“The greatest deterrent
to freedom are men and women of zeal, well-meaning, but
without knowledge or understanding.”
~Justice Louis Brandeis~

"People are so quick to defend their own agendas, but they so often fail to realize we must protect the rights of all if we are to continue to have any rights of our own."
~Jenqu~


Ranch meaning, in general, any real world dwelling probably not involving full care board. Kind of a rural voice of real horse owners, trainers, traders, auction owners, rodeo contractors, etc.. all of us who have taken a verbal beating and called greedy ass hats. Back at the Ranch contributors, moderators, subjects, and so on, are pro-horse, pro-owner, and pro-slaughter.
Back at the Ranch was formed by a group of like minded horse / livestock owners. It is a place for us to try to educate, a place to vent our frustrations with the current equine industry, a place to share humor and snark, and in general try to open the eyes of the public who seem to be anti-agriculture.We do have a section for comments of course, and if you would like to email us you can do so directly or through the contact us form. We like to hear from our readers. I hope you enjoy reading our blog as much as I enjoy managing it.
Sincerely,
Ranch Manager
manager_back_at_the_ranch@yahoo.com

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Anti-horse-management Agenda

This Was Emailed to Me a Couple Days Ago
The NAHSC leaders showed up in droves to pick apart the perceived inaccuracies in Sue Wallis’s speech. I’m going to guess they won’t be so harsh on this urgent cry for to halt the mustang outrage.
Ginger Kathren’s producer of the Cloud documentary doesn’t even know the proper color terminology for her equine subjects. Orange is not a horse color. I also couldn’t help wondering when I was watching the documentary why she only studied their behavior in warm weather. Why did she think she was unable to find a particular horse the next spring?
Karen Sussman keeps genetic records of every horse that arrives on her ranch with the assistance of Dr. Gus Cothran, a Texas A & M equine geneticist. “We determine their DNA and their blood type to establish their historical background. It also tells us how much diversity is in the herd and the minimum number we need to maintain that genetic diversity. Contrary to what one might think wild horses suffer from less inbreeding than their domestic cousins. We think they have more genetic diversity than any breed of domestic horses.” Sussman says.
And this quote from Tice Supplee.
http://audubonmagazine.org/incite/incite0609.html
Another mantra from the wild-horse lobby is that the “mustangs” extant in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming are closely related to animals unleashed by the conquistadores. They are not; they are mongrels—a genetic morass of breeds issuing mostly from recently escaped or discarded livestock.
“Revisionist history promoted by horse lovers to give mustangs historic status,” is how Tice Supplee, director of bird conservation for Audubon Arizona, defines the Spanish-bloodline pitch.
The definition preferred by Erick Campbell—a biologist who retired from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2005 and who frequently dealt with feral-horse issues during his 30-year career—is: “pure, unadulterated BS.” Campbell told me this: “We managed everything from workhorses to Shetland ponies. Your daughter’s horse gets old or she stops liking it. So you turn it loose. Prior to World War II ranchers were basically managing these herds for sale to the Army. And to keep the quality up the Army would give the ranchers studs to release.”



Am forwarding this list of instructions for Obama's visit to Las Vegas next week. Based upon his disparaging comments about avoiding Las Vegas and what they've done to the local economy, wild horses may be the least of his concerns.
PLEASE EMAIL, FACEBOOK & TWITTER THIS INFORMATION TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.....
PROTEST: THE MUSTANG OUTRAGE will boil over on:
WHEN?
Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 1:30 PM
WHERE?
Protest Speakers will first address the Press and Public on the steps of the Lloyd D George Federal Courthouse, 333 S. Las Vegas Building, Las Vegas NV (offices of Senators Ensign & Reid) and then Banners will be carried to over 40 locations across the entire city of Las Vegas so the public can see THE MUSTANG OUTRAGE!
CONTACT PERSON?
ARLENE GAWNE 702-277-1313 artistfromafrica@hotmail.com
On Thursday, February 18, 2010, President Obama is expected to arrive in Las Vegas, NV just when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is asking Congress for over $60 million dollars mostly for more roundups and over $40 million to buy farms in the East to warehouse the wild horses the BLM has condemned to captivity.
In memory of Freedom, the Calico mustang that leapt a high pen wall and burst through barbed wire to freedom, we ask you to turn out in huge numbers to say: NO MORE TAX
DOLLARS for horrific roundups, castration & warehousing OUR Western Heritage in the East! President Obama, we the People demand an end to BLM’s 40 years of subsidizing livestock & commercial interests on our land. GIVE WILD HORSES & BURROS THEIR FAIR SHARE OF PUBLIC LANDS. Protect them as the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Act ordered you to do.
THE MUSTANG OUTRAGE will boil over at 1:30 PM on the northeast steps of the Federal Courthouse where one by one for maximum visual impact, 40-50 large banners will unfurl on the sidewalks of Las Vegas Boulevard! We are asking for a minimum of 100 people to hold these big banners, 2 persons to a banner. Banner holders or their friends/family can also wear a fabric sign we will provide that reads:
OBAMA: Order The BLM To Abolish Mustang Atrocities. This front piece leaves
your hands free for the banner or to pass out information sheets to the public. We ask all
protestors to dress in black to symbolically mourn the 39 horses that
the BLM admits have already died in the Calico Roundup. Transparency is not their strong suit. At 2 PM, Protest Speakers will make short but powerful speeches addressed to the President, beginning with the eyewitness account of the Calico Roundup by humane observer, Craig Downer. Speakers will also include Dr. Elliot M. Katz DVM and President of In Defense of Animals, Neda DeMayo, founder & CEO of Return To Freedom, an American Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc CA, Gina Greisen, President of Nevada Voters for Animals; and Arlene Gawne, wildlife artist and concerned citizen.
At 2:30 PM, the banners will be rolled up and each pair of banner holders will have one hour to drive to their assigned location across Las Vegas. Bring along any assistants, friends, family – especially your kids. Bring your folding chair and favorite snacks – have fun!
At 3:30 PM at your assigned location, you will hold your banner for 1-1/2 to 2 hours so thousands can see our message across Las Vegas: home-going traffic on major streets, convention attendees, shoppers all across the city, tourists at major casinos, travelers entering and leaving McCarran and Nellis airports, university and college students at campus entry points, all Congress members’ offices (Reid, Ensign, Berkley, Titus and Heller), tourists at Red Rock Canyon and more. In particular, there will be a special banner at the BLM office near I-95 and Craig Road where there will be a meeting on Feb.18 concerning renewable energy – and some fear BLM plans to remove wild horses to make it easier to build such facilities. We say NO to that Mr. President.We can have renewable energy and wild horses & burros on the same public land. There will also be a special banner at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign on Las Vegas Blvd. This banner will let Nevada know that the BLM is stealing our wild horse & burro legacy. And we say NO to that, Mr. President, Secretary Salazar, and Mr. Bob Abbey, head of the BLM. This banner features the beautiful wild horses that delighted Red Rock Canyon visitors until the BLM rounded them up, castrated the stallions (their unique blood line was lost forever), and shipped them to the Midwest (most horses & burros never get adopted). We would like the Red Rock horses back please. They would increase jobs if Las Vegas became the hub of Southwest eco-tours. Come out and let politicians know we are not going to take it anymore! Come from another state and express your passion for mustangs
> & burros – America’s Wild History. If you are local and can’t take the full afternoon off work, call Arlene Gawne and get an assigned location for 3:30-5:30pm where you can pass out handouts or just stand up for what you believe in. It is invigorating to stand up to two-faced politicians; to special energy, mining and water groups that want the horses/burros gone, and the BLM. Let the Hilton Family Trust and other corporate cowboys pay the fair market cost to raise cattle on public land, not at 1/10th
the cost with current subsidized leases. America has already been brought to its knees by corporate greed and deliberate lack of political oversight. Mr. President, no more welfare cows! No more welfare industries! Please phone or email Arlene Gawne at 702-277-1313 or artistfromafrica@hotmail.com to sign up for one end of a banner. Bring a friend to hold the other end and a folding chair to sit on. If you can’t find a friend, we’ll pair you up with another volunteer. If you can’t hold a banner, pass out information sheets to the public. Just wave at people! Some 8’x3’ banners will be commercially printed and some will be hand-painted. You are welcome to bring your own banner but please make it big and easy to read. Our banners, the Obama fabric front pieces, handouts and Mustang Protest 101 instructions will be handed out on Wednesday at a time and place to be announced.
TOGETHER WE WILL SHOW THE PRESIDENT - NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL!
If for some reason the President’s visit is cancelled, it doesn’t matter as long as we make
MUSTANG OUTRAGE heard, loud and clear. The BLM in their Las Vegas meeting February 18, 2010 need to hear our MUSTANG OUTRAGE and stop plotting roundups. Committee members listening to Salazar’s sales pitch for our tax dollars need to know that Salazar must not get one single wild horse quarter for roundups and pens! Maybe the President’s daughters will hear about MUSTANG OUTRAGE and ask dad why those people want to keep the mustangs and burros wild and free in the West? When he thinks about his answer maybe his conscience will kick in because he handpicked Salazar. Let us stand together on February 18, 2010 and invite the President to bring his family West to view mustang behavior with someone like Ginger Kathrens. When he experiences the thrill of wild horses running free, he must realize there is great value in keeping mustangs wild – a value greater than a field of solar panels or a hamburger. President Roosevelt will turn in his grave if he doesn’t.

Obama wishes he could affect ANY local economy with one or two comments. Teddy Roosevelt was a rancher and an avid hunter.
By RH1