Champion of Wild Horses
Laura Leigh ~ Champion of Our Wild Horses
~ Millie Chalk
In the short time of its existence, writing for Whisper n Thunder has afforded me some treasured opportunities. One of the latest and most valued has been an interview with someone I would like everyone to meet and become familiar with her great work of bringing awareness to what our
Nation’s wild horses are being subjected to.
Feeling she is akin to these noble animals that like her have been disenfranchised, pushed away and left with no voice and no power to claim what the creator has intended for their legacy to be, she relentlessly pursues the documentation of the trauma that they suffer at the hands of the BLM.
Through the practice of roundups to clear the land using helicopters, crowded and unsafely structured pens and trailers, whips and what looked to me in the videos to be cattle prods, these magnificent creatures suffer broken limbs and broken hearts, bleeding wounds and separation of families that have existed for generations. Add to that the complete loss of their freedom as well as their spirit and you have the images Laura Leigh painstakingly portrays through her award winning photos and video footage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Ajy41p-FQ
Documenting this abuse is a vocation Laura would have never consciously chosen for herself, yet she spends her every waking moment in pursuit of justice on behalf of these voiceless creatures whose only violation is to be born into a world where Man believes he has a right to profit by another's
destruction.
Claims by landowners that their crops and fences are routinely damaged by straying herds, when statistical evidence shows that such incidents prove insignificant compared to other factors, does not go far enough to explain the single-minded zeal with which the BLM carries out its program of annihilation. With votes at stake this government’s willingness to pander to their elector’s every whim could very quickly spell the end for the wild horses.
Not only does Laura champion the cause for equine justice, she is also an award winning illustrator, animator and sculptor, whose artistic work has been solicited by such organizations as The United Way and the Nat’l Wildlife Federation and her website: http://barndoorstudio.com/id14.html
Illustrates an impressive resume of professional accomplishments.
Laura has always felt a strong connection to this earth’s creatures but especially to our horses. Years ago she came to the rescue of a Percheron she had known that had become the victim of a horse rescue scam and ended up at a meat packing operation. Armed with cash and a determination to save this horse from an ending too horrible to imagine
she came to the rescue. It was when she was at the feed lot she caught the broken hearted gaze of an old mustang in a pen awaiting his fate. It seems he was into his twenties and although captured wild he was willing to be trained and had spent his lifetime as a gentle camp pony working hard to safely carry children upon his back and here at this god forsaken place he was to meet the reward of a traumatic death filled with pain and suffering.
Laura tells me what she saw in the old mustang’s eyes caused her to spring into action and she offered the operator quite an exorbitant amount of money to purchase this sad creature, far more than what the pony’s frail corpse would bring only to have the operator deny her ransom because he had a weight quota to fill.
Although she was able to save the Percheron that she still owns today she left there heartbroken because of the Mustang left behind and from that point she was determined to dedicate her life to telling the story on behalf of so many innocents that cannot speak for themselves.
When looking at some of her footage such as in the following link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyVG7iDJg5o&feature=sub , I had to ask Laura how she copes with the sadness and the despair of knowing how many are suffering and continue with her work.
'I do my share of crying' she told me, but each time she feels she can go no further she recalls the look in that old noble mustang’s eyes, the emptiness, the sorrow, and the hopelessness. She often recalls the look in the eyes of an eight month old colt she named “Hope” dying as his feet literally sloughed off. Hope was just another she was not allowed to save as it was not BLM’s policy to allow private medical intervention.
Laura sees the same look in the eyes of so many she photographs. She sees the sadness fringed with confusion and desperation but above all she sees the fear. She reflects on how they struggle when captured and how they’re willing to risk everything, even death, to somehow escape and be free once more. So many individuals; the frantic Stallion overwhelmed with trying to protect his family, the mother separated from her child crushed by the heart-rending cries of her little one so scared and traumatized by it’s separation from the only comfort he has ever known.
Still I don’t understand. Having been raised by horses my entire life I cannot watch these scenes she has documented without crying profusely. How can she be strong enough to do this work? She tells me she has no choice, that the hopelessness in the eyes of that first mustang burned into her soul the desire to do whatever it took to see this scornful treatment of our animals come to an end and that the Creator had given to her gifts uniquely tailored to help provide a voice for these voiceless ones.
“Every trial we go through can be seen as a gift,” she said “that allows us to face whatever challenges life sets before us.” Laura went on to share a favorite quote from Mahatma Ghandi, “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.”
When asked what we as Native Americans can do to hasten an end to the cruelty her answer was what would be remarkably comparable to that of a Shaman. First she made it clear that all Americans should make claim to these precious animals which are a physical representation of this nation’s history as the different herds are indicative of various phases of this country’s development. Depending on where the herds are found their DNA is not only that of our great tribe’s ponies but also of the Calvary horses and those of settlers and farming horses as well as the original horses from Europe.
So as a Shaman would counsel us, Laura told me that if we really want to help then we all need to simply be more aware and her desire is for her documentation to stir up within us the strength to protect what was for so long a part of our heritage and culture and to let this awareness bring us to meditation and prayer or whatever belief system leads us to the inspiration of action. It is through the guidance of our creator or inner being that would place our efforts into the most productive venue whether it be the contact of a congressman, the circulation of petitions, physical protests, a poem, song, or piece of art. Each voice is unique and a small piece of a greater voice. Through uniting our smaller voices we can spread the word that these atrocities are happening and they must be stopped!
I can tell you that as an avid horsewoman my entire life this humble woman who has given everything for this work is far nobler and stronger than I could ever be and is devoting all of her time and talents as well as energy and emotion to do a work that is close to our people’s hearts. I feel we need to give her our complete support and my hopes are for all of us to find the strength to face what is happening and do whatever it is we are capable of to bring to an end the practice of removing our horses from their native lands.
Just as in our history, our horses were here first and it is man’s greed that is stripping this earth of their existence. Whisper n Thunder has given the Nations a voice and Laura has given our horses a voice. Let us put our voices together! Let’s put a stop to what’s being done to them! We can be powerful stewards of this earth and must advocate for its well being. Let’s start with our beloved horses. Help Laura save them! Get involved and do something to help make this right again!
Photos Courtesy of Laura Leigh / Millie Chalk All Rights Reserved
