Tuesday, December 08, 2009

A guest blogger???


Hi everybody,

This is Matt, Terri's son. My mom's busy battling the BLM right now, but I wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to read the article The Associated Press did about the government's plan to round up 25,000 wild horses and ship them off to uncertain fates in the East and Midwest.

I'm not nearly as much of a horse person as my mom is, but earlier this year, she and I took a bunch of writers and publishing people to check out a herd of wild horses in the desert near Dayton, Nevada. I was a lot more excited about going off-roading and hanging out with some of the young female writers than I was about actually seeing the animals (because, let's be honest, when Terri Farley's your mom, you see a lot of horses (-: ), but either way, it seemed like a good way to spend a Sunday morning.

If you haven't seen wild horses before, it's tough to explain why it was so cool to walk among them. As I mentioned, I've been around plenty of livestock and am not much impressed by most of it, but wild horses are about as close to the ponies at the fair as a red fox is to your wiener dog. Up close, they seem to be about 80 percent horse and 20 percent woolly mammoth. Their caveman dreadlocks alone are worth the trip.

We all walked right up near them (they'll let you know if you get too close, believe me) and just watched for a while. The New York publishing folks' minds were blown, and I wasn't far from joining them. You think of creatures like as being pretend, or so foreign that they might as well be, like Bengal tigers or monitor lizards. But no, they just hang out in the West's deserts, and unlike tigers, they don't bother anybody. At worst, they run away if you're bugging them. You can (and should) go see them sometime, assuming they're still around.

That sounds overly dramatic, but it isn't, really. If the BLM's plan goes through as written, the wild horses will be precious few and far between. I can't get into the facts and figures the way my mom does, but I was a reporter for five years, and I can share a couple of things that might help you make your mind up about the BLM's plan:

1. It will be a difficult and expensive project that will result in the deaths of at least some of the horses. That's all par for the course when forcing wild animals to do things.

2. It is not clear how the horses will adapt to their new homes, nor that they won't have to be moved again at some point.

3. There is little if any actual, independent evidence that the wild horses need to be relocated at all, at least for the reasons the BLM has put forth (overpopulation and starvation). The BLM hasn't kept proper track of the horses for years due to budget concerns, and yet they claim to know exactly how much the horses are eating and how fast they're breeding? As a reporter, I'm going to have to say: Citation needed. A full study would, one assumes, cost a lot less than hunting and trapping 25,000 animals and shipping them across the country. Maybe we ought to give that a try first.

Anyway, here's the link if you missed it the first time: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/08/us/AP-US-Wild-Horses.html?pagewanted=all . Please link to this page and encourage your local reporter or blogger to investigate this story and how it applies to you. And most of all, if you oppose the BLM's plan, act NOW in real life. Don't know how? Just ask Terri.

Thanks for reading,
Matt

Labels: mustang, Nevada, phantom stallion, terri farley, wild horses, young adult

Permalink to this blog post

Posted by Terri Farley @ 8:41 PM

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Comments: Champion blog Matt.. and funny!
=0) Ill be sure and contact my local reporter if possible about this event.. even though its all the way up here in Ohio. My friends pony has a think wooly coat right now to.. looks like a little bear.

best
~HorseFeathers
  XD I can't imagine what it would be like to have Terri Farley as your mom. Probably...AMAZING!!!

While you're at it, you should stamp 'Citation needed' on their foreheads.:D How long can they keep ignoring the public? Not long, if certain people have anything to say about it.(aka Terri Farley) :)

~quarterhorseyes
  Awesome blog Matt! I see that writing runs in the family! I think the fact that you are not a 'horsey' type guy gives this blog entry even more 'cred'. Thanks, I hope you have inspired a few more people to join the fight!
  Hi, Matt.
Awesome blog,and I've got to just comment on the picture. BEAUTIFUL!!!
My older brother feels the same way you do about it,me trying to get him to go,and he only going because there are girls there. However one girl he dated really got him more interested in it,and we are now all in the fight together as a family. I also spread the word about mustangs needing our help to my friends also volunteering at the hippotherapy program I volunteer at.
http://www.equestrianzone.com/

is their website. I'm also a barrel racer,and I go to cutting competitions whenever I can. So I spread the word at those places and as weird as it sounds,rodeos,too. It may be a shock that some cowboys actually agree with us on this. I make flyers and other things to show my support for mustangs. Just because they don't have a voice doesn't mean we don't have one. It just so happens I shout with mine. I'm just like Sam in your mother's books. I love that character because we are so much alike. Sam's family and mine are so much alike. However my mother is still alive and well. She's also not as much into horses as I am. But my father is. He was a champ. team roper.....That's enough about me,though. I've gotten completely off subject now. I just wanted you to know alot of people who are fighting for our (or should I say nobody's) wild horses,are men.I think it's great you'd support your mom that way,also.
Just wanted to let you know I'm in the fight with you and I'll never get out.
Thank you so much for reading and I really enjoyed your blog. I also love your mother's blogs,and her books. I can't wait until she writes another :)(maybe you should consider writing a book,also).
-Jenna
  Wow, I enjoyed reading what you wrote. Thanks for taking over for your mom while she was away and for keeping us entertained and up-to-date. I am sorry you aren't horse-crazy the way your mom is, but I guess not everyone can have a thing for horses! Merry Chirstmas!
  Good job on the writing! Jenna, me and Sam are the same too, I mean in personality all the way, it's funny how some people are some much like a person who doesn't even exist haha :) Wow, that's so amazing, seeing mustangs up close...I wonder what'd it'd be like to have Terri Farley as my mom!
  Oh I forgot to say, I'm in love with that picture!!!
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