That’s what a rancher said should happen to 50,000 wild horses and burros in warehousing during the Today Show segment, “Wild but not Free,” which aired this morning. He went on to add, “what value are they now?”
This underscores so much of what we know about the motivations of the people behind the BLM roundup program, but the NBC segment went further in featuring exclusive video captured by AWHPC of cruel roundup practices, putting the head of the BLM’s program on the defensive and interviewing a 30 year BLM veteran who said, “wild horses aren’t getting a fair shake.”
With this issue now getting national attention, now is the time to pitch in and help us end the BLM’s program as we know it. Here’s an easy way to get involved:
Sierra was born on May 17 in Saskatchewan Province and came to us at 5 months old through United Pegasus Foundation. Sunshine was born on May 22 in Alberta and was also 5 mos. old when she arrived at our Rescue. We adopted them from the Hemet facility while we were in Valley Center in 2003.
Tawni is our recently transitioned Tango’s daughter, rescued in 2007 through The Animal Farm. Tawni was born at our Rescue on May 4th 2007 when we were in Somis.
PS Interestingly our geldings (Kaptivate, Spirit and recently transitioned Cisco were all born in July). Splash is a June foal. Hmmmm is there anything to that? Are the boys conceived later in the year? Just a coincidence I guess.
Michaele is part of the up and coming Train the Trainer class, and her passion for the mustangs is really shining thru! We look forward to seeing what this advocate will do next.
Training wild horses: Woman committed to finding homes for mustangs she fosters
Michaele Dimock describes herself as an “equine eccentric,” or horse lover, as evidenced partly by the number of wild horses she’s adopted.
Her dozen or so mustangs join Belgians, Fjords, Icelandics and quarter horses lucky enough to live on her lower South Fork ranch. She drives the Belgians as teams pulling antique wagons and rides the other horses in dressage or on mountain trails.
“As a 5-year-old, I loved horses,” Dimock said. “I took lessons every chance I got.” As a child she also helped with pony rides.
As an adult, Dimock is studying to become an instructor certified by Anna Twinney of Golden, Colo., an internationally renowned equine specialist. Twinney will visit Dimock’s ranch for the sixth time this summer and conduct two clinics, one on “untouched-horses” for a week and the other on holistic horsemanship for two weeks (see reachouttohorses.com).
For the first untouched-horse clinic in 2010, Dimock acquired 10 mustangs to provide one horse per student. The first two mustangs she obtained through an online adoption, where “it’s not hard to win a bid,” she noted.
She drove to Rock Springs in February to pick up the two McCullough Peaks mares – Corona, a buckskin, and Topa, a black-and-white paint. They foaled, respectively, Tango and India. She also selected two others, St. Patty, a bay, and Niagara, a gray. The latter was admired and later adopted by a Casper friend of Dimock.
That April at an auction in Powell, she chose Caliente, Topa’s daughter from the year before and India’s full sister.
“I wanted to reunite some family,” said Dimock, who’s bothered by the separation of bands that occurs during BLM roundups. “In my own little way, I reunited a daughter with her sister and mother.”
She also adopted Kismet and then bid on a horse among the group left unclaimed at auction’s end, offering $25 for Kitkat, a black mare.
“She looks just like her sire,” said Dimock, who has studied the extensive records kept by BLM.
A BLM official asked Dimock to adopt a horse named Raven, whose owner no longer wanted him. She renamed him Radar.
“Of all the mustangs, Radar has had the most difficult time adapting to his new, domestic environment and, unfortunately, has become a cribber as a result,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard on these horses.”
Dimock is committed to placing the mustangs she fosters for the Twinney clinics.
“It’s my personal passion to help them learn skills in basic handling and then find them homes so they don’t have to be returned to the Rock Springs holding facility,” she said.
Of the 10 mustangs fostered in 2010, Dimock placed seven through word of mouth and Facebook postings, and with clinic participants who had become enamored with their equine students. She adopted the remainder.
“I’d rather see them left on the range and the population controlled,” she said, to avoid the stress of roundups and holding facilities. “I would like people to consider them as a wonderful horse you can develop trust in.”
The mustangs are good on the range, mountain-savvy and level-headed, in her opinion.
“You can develop a special bond when you take the time to work with a mustang,” Dimock added. She spends time with her mustangs between clinics, documenting their progress with each milestone they reach.
Teaching a wild horse to accept human touch can take 1-3 days, but “once you get to that point, it just takes off,” she said. Early lessons include grooming, haltering, hoof-handling and leading. Next come bathing, “spook-busting” through exposure to blankets and flags, and an obstacle course through which they’re led or herded. Finally they’re led by a rider.
“It’s so easy for them,” Dimock said. “Each step builds on the last one. There’s no fear or worry. It’s trust-based.”
The Twinney clinics are matchless because they’re based on communication, “the language of equus,” she added. “When you learn how to read a horse, you can react appropriately.”
The public is invited to watch the clinics Aug. 12-31 for the price of a donation to Friends of a Legacy, the nonprofit advocacy group for the McCullough Peaks mustangs.
“This is one of the cruelest acts against horses I have had a chance to hear about in a long time.. to let little babies just die for lack of compassion and the dollar bill is deplorable.”
This week we are doing something a little different for our free article this week and we need your help. Please forward this email to everyone you know, post it on your facebook and perhaps finally we can make a difference and no more babies will needlessly be left to die. We need to make as many people as possible aware of what is happening.
This past week we received the following email from one of our readers.
“Our vet, that lives on our farm here, ran across a situation on sunday… A client called to say they had two orphan foals that they wanted him to swing by and see what he could do for them and after they told him what they had ran into at the farm where they came from he was appalled. This was a situation he, as a vet, had never heard of or run into before.. These people had picked up a horse in Oklahoma around the McAlister, Antlers area and came across a sign that said horses for sale so they stopped. They walked through the sale areas and came upon a pen of newborn foals standing around basically in shock. There were about a dozen of them and a man walks up and asks if they want to buy them for $60 each. Of course being horse people they were full of questions as where were the mothers of these foals and why were they all penned up in a filthy pen like they were. Again he said they were for sale and how many did they want. Then they got out of him that these were foals taken away from nurse mares before they were even allowed to suck and cast in this pen to be sold or die.. If some of them were lucky to get a new owner that knew the implications of not getting to nurse the mare and had a good vet they might have a 50/50 chance at survival.. This needs to be addressed, not only because of the babies but the stress on the mares of birth and having foals yanked from them before they know what has even happened is really the cruelest thing I have run across in a while and these people think it is okay to do this. They have no conscience about it at all.. When asked what happens if they don’t sell and get the care needed and the guy said they just die and that’s it.. This man leases these mares for anywhere from $2500 to $5000 a piece. Put me on your petition.” Marilyn Cottar
Dr. H.W. Thompson DVM
When I first heard of the practice of nurse mares I was shocked. I had absolutely no idea. Further research on the subject showed both sides of the story. Sometimes there is a legitimate need. But with advances in science, we now know that it is no longer necessary to breed and let one foal die so that another can live.
Next week return for our regular FREE ARTICLE each WEEK! Discover some surprising facts on the inter-relationship between conformation and training. Each week one free article from Steinbrecht on the Open Seat to Henriquet on Nuno Oliveira, Use of the Neck, Front Legs and Collection and the Four Secrets of the Art of Riding from Wynmalen, each article available for free for one week only
All of these articles are now back in the archives.
This week our Free Article is:
We have been so incredibly lucky and have met the most incredible equestrians that give of themselves so freely – so that others can become the horseman that they want to be. The joy in sharing knowledge is one that every true teacher is passionate about. And in that spirit we are proud to be a part of this incredible equestrian journey and again this week, we are pleased to be sharing with all of you one free article from our archives!
Please share with your friends, the more people that become aware that this is happening right now, the sooner we can all make a difference.
Next week we will share with you another free article for you to enjoy and this article will go back into our regular subscription archives.
To read the just login and goto: http://horsesforlife.com/FreeArticleNurseMareFoal
Remember this article will be free to read for this week only!
We love being part of an extraordinary equestrian community, and this is just one way for us to give back to that community.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. http://horsesforlife.com
1-306-383-2588
April 26, 7pm – Le Chateau Restaurant, S. Salem, NY
Babies don’t nurse from other babies.
Their mothers are nurse mares. Nurse mare foals are, primarily, a creation of the horse breeding and race horse industries. An expensive mare is bred to an expensive stud.
Eleven months later her foal is born. Seven to ten days after she gives birth she comes into heat again. To remain profitable, she must be immediately bred again, so that she can have another foal in eleven months, thereby producing the most mature foal for the following year.
The Jockey Club requires thoroughbred mares be bred only by live cover, not artificially inseminated, and the mare must travel to the stallion. The mare’s 7-10 day old foal cannot travel back to the stud/stallion’s farm with the broodmare, as travel is considered to be very risky for the valuable foal. Instead they rent a mare from a nurse mare farm.
In order for the nurse mare to come into milk, she is bred and gives birth to a foal. A request is received from the “expensive foal’s” farm. The mother is taken away from her own foal, often within a day of giving birth, and shipped off to be a surrogate mother to that expensive foal.
What happens to the nurse mare’s foal?
Some are left to starve to death. Some are just given buckets of water or milk – left to fend for themselves – with a feeding option completely foreign and unrecognizable to them.
These foals are referred to as “by-products” of the nurse mare industry. Tragically, these foals – should they even survive – will never know the comfort of their mothers again. Their mothers will never teach them “how to be a horse.”
Reach Out to Horses and a team of equine professionals have come together to save the lives of these mares in foal as well as the foals torn from their mothers, in this industry unfamiliar to most. A combined effort is currently underway to save foals in immediate need of assistance.
Please join us at Le Chateau for an evening of great food and music. Tickets are only $125 and a significant portion will go towards the rescue of these foals.
For tickets, call (914) 439-7549 or email: noramatz@gmail.com
This Guy’s Gonna Graduate. Are You Going to Be There?
Join Anna and All the Rescued Foals
As we Celebrate Their Graduation
And a Second Chance at Life
April 28th, Ray of Light Farm, East Haddam, CT
Reach Out to Horses and a team of equine professionals are hard at work rescuing as many nurse foals as they can from a short life of pain, suffering and death. But what good is rescuing them only to subject them to a long life of suffering if they can not find a place to call home?
Enter Reach Out to Horses’ Foal Gentling Clinic with Anna Twinney. In April, Anna and a group of ROTH students will spend a week using Anna’s exclusive trust-based methodologies to gentle these foals, starting their lives with humans off on the right foot and giving them a far greater chance at finding their forever homes.
Can you provide one of them with a forever home? They are all waiting to be adopted. You might even find the horse of your dreams!
Whether you can adopt a foal or not, join us on April 28th as we celebrate their graduation and the rescue that saved their lives. And the best part…
IT’S FREE!
Contact Ray of Light Farm for More details! Email info@rayoflightfarm.org or call 860-873-1895.
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Want to Learn the ROTH Methodologies of Gentling? Audit the Foal Gentling Clinic – April 23 – 28, 2013
Would you like to know how to create a trust-based partnership with your horse from the very beginning? Have you tried to create a stress-free environment for your horses’ training but didn’t know how?
Well, the bad news is that the Foal Gentling Clinic with Anna is sold out.
The Good News is that you can join us as an Auditor! You will get all the same information, all the techniques, all the communication for a fraction of the cost!
For only $300 you will join us for an entire week and learn all the secrets Anna uses herself to create the genuine, gentle, trust-based relationship with all her horses.
Don’t miss this opportunity to help the rescued Nurse Foals, while learning how you can truly create the relationship with your horse that you’ve only dreamed of.
For more information or to reserve your spot contact Vin at info@reachouttohorses.com.
Anyone can buy a horse – It takes a hero to rescue one.
PMU Foals Rescued in 2010 by ROTH, Equine Angels & Ray of Light Farm
ROTH is partnering once again to rescue foals from certain death! You can literally save a life today!
Reach Out to Horses was developed with the mission of bringing harmony to horses and humans. In the pursuit of that goal, we have been instrumental in the rescue of hundreds of horses and well over a hundred thousand dollars to the horses and the rescues that we have worked with.
And although we are very proud of the work we and our partners have done, we do not plan on stopping, or even slowing down, any time soon.
And 2013 is certainly no exception!
In the past we have focused much of our attention on the P.M.U. industry, saving mares from the abuse of this barbaric practice and the foals, considered an expendable by-product, from certain death. And although we will certainly continue to help in any way we can to put an end to the cruelty that is the P.M.U. industry, this time around, we shed light on a new horrifying practice.
This time we set our sites on the race industry and the practice of Nurse Mares and Foals.
Nurse mares have been around for hundreds of years. They were used if a foal was rejected, or if the mother died while giving birth. This industry started out to be a good thing … since then, however, it has morphed into something much darker and morally unethical… to say the least.
Nurse mares are bred so that they will come into milk. The milk that is produced, however, is used to nourish the foal of another mare – a foal that, commercially, is worth much more money. Her own foal then becomes what the industry terms as a “bi-product” and as such, is destined for the feedlot.
To this end, farms have been established in key locations, throughout the United States, in order to supply “high end” breeders with nurse mares, in a quest to support their expensive foals. Nurse mare farmers keep lactating mares on their premises before, during and after the foaling season. When a mare’s services are needed for a client, the farmer separates the nurse mare from her natural foal, then ships out the mare.
The natural foal is left orphaned…
Nurse Mare Foals are, primarily, a creation of the horse breeding/race horse industry. An expensive mare is bred to a very expensive stud. Eleven months later she has her foal. Seven to ten days after she gives birth she comes into heat again. To remain profitable, she must be bred again, immediately, so that she can have another foal in eleven months, thereby producing the most mature foal for the following year. (Note: The Jockey Club requires that thoroughbred mares be bred only by live cover, not artificially inseminated, and the mare must travel to the stallion.)
The mare’s seven to ten day-old foal cannot travel back to the stud/stallion’s farm with the broodmare, as travel is considered to be very risky for the newborn, valuable, foal. Additionally, insurance costs are prohibitive for the foal to travel with its mother. So, instead of putting this foal on a milk replacer product, they rent a mare from a nurse mare farm. In order for the nurse mare to come into milk, it must have given birth to a foal. The mare is bred and she gives birth to her foal. Once a request is received from the “expensive foal’s” farm, the mother is taken away from her own foal and shipped off to be a surrogate mother, to that expensive foal.
What happens to the nurse mare’s foal?
Some of them are clubbed over the head and killed immediately. Some are just left to starve to death. These foals are referred to as “by- products” of the nurse mare industry. Tragically, these foals – should they even survive – will never know the comfort of their mothers again… they will never get the chance to learn “how to be a horse” from her…
No foal should be raised without it’s mother.
The Nurse Mare Program DOES exist, however, and likely, will continue to exist. We try to create the best situation possible, for the foal’s, by helping them to survive - every way we possibly can.
Reach Out to Horses and a team of equine professionals have come together to save the lives of these mares in foal as well as the foals torn from their mothers, in this industry unfamiliar to most.
During this week long event, Anna will guide participants and auditors through her exclusive foal gentling process, introducing the foals to first touch, halter, leading, loading and lots more, in a non-stress, compassionate and effective way! The training they receive is priceless and a crucial step to these young horses getting adopted to their forever homes and having that second chance at life.
Significant progress has been made through self-funded efforts of a few selfless individuals…
Now your help is needed as we embark on phase two of the rescue.
Foaling season, for this industry, is now upon us. Many resources are needed in order to insure that we can get the foals to safety, and provide the critical, labor intensive care necessary to their very survival… How you can become involved: • Donate now!!! Click here to make your contribution! • Sponsor a mare/foal • Foster a mare/foal • Adopt a mare/foal • Fund raise!!! • Media coverage / Public awareness • Attend the 6-day Reach Out to Horses (ROTH) Foals in Training course as a spectator for just $300 – http://www.reachouttohorses.com/training.html#foal • Attend graduation day of the Foals in Training clinic with Anna Twinney & ROTH for FREE
THE MORE INDIVIDUALS THAT STEP FORWARD, THE MORE FOALS WE CAN SAVE!!!
Did you know?
It is illegal to send a foal under 6 months of age to horse slaughter. However, foals from one day to six months old, are being skinned and sold for high-end leather. Others who aren’t rescued are sent to slaughterhouses. These foals have no chance at life from the start. Their meat is considered a delicacy in some countries. Horrifically, some countries actually believe that if a foal is skinned while it is still alive the meat will be more tender.
Some nurse mare farms will occasionally give the foals away, but most sell them discreetly for profit. Most nurse mare foals are usually available in January and February. This is when the “season”, so to speak, starts and foaling begins. Generally, the season runs from January to mid-June.
Adopting a foal is literally a life or death decision for one of these innocent nurse mare babies. Adopters are directly responsible for saving a foal from a tragic, brutal death. Sadly, not all of them can be rescued. Rescuers in most cases, must purchase these foals and pay anywhere from $100 to $400 per foal. They also incur all costs of housing, feeding, vet care and training, until the foals can be adopted out to their forever homes. Any and all support is welcome from those willing to help! Going forward… How do we impact the nurse foal industry?
STEP ONE Work closely with the farm owner in order to reduce the number of the herd … only made possible through qualified placement and adequate funding, as it becomes available to us.
STEP TWO Provide necessary medical treatment and proper nutrition to all that are in our care.
STEP THREE Training and development for all mares and foals, like the ROTH Foal Gentling Week Long Event, so that they are better suited to adoption.
STEP FOUR Provide continued support and all the love and in the world to all of these wonderful creatures and their new owners! Thus far, we have been 100% “self-funded” … in the immediate future, the cost of veterinary care, feed, space and training will make it impossible for us to move forward, without additional support and funding… please help!!!
This is your opportunity to literally save a life. To save a foal from a certain and cruel death. Thank You for Helping the Horses!
She seems to be a fairly nicely built pmu mare, as crossbreeds go and her feet are in pretty good shape . She and another mare came from a “sporthorse” breeder in Pueblo who just exposed both to a Clydesdale stallion in Feb. The condition of the property and fences was very poor and the breeder was being evicted. The breeder paid upwards of $2500 for both mares last March and they came bred to a paint stud from the “pmu” farm. So far the rescuer has about $200 into this mare and they don’t want anymore money than that. Both mares are pretty lean right now but not critically skinny. http://www.theanimalifarm.com/Steve_Waagen/HICKORY.html
An audience gathers at the White Stallion Ranch as Anna demonstrates the wonderful world of Animal Communication with a very special wrangler’s horse chosen from over 100 head of residents at the ranch. By giving a voice to the voiceless she unravels the mysterious behavior to create a pathway of success.
Q:Dear Anna,
I am really learning alot from your Reiki for Horses DVD. In the video, you say that when you are offering Reiki do not use horsemanship but I have been seeing two horses owned by a lady who are head butting. She has had both horses since they were young. The gelding is 5yrs and the mare 10 yrs. Both horses are good natured but have not been exercised and live together in a pasture. They tell me they like it there but get bored and want more contact with their guardian (she feeds each day). Both horses butt their heads at her and try to butt me when standing. On my first visit they both wanted and received Reiki…the mare totally relaxed and closed her eyes; the gelding relaxed a little but wanted to play around. 2nd visit was a very cold winter day with snow and wind and the horses did not seem as interested but received better from a distance.
How do I deal with being quiet and offering Reiki while the horse is butting his head at the guardian who is holding him with a lead rope. Also the gelding is very food aggressive with hay on the ground and chasing the mare who is submissive.
Thanks so much for your assistance,
A:Hi Jane,
You ask very valuable questions and I wish to share my answers in our newsletter for others to learn from also:
Please realize that safety is the first priority and you may have misunderstood my statement in the DVD. When I refer to not using corrective horsemanship this means that if we were to enter a stall and begin to reprimand the horse to either stay out of our space (eyes on eyes, shoulders square etc), stand back, stand still and not move we have immediately come in with a degree of dominance. This type of restriction will shut down many horses changing their willingness to communicate freely.
Additionally, as healers, we are not there to change behavior, but instead create a platform for the horses to feel comfortable to express themselves. Instead of modifying behavior we ask for manners, thereby keeping ourselves safe. Manners includes certain boundaries, but is not classed as “schooling” a horse. Instead of defaulting to negative reinforcement and punishment we look to create a place of safety and freedom of expression, which can get handled differently. If we were to respond to all inappropriate behaviors the horses would no longer have voices to share with us where it hurts or where our hands are needed. Instead we can avoid (move out of the way), ignore (extinction) or mildly correct (to encourage the right behavior such as patience and focus) to allow for the energy to take effect. There is a difference. You cannot one minute state to do it your way and the next expect them to trust you and be willing to open up.
Horses will often reflect their legal guardians behaviors and you may find them more relaxed if you were to ask her to stand back and watch. Behavior can be exaggerated if she doesn’t have their respect, or reflected if this message is for her. Without proper space or exercise horses can be known to be boisterous. If they are bored, they may see this time of interaction as entertainment.
Create a safe place for yourself. Think about removing one of the horses and allowing them to be lose in an enclosure so you may read the acceptance of Reiki and their expressions. You can keep a lead rope on them if they aren’t fully familiar with you and let it hang over your arm (as in the DVD). If the horses are food aggressive set yourself up for success and don’t expose yourself to this situation. As with Reiki on ourselves, we have to create a place of relaxation and it would not be around the food.
Enjoy all that Reiki and animal communication bring to you.
Anna
Elaine Ackerly
Congratulations to Elaine Ackerly for passing her ROTH trainer’s certificate! Elaine proudly represents ROTH in WY, CO and WA State having first began with us in 2008 graduating from the HHC and now the trainer’s course. Commitment, dedication and drive is required for complete success and Elaine has proven to herself, us and the horses that she has what it takes.
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Dynamite Specialty Products Spotlight
Dyan Pro Equine
Susan Derr Drake “I give all my animals Dynamite’s Dyna Pro daily and again whenever they are under stress (trailering, hard work, weather change, accident, feed change …)to support their gut flora and fauna working in balance and awake. It is amazing!!”
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Dynamite Specialty Products Spotlight
Dyan Pro Equine
Susan Derr Drake “I give all my animals Dynamite’s Dyna Pro daily and again whenever they are under stress (trailering, hard work, weather change, accident, feed change …)to support their gut flora and fauna working in balance and awake. It is amazing!!”
There are foals who need you! Learn how you can help in a number of ways!
A note from the Founder:
More than 35 years of my life have been spent around horses and a number of those in the Thoroughbred industry. The farms and ranches I personally engaged in the race industry are highly reputable and most certainly have the horses at heart. At no time had I come across inappropriate weaning or mishandling of mares and foals. Never before had I heard of such horrific acts as in the past 18 months when 2 young nurse foals attended our foals in training clinic. My world changed forever.
I had always supported the wild horses, together with Premarin mares and their off-spring, now it was time to shed light onto an industry that had remained under cover for decades. As soon as my mind was made up a rescue situation appeared. I made it my mission to team up with 3 reputable rescue organizations to save the lives of a number of mares and their foals or orphaned foals. Realize that our statements relate to those centers who are not in alignment with responsible breeding and as such we are helping those horses. At no time are we making the statement that all facilities take this same kind of action, however it is a fact that foals and/or nurse foals are destined for slaughter, pony skins, live transportation abroad and are even considered a delicacy in some countries. We are unable to expose this particular rescue for then we would not be able to support the horses and their lives would remain at risk only making things worse. Please know that our intentions are only for the good of the horses.
Anna Twinney
Equine Professionals are Joining Forces to Rescue Foals Destined for Slaughter
and Reveal Horse Racing’s Dirty Secret.
A combined effort is currently underway to rescue horses and foals in immediate need of assistance. Significant progress has been made but help is needed as the group embarks on phase two of the rescue.
A team of equine professionals have come together to save the lives of mares, in foal, as well as foals torn from their mothers, in an industry, connected to horse racing, but unfamiliar to most – the nurse foal industry. Reach Out to Horses, based in Colorado, is playing a crucial part in these efforts.
Once the foals are rescued they will be fostered and then gentled in the third annual Foal Gentling Clinic, April 23 – 28, 2013, under the careful tutelage of International Equine Behaviorist and Clinician, Anna Twinney.
The training, taking place in East Haddam, CT, is designed to give the rescued foals all the advantages needed for a quick adoption and a second chance at life.
Foaling season, for this industry, is now upon us. Many resources are needed in order to insure that the foals get to safety, and get the critical, labor intensive care necessary to their very survival.
People interested in helping can get involved in a number of ways:
If you’ve been waiting to purchase your tickets to this year’s Culinary Event… NOW IS THE TIME! We only have a limited capacity and a limited number of seats. Once they are gone, they are gone! Remember, not only will you have a fantastic night, but you will be saving Foals from a cruel fate of suffering and ultimately death. They didn’t ask to be “bi-products” and callously tossed aside to die alone, before they even get to meet their mothers. We can help. With your help, we can rescue these foals and give them a second change at life. A chance at love, belonging and a life they so very much deserve. And don’t forget, if you can’t make it to our dinner, we are also taking donations or you can give a product or service to our silent auction! Promote your business while saving lives! It’s a Win-Win! Hope to See you There!
Anna
Reach Out to Horses – Trust… Partnership… Results…
April 11, 6:30 – 9:30pm
We are very excited to announce the 2nd Food, Fun and Foals Event, brought to you by the amazing folks at The Garden in Denver.
This unique eatery has created a delicious dining experience that will not only satisfy your palate but indulge your mind as well. All while helping us rescue a number of foals from certain (and I mean certain) death! You’ll also get to spend time with our special guest, Founder of Healing Touch for Animals, Carol Komitor!
And if you can’t make it, you can always help by donating to the silent auction that will be taking place over the course of the evening.
A combined effort is currently underway to rescue horses and foals in immediate need of assistance. Significant progress has been made but help is needed as the group embarks on phase two of the rescue.
A team of equine professionals have come together to save the lives of mares, in foal, as well as foals torn from their mothers, in an industry, connected to horse racing, but unfamiliar to most – the nurse foal industry. Reach Out to Horses, based in Colorado, is playing a crucial part in these efforts.
Once the foals are rescued they will be fostered and then gentled in the third annual Foal Gentling Clinic, April 23 – 28, 2013, under the careful tutelage of International Equine Behaviorist and Clinician, Anna Twinney.
The training, taking place in East Haddam, CT, is designed to give the rescued foals all the advantages needed for a quick adoption and a second chance at life.
Foaling season, for this industry, is now upon us. Many resources are needed in order to insure that the foals get to safety, and get the critical, labor intensive care necessary to their very survival.
People interested in helping can get involved in a number of ways:
Donations are being accepted at reachouttohorses.com
Sponsor a mare/foal
Foster a mare/foal
Adopt a mare/foal
Organize a Fundraising event
Spread the word through media coverage and public awareness
Attend graduation day of the Foals in Training clinic with Anna Twinney & Reach Out to Horses for FREE
The natural foal is left orphaned…
Nurse Mare Foals are, primarily, a creation of the horse breeding/race horse industry. An expensive mare is bred to a very expensive stud. Eleven months later she has her foal. Seven to ten days after she gives birth she comes into heat again. To remain profitable, she must be bred again, immediately, so that she can have another foal in eleven months, thereby producing the most mature foal for the following year.
(Note: The Jockey Club requires that thoroughbred mares be bred only by live cover, not artificially inseminated, and the mare must travel to the stallion.)
The mare’s seven to ten day-old foal cannot travel back to the stud/stallion’s farm with the broodmare, as travel is considered to be very risky for the newborn, valuable, foal. Additionally, insurance costs are prohibitive for the foal to travel with its mother. So, instead of putting this foal on a milk replacer product, they rent a mare from a nurse mare farm.
In order for the nurse mare to come into milk, it must have given birth to a foal. The mare is bred and she gives birth to her foal. Once a request is received from the “expensive foal’s” farm, the mother is taken away from her own foal and shipped off to be a surrogate mother, to that expensive foal.
What happens to the nurse mare’s foal?
Some of them are clubbed over the head and killed immediately. Some are just left to starve to death. These foals are referred to as “by- products” of the nurse mare industry. Tragically, these foals – should they even survive – will never know the comfort of their mothers again… they will never get the chance to learn “how to be a horse” from her…
No foal should be raised without it’s mother.
The Nurse Mare Program DOES exist, however, and likely, will continue to exist. We try to create the best situation possible, for the foal’s, by helping them to survive – every way we possibly can.
Reach Out to Horses and a team of equine professionals have come together to save the lives of these mares in foal as well as the foals torn from their mothers, in this industry unfamiliar to most.
The History of Nurse Mares Foals and the Nurse Mare Industry
Nurse mares have been around for hundreds of years. They were used if a foal was rejected, or if the mother died while giving birth. This industry started out to be a good thing … since then, however, it has morphed into something much darker and morally unethical.
Nurse mares are bred so that they will come into milk. The milk that is produced, however, is used to nourish the foal of another mare – a foal that, commercially, is worth much more money. Her own foal then becomes what the industry terms as a “bi-product” and as such, is destined for the feedlot. To this end, farms have been established in key locations, throughout the United States, in order to supply “high end” breeders with nurse mares, in a quest to support their expensive foals.
Nurse mare farmers keep lactating mares on their premises before, during and after the foaling season. When a mare’s services are needed for a client, the farmer separates the nurse mare from her natural foal, then ships out the mare.
Did you know?
It is illegal to send a foal under 6 months of age to horse slaughter. However, foals from one day to six months old, are being skinned and sold for high-end leather. Others who aren’t rescued are sent to slaughterhouses. These foals have no chance at life from the start. Their meat is considered a delicacy in some countries. Horrifically, some countries actually believe that if a foal is skinned while it is still alive the meat will be more tender.
Some nurse mare farms will occasionally give the foals away, but most sell them discreetly for profit. Most nurse mare foals are usually available in January and February. This is when the “season”, so to speak, starts and foaling begins. Generally, the season runs from January to mid-June.
Adopting a foal is literally a life or death decision for one of these innocent nurse mare babies. Adopters are directly responsible for saving a foal from a tragic, brutal death. Sadly, not all of them can be rescued. Rescuers in most cases, must purchase these foals and pay anywhere from $100 to $400 per foal. They also incur all costs of housing, feeding, vet care and training, until the foals can be adopted out to their forever homes. Any and all support is welcome from those willing to help!
For more information contact Anna Twinney at anna@reachouttohorses.com
Imagine that you have your home and family and the days roll by just as they should. You are free and living as you were made to. That’s happiness isn’t it? Living as you should.
One day you are chased by an army and are ripped from it all, seperated and made to stand in a dirt lot. This is the fate of Wyoming’s wild horses if we don’t acted. The state where Buffalo Bill Cody made a town. Known for it’s Wild West history, may not have the symbol of that freedom on it’s plains anymore.
On February 6-8, 2013, the BLM Wyoming BLM will convene a Resource Advisory Council meeting in Rock Springs to discuss public lands issues — including plans for wild horses– in this region of Wyoming. The public comment period will be held on Feb. 8.
The BLM’s plans for wild horses in this area include removing all the wild horses from the Wyoming Checkerboard, a 2 million acre swath of public and private land that is home to nearly half of the state’s remaining mustang populations. The devastating plan was first revealed in a scoping notice for a planned roundup in the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek Herd Management Areas (HMAs).
Your voice is urgently needed to speak up for Wyoming’s wild horses at this meeting and against the ranching interests who seek the total elimination of federally-protected wild horses from this vast and critically-important habitat area.
What: BLM Resource Advisory Committee Meeting Public Comment Period
When: February 8, 2013 at 8 a.m. (Public Comment Period)
February 6, 2013 at 3 p.m. (Wild Horse Discussion
Where: BLM Rock Springs Field Office, 280 Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, Wyoming
The Resource Advisory Councils (RACs) are citizen advisory panels that advise the BLM on management issues. Unfortunatley, the agency routinely stacks these RACs with anti-wild horse, pro-livestock members. At this RAC meeting, the wild horse discussion and public comment period are spread over three days.
Your attendance is most urgently needed at the Public Comment Session on Friday, February 8, 2013 at 8 a.m.
Please contact us via email if you are able to attend. We will connect you with other interested wild horse advocates, some of whom are traveling up to Rock Springs from Denver and Colorado Springs to speak up on behalf of the mustangs.
Thank you very much, as always, for your caring and dedication to saving America’s wild horses and burros!
Hope to See you There!
Urgent Action Needed for America's Wild Horses in Wyoming!
