Remember the Horse Cavalry This Memorial Day

Thank and pay respect to a horse and donkey as you remember our amazing fallen soldiers.

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance that echoes throughout the United States. Families, friends and loved ones often gather in celebration of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The last Monday in May, and the weekend beforehand, is a much needed break in our routine. Some families take this moment to teach about our country’s history and past relatives who laid down their lives while others simply enjoy the long weekend off of work. If you view Memorial Day as an opportunity to revisit the sacrifices that have made our country great, don’t forget about the amazing horse cavalry of the American Revolution, Civil War, World War I and World War II.

Though there are still small examples of horse regiments in modern day warfare…

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Feel Good Sunday: Men hold exhausted horse’s head above floodwaters for hours to save it from drowning

Straight from the Horse's Heart

As published on AccuWeather.com

“No words required…” ~ R.T.

Click Image to view video of event.

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Horses We Can’t Forget on Memorial Day

After doing some research on military horses in WWI, and the HUGE number of animals killed in battle we would be remiss to not honor not only the horses, but the military K-9.
All gave some … Some gave all … Billy Ray Cyrus

Straight from the Horse's Heart

by Jocelyn Pierce as published on Equitrekking.com

“Throughout the United States’s military history, the horse played an indispensable role. “

Memorial Day is a day of reflection and remembrance to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives while serving in the military. Perhaps the most largely unrecognized, and sometimes altogether forgotten veterans are the horses that served alongside man.

Since the domestication of the horse, humans and horses have shared a partnership that has been integral to the thriving of civilizations. Horses were essential in agriculture, transportation, and warfare, not to mention companionship in some of history’s darkest hours and in the face of humankind’s brutality.

Throughout the United States’s military history, the horse played an indispensable role. In wartime, the horse was used to transport cavalry troops, supplies, and artillery weapons as well as for charges, scouting, raiding, and communication. While serving man and country…

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Boise BLM wild horse adoptions on hold due to equine distemper | KBOI

By KBOI Staff

Members of the public interested in adopting a wild horse or burro should contact the BLM Boise District Office at (208) 384-3300 to provide their contact information.

BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) – The Bureau of Land Management has temporarily suspended wild horse and burro adoptions at the Boise BLM Wild Horse Corrals due to strangles, or equine distemper, in several horses.

Strangles is an upper respiratory tract infection in horses and although usually not fatal, is highly contagious.

While the symptomatic horses are quarantined and being treated by a veterinarian, the BLM has decided to close the corrals to adoptions and public visitors as a precaution until further notice.

“Our priority is the safety of the horses at our facility and the potential of the disease being transmitted to privately-owned horses,” said Raul Trevino, BLM Boise Corral Manager. “We just don’t want to take any chances while we wait for the disease to run its course. As soon as it is safe to do so, we will resume adoptions.”

Horses showing sickness were first observed on May 17.

Lab results later confirmed the presence of strangles in one horse, with six others being symptomatic.

All of these horses are presently stable or showing signs of improvement.

Strangles cases are not rare and have happened at other private and wild horse facilities throughout the country.

Members of the public interested in adopting a wild horse or burro should contact the BLM Boise District Office at (208) 384-3300 to provide their contact information.

They will be contacted to schedule an appointment after the corral reopens for adoptions.

For more information, contact the Boise District Office at (208) 384-3300.

Source: Boise BLM wild horse adoptions on hold due to equine distemper | KBOI

Public tour of Bruneau off-range corrals offered in June | KBOI

by Natalie Hurst

The horses receive an abundance of feed tailored to their needs each day, along with a constant supply of fresh water through automatic watering troughs.

BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) – The BLM in Idaho will offer a public tour of the Bruneau off-range corrals on Thursday, June 8.

Two public tours will be offered — the first will begin at 10 am and the second will begin at 1 pm.

Each tour will last about two hours and can accommodate up to 20 people.

Spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The public can sign up to attend and receive driving directions to the facility by calling BLM at (208) 329-4534.

Please RSVP for one of the two tours by June 5.

Details about the tour:

• Tours start promptly at the scheduled time, so be at the facility a few minutes early or the wagon may leave and we cannot come back to pick you up

• Bring comfortable shoes and clothes. Hats and sunscreen recommended

• Bring your own water

• Cameras and video cameras welcome

• Visitors will not be able to walk around the facility unaccompanied. They must travel with the group in the wagon at all times

The Bruneau off-range corrals are located at 28536 Jacks Creek Road, and are privately owned and operated.

About a 75-minute drive southeast of Boise, the facility provides care for over 1600 wild horses.

The facility encompasses 80 acres containing 39 large holding pens, each pen measuring 70,000 square feet that will safely hold approximately 100 horses.

The horses receive an abundance of feed tailored to their needs each day, along with a constant supply of fresh water through automatic watering troughs.

Free choice mineral block supplements are also provided to the animals in each pen.

A veterinarian routinely inspects the horses and provides necessary medical care as needed.

The BLM strives to place horses removed from the range into good, private homes.

Source: Public tour of Bruneau off-range corrals offered in June | KBOI

The Devil is in the Details as BLM again removes thirsty wild horses due to “emergency” in the Antelope Valley HMA in Nevada | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Antelope Valley grazing allotments (2008)

Before you read BLM’s version of this “emergency” below, be sure to read Cindy MacDonald’s 2008 article “The Devil’s in the Details” on American Herds Blogspot. We have to wonder how many acres of public lands that the “private land owner” (mentioned by the BLM below) uses to graze their own private livestock, since it seems the entire HMA is used for livestock grazing. The BLM seems to be giving the public the same ongoing bullshit (literally). – Debbie

“traditionally the wild horses spend the summers in Antelope then migrate to Antelope Valley for the winter ~ except the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) strung up a new fence up on Hwy 93 effectively trapping the horses and in one area, completely cut them off from any water at all.

Speaking to BLMs Kyle Hansen in the Ely Field Office, Mr. Hansen explained range conditions were so bad due to drought that it “looked like an atom bomb went off” and provided photos as evidence of the dust bowl conditions the wild horses would be forced to try and survive in over the winter in if they were not immediately removed.

He also stated compounding the problem was a local rancher who had allowed wild horses to drink water from his property for years but finally “had enough”, fenced the area and now the horses that remained would probably die of thirst.” – Cindy MacDonald

Source: BLM

2017 Antelope Valley Emergency Wild Horse Gather

Progress as of Monday, May 22, 2017

Purpose of Gather:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Elko District, Wells Field Office, in coordination with the BLM Ely District will begin a wild horse water bait trap gather to remove wild horses on private lands near the Boone Spring Area. The gather is taking place due to a request from a private land owner to remove the excess wild horses.

Details of Gather:

BLM plans to humanely gather approximately 60 wild horses through the use of a water bait trap.

Public Observation:

Because of the nature of the water gather method, wild horses are reluctant to approach the trap site when there is too much activity. In addition, the gather operations are being conducted on private land. Therefore, only essential gather operation personnel will be allowed at the gather site during operations.

Adoption Information:

The wild horses removed from the range will be transported to the Indian Lakes Off-Range Corral in Fallon, NV to be prepared for the BLM’s Adoption Program. Learn more about how to adopt a wild horse or burro from the BLM.

Background:

This gather will attempt to remove excess wild horses from private land near the Boone Spring area of the Antelope Valley Herd Management Area. The private land owner has requested removal of the horses. The Antelope Valley HMA has an Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 155-259 adult wild horses. As of March 1, 2016, the BLM estimated the population at 1,013 wild horses (not including foals born this year). The BLM Wells Field Office has determined that even though there has been above average amounts of precipitation this winter and spring, there are still no known water sources in the area for wild horses to obtain water later this spring and summer. Learn more about the Antelope Valley HMA.

er later this spring and summer. Learn more about the Antelope Valley HMA.

Source: The Devil is in the Details as BLM again removes thirsty wild horses due to “emergency” in the Antelope Valley HMA in Nevada | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Wild horse trained as therapy horse in running for international award | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

SOURCE: postregister.com

Steve Drippon displays affection to Rooster; loving a special horse. Jerry Slagle / for the Post Register

By LAURA ZUCKERMAN

SALMON — A horse named Rooster is an equine without equal if you ask the volunteers and staff at Whitewater Therapeutic and Recreational Riding Association.

The Salmon-based association offers horseback experiences to riders of all ages whose challenges can include everything from a physical disability to a psychological trauma.

In the decades since the accredited nonprofit was founded, dozens of horses have been either selected or donated for the purpose of providing equine therapy but few have gained the profile and elicited the adoration of Rooster.

Whitewater workers say Rooster has all the mannerisms of a courtly gentleman even though he once was a wild horse from the Challis area before adoption through a U.S. Bureau of Land Management program.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of good horses but Rooster has a special place in my heart,” said Joyce Scott, Whitewater’s executive director. “He’s an elegant and powerful horse who personifies peace and calmness. Everyone who rides him falls a little bit in love with him.”

In a first for Whitewater, Rooster has been nominated in the regional round of a contest for therapy horse of the year with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International.

Read the rest of this article HERE.

Source: Wild horse trained as therapy horse in running for international award | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Kentucky lawyer leases land to protect horses, plans sanctuary in coal country – Tuesday’s Horse

by Tuesday’s Horse

JACKSON, Ky. (Source Article) — Curtis Bostic is an attorney, a politician and — for a few weeks in 2016 — an accused horse thief.

On a cold December day in the rugged hilltops of Breathitt County, Bostic was trying to rescue some horses he said had been abandoned and were malnourished. But he was arrested by a sheriff’s deputy, who said the horses belonged to two men who follow the local custom of setting them free in the winter to wander the wilderness of the county’s abandoned coal fields.

The charges were later dismissed after the sheriff’s department said it didn’t have probable cause to make the arrest. But during the night Bostic spent in jail, he came up with an idea: A few weeks later, he leased the land where he had been arrested. He sent a letter to the two men who had pressed charges against him. Now, they were the trespassers, and Bostic ordered them to come get their horses before he put them up for adoption.

“I can’t change the full county. But I can say you are not going to come to my property and drop your horse off in the cold winter,” Bostic said.

Bostic wants to turn 4,000 acres of former coal mines into a horse sanctuary. It’s the latest idea on how to tackle the growing horse population in the mountains of Kentucky, a state known more for pampered thoroughbreds on pristine farms than bony horses roaming free.

Bostic’s descriptions of thousands of horses suffering at the hands of cruel owners have offended the locals who say he doesn’t understand their culture.

Clifton Hudson, 30, owns five horses that he sets free to wander land he doesn’t own near his home in Breathitt County. He said he provides 600 pounds of salt each month for the horses. He stopped hauling hay bales to the land because the horses were not eating them, a sign he says means they have plenty of grass to graze. The locals often bring their children to the mountains on the weekends to pet and feed the horses.

“It’s just really it’s more of a pastime than anything else with the people of the county,” Hudson said. “So far the only person really had an issue with it has been Mr. Bostic.”

Wild horses have been a familiar sight in the Kentucky mountains for decades. But following the Great Recession and the thousands of jobs lost because of the disappearing coal industry, more horses have been set loose. Read the full story »

Source: WCPO Cincinnati. Report originally filed by the Associated Press. Written by Adam Beam . Featured image by Jervis Pics.

Source: Kentucky lawyer leases land to protect horses, plans sanctuary in coal country – Tuesday’s Horse

Gandalf Frees Theoden – secretsoftheserpent

By gserpent

Source: Gandalf Frees Theoden – secretsoftheserpent

Gandalf freeing Theoden from the grasp of Saruman is an awesome representation of just how much the deceit in this world has a hold of people’s minds. I have said in previous writings that Saruman represented religion, but this Grima character represents the archetypal sycophant, liar, flatterer, and manipulator. So Grima represents religion, politics, media, corporations or any other inauthentic person.

Grima means mask and all of people in the categories I just mentioned wear masks to deceive. The inauthentic person is the worst because they really believe the lies they have been told. That is what the Mardi Gras type masks that are used in plays, operas and worn at celebrations symbolize. The unauthentic person hiding behind their unknown mask. The scene with Gandalf freeing the mind of Theoden is a representation of what happens when someone who wants a free mind is finally shown the truth. I will use religion in this example. Tolkien used the name Saruman because it was very close to Solomon. Keep in mind that religion isn’t the only thing that has a vice on the mind of the masses.

The scene actually starts with the guards taking the weapons of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. Gandalf talks them into letting him keep his walking stick. As they walk toward Theoden, Grima is telling Theoden what he should think. A perfect analogy of how we are brought up in this world. We are told how we should think and act, mainly from religion, most of our life. Then we parrot what we have been taught without even thinking twice. Religion will call you evil, satan or conjurer if you do not go along. Gandalf stands up to Grima and tells him “I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm”. Remember that fire is the element of intellect or knowledge. Death is referring to the enlightenment process(see Gandalf and Balrog). Being enlightened he has no more patience for the lies of this world. Calling him a worm means he is no serpent.

Gandalf goes up to Theoden and tries to release him from the spell. Theoden says “You have no power here Gandalf the Grey”. Gandalf rips his robe off and shows everyone he is Gandalf the White. This is a very important part of the story. On your journey it is said that you meet “The White Goddess of Truth” when you become enlightened. Once you have become enlightened, it’s up to you whether you use it for good or bad. Most truly enlighten people in this world have used it to control others. You can think I am exaggerating about this, but the people you call elites know the true history I revel in my work. Have you heard one word of truth out of any of them? NO!!!! Instead they spew lies and spend millions, if not billions, of dollars looking for some football player’s shirt! Brag about it on the media and the masses are so relieved that this football player got his shirt back. And I’m the crazy one. Saruman tries to tell Gandalf that if he goes Theoden dies. Gandalf went through the wake up process and knows that it feels like you are going to die, but strong minds will make it through. To show that this whole scene is about the mind, Gandalf hits him in the forehead to free him from the poison.

Theoden is released from the spell and he regains his strength. Gandalf tells him to “Breathe the free air again my friend”. This part is playing on what Sigmund Freud said about religion. Religion is the reason why people have the poor little me mindset. People give their power away and believe that some bearded man will take care of them. They rot in the misery of the man-made guilt. Guilt is the worst thing ever invented by religions. It literally cripples people mentally and physically. What is good and bad is not for some bearded man to decide. Good and bad, right and wrong are only in the mind. What one person thinks is good or right, another person thinks is wrong or bad. Theoden is the person that went searching for answers and like most people fell into the trap of religion. His mind was poisoned with lies and guilt. Gandalf frees his mind and he finds his power.
Gandalf giving Theoden his sword is symbolizing he has found the sacred masculine, but to have found the sacred masculine he had to have found the sacred feminine. Eowyn represents the sacred feminine and this is why she was able to kill Sauron(see Rings and Aragorn). In case someone didn’t get that Theoden had found the goddess, the next scene shows him putting Grima on a horse and sending him back to Saruman. The horse has always symbolized the Goddess. They were sending a message to Saruman that the Goddess was now here. This is why Saruman tells Grima “You stink of horse”. Patriarchs do not like the Goddess(horse).

I love Lord of the Rings for so many reasons, but the main one is that Tolkien was trying to show you how powerful you really are. That is what Frodo and the hobbits represent. No matter how small you think you are, you can achieve anything. We have to start realizing that no one is going to save us. No bearded man, no extra-terrestrial, no politician or any other infantile ideology. This mentality of a savior only encourages ignorance, complacency and weakness. It is the reason the world is in the shape its in. Everyone is waiting for someone to come along and fix everything. This will NEVER happen. The outside savior is a sham on so many levels. It is time to grow up. We are who we have been waiting for.