A message from EA President Susan Wagner

Dear Friends,

Last week, we at Equine Advocates welcomed equine clinician, teacher, Wild Horse expert, and good friend Anna Twinney back to the sanctuary to continue the work she started with four Wild Burros we rescued last year. Three of them – Bruce, Sly, and Willie – were among 1,100 Wild Burros rounded up and captured by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Arizona in 2024. Dylan was one of 296 Wild Burros captured during a BLM roundup in Nevada that same year. As many of you know, we currently have four Wild Horses living at the sanctuary. However, as the intentional capture and removal of Wild Burros have also increased, we felt it was vitally important to not only save some of them, but to spread the word and emphasize that they, too, are headed for extinction.

In 1970, the late, great author, photographer, journalist, and Wild Horse advocate Hope Ryden wrote “America’s Last Wild Horses.” It was her most famous work, and its sadly prophetic title was her way of warning the American People all those years ago that unless serious steps were taken, Wild Horses (and Burros) would become extinct. Her testimony before Congress on numerous occasions was instrumental in the historic passage of “The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.” I had the great privilege of speaking with Hope Ryden twice in later years where she expressed disappointment over the chipping away of “The Act” over time and the need to continue protecting these animals before it was too late. Hope Ryden passed away in 2017. Contrary to what she hoped for, her warnings expressed in her famous book 56 years ago have, in fact, proved to be a harbinger of things to come. 

Today, numerous organizations with different missions, scientists, environmentalists, advocates, activists, members of the press, and private citizens are trying hard to stop the destruction of America’s Wildlife, our Public Lands, as well as the violations of the “Endangered Species Act” and other important legislation that protects wildlife, their natural habitats, and our environment.

Please watch our video above and then act by contacting your members of Congress and those running for office in the House and Senate today!

We have a unique opportunity, especially since this is an election year, to make our voices heard on these vital issues. Now is the time to express your feelings to those running for office and those in office that the current (and unpopular) government policy to round up and destroy these animals and their habitats is unacceptable and must be stopped.

Thank you for watching our video and for taking the time to read this message.

Sincerely,

Susan Wagner, President