DIANNE FEINSTEIN'S LETTER

As you read in the Marin Mustangs Club post, I wrote a letter to Dianne Feinstein, and this was her letter that she wrote back to me.

Dear Ms. Falco:

Thank you for contacting me about your support for the "Restore Our American Mustangs Act" (H.R. 1018). I value your correspondence and welcome the opportunity to respond.

I understand your concern about the protection of the wild horse and burros and ensuring that they are managed appropriately and humanely in the wild. As you know, H.R. 1018, introduced by Representative Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), passed the House of Representatives on July 17, 2009 and has been referred to the Senate Committee On Energy and Natural Resources. This Bill amends the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 by requiring the BLM to expand its wild horse and burro management programs, and bans the commercial slaughter of wild horses. Additionally, the bill requires the Secretary to expand fertility control as a tool to reduce the need for removal of horses from the range.

I share your concern for the fate of our nation's wild horse populations, and I believe it is critical to seek solutions that will allow horses to live out their natural lives while being treated humanely and adopted when possible. While I am not a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, I will certainly keep your thoughts in mind as the Senate considers this legislation.

Again, thank you for writing. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best Regards.

Sincerely,

(Her printed signature, not written in pen)

Dianne Feinstein

United States Senator

Note: I did not use any resources for this except Dianne Feinstein's letter.

THE MARIN MUSTANGS CLUB

A friend I play soccer with, her name is Grace, brought together all her friends who go horse-back riding, and she put together a little club, the Marin Mustangs Club. In the club, we write tons of letters explaining the mustangs dilemma, and how we can help. We also do some projects, like baking mustang cupcakes! Some of the group members also went to Ms. Grossman's sticker company, and set up a booth there I believe. But our club is just starting, we are going to do many other fun projects, and make posters, there is just so much that we can do to help!

We have written the letters to many different people, one time we wrote to the president, senators, and congress men, in the White House. That was very fun! I received a letter back from the president, but it was just one those letters they send to anyone who writes to the White House. I also received a response from Dianne Feinstein, a senator, and this one was actually a personal letter! She was very nice, and you can check out the letter, on the new post I made that has exactly, word for word what she wrote to me!

Another time we wrote letters to celebrities, and one girl in our club is a huge Taylor Swift fan, so she is going to be super happy, if she gets a response from her! That was very exciting, and I'm hoping that those people out there that are very rich and famous, will make some other people care for the mustangs, ands their land, by telling them the news too.

Everyone in our club has learned almost everything about the mustangs and their land, from PJ, and her sister Valary, Briemer. PJ and Valary are some good friends of Grace's, and they actually own two wild mustangs. The horses names are Apollo, and Athena, and I am hoping that I will get to see them some day. A little message out to PJ and Valary, Thanks for everything!

If you are interested to learn more information about our club, visit: www.marinmustangs.com

I hope you are inspired to stick up for what you believe is right! Every little bit counts, so if you have a strong opinion on something, share it with the world, and maybe you will change our earth forever.

Note: I did not use any resources for this post, except my knowledge about our club.

SUMMARY

We need to help the wild horses and burrows that are being killed, hurt, auctioned off, and taken advantage of, in plenty of the western states in the U.S. The government thinks the roundups are okay, because they say that the 850 square miles that the horses live on is over populated with mustangs and livestock, and that soon it will be unlivable for these animals. I say pattoohy! The land belongs to these animals, and the government will never think of an excuse that is actually true of why the the mustangs should not continue to live on their land.

I know they are being killed because people eat them in certain countries, and so these horses are being put towards meat uses. Did you know that it's always one of the healthier, stronger, mustangs that they use for meat? The horses are also being hurt. When they are in the pens that helicopters chase them into, they get scared and try to escape. Or sometimes they lay down, and after a while, they get stuck in the bars of the fence and the more they struggle to get out the worse it seems to get, which causes them to get even more scared, and wiggle more. In this long painful process the horses are hurt, and sometimes can be very badly injured.

A friend of mine, her name is PJ, bought a horse (Apollo) that was sold at an auction. She bought the horse from a friend of hers that adopted it at a BLM auction in Woodside on the peninsula. When she bought it from her friend and took it home, her sister, Valary loved Apollo so much, PJ wanted to get her sister her own mustang, so they could each have their own horse. So she went to the Palomino Valley BLM office, just outside of Reno, Nevada, to go wild mustang shopping! All the horses were in huge pens, and one in the middle of a group of wild mustangs was Athena, which is Valary's horse.

The reason I say that the horses are being taken advantage of, is because, we are taking these horses land away from them, and we have not even asked them! Now, of course if they could speak English, they would say, "GET, BACK! MY LAND, MY HERD! " Right? But they really can't do anything about it, and even if they could, they probably wouldn't know that you were removing them from their land forever. I mean, did we ever even consider the fact that if we take away their land, we probably won't have any wild horses in the U.S, or at least in the west. They are important. They have rights just like people do, and feelings. We can tell, us equines, because there are many different ways to tell what the horse is thinking, the ears, tail, and facial expressions are all ways to tell their emotions.

Very few Americans, would know how to describe all the things that the horses go through, only because they've been through it too. We are separating mothers from foals, and families. It's very rare that a young one can survive without its mother anyway. But there is nothing the mustangs can do to stop us from capturing, hurting, and taking their lands from them. Know, the reader, would think, "Why don't they just kick or bite the humans?" But the truth is, horses are pray. They do not hunt, they are herbivores. They eat grass, and now we feed them hay, and grain. So, their natural instinct to an animal that is threatening them, or their scared of, is to run away from them, not to defend themselves.

In my opinion this is very wrong. These horses are innocent, and they deserve land of their own. We have only a sliver of the wild mustangs and burros that we used to have. I understand why the horses and burros are not being protected anymore, but it seems silly, that we are taking their land just so that we can put more of our junk, and companies, or whatever on the land that is rightfully theirs. Because, as it is, it's hard for them to grow up in the wild, with all those predators and health issues. A foal could get hurt, or get colic, a deadly sickness, and there is no vets, doctors, or even humans to help them. Life out their is rough, and now we are killing them for no reason, just because we're selfish, wealthy Americans! (No offense to the people who are trying to help the mustangs!)

The Bureau Of Land Managements (BLM) is planning to collect the wild horses and move them to a safe area, which does not seem right, however it is better then the original plan to put the mustangs down. They also say that the horses are in danger because their population is too high and they won't have enough food. I say patoohy again! They say that the mustangs are taking to much of the grass and food away from the land. But one of the things the government wants to do with the horses land is to let the cattle ranchers put their cows on the land. Did you know that to every wild horse their are 200 cows! And they think the horses are taking up to much land! Well if they put the cows on the land, they'll eat even more grass and take up way more space!

We need to help the mustangs! They are being murdered, hurt, and they can't even put their own opinions on the matter. I hope you understand how powerful you can be, to help change the future for these horses. The government is being stubborn, so we need to open their eyes, as if they were the wild mustangs and burros!

Note: I used my mostly just my knowledge from the Marin Mustangs Club, and a few websites that are listed in bibliography.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boiselle, Gabrielle. Horses. New York: Fall River Press, 2009.

Bremier, PJ. "Your Mustangs." Message to Olivia Falco. 1 February. 2010. E-mail.

Dearing, Stephanie. "Bureau Of land Management Plans Round-up of 25,000 Wild Horses."Digital journal. 2010.

Edwards, Elwyn Hartley. Horses. New York: DK Publishing, 1993.

Garcia, Oskar. "Wild Horse Round-Up to Begin in Nevada amid protest." yahoo.news.com. 2010. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091228/ap_on_re_us/us_wild_horses

Gordon, David George. Uncover A Horse. San Diego: Silver Dolphin, 2009.

HOW TO DRAW A WILD MUSTANG

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• a sharp pencil with a very good eraser

• a piece of white thick art paper, (or regular paper, works too).

• some sort of coloring material, (colored pencils, paints, pastels etc.)

DRAWING

1. Use the pencil and draw a medium circle near the middle of the

page, on your white paper.

2. Draw a circle a tiny bit farther down, then the first one, and a

little to the left.

3. Make another circle about an inch upward from the 1st one you made.

4. Draw a small half circle at the bottom of the 3rd circle(a lemon shape),

5. Draw a line from the middle of the top half of the lemon, to the side of the 2nd circle

. So it looks like a small lemon inside the 3rd circle. Now erase the

of the long line made in step 5.bottom half of the lemon.

6. Make a line from the bottom of the 1st circle to about the middle

7. From the line you just made, make a small slant up, then finish the line

by connecting the slant to the corner of the half lemon.

8. Make a line to form a triangle in the top of the

3rd circle.

9. Make another triangle on the other side.

10. Draw a small circle under the bottom right triangle.

11. Make a slow line to the edge of the paper. You can decide how

thick the neck will be.

12. Draw a point in the middle of the 1st circle. Draw a point at 6:00

on the same circle.

13. Make a slightly diagonal line from the point at 6:00 to the

bottom of the paper.

14. Make a large oval, at the bottom of the line you just made.

Then erase the end of the neck line you just made.

15. Draw a curved line in the inside of the neck line you made.

16. Make a line from the point at 6:00 to the side of the 2nd circle.

17. Draw a triangle on the bottom of the 2nd circle.

18. Now smooth the triangle corner, by drawing a curved line just above

the tip of the triangle.

19. Make a curved line up for the mouth.

20. Draw a small circle for the nostril, then erase a little line from it.

21. Make a half circle shape, on the left side of the 2nd circle.

22. In the top of the 1st circle you made, make a fat lemon shape. Then

make a circle inside the lemon, with the bottom of the circle touching the

bottom of the lemon.

23. Make a dark line in the middle of the circle in the lemon.

24. Shade the rest of the circle in the lemon, except for the top bit.

Then make sure to make an eyelash over the circle inside the lemon.

25. Go back up to the triangles inside the 3rd circle. Make another triangle

inside the first one, and add fuzz to the inside, on both ears.

26. Now add hair that comes between the two ears. This hair is called

the forelock, it should come down to a little past the eyes.

27. Draw the mane now. That can just be a scribbly line on the top

line of the neck.

28. Make some small curved lines on the bottom left corner of the

right ear.

29. Make a dark line over the corner of the line you made in step #7.

Try to round the rest of your lines as well, but not darkly.

30. Erase the top half of circle #1. Erase the line in the middle

the circle made in step #10. Erase the triangle made in step #17.of the nose. Erase the top half of the line in step #5. Erase the top

half of circle #2. Erase the arch over the ears. Erase the bottom of

Erase most of the oval made in step #14.

33. Now you can put your own opinions on your drawing. If you want

to change something, go ahead do whatever you have to make your

drawing how you want it, because next is coloring!

COLORING

32. In my opinion, I think this is the classic mustang coloring,

a dun coloring, (that's what it's called,) but whatever floats your boat!

Shade the entire face, except for the mane and forelock, with a light

brown, yellow, orange, brown-orange and peach colors.

33.

35. Shade most of the eye dark brown, except for the top bit, Shade over the muzzle in black, and dark brown, lightly.

34. Shade the forelock and mane black.

that stays white.

36. Shade the nostrils gray, and a tiny bit of orange.

37. (Only if you used colored pencils.) Now go over the whole

face except for the mane and forelock with a white colored pencil.

Resources:

Boiselle, Gabrielle. Horses. New York: Fall River Press, 2009. Page 7, the beautiful dun. (A dun is a specific coloring.) I also used my drawings.

QUESTIONS

-Where did the name mustangs come from?

*The name mustang came from the Spanish word, mestena, meaning a group or herd of horses. The mustangs were bred and brought over to the U.S by the spanish in the 16th century.

-How many wild mustangs are left in the U.S?

*I have read some different things, but I believe their is about 37,000 mustangs left.

-Can horses throw up?

*No, horses can not throw up, because they have a muscular ring between their esophagus and their stomach, which doesn't allow any food, liquid or gas to come back up their esophagus.

-Did people us mustangs in the times of the gold rush?

-How long do horses live?

*Horses live to about 30 years old, but the number varies. Ponies, on the other hand live to be around the age of 30-40 years old.

-How big are they when they are born?

-How tall can mustangs get?

*Horses are measured in hands (4 inches) and mustangs are from 13.2 to 15 hands high.

-What does the government want to do with the wild horses land?

*The mustangs land is being used for cattle ranchers, who are willing to buy the land, and I have also heard of oil drilling on this land.

-Can horses belch?

*No, horses can not burp, because nothing can go back up their esophagus.

How many horses are in one herd?

*The number of herd members in one herd varies from 10 to 70, it depends on the location.

Resources: I have to give credit to Harrison, B., and Jackson W., they came up with most of these questions. However, I thought up a few too, and answered most of them, with a little help from one of my favorite books. Edwards, Elwyn Hartley. Horses. New York: DK Publishing, 1993.

HISTORY

Wild mustangs. All sorts of colors. Wild as can be. They stand 13 to 15 hands high. Their herds mating, running, fighting. But now, we are destroying them.

Wild mustangs are a very important part of our country. But they haven't always been wild. Back before they were feral, they were domesticated animals, and lived as pets of people. Then they escaped and started breeding on their own, and now they have tons of herds, in the western states of America, all wild horses, that are now no longer tame.

The horses live in the Western States of America. The Bureau of Land Management,(BLM) handles 10 states of the land that the horses and burrows live on and there are 270 horse herds there. Across Utah, there are around 23 herds, and in all of those herds, there is about 3,600 horses! That just proves that there are a lot of mustang herds in the U.S.

The horses live on their land that was given to them by the Congress in 1971. When the land was given to them, congress agreed to legislation to protect, the horses and their public land. The ROAM ACT said, "these animals are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West." The mustangs are now being hurt, killed, and people are taking their land away from them. People or "cowboys" are running the horses into big pens with helicopters. In the pens some horses are killed for meat, or sold. The people are also fencing off the horses food and water, so they die of hunger. Many companies, and the government think that the horses will soon over populate the land and the ponies will die out anyway.

Not that many people around the U.S know what is happening to these horses. Some people are protesting at big presidential happenings, with signs and banners, trying to let everyone see what is going on to the wild horses in America. Groups of kids, like me are writing lots of letters to important people of the government. To the president, senators, congress men, some even get responses! There has even been some news about people trying to band round-ups. Some horse lovers, even say that the last time the government tried to take the pony's land it was kids, and protesters that stopped them.

Resources: Some of this is from my knowledge from the Marin Mustangs Club, the other bits are from these websites.

•Bremier, PJ. "Your Mustangs." Message to Olivia Falco. 1 February. 2010. E-mail.

•Dearing, Stephanie. "Bureau Of land Management Plans Round-up of 25,000 Wild Horses."Digital journal. 2010.

• Garcia, Oskar. "Wild Horse Round-Up to Begin in Nevada amid protest." yahoo.news.com. 2010. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091228/ap_on_re_us/us_wild_horses