New Book
In his new book, In a Land of Awe: Finding Reverence in the Search for Wild Horses, author Chad Hanson focuses on their wildness, wonder, and well-being. He states:
“Part of my goal in writing this book was to send the message that we are only just beginning to understand the intelligence, communication, family structure, and emotional capacity of wild horses. As we learn more, my hope is that we will commit to more humane management practices—and policies that leave more wild horses in the wild.”
Davia Sills, in her review for Psychology Today entitled “Wild horses, Reverence and the Psychology of Awe,” writes:
Horses are magnificent, sentient, emotional, and highly social, family-oriented beings. They, like countless other species, struggle to coexist in an increasingly human-controlled world in which they are mercilessly killed and their homes destroyed for primarily anthropocentric reasons. In his beautifully written new book In a Land of Awe: Finding Reverence in the Search for Wild Horses, Chad Hanson tells us about horses and describes where and how they would choose to live in the best of all possible worlds and what they need to express their unique personalities and wildness.”
Discussing the book with author Hanson, Ms Sills asks, “Are you hopeful that our treatment of wild horses will improve as people learn more about them?” He responds:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regularly rounds up and removes wild horses from public land. Then they warehouse them in feedlots that they call “off-range corrals.” The Bureau favors roundups and feedlots because the agency hires personnel with backgrounds in agribusiness. Government agents tend to approach wild mustangs as if they were livestock. As a rule, we use the term “stock” as a way to downgrade or lower the status of animals. When we shrink our thoughts on other species down to where we see them as commodities, that makes it tough to acknowledge the richness and sophistication of their lives.”
Continuing with:
“Part of my goal in writing this book was to send the message that we are only just beginning to understand the intelligence, communication, family structure, and emotional capacity of wild horses. As we learn more, my hope is that we will commit to more humane management practices—and policies that leave more wild horses in the wild.”
Amen.
• Order your copy now at Amazon »
Featured Image: ©Heather Hellyer Photography. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday’s Horse
Official Blog of The Fund for Horses
Tuesday's Horse 
Wild horses really ARE awe inspiring. I keep horses at home and see them everyday. But the first time I visited a wild horse herd area and saw a wild horse gazing over at me from across the distance, I burst into tears. It was an emotional moment that I can’t quite explain. It is one of the many reasons why I want to see our horses under BLM management remain on the range, not rounded up and warehoused. Thank you for posting this article.
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