The Walking with Winnie Trip Journal: January 2010

Pondering the Actions of the BLM

Hi Fans. Today I lost a little bit more faith in humankind. I heard from a friend at the Cloud Foundation, that at least 22 horses (mares, foals and stallions) have died in the Calico wintertime roundup. These are my relatives and friends and this news makes me feel very sad.

Mom and I felt even worse after we heard that one of the baby horses was put down because his feet were severely torn up from running over rough terrain. After being chased for miles over volcanic rock, ice and snow, his little hooves separated from the bone. Imagine how his poor momma feels without him to keep her company while she is locked up in the Mustang Jail in Fallon, Nevada. The BLM calls it "a holding facility." Really it is a jail for horses that haven't done anything wrong and cannot defend themselves.

Members of the American public have only been allowed to observe what is going on three days per week. Please visit the Cloud Foundation to see some photos and get more details about the Calico Round-up. During the times that nobody is allowed to document the activities of these hell-copter cowboys, who knows what else is happening?

URGENT! They're Rounding Up My Friends!

Another BLM Wild Horse Roundup: Comments Must Be Received By TODAY Jan. 27

Click on the link below and scroll down to add your voices to the call of all the wild mustangs.

Save my Nevada friends and herd mates!

Thanks and love to all my fans!

Winnie

Who Says Granny is Too Old for Sledding?

First, the weather gurus said partial sun in Magalia on Sunday. They changed that prediction to 100% chance for rain. Well, this sure looks like snow to me! JayaMae and I turned the horses out to play in the arena.

Winnie wasn't impressed with the sparring match. "What are you guys trying to prove?"

Forest had a question. "What is that you've got in your hand, Jake?"

"It's a snowball! Hey, let's target Donny!"

"Mom! Tell him 'NO!' and I'll pose for a photo with you."

Asali said, "Donovan! Posing means stand up straight, with ears forward, and a smile on your face. Try to look dignified."

Jaya said, "Let's see how dignified Granny looks on a sled. Jake, you drive!"

Hope you had a fun Sunday too!

Snow in California?

Hi Fans!
We've been snowed in at the barn for a couple of days now. Don't ask me what happened to the California Sun. At least JayaMae moved her horses up to the Main Barn to hang out with Donovan and me.

Donny thought long and hard about coming out of the barn. I heard he was raised near the California coast. Maybe that's why he's always in a fog.

Asali wouldn't come out at all, even though I gave her my old blanket to wear. She's from Chico, down in the valley, and never saw the white stuff before!

Hey, Forest, try licking that pole--tastes just like an ice pop!
(Don't worry, he didn't fall for that one. He's from Idaho.)

That tree looks like it's iced with cake frosting. I'm getting the munchies.

Hey Dogbreath! Run up the hill and tell Mom I'm hungry, would ya?

I'm bored, too. No running around the arena today.

Mom says I have cabin fever, but she assures me it's not serious. I wouldn't mind getting a few get well letters, though, if any of my fans have time to write.

Send me a line at P.O. Box 1712, Magalia, CA 95954 or email winnie@walkingwithwinnie.com

I answer all my fan mail personally. Oh, and BTW, I heard somewhere that stud muffins are the best cure for cabin fever!

Love, Winnie

Sacramento Rally on Thursday, Jan. 21

Hi Fans!

If you live out West, there will be a chance to stand up for America's disappearing wild herds at the Sacramento Protest Against Wild Horse & Burro Roundups

Date: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 (Rain or Shine)
Time: 11 AM - 1 PM, Press Conference at Noon
Place: State Capitol, 10th Street between L and N

This peaceful protest on behalf of America's wild horses and burros is part of a grassroots campaign that includes The Cloud Foundation and In Defense Of Animals who are sponsoring this event. It is one of several protests that are taking place across the country and world to protest the U.S. government's destructive wild horse and burro policy.

Sponsors of the event are asking President Obama, Dept. of Interior Sec. Salazar, and Congress to order the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to stop the treacherous winter roundup of over 2,500 wild horses in the Calico Mountain Complex in NW Nevada. Also, this is a call to stop further roundups planned by the BLM in 2010 until a viable plan is put into place to protect my wild friends on their native Western lands. (BLM started the Calico Roundup on 12/28/09 even though U.S. District Court Judge Friedman recommended they hold off pending further findings and decisions regarding the legality of housing herds in short and long-term facilities off of their legal public lands.)

This is what happens in a typical BLM round-up. The hell-copter cowboys stampede wild horses across miles of rocky and steep terrain to temporary trap sites. My momma and I went through this back in 2007. Some of the mares in my herd were pregnant, or had young foals that could not keep up. These roundups are held no matter how cold or hot the weather, and some of my wild horse friends die from the stress, or suffer needless injuries.

The worst injury of all is that my wild friends are no longer free to roam on their legal Western lands. Eventually, a lucky few will be adopted out (like me), but most will go to long-term holding pens at huge taxpayer expense. Some will go to auction and can end up with the worst fate of all: inhumane slaughter in Mexico or Canada for consumption abroad. Is this what the American people want for their National Treasure, the Mustang Horse?

Under orders from the Department of the Interior, the BLM plans to gather another 12,000 wild horses and burros in 2010 to add to the already 33,000 in short and long-term holding facilities at a cost of over fifty million a year of your taxpayer dollars. BLM claims that over 30,000 horses remain in the wild, but independent sources say only 15-18,000 remain. BLM has already zeroed out over 100 herds. Numbers are so low in the Mustang herds that remain, their long-term survival is doubtful.

I know my fans do not want to lose their living legends of the American West. Please stand up and fight for what you know is right and save the wild horses and burros before it is too late. We are your symbols of freedom, family, independence, strength, and spirit! We are your National Treasure.

Call President Obama at 202-456-1111 (or Fax to 202-456-2461) to issue a moratorium on all roundups.

Please continue to call or fax your Senators to improve and pass the ROAM Act.

And come out to Sacramento on Thursday, January 21, even if it is raining.

Thank you!

Love, Winnie

New York City Protest Against BLM Round-Ups This Sunday 1/17/2010

If you live in the East, please join some fans of mine this Sunday for a New York City protest against the Bureau of Land Management's Mustang Round-Ups.

My fans and other horse lovers will be meeting in NYC on Sunday January 17, 2010 at COLUMBUS CIRCLE (59TH ST @ CENTRAL PARK ENTRANCE) between 1-3 PM. The Cloud Foundation, Equine Welfare Alliance, In Defense of Animals, and Friends of Animals, will be there. My wild horse friends want to stay in the West on our own lands. We want people to know that we remain healthy when left in our natural environment. We Mustangs are not meant to live for years in small holding pens!

The organizer, Jo De George, wants to make everyone aware that the public's wild horses are being removed at taxpayer expense on publicly owned land to make way for a multi-billion dollar pipeline (the Ruby pipeline). This pipeline is to be constructed by El Paso Natural Gas Corporation of Colorado Springs, CO.

We want a Congressional Hearing to Investigate BLM's Wild Horse & Burro program and their involvement with the Ruby Pipeline; have they been rushing to roundup wild horses to clear them off the pipeline right of way (ROW) before construction starts soon?

We also want a moratorium on all roundups until the people of America, working with Congress, can create and implement a truly sustainable solution to protect wild horses on the ecosystems in the West.

The public has the right to ask several key questions and get immediate answers to them:

1) Who really stands to profit from removing wild horses from public lands?
2) What private contractors, possible politicians, and/or agency bureaucrats stand to benefit from the yet undisclosed details of the Ruby Project?
3) Why has the public been excluded from any discussion of this undisclosed use of taxpayer public lands?

Thanks for joining with other horse lovers to protect my fellow mustangs.

Your National Treasure,
Winnie