FOR THE LOVE OF COUNTRY, FOR THE LOVE OF A HORSE

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” -Gandhi

By Pam Dalkin

Its amazing how late at night, when you can’t sleep, the infinite wisdom of your mother echoes in your mind. Those wonderful phrases like, “No one ever said life was easy!” or “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again!”play over and over. My all- time favorite is “That builds character!”. No disrespect, Mom, but I have enough character! God love her and those old phrases do motivate.

Words have great power. Democracy is a word that continues to receive much attention. The idea that a government where people have the ruling power is readily accepted and encouraged in far reaches of the world. Questioning and commenting on government can spice up bar room banter or the occasional family reunion. At the end of many heated debates you usually hear, “That’s what’s great about this country!” No argument from me. Well, O.K., I love to argue, but don’t get me started quite yet.

Recently, when Tom Brokaw left the evening news, he made an infinitely wise comment. He said, and I am paraphrasing, that questions don’t get us in trouble. Think about it? Growing up in a household where sugary treats were enjoyed by all, simply asking your sister, “Are you going to eat that?” could prevent World War III. Now answers are a different story. “Do I look fat in this?” If you are a husband and have been married for more than a week, you know not to answer this question. Instead respond with one of my favorites, “I can’t tell as I am blinded by your beauty!”. This is more of a response than an answer. Not true, but a nice diversion.

So what does insomnia, democracy, and have to do with horses? Good question! I’m not good at answers, but I will respond. I have been studying wild horses for years. Standing on sun-drenched expanses of land as the glistening musculature of a wild horse rushes by is one of those motivating images I use when I must “dust myself off and start again”. It gives one a reason to live. Now, I know that not everyone feels the same way. One of my dearest friends often tells me, “A bird is a bird, a tree is a tree, a flower is a flower!”. For him, it is food. A good meal provides endless hours of discussion. Different people like different things.

One of the great things about a democracy is that differences are allowed to exist most of the time. Recently when the last Appropriations Bill was passed, a rider was attached that will gut the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971. On January 15th, 2005 more than 10,000 wild horses will be sent to slaughter. Now, I am not naïve, I know things like this happen. What makes me angry is that a single Senator can attach a rider to a bill, at the last moment, and eradicate more than thirty years of legislation and public discourse. Now I have been called a Tree-hugging, animal-loving (that includes most of the people I know), conservationist along with many other names not to be stated here, but that’s O.K, we live in a free country.

The part that keeps me up at night is that I cannot adopt one of the horses en route to slaughter, because the government has deemed him “unadoptable”. Last year at the roundup I inquired about this particular horse. At that time I was told he must be sent to a refuge to live out the rest of his life. He was never put up for adoption. Now, I told you I like to argue. Unfortunately at 5:52 am, there are not a lot of folks to argue with and the bulldog isn’t much of a sparring partner. Hence, I am writing this. But doesn’t it seem ironic that a horse that I inquired about to adopt was deemed unadoptable? If I want to adopt him, doesn’t that make him adoptable? Shouldn’t American citizens have a voice in what happens to these horses, since we created the legislation that deemed them a “national heritage species?” Asking these questions can’t get me in trouble, can it? I wonder if I will sleep better?