Liberate Liberty!

She stood there among the throngs of mares, content to eat on the plentiful piles of alfalfa provided by the BLM. Foals were mingling about the legs of the mares, nickering to mommas and playing amongst themselves. I honestly didn't pay much attention. It's the bays and the blacks and the browns that I'm allowed to take for TIP, a program set up through the Mustang Heritage Foundation that helps cover expenses as approved trainers gentle wild horses and finds adopters. But today in Burns at the Wild Horse Corrals, duns and other color dilutes are thick as theives. So the grulla mare, with her silvery blue coat, didn't really catch my eye.

Upon returning home, cruizing through my photos, I realized there was a neck that had funny U on it. Typically a freezebrand has a small U which denotes the horse has been gathered from US Government lands, followed by additional symbols that tell the year of birth and help track the location where the horse was gathered. This U, however, was larger and was placed behind the rest of the freezebrand. For some horses, this U becomes a death sentence.
The large U on the neck of the grulla mare identified her as Sale Authority. What is Sale Authority? From The Alliance of Wild Horse Advocates:

• In the 2005 Federal Omnibus Appropriation Bill, Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) attached a rider that gave BLM authority to sell - without limitation [slaughter]- wild horses over the age of ten [the prime of life of horses]. 8,300 wild horses fit this criterion. The rider also specified that any animal not adopted in three adoptions attempts would also be sold without limitations - 100 animals fit this criterion.

• The 8,300 wild horses now earmarked under the Burn’s rider for slaughter were never given an opportunity to be adopted but were sent immediately to long-term holding pasture sanctuaries, not holding corrals.

The grulla mare now had my attention. Board members of Mustang U were contacted and it was decided that we would attempt to purchase the mare, dubbed Liberty (for that is what we were offering her), but we'd need the help of other mustang advocates. While we can cover her purchase cost and are willing to spend our own money covering her feed & care, we'll need help to cover fuel costs. Plus, there's the matter of her wee one...little filly #34...who requires an adoption fee of $125.

And so it comes to be that we launch operation Liberate Liberty. This lovely 11 year old surely deserves a chance at finding a good home, and at Mustang U she'll receive care and training to help set her up for success in a domesticated world. At the very least, to have her halter broke so she can receive proper vet and farrier care, don't you think?

To thank you for your $20 donation, we'll send you a bottle of Liberty Lotion...a hand crafted shea butter based lotion with the soft scent of Lavender.

But wait, there's more!

Baby #34 needs a name, and if your submission is selected, we'll send you not only a bottle of Liberty Lotion, but a second lotion which will be named after #34. So get your thinking caps on, as the "What's My Name?" contest runs from now until July 15. Winner will be notified on July 17.

To donate, send $20 plus $4 shipping via paypal to mustangdiaries@gmail.com If you'd like to send a check to a physical address, pop me an email and I'll get you the address.

Thank you!