MUSTANGS CAN TEACH LIFE LESSONS

As the first state to create a park preserve for wild equines, New Mexico models responsible stewardship of a species that is fast going the way of the wolf and the bison, lost forever from our public lands. We can ill afford to loose another species and pay later to preserve the last few living specimens.

As a former teacher and therapeutic riding instructor who is hands on with mustangs, I see the park sanctuary as an opportunity to boost New Mexico’s educational system, economy, environment and set new standards for wild horse management. Mustangs have collaborated throughout history, pulling wagons and plows, carrying little girls in pretty dresses, and ensuring our survival. Drama photos of herds madly running and stallions fighting are a stereotypic misrepresentation.

We all stand to benefit by embracing a renewed collaboration with mustangs. Trained equines at the park can help at-risk youth replace violence with respectful communication, help special needs children improve physical strength and coordination, and provide support for combat veterans returning form Iraq and Afghanistan as they re-integrate into society.

Mustangs are similar to Chincoteague Ponies, a protected herd that lives on a sandy barrier island just off the Virginia/Maryland coast. Managed respectfully for over seventy years, Chincoteague ponies live as wild horses, but are calm and gentle around humans. Prized as mounts and companions for children, women and families, they attract over 100,00 tourists annually and support the local economy.

Buffalo graze on the plains in Custer State Park, South Dakota, attract tourists from all over the world. Like buffalo, wild horses roam and forage rather than stand in one area to graze, as do domestic livestock. With a climate similar to ours, the Custer grasslands benefit from constantly moving buffalo that nourish the plains. We can expect this tourism, ecosystem and land restoration benefit from wild horses at the Cerrillos Hills State Park.

As a model for environmental education, the park sanctuary will prepare the next generation as stewards for our world. Motivating students for whom textbooks, computers, and technology-based learning are ineffective will provide awareness, understanding and insight into the natural world. Science, reading, math and other subjects will become more relevant to our youth.

A wild horse sanctuary will enhance our economy, protect our environment, and help New Mexico step forward in social responsibility. America did nothing as millions of buffalo millions and wild horses were slaughtered in the last century. The buffalo are extinct in the wild. As wolves become extinct, we did nothing. Now we have postage stamps saying “Save a Lobo.” America did nothing when native people were culturally decimated and driven off their lands. We were afraid of wolves, of bison, and of people different from ourselves. We are similarly misinformed and frightened of wild equines.

Ignorance and fear are our worst enemies. At the Park Sanctuary, we will learn about the natural world and its inhabitants, participate in peaceful, solution-based management that is considerate of other species, and learn how we all benefit from responsible stewardship of our environment.

The park expansion is a brilliant plan for green industry to revitalize our economy, a resource to enhance education, an ecosystem management model for our youth and an innovative plan to protect our pristine landscape. Under Governor Richardson’s visionary leadership, the Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources has given New Mexico an unprecedented opportunity to renew our state and lead the world. We can and we must begin a new page in history based on sustainability, peace and a renewed commitment to compassionate stewardship of natural world and all its magnificent inhabitants.

Alicia Nation, volunteer executive director
New Mexico Mustang & Burro Association

Alicia Nation is a resident of Santa Fe. A former public school teacher, equine assisted therapy facilitator and therapeutic riding instructor, she is founder and volunteer executive director of the New Mexico Mustang & Burro Association (NMMBA). NMMBA, a non-profit organization, collaborates to create sustainable and compassionate solutions for wild equine management.