“Pause and remember – If you just keep moving forward, everything you need will show up for you at the perfect time.”
~ Jennifer Young
Hello and Happy Thursday!
Today we have something different for you.
Earlier this week, I took a day to just sit with some of these iconic horses that we are working so hard to protect. The beauty, the freedom, the strength and the precious new life is an experience that never gets old. In my best attempt to share a few of these moments with you, I have uploaded a new video to our YouTube channel showing these horses just simply living their lives wild and free in Theodore Roosevelt National Park: https://youtu.be/A6IzaFgDC4g
I wish I could share every single moment of my day with all of you – every moment that took my breath away, made me smile or the many moments where I simply stood in awe of these magnificent creatures. I hope somehow all of that was captured in this short video.
I personally don’t get out to the park as often as I used to. There is no way to quantify the hours that I personally put into advocating for these horses. Many times, I will make a plan to be in the park and my phone ends up ringing with important calls I have to take as we continue to fight for these horses to just simply live their lives like you see in this video.
I planned to be in the park to just enjoy the day when the park made the announcement last April that they would be abandoning their plans to eliminate this herd. Reception can be really bad in some areas of the park, so as I tried to move forward with my plans to just enjoy a day with the horses we were fighting so hard for, my phone was blowing up so much that I had to leave the park and go where I could talk to everyone who was calling.
Every single day anywhere from 4-12 hours of my day, sometimes even more when it is warranted, is spent working to protect these horses. 7 days a week. Many of you have asked, and yes, I do miss the carefree days when we could simply spend several days a week in the park photographing the horses and then watching and sharing the drama that unfolded on any given day. I keep thinking that those days will return soon. The calendar just flipped to year 3 of this continued intense fight to save this herd.
My second full time job is our small retail store that my husband and I operate just outside of the park. While we may not be in the park daily, we do pass by and often see the horses. Yesterday, Boomer was basking in the sun while relaxing in the grass with his band. We could see Arrowhead’s band with their new baby up on a ridge. The hike to see them is still 4 hours one way, time I don’t currently have free to visit with them.
Yesterday, as we were heading home, we watched as the park’s GonaCon darter we talked to a few weeks ago made his way back to the park offices, undoubtably after spending a day in the field attempting to inject his targets for the day.
I often wonder when the insanity will stop.
Then Senator Hoeven announced that he introduced federal legislation to help “protect” this herd. This is something I personally have been BEGGING his office to do repeatedly over for at least the last 7 years. The announcement was an extremely surreal moment for me.
Was this REALLY happening?
While we appreciate Senator Hoeven taking this step to give much needed federal protection to this herd of wild horses, as we continue to dig deeper into the legislation, we have some valid concerns. This is it, right? We get one shot at this, and Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates is committed to making sure what is best for THIS HERD of historic wild horses is at the forefront of this legislation. Empasis on THIS HERD not “A HERD”. We do in fact have an “agenda” and that’s it in a nutshell.
The legislation has to do the right thing for these horses. What good is federal protection if it doesn’t really protect the actual horses it is supposed to?
We are currently waiting for a follow-up meeting with Senator Hoeven’s staff to discuss what we feel are much needed amendments to this legislation to make sure the horses are the ones that truly end up being protected. It is not clear at this moment whether Senator Hoeven will listen to the advocates who have worked so hard to save this herd and be able to make the requested amendments now, or if we have to wait for our time with the committee to request these amendments. We will continue to update you as we get new information and of course, how you can help when the time comes.
Today, I also have a welcome phone meeting with our lawyers. We will be discussing everything from the federal legislation to the continued use of GonaCon on this herd and much more, I am sure. I am actually looking forward to catching up with them. I was thinking this morning how crazy it was that 3 years ago, I spoke with our attorney multiple times a week. It will be good to catch up and we do have A LOT to catch up on, that’s for sure!
21 days ago, I sent an email to Regional Director Bert Frost, Interim Superintendent Rachel Daniels and Chief of Resource Management, Blake McCann asking a simple question: “Did every mare with the exception of 201418 and 202017 along with the 5 new fillies that were born in 2024 all receive injections of GonaCon in 2024?“
This sparked a completely inappropriate response from Regional Director Bert Frost. It appears that a simple “Yes or No” response was not able to make it into Director Frost’s rambling reply to me. It seems, according to Director Frost, that simple yes or no responses to the tax paying public require high level security clearance from the National Park Service. Who knew the day-to-day management of wild horses in a national park was such a top-secret situation?
We will, of course, update you if the park chooses to respond to that, or our email from January 1st – which we were told on March 4th that the response now sat with Superintendent Daniels or our FOIA request regarding the October 2024 roundup from November of last year or our FOIA appeal from I think its about 4-5 years ago now.
Transparency!
I was thinking the other day….
In 2023, we were “Fighting for the Spirit of the Badlands”
In 2024, we were “STILL Fighting for the Spirit of the Badlands”
I wanted to say in 2025 we were on a “Quest for Federal Protection”. I am sooo tired of fighting!
While everyone applauded our win when the park abandoned their plans in 2024 to eliminate the herd, most walked away, content and grateful to the park for doing the right thing. We knew, as the park showed us in October, that the freedom of these horses is still very fragile and can be taken at the next administrative whim by the National Park Service.
So, again, in 2025, the Fight for the Spirit of the Badlands is ongoing. It is a fight, and it really shouldn’t be. We have won so many small battles along the way, but the war against these horses rages on. We have some great allies standing with us on the battlefield. We are grateful for their support.
In light of the Easter season, a friend and fellow advocate told me I should write about the “Judas kiss” from others who profess their love for this herd while they turn a blind eye to the reality facing these horses or worse, aid the park in their continued rape of this herd. Watching this play out in real time, while the freedom of these horses has been hanging in the balance, has been more heartbreaking and disappointing than anything else over these last few years. Their silence and complacency are one thing. Their constant attacks on our critical advocacy work is another. That is a silent battle we really don’t talk about enough that never seems to end for us. In the end, these individuals and organizations have no problem claiming credit for our never-ending hard work and dedication to the actual horses, while they remain dedicated to the National Park Service and their quest to discredit us.
What are we fighting for? Exactly what you see in the video we shared today. It is that simple, and apparently, also that complicated.
I do ask that if you are able to make a donation to help us in this ongoing fight, please do. Our consultations with our lawyers and other aspects of our advocacy work come at a cost. As a non-profit organization, we depend on donations to survive. We still have a long way to go to get these horses the federal protection they deserve. You can make your tax-deductible donation to Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates here: https://secure.everyaction.com/wnK6YjHlTkCC2Aq57_7srQ2
Thank you for your support and have a wonderful holiday weekend to all who celebrate!
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