
the park to acknowledge the results of this blood analysis! He says
they are not an invasive species–they belong here!

A Google search reveals a number of wild horse advocate groups–Kuntz
is not alone.

Chasing Wild Horses is a North Dakota non-profit that is working for
the wild horse herd at TRNP and is helping to get the word out about
new developments in this saga—successfully, too, as just a few days
ago an article about their organization hit the front page of the Wall
Street Journal. On their website they publish calls to action, the
most recent being to share the article and to continue to contact the
National Park Board and the TRNP director. More calls to action are
made on their website as needed.

These ongoing efforts to preserve the wild horses and the Nokota breed
in particular, are not without personal and financial cost. There are
ways we can help.

CONTACT: National Park Service Director Sams at charles_sams@nps.gov
Superintendent Angie Richman at Angie_Richman@nps.gov
Regional Director at Bert_Frost@nps.gov

Share the Wall Street Journal article and urge them to consider and
preserve the Native American history of our state through the wild
horses…. Respectfully.

If you’d like to thank the Wall Street Journal for their article:
wsj.ltrs@wsj.com

DONATE: For more information about Frank Kuntz and the Kuntz Nokota
Ranch and/or to help financially contact Frank directly at
701-290-9969.

Contact Chasing Wild Horses Advocates at chwha.org for all kinds of
information and ways to donate.

Check out their Facebook pages and websites to learn more and help
these worthy causes if you are able.

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