Ihave always loved horses and as a child drew them all the time. These are magnificent creatures and a part of our heritage. Drawing the wild mustangs saddened my heart thinking about the plight of these wonderful creatures.

Why does the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) need to round up wild horses and send them to slaughter? In the BLM’s words, the agency can't "allow horses to multiply unchecked on the range without causing an environmental disaster." But there are less than 30,000 wild horses on the range versus at least 3 million grazing cows. Rather than address the environmental damage caused by cattle overgrazing and expanding oil and gas exploration on our public lands, the BLM would rather give in to corporate cattle ranchers who view mustangs as competition for grazing land, and drive wild horses — one of our land’s symbols of free spirit — to extinction. This drives my passion to preserve their beauty.

On the other hand, the domesticated horse has helped man work and play, build and explore since 1000 B.C. Towns and homesteads on the backs of donkeys, mules, and horses.

We humans lucky enough to create a loving bond with these wonderful creatures know what a great companion they can be. I was lucky enough to have my own friend Blaze when I was in my twenty’s. Blaze was a 16-year-old recue horse. A sixteen-year-old girl who rode him on the cement and blacktop, which resulted in him getting lame with ringbone in the ankle, formally owned him. So, we paid $35 for this sweet gelding. After a vet exam, some instructions on how to help him with Absorbine Jr^® rubs and good food, he improved so well that we took English riding lessons and learned to jump small hurdles.

I cherish this time we had together; when the time came, I made sure he was pastured in Northern California for peaceful retirement.

So if you are fortunate enough to enjoy a friend like this you have so many choices, Trail horses for pleasure riding, Jumpers, Rodeo, and of course Racehorses.