“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

~ Margaret Meade

Hello and Happy Monday to everyone!

That quote by Margaret Meade has been something that I feel our organization has been honored to realize over the last couple of years. 

What’s more important to me is that those groups of thoughtful, committed citizens are as educated as possible to speak up for the things that are important to them.

An advocate friend of mine says that as advocates, we have to be investigative reporters, scientists, historians, ecologists, journalists, and wear just about every other hat that you can think of!

Truth time:

When my husband and I moved to Southwestern North Dakota in 2016, we both simply had a love for wild horses.  When we started Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates in 2021, we had no idea how this organization would grow and the knowledge that we would acquire along the way – or even how much there really is to know to advocate effectively.

I feel that I have been blessed to have so many wonderful people cross my path over the last few years.  People who have helped me understand what the NEPA process is and how it works as well as what to expect.  People who can explain the differences between PZP and GonaCon, and everything else we need to know as wild horse advocates. 

I have also had a lot of lessons that have come through blindly contacting members of the press and state and federal legislators. 

Can you believe that when we started, we had NO relationships with the press, NO relationships with our state legislators and NO relationships with our members of Congress?! I’m not even sure that I had a “wild horse advocate” friend before 2021!

I try to stop occasionally and take in how far we have come!

How many times do you hear: “Contact your legislators”

How many times WHEN you hear that, do you want to contact them, but are unsure of what to say, or if you are like me, you are worried that you can say what’s on your mind, BUT what if they ask you questions about your concerns?  I know that so many times I was afraid that I would put my foot in my mouth or say the “wrong” thing!

I also cannot count the number of times that I have been very literally taken to my knees as we continue to fight for the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  I have also come to accept that I can assume that my time on my knees is far from over. 

The biggest reason for the blogs on this website is to help educate everyone.  Help you have easy ways to take action and have an outlet where I can do my best to explain the knowledge I have gained on whatever topic we are discussing.

I have also said MANY times, I DO NOT know EVERYTHING, in fact, there is A LOT I don’t know. 

BUT

When I don’t know, I do have quite a network of friends and acquaintances that I can reach out to that can help me understand the topic at hand.

THAT is what we ALL need! 

A group of people well versed in every area of advocacy that you can think of that can help ALL of us be better advocates as our new Congress comes together and a new administration takes office.

Two people that I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with have joined forces with us to do just that! 

Bring as many experts as we can find, from different areas and backgrounds, to help all of us be armed with the KNOWLEDGE we need to move forward this year and be THE BEST advocates we can be!

Heather and I have been talking about this throughout the year and FINALLY started putting our words into action!  We have been working on this for a little while and are excited that:

TODAY, we are announcing that Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates along with Save Our Wild Horses and The Wild Narrative Project will be hosting an online educational summit:

“Putting the “A” in Advocacy – Arming Yourself with Knowledge to Effectively Advocate in 2025”

With the help of our friends Heather from Save Our Wild Horses and Jen from The Wild Narrative Project, we will be bringing together people with knowledge of different aspects of advocacy from public lands use, sanctuaries, using photography to advocate, we will be talking about PZP, & GonaCon – what’s the difference and what do you need to know?  We have a commitment from Senator John Hoeven and we have reached out to other Congressional schedulers to see who else we can bring to this summit! 

We even reached out to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service (NPS) to see if they will come and speak!  Schedules are being checked as they work on getting permission from the powers that be to come and join us!  FINGERS CROSSED!

Have you heard about the Brumbies in Australia?  Do you understand what is happening or how you can help?  Someone will be at this summit to explain all that to us!

Do you wonder about how to write an effective Letter to the Editor or what it takes to get the attention of members of the press?  We have speakers for that too!!

What happens at a roundup and why is it important that members of the public are there to witness them?  Yes, we have a speaker for that too! 

We also have speakers that will talk about specific herds, like the Kiger’s and Devil’s Garden!

We have 21 different speakers committed so far and are still waiting to hear from a few more!!

How will it work?

Mark your calendars for January 31-February 3, 2024!

This event will be held VIRTUALLY over Zoom! When we get the schedule finalized, we will have Zoom links for each individual speaker.  You can sign up for any or all of the speakers!  Each speaker has been asked to speak for up to 30 minutes.  Once their presentation is over, there will be a 30-minute Q&A session where YOU can ask your own questions!  Each presentation will be moderated by myself, Heather or Jen to streamline questions and help keep things respectful and organized. 

And yes, if the technology gods cooperate, the videos from this summit will be available on the Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates and Save Our Wild Horses YouTube channels so that you can watch any topics you may have missed, or go back and get clarity on any of the topics covered!

Please note: some members of Congress may not be able to attend but we are asking them to provide a video message for this summit. 

Most importantly – THIS EVENT IS FREE!  It will not cost you anything but your time! Although we will have a survey we will ask you to take after the summit to let us know how we did and how can improve next time!

Our goal is simple: To educate as many people as possible as we continue our fight for wild horses and burros EVERYWHERE! Most of what will be shared can be useful to help ANYONE become a better advocate, no matter what they advocate for!

Now seems like the PERFECT time for this as our new Congress and administration is taking shape.  We are at the start of a new year and hopefully some positive changes for our wild horses and burros!

If you are interested in receiving updates, you can sign up here: https://secure.everyaction.com/CddPB23A7k2uHPKwsNSzNA2

You can also watch our websites for updated information!  Our current list of speakers can be viewed on our website here: https://chwha.org/2025-wild-horse-summit/  and on the Save Our Wild Horses website here: https://saveourwildhorses.net/2025-wild-horse-summit.html Be sure to check back for updates as more speakers commit and we finalized schedules!

We hope you are as excited as we are!  We will share updates as we have them!  Be sure to share this information! 

Thank you for your continued support and have a great day!

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