Sacred Ceremony to Honor the Mustangs

Feb 3, 2014, Bonsall, CA -Wild for Life Foundation welcomes in the New Year and ‘The Year of the Horse’ with ceremonial blessings for our four-legged relatives, the Horse.

“WFLF is grateful to Spiritual Leader and Elder Daniel Ramos, Navajo, Apache and Yamasee, who has come to lead us in ceremony with blessings for the horses, ” said Katia Louise, Wild for Life Foundation President.  Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF) hosted the ceremony in the sanctuary pasture at Horse Spirit Ranch amongst the horses. “It’s time to be walking in the healing,” said young Elder Daniel Ramos.  “These are the grandchildren who have been now brought. They’re with us and it is our place in the world to take care of them, and make sure that their souls and their hearts and their spirits run free.”

"Let us walk in harmony with the Horse," Elder Ramos said. "Our prayers carried forward by the circle bring healing for the horse Nation. And, as the healing of the horse Nation becomes part of our healing and they become part of us."

We invite you to join in our harmonious walk with America's horses and burros as we reflect upon and share great honor for this majestic, indigenous and sacred species. As we lift up the spirit of the horse, we strive to raise awareness in support of the rejuvenation of America's landscapes through restoring America's wild equines to their Native lands. Join us as we elevate respect for the strong emotional bonds shared amongst wild horses and burros; bonds which should preserved and protected.

The Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF) has proposed an Equine Preserve Plan which utilizes the Diné way of life and the Diné spiritual foundation to create and promote peace and harmony within the Diné community and with the Diné Sacred relative – the horse.  The Sacred obligation and duty to protect the Diné relatives, the Horse and Nature is a fundamental element of WFLF's Equine Preserve Plan.

Most recently the WFLF rescued 38 Native Navajo orphan foals and horses, ages two months to 5 years  old. WFLF rescued these Mustangs from life threatening situations during the U.S. government funded Navajo Nation roundups which the vast majority of Navajo people oppose.

Navajo’s sacred horses and burros, like other countless wild equines across America, have fallen victim to the U.S. Government funded roundups and brutal slaughter, despite the overwhelming opposition by both the Navajo people and the public at large. Over 2,000 Navajo sacred horses have been violently swept up from their Native homelands and sent straight to slaughter since August 2013.

"By helping to save these voiceless, sacred lives, we are also helping to build the awareness for the need to protect America’s wild horses from roundups and slaughter,” adds Ms Louise.  “America’s majestic horses heal our hearts and they can heal the lands.” Through WFLF’s educational outreach programs these Navajo Mustangs will also help to educate and show the world that the re-introduction of equines to rangelands, in truth can rejuvenate the environment.

Craig Downer, BOD Wild for Life Foundation, wildlife ecologist, and author of “The Wild Horse Conspiracy” points out that wild horses are a big benefit to the ecosystem. They help to create that very important soil substance known as Humus...which makes the soils more nutrient-rich, adhesive and more retentive to water. This aids greatly in increasing the moisture of soils and elevating the water tables. The manure of wild horses builds the soils and disperses the intact seeds of many species to a much greater degree than cattle and sheep. Wild free-roaming horses also greatly reduce the possibility of catastrophic fires which can sterilize the soils and destroy its seed banks.

The Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF) is working together with the traditional Navajo people to create an environment that promotes the humane treatment of all animals. “We stand in solidarity with the traditional Navajo people in recognition of their horses and burros as ‘Di’ yin’ Nohooka’ Diné’, Holy Earth Surface People’s Horses,” said Katia Louise, of Lakota Sioux descent.

"The horse is our medicine, and has helped us survive many hardships. They must be given respect and honored for their Sacred place within the creation, as they possess the same fundamental right to life as we five fingered ones do," says Leland Grass, Traditionalist, Nahooka' Diné. "We must create a working solution today so our children won't be fighting amongst themselves tomorrow."

About The Wild For Life Foundation: Lifetime Equine Refuge (LER) is the primary equine rescue and sanctuary program under the Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF), a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charity dedicated to saving, protecting and preserving equines through rescue, sanctuary and education. WFLF and its wild horse preservation initiative serves as an educational platform for the protection of wildlife through the provision of long term sanctuary of wild horses and burros removed from America's rangelands.

Wild for Life Foundation, an all volunteer 501 c3 charity that relies 100% on donations is working around the clock to assure the forever safe harbor for these and other wild and domestic equines. Funds are being raised to pay for needed the horses' most urgent needs including feed, hay and vet medical care. Donations can be made on line and by mail, and are 100% tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law.

To find out more about Wild for Life Foundation, go to:
www.wildforlifefoundation.org, www.LifetimeEquineRefuge.org, www.SavingAmericasHorses.org
Federal ID No. 26-3052458.

Wild for Life Foundation
19510 Van Buren Blvd, # F3236
Riverside, CA 92508

Media Contact:
Phone: 310.439.9817
Photos: Courtesy of the Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF)
© WFLF

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Seventeen Native Navajo wild horses need Immediate Transport to Safety

MAKE ROOM FOR A HORSE IN YOUR HEART!

Feel free to forward this email to your contacts in the equestrian community!

17 NAVAJO HORSES RESCUED DURING  ROUNDUPS NEED HOMES

Seventeen Native Navajo wild horses, ages 6 months -5 years old, were captured in November from the open rangelands of New Mexico narrowly escaping slaughter during the U.S. government funded roundups, sponsored with American tax dollars, and under the misguidance of the BLM and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).  The horses are temporarily safe thanks local rescue team members of the Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission, but time is of the essence. These horses need immediate transport out of New Mexico to safe harbor.

They were picked up “as strays” during the recent roundups, just outside the reservation. Despite their obvious healthy appearance, they were claimed to be “starving due to a lack of forage on the reservation”.

To learn more read the below links… The first link is an overview and the second link a detailed explanation with the latest events listed at the bottom of the article.  This is a hot-button issue and Saving America's Horses and Wild for Life Foundation are doing their utmost to intervene on behalf of the horses through legal and other ethical means.

http://www.savingamericashorses.org/indigenous.html

http://www.savingamericashorses.org/navajohorses.html

The Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF) has set up the Navajo Horse Rescue and Recovery Mission as a go-to source for updated information and as a place where rescues/ supporters/ potential adopters can connect as WFLF introduces the rescues that will be officially collaborating on this effort.  The link to join the Facebook group is below

https://www.facebook.com/groups/721735291185577/

Partnering Rescue/ Sanctuary Information: http://www.wildforlifefoundation.org/rescuenadrescovery.html 

Time is of the essence!!  If you can help with this rescue effort, please provide the following information to WFLF at

admin@wildforlifefoundation.org

Equine Rescues and Sanctuaries:  Click here to join this effort.

Save a life - Support this effort: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=RA6MJEWVD5M64

DONATIONS ARE NEEDED AND WELCOME!

The Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission is a program founded under the leadership of Katia

Louise who is the volunteer Executive Director, President and founder of the Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF).  Learn more about WFLF at: http://www.wildforlifefoundation.org/home.html

Details about The Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission are available at: http://www.wildforlifefoundation.org/navajorescueandrecoverymission.html

Katia is the producer and director of the much-acclaimed documentary, "Saving America's Horses: A Nation Betrayed," which has won multiple awards on the international festival circuit, including Best Documentary and Best Environmental Film, among other honors.  She works tirelessly on behalf of the America's equines, both wild and domestic, including the Navajo horses, to protect and preserve their habitats and their lives now and for generations to come.  Let's band together as a group and help!

Donations are tax deductible, and can be made to The Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission through the WFLF website or by clicking here. You may also mail donations to

Wild for Life Foundation

19510 Van Buren Blvd, Ste F3236

Riverside, CA 92508

Let’s all pitch in and make this effort a success.  Please pass this email on to EVERYONE you know - even people who are not normally connected to horses have compassion for orphaned foals!

These are essentially babies, 2-5 years old, and their family members were sold to slaughter. Please help!

RESCUE MISSION UNDERWAY - Nov. 21, 2013 (NHRRM)

Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission (NHRRM) rescue team members are working to save 8

Navajo wild horses right now. These 8 at risk/ slaughter bound Navajo wild horses were captured  “as strays” during the recent roundups, just outside the reservation. Despite their obvious healthy appearance, they were claimed to be “starving due to a lack of forage on the reservation”. Funds are urgently needed to transport these horses to safety. Please share to help.

Donate: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=RA6MJEWVD5M64

Learn more: http://www.wildforlifefoundation.org/navajorescueandrecoverymission.html

The Navajo Horse Rescue and Recovery Mission (NHRRM) is an ongoing effort to rescue and re-home wild horses, burros and orphan foals that are at risk of slaughter or that have been victimized by the Navajo roundups. The Wild for Life Foundation assures their forever safe harbor so that they will never be subject to roundup or slaughter again.

More than 2,000 horses and burros have been recently swept away from their Native homes as a result of US government funded roundups that the vast majority of Navajo people oppose. Navajo President Shelly promised to suspend the roundups and oppose slaughter through a MOU which reportedly will become effective once signed. But in the meantime, Navajo's wild horses remain at risk and many are going to slaughter.

Save a life - Support this effort: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=RA6MJEWVD5M64

Partnering Rescue/ Sanctuary Information: http://www.wildforlifefoundation.org/rescuenadrescovery.html

Foster/ Adoption information: http://www.lifetimeequinerefuge.org/adoption.htm

Learn more: http://www.wildforlifefoundation.org/navajorescueandrecoverymission.html

www.LifetimeEquineRefuge.org

www.WildForLifeFoundation.org

Announcing the arrival of the Navajo orphaned foals to WFLF’s Sacred Hearts - Firelight South Wild Horse Sanctuary, Alpine, Texas

Alpine, Texas, October 23, 2012 – It’s a new day and a brand new place to call home for the orphan Navajo foals recently rescued by Wild for Life Foundation, Lifetime Equine Refuge.

"We are proud to partner with our sisters and brothers at the Firelight South Ranch as an official WFLF Wild Horse Rescue and Sanctuary facility. Firelight South is an American Indian owned ranch and home to over 40 wild and domestic horses saved from slaughter,” says Katia Louise, filmmaker, founder and president of the Wild For Life Foundation (WFLF). “We look forward to a long lasting partnership for the benefit of at risk wild and domestic horses."

“In making a public statement opposed to wild horse roundups and horse slaughter; we at the Firelight South Ranch support the Wild for Life Foundation’s Navajo Rescue and Recovery Mission and are proud to offer safe harbor and plenty of TLC for these sacred and majestic foals whose mother’s were sent slaughter. We are pleased to work in partnership with the Wild for Life Foundation’s Navajo Rescue and Recovery Mission as part of our continued goal to provide rehabilitation and freedom for at risk wild and domestic horses. We hope this partnership will continue into the future by helping other at risk wild foals and horses,” says, Rachael Waller-Rondeaux, owner Firelight South Ranch.

 “This is just the beginning for these orphaned Navajo foals, it's going to take months for these little ones to heal, build their strength up and overcome the physical and emotional injuries they sustained during the roundups."  The majority of the orphaned foals are being cared for under Wild for Life Foundation and will be considered for placement over time. Once ready, some of the foals will be placed through specially approved WFLF rescue partners. A few of the strongest foals were just recently placed in forever sanctuary at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota.

"We are thrilled that several of the orphan Navajo foals will have an opportunity to grow and thrive under the Texas skies at Firelight South,” adds Katia Louise. WFLF’s Sacred Hearts – Firelight South was established for the purpose of providing safe harbor to wild horses in need and is a certified best practices facility under the WFLF Safe Haven Rescue Partnership Program. Donations in support of the orphaned Navajo foals at WFLF’s Sacred Hearts – Firelight South can be made on line at www.lifetimeequinerefuge.org or by mail to WFLF at the address below.

17 surviving Navajo foals were recently rescued under Wild for Life Foundation’s Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission (NHRRM). They had been discovered in a life threatening situation after being rounded up from their Native home land on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. The foals, ages 2 - 4 months were orphaned during the roundups after losing their mothers to slaughter. Approximately 1600 wild equines lost their lives during the US government funded Navajo roundups which the majority of Navajo people oppose.

Volunteer rescue members from the WFLF’s Navajo Rescue and Recovery Mission have put their lives on hold to rescue, recover, evacuate and provide care for these survivors; to assure they will never be subject to roundup or slaughter again. We are especially grateful to Deanna Tierney of the Northeastern Nevada Equine Rescue who has partnered with WFLF as an official Safe Haven Rescue and Sanctuary facility. Deanna’s assistance has been instrumental through the early stages of this rescue mission, including the safe emergency transport of these orphaned Navajo foals.

In a recent turn of events the widely contested Navajo roundups have been temporarily suspended by Navajo President Ben Shelly under pressure from his own people including the Nahooka’ Dine’ (Navajo Elders and Medicine People), together with the Wild for Life Foundation, and the Foundation to Protect New Mexico Wildlife, an organization founded by Gov. Richardson and actor, director and conservationist Robert Redford. The foundation is working to stop the slaughter of horses, including actively fighting efforts to reopen horse slaughterhouses in the United States.

“These sacred and majestic horses heal our hearts and they can heal the lands,” adds Katia Louise. “As Ambassadors for the horse nation, these 17 surviving foals through WFLF will be helping to educate and show the world that the re-introduction of horses to rangelands, in truth can rejuvenate the environment.”

Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist, Wild for Life Foundation Board Member, and author of “The Wild Horse Conspiracy” points out that wild horses are a big benefit to the ecosystem. They help to create that very important soil substance known as Humus...which makes the soils more nutrient-rich, adhesive and more retentive to water. This aids greatly in increasing the moisture of soils and elevating the water tables. The manure of wild horses builds the soils and disperses the intact seeds of many species to a much greater degree than cattle and sheep. Wild free-roaming horses also greatly reduce the possibility of catastrophic fires which can sterilize the soils and destroy its seed banks.

About The Wild For Life Foundation: Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charity dedicated to saving, protecting and preserving equines through rescue, sanctuary and education. WFLF and its wild horse preservation initiative serves as an educational platform for the protection of wildlife through the provision of long term sanctuary of wild horses and burros removed from America's rangelands. WFLF and its Saving America’s Horses Initiative is an international consortium of scientists, equine welfare experts, researchers, and horse advocates collaborating efforts to promote wild horse conservation and preservation initiatives with a focus on the prevention of equine cruelty. On the Web – www.wildforlifefoundation.org , www.LifetimeEquineRefuge.org, www.SavingAmericasHorses.org Federal ID No. 26-3052458

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Media Contact:
Kate Dudley
kate@katedudley.com
Ph. 310.439.9817

Wild for Life Foundation
19510 Van Buren Blvd, Ste F3236
Riverside, CA 92508

WFLF's Navajo Orphaned Foal Evacuation out of New Mexico is Underway!

New Mexico, October 1, 2013 - WFLF's Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission is pleased to announce that 17 Navajo orphaned foals have been successfully evacuated from the local shelter in New Mexico (NM). The fillies and colts ages 3-5 months old, were taken from their mothers who were shipped to slaughter.  These surviving foals are being transported to safe harbor outside of NM.

"The evacuation of these orphaned foals is just the beginning for most of them," says Katia Louise, president of the Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF). "It's going to take months for some of these little ones to heal, build their strength up and overcome the injuries they sustained during the roundups."  At least a dozen of the 17 foals will be going directly into an all volunteer Equine Special Care Facility under WFLF, where they will be provided with crucial veterinary medical care, nutritious feed, hay and supplements, and of course, lots of TLC and specialized individual attention. You can help save these little innocent orphaned foals by making a donation today.

Funds are being raised and will go directly to pay for needed vet medical care and vet medical supplies. It's
anticipated that these foals will need to remain in special care for another 10 - 14 days before they will be cleared for the next leg of their transport to their final Rescue destinations. Some of the foals have transportation covered but not all.

Under the leadership of Katia Louise, WFLF organized the Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission as a collaborative effort to save the lives of these and other majestic and sacred wild horses and burros who have been victimized by the highly contested U.S. government funded Navajo roundups. "We are sincerely grateful to all the partnering rescue team members and the local partnering shelter who has been working hard behind the scenes, watching out for these foals and helping to raise support that's needed to save these precious lives," added Katia Louise. Volunteer rescuers of the Navajo Horse Rescue and Recovery Mission have put their lives on hold to rescue, recover and evacuate survivors, and insure they will never be subject to roundup or slaughter again.

Two of the healthiest colts have been approved by WFLF for adoption and will soon be placed into a qualified loving forever home, and three of the other healthiest foals have been approved and will soon be placed in temporary foster care through WFLF's Safe Haven Network, pending their permanent placement with one of WFLF's Official Rescue and Sanctuary Partners, soon to be announced.

Wild horses and burros are being taken from their Native homes in the highly contested Navajo roundups which the vast majority of Navajo people oppose. You can help save these innocent and sacred wild Navajo horses and burros by giving to this mission. Funds received will help pay for immediate transport, hay, veterinary medical care and housing.

Please keep sharing to keep those donations coming in as this is still considered a crisis situation. Click here to make a donation today.  To give your gift special meaning you can specify medical care for foals, or transport for foals, etc.

Be sure to subscribe for updates as more information becomes available. 

With gratitude,

Katia Louise, President
The Wild for Life Foundation
Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission
Lifetime Equine Refuge
Saving America's Horses: A Nation Betrayed

Learn more:
www.WildForLifeFoundation.org
www.SavingAmericasHorses.org

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Navajo Horse Rescue and Recovery Mission

Orphaned Navajo foals need your help! They are just 3-5 months old and were taken from their mothers who were shipped to slaughter. Wild horses and burros are being taken from their Native homes in the highly contested Navajo roundups which the vast majority of Navajo people oppose. 

Volunteer rescuers members from the WFLF's Navajo Horse Rescue and Recovery Mission have put their lives on hold to rescue, recover and evacuate survivors, and insure they will never be subject to roundup or slaughter again.
You can help save these innocent and sacred wild Navajo horses and burros by giving to this mission. Funds received will help pay for immediate transport, hay, veterinary medical care and housing.

Click here to make a donation.

Click here to learn more about the Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission.

Donations are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law. Federal ID No. 26-3052458

Thank you for caring and for taking part.

The Team at Saving America's Horses
Wild for Life Foundation
www.SavingAmericasHorses.org
www.WildForLifeFoundation.org