Whenever wild horses showed up on a movie screen or a television commercial, my mind would immediately revert to the memory of swaying to the song Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones.
Alas, that clearly isn't the case anymore. Upon chatting with the talented Carol J. Walker, she filled me in on the plight of wild horses. It was a conversation that deeply enhanced my knowledge about these majestic creatures. But before I dive into this serious subject matter, I would love to first introduce you to Ms. Carol J. Walker, a brilliant activist and Equine photographer.
Ms. Walker is dedicated to the fine art of photography. She has won countless awards for her elegant depiction of wild horses. She's also written books about them. Her vocation has facilitated her to get up close to these beautiful animals and capture the loveliest of moments. Carol shares how she has witnessed a mare care for her foal and a mustang protect his family. She has clocked in hundreds upon hundreds of hours with these precious animals to capture just the right moment, and indeed she has. She attributes this to the close, personal bond she has created with these animals. Carol has developed such wonderful relationships with the horses, that she has even become a regular. She will revisit families, and most will acknowledge her and even take naps in her presence, which signifies trust. All the beauty she has experienced has been because of the personal choice she made to switch careers late in life. As she would put it,
“[I was a] late bloomer.”
Ms. Walker came to the realization that she was not happy at her former job and decided to take up photography. She had always tinkered with a camera since the tender age of four. Little did she know, taking that significant first step would lead her to change the course of her life.
During a photography conference, she met someone in passing that suggested she take pictures of wild horses. Carol decided to give it a go and instantly got hooked. She hasn’t looked back since. Ms. Walker expressed to me how this shift in careers made her realize that this was her calling. She shares how it wouldn’t have been made possible had she not mentality prepared herself for the undertaking.
Carol was aware it would be a slow process. Her advice to anyone considering on taking the leap is to stay the course. She cannot stress enough when she states,
“Don’t get discouraged.”
She emphasized how it is indeed a slow transition to change careers. Carol wants people to be ready for the challenge and not give up at the slightest hiccup. Ms. Walker also suggests to seek out supportive individuals. It helped her tremendously to share her aspirations with likeminded people. She says it takes a lot to,
“Gearing up to follow your dreams.”
For Ms. Walker, the result has been quite gratifying. Becoming an Equine photographer has enabled her to have,
“Quite a lot of adventures.”
Carol has become quite the expert when it comes to adventures. Before she sets off to make any trip to see the horses, she makes sure to pack a lot water, a shovel and more than one spare tire. You never know when your car might either get stuck in the mud or in the snow when searching for wild horses (she speaks from personal experience).
Wild horses can be found in ten states to be exact. Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon Utah and Wyoming.
Ms. Walker encourages anyone interested in seeing these spectacular, untamed animals roam free, to just go ahead and make the trip. They are on public land after all.
And that is preciously how she came to find out about the atrocities that have been occurring with wild horses.
Her initial goal was to become a photographer. She immersed herself into this new career. As it turns out, she thought she was only changing her life. She had no idea she was also going to affect the lives of thousands upon thousands of horses as well.
It was quite happenstance. Since wild horses reside on public land, she had no problem seeing the horses up close. However, to her dismay, she soon found out that when there are round ups, the public is excluded from seeing what takes place. Fortunately, Carol was able to witness firsthand at some of the brutalities that are taking place when wild horses are ripped away from their land.
For those of you who may not even know, wild horses roam free on public, federal land which makes up 26.9 million acres divided up across the United States. There is clearly more than enough land for these wild animals to roam free.
So why the round ups?
Roundups are run under the guise of overpopulation. It is a procedure that occurs more frequently than we would assume. The mares, stallions along with their foal are taken off the land and taken to storage facilities in an inhumane way. Once there, they are separated by sex and held in storage until sold. Mostly, it’s the foals that sell off quickly to farms to either become pets or working animals. Not all of the adult horses necessarily meet the same fate, most are sold for slaughter. Surprisingly enough, this all happens under the government’s approval. The government actually incentivizes this barbaric act.
And what an act it is.
Ms. Walker thoroughly explained how these innocent, free creatures get rounded up.
Helicopters show up to the scene and terrify the horses to run towards a trap where a Judas horse meets them. The Judas horse has been trained to lead them further down the trap where they are funneled into tractor trailers. The whole process is gory and heartless as most horses do not survive the chase. Many get trampled during the hunt, leaving some with broken necks and legs. Most die from their injuries and others die due to heat exhaustion. This is clearly an inhumane way of capturing horses. It is appalling that the government allows these practices to continue, when they have been made fully aware of these travesties.
Does this look humane?
Ms. Walker bluntly states the obvious,
“Public land wasn’t costing anyone a dime.”
So why on earth would the government allow such inhumane practices to take place?
It would appear to be power and influence is the culprit in this dire situation.
Companies that own livestock do not want to share the millions of acres with wild horses. Wild horses are perceived as a nuisance. The government has sided with these wealthy companies and implemented taxpayers’ money to do away with wild horses.
The last administration was of no help at all regarding this tragic occurrence. With this new administration, Ms. Walker had hoped that things would finally change.
They have not.
Deb Haaland, United States Secretary of the Interior, alluded to taking action against such cruelty. However, she has proven to be no different than Cruella De Vil, for she has halted any efforts to change the current plan involving the horrendous management of wild horses.
Ms. Walker vocalizes how it has truly been heartbreaking for her pleas to fall on deaf ears. Her along with fellow activists and citizens alike have sent thousands of letters to Biden and Deb Haaland for these practices to cease. Carol states she has heard,
“Zero response.”
The Bureau of Land Management has tried to attest that it has the best of intentions when dealing with wild horses’ removals from public land. However, it’s quite difficult to dismiss all the video footage out there on the internet showing their heinous tactics. They've even implemented an adoption incentive program using taxpayers' money to pay people one thousand dollars for the adoption of wild horses. What ends up happening in most cases is many will collect the money and then sell off the horses for slaughter. Carol fears that the government is consciously choosing to,
“Washing their hands [of this].”
Ms. Walker hopes that enough public outcry will create some positive changes that are long overdue. She absolutely thinks that it is imperative that we all write to our senators and representatives and speak up against these inhumane acts towards wild horses. She encourages people to do what she does,
“Speaking up for the underdog.”
If by any chance your heart feels compelled to move forward with this worthy cause, please don’t hesitate to contact your state senator, Deb Haaland or the commander-in-chief himself. Make sure to include, in your letter, email or tweet these revisions, that Ms. Walker says will hopefully put an end to this crisis and improve the program that is currently in place.
STOP ROUNDUPS!
MANAGE WILD HORSES HUMANELY ON PUBLIC LAND
PROVIDE HUMANE BIRTH CONTROL METHODS FOR THE MARES
IMMEDIATELY STOP THE ADOPTION INCENTIVE PROGRAM
Ms. Carol J. Walker has made this her life’s work and has prepared herself for the good fight. As she puts it,
“I’m ready.”
And so are we.
