Memories of Stone Cabin
Before Wild Horse Education (WHE) was ever a thought in my head, I had visited Stone Cabin. The history and the open roads drew me.
Little did I know back then that Stone Cabin would one day hold memories of milestones in, what has become, my life. Wild horse advocacy was not a career path for me. My background includes journalism, wildlife rehabilitation and a passion for horses. I should have known this was not going to be a "short story."
I met Pulitzer Prize winning author Dave Philipps in Stone Cabin. It was during a long conversation in the lobby of the Mizpah, over tea awaiting a pending storm, that the investigation that uncovered nearly 1800 wild horses had been sold to kill-buyer Tom Davis, a family friend of the former Secretary of the Interior, was born.
Shortly after that, driving in from a roundup, I learned the the First Amendment battle gained an incredible, landmark win, in the Ninth Circuit. Every time I drive that highway I can hear the echos of the phone pinging as my cell service resumed. I pulled over, made a call, and spent the next four hours listening to laughter from afar. I was covered in dirt, tired and hungry. But I sat there as the sun set behind snow dusted Mountain tops and smiled.
16 WHEMAGAZINE MAY 2018
In 2012, the day before my birthday, I witnessed the largest release of fertility controlled mares back to the range I had seen until that point. Only three days after the First Amendment victory... I felt hope. Hope that perhaps there was a place for reason, law and hard work.
There is a lot yet to do and the threats are still "life and death." However I have not given up hope.
Advocacy is a lifelong commitment. It was not intention, but it was no mistake. I'm where I belong.
by Laura Leigh