The wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park are safe, for now.  The park abandoned their “Livestock Management Plan” that called for the removal of all 200+ wild horses.  The only real option was if they removed them quickly or slowly.

It has been a very long 2 years.  There is no way that I can quantify the number of hours I have spent fighting to save these horses.  I can tell you that every single day SOMETHING was done to help these horses.  It could have been as simple as a blog, setting up billboard designs and installation, meetings with our legal team or other advocates, meetings with our state legislators and Senator Hoeven’s office, sending emails or talking to the media, just to give a few examples.

The long hours paid off.  Now the question is….

Do we keep fighting?

I ask this question because we are coming off the biggest win that wild horses have had in a very long time.  WE (Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates) DID IT!  We saved them!

We have momentum on our side!  The story of the plight of these horses has gained national and international attention.  We have our ND State legislators on our side.  We have Senator Hoeven on our side.  We have an army of advocates who have joined us in this fight.  We need to take ALL of that momentum and keep moving forward.  The hardest part of this fight has been won. 

Navigating through these last two years has been extremely stressful.  The most stressful part of being a nonprofit is funding.  There are so many things that we could do.  But money always dictates what can actually be done.  We do not have the luxury of large budgets like bigger advocacy groups do.  Someone said we did what we did on a “shoestring budget” and that is completely accurate!

THANKFULLY we did not have to start raising money for new “forever homes” for these horses.  WE WON!  They get to keep their freedom – for now!  When was the last time wild horses ANYWHERE won? We need to keep fighting to keep them wild and free!

Getting these horses protected under federal law is something that will take another couple of years to complete.  It will also take tens of thousands of dollars to complete this process. 

We have chosen a wonderful company to work with to help us realize the next steps in saving these historic wild horses.  The company is filled with people we have actually been working with in a different capacity over the last couple of years.  These people are as passionate about the TRNP wild horses as we are!  They also know what we have already done, what we are working on and how to effectively help us as we move forward.  More importantly, they understand the importance of saving this herd.  They will work with us from drafting legislation to helping the bill move through congress including securing sponsors and co-sponsors in both the US House and US Senate. 

While we move along the process to get long term protection for these horses, we are still unclear about the park’s plans to manage this herd.  They ARE still using GonaCon and are actively darting mares already this year.  There are also things that can be done on a state level to help.  These are things we need to work on now, while the federal process plays out. 

I have said repeatedly over the last couple of weeks that this fight can’t be over yet.  If we walk away now, NOTHING stops Theodore Roosevelt National Park from coming back again next year, or in 5-10 years and attempt to remove the horses again.  HISTORY SHOWS US THEY WILL!!! If we do not move forward with federal protection now, we will have to re-do ALL this work we have done the last 2 years all over again the next time the park decides to remove the horses. 

I also cannot be the only one making this decision to move forward with federal protection.  I am going to add grant writing to my list of new things to learn, but while we apply for grants and wait for decisions, we still need to be fully operational.  We have a number of monthly expenses we still need to cover.   That includes a billboard that STILL has to be paid for through July.  

So, what do we do?

Should we just celebrate our win and move on with our lives?

Or do we continue to fight?

If you vote for continuing to fight, please take a moment to make a donation to help this fight continue.  There are a number of ways you can donate listed on our website: https://chwha.org/support-chwha/ You can also make a donation now by clicking here: https://secure.everyaction.com/FbY2_tNxQU6Ehc9K2RsjZw2 We also have a T-shirt campaign with a new design where 100% of the profits goes directly back to CHWHA to help support our advocacy work:  https://savetrnphorses.itemorder.com/shop/home

Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is a 501(c)3 organization so any donation you make is 100% tax deductible. 

I am up for continuing the fight.  I can’t do it alone and cannot continue to be stressed over how monthly bills will be paid.  I have a full-time job in addition to the full-time job that this has become. 

Thank you for your support.  I hope we can continue to count on you for the long haul as we continue to fight to save these horses. 

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