The Phantom Stallion


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	Jake Ely isn't the only one with Mustang Eyes! Although mine don't look look those of a wild horse (I wish), I am helping to watch over our mustangs -- in the wild, in the courtrooms and in government offices. Last week I drove from Nevada, over the Sierra Nevada mountains to Sacramento, California, to watch and listen as the future of our horses was debated. You can click here to read my notes: Mustangs in Court Lots of you have allowed me to deliver your letters and artwork to the Wild Horse Advisory Board, the group of people which are supposed to tell the BLM how we them to care for our wild horses. Some on the board represent hunters and cattlemen, but there's also one person to represent you & me. Secretary Salazar picked Callie Hendrickson for that position, and I was shocked to learn that she is a big supporter of wild horse slaughter. She will even be speaking at a Slaughter Summit conference. That's why I've written to tell Secretary Salazar she does NOT represent me or the millions of Americans (80% of us) who do not want horses killed for food. Want to give Secretary Salazar your opinion? His phone number and email addresses are here. There's also a link to an online form. I found that very easy to use! Can't think of what to say? Feel free to cut and paste this into the form: Dear Secretary Salazar, I want to preserve America's wild horses forever. Callie Henrickson, your appointee to the Wild Horse Advisory Board, advocates horse slaughter and backed the "zeroing out" of at least one herd of Colorado's wild horses. She does not represent me and she's a poor representative of the general public, 80% of whom do not agree with killing horses for food. Please reverse her appointment. Dear Readers, Artist, reader and mustang supporter Rachel Yoder sent me this incredible painting along with a note that touched my heart. Mrs. Farley, I literally dreamed this scene...I saw it while I was sleeping, colors and all and immediately sketched it out when I got up. I call it Barren because that is what the land is without the mustangs. In my dream I heard the screams of the wild horses and the force of the copters that drove them from their homeland. I woke up crying, which is rare for me. This quick painting isn't professional but it means more to me because I saw it with my soul, a true picture that I could never sketch. Rachel Rachel allowed me to share her terrible vision of what could happen, not what WILL happen. Please use the postcard we've made of it to help the horses. Email the card to anyone who should know what's being done to America's mustangs. In response to everyone who's asked WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP THE WILD HORSES? I'm launching a Hearts for Horses campaign. Visitors to PhantomStallion.com and TerriFarley.com find a list of ways they can act to help protect America's wild horses and keep them in their Western homes on the range, but you can also start here: Cut out construction paper hearts, decorate them with glitter and messages, then send them to First Lady Michelle Obama. Here's her address: First Lady Michelle Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Print out this What Good Are Wild Horses petition and ask people to sign, then mail them to the address above. Sign the online petition here. Make a YouTube video that will tell millions of people around the world what is happening to the West's wild horses. KEEP IT SHORT -- 30 seconds would be perfect -- and let Terri know as soon as it's posted so that she can tell everyone else! Just email her a link at farleyterri@aol.com. BE PREPARED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS! Crazy rumors about wild horses are all over the place, so be prepared with facts by visiting this link. There, you can find the answers to these questions and more: What is the origin of the horse? When were horses domesticated? How did horses get to North America? What is a mustang? How do horses behave in the wild? Are there still wild horses in the United States? Where can they be found in North America? How many wild horses are left in the U.S.? Who was Wild Horse Annie? Are there laws protecting wild horses? Why are their homes and herds being threatened? Despite their desperate circumstances, the wild horses of the Calico Range have many friends. Celebrities like Sheryl Crowe and Viggo Mortensen are on their side, people are showing up for rallies all over the world and closer to home, the great lady I rent my office from gave me a month of free rent because she knows I've been spending less time writing and more time fighting for the wild horses. Two people who are standing by the horses, out on the range, almost every day are Elyse Gardner and Craig Downer. With their permission, I'm posting some of their photos and comments below. They tell a bit of story about a wild stallion they named Freedom. 1/02/10 11:11:32 a.m. Photo by Craig Downer Freedom's band being driven into the trap area from Craig's vantage point up on the mountain. Note the foal in the rear, trying to keep up. More foals than adults die from roundup injuries and subsequent complications. Additionally, many foals end up footsore and limping. We saw numerous foals limping in the Fallon holding facility on Thursday, 1/7/10 Like human babies' bones, their hooves are not yet hard, and they simply cannot sustain the pounding inherent in long treks keeping abreast with frightened adult horses, especially here on the hard lava rock, at any speed over a walk. Freedom is in the front attempting to lead his band away from the helicopter threat, to safety. Sensing danger, he has slowed to a trot despite the looming pressure of the helicopter. Stallions are all about protection of the family. They are either in front, leading, or at the rear, placing themselves between the perceived threat and their family, in which case the dominant or "lead" mare assumes the responsibility for leading the band. PHOTO B: Freedom stretched out now in a full gallop, a last-ditch effort to escape the demon helicopter on his tail. Although the helicopter sometimes hangs back over the long drive toward a trap site, at this critical juncture the pilot applies maximum pressure to make sure the horses move past their resistance all the way into the pen. This means the helicopter is very close and very low. The noise and wind are terrifying. This is a great shot by Craig capturing the release of the Judas horse, who is trained to run ahead of the wild horses straight into the pen. The wild horses, being frightened herd animals, tend to follow a strong leader. 11:11:46 a.m Photo by Craig Downer PHASE II of Captivity Stuck on the Fence, Freedom. Photo G - 1/2/2010 11:28:48 a.m - Elyse Gardner This processing area was a narrow alleyway approximately 15 feet long within which the Cattoors would individually separate the horses to assess gender and condition. The horses were spray painted on their backs in here, also, to identify from which herd area they were taken. As you can see below (photo H), Freedom is stuck (see right front elbow). Sue Cattoor is holding her flag whip (see the thigh-level white plastic bag, which is affixed to a whipstick approximately 3 feet long). Freedom's hind legs, his only traction, are struggling, and he's slipping on the icy walkway as he thrusts to get enough lift to extricate himself. His mouth is slightly open in these photos; he is extremely stressed. Being immobilized is frightening enough to a horse, let alone a wild horse, but being immobilized in such close proximity to the greatest predators on earth would be a terrible ordeal for him. We can be sure he is highly motivated to get down off this fence. 11:28:59 a.m. - Elyse Gardner This very present, collected band stallion of ten other horses driven in with him (eight mares, two six-month-old youngsters -- a sizeable, very respectable band) now turns to look at his persecutor, below. He has his left front leg over the fence bar as well, giving himself some relief from hanging on the one side and definitely wanting to go over this fence and be free. I've seen horses escape confinement; their only interest is to get away. Photo by Elyse Gardner In the photo below, Freedom struggles again to dismount off the fence. Bear in mind it's only been about 6 seconds since the wrangler walked away from the opposite side of the fence. What I've termed a "rest" was really just a split second of cessation of struggle. He was struggling ongoingly to come off this fence. 11:30:18 a.m. Photo by Craig Downer Failing his first effort by having hit the fence and fallen backwards, Freedom now struggles to see over the fence and focuses his full acumen on assessing the power and stride necessary to clear this fence, this barrier to freedom. I feel such pathos in this hysterically desperate, burningly focused, do-or-die mission to flee to his mountains. He wants it, needs it, so badly he can taste it . . . 11:30:34 a.m. Photo by Craig Downer After unsuccessfully hitting the fence twice, Freedom recalculated, and in a final herculean effort he mustered the wherewithal to sail over the fence only to encounter this terrible barbed wire perimeter fence which he hit full bore, becoming ensnared in its strands. Photo by Craig Downer Finally, a bittersweet freedom, making a run into the relieving embrace of his mountains, leaving his cherished family behind. His mares were desperate. There was one mare in particular, whom I've got on video, who made several runs at the fence but knew she couldn't clear it and repeatedly slid to a halt at the fence, stopping short of an actual jump. It was heart-wrenching. If you want to see a video of Freedom's capture and escape, visit this video on YouTube.