Erasing the Memory of Cloud
Dear Cloud Friends;
I know many of you have already sent in your comments to the BLM regarding the planned permanent removal of 30 young Pryor mustangs, but I’d like you to consider adding a special plea for Echo, Cloud’s little grandson (BLM name is Killian).
In April 2010, Bolder’s black mare, Cascade, gave birth to a pale colt. It was early May before Makendra and I could get up on the Pryors to look for the colt that supposedly looked like Cloud. We spotted Bolder and his family far out on a still snowy, finger-like ridge on Sykes. We could see a little colt lying in the snow under a juniper tree. He looked snow white but, on closer examination, I could see his stockings and the blaze on his face. On the tip of his nose he had a pink snip, just like his great grandpa Raven, his grandpa Cloud, and his father, Bolder.
I named him Echo because he looked so like Cloud. But, I was to learn that his resemblance to Cloud was much more than skin deep. We laughed as he ran and lept off the ground. Here he is playing on Sykes Ridge when he was a few weeks old.
His dun sister had been born in the snow on the day Makendra and I hiked out to photograph the band. Here is footage of curious Echo meeting Kicks-A-Lot (BLM name is Kiva) when she was just one day old.
Outgoing is an understatement for Echo. In the months that followed I watched him develop into quite a precocious little fellow. He played with yearlings when he was just a foal. As a yearling he would march right up to band stallions. Well, I thought, you’ll become a great band stallion if you don’t killed first. His brave, yearling exploits usually ended with him running back to his mother to nurse!
Echo has unusual genetics (his mother is perhaps the only off-spring of Cloud’s rival, Mateo) and he is the only young palomino on the mountain. He is a powerful, athletic colt who will pass on his strength to his offspring—if he gets a chance.
The removal of Echo will be a personal tragedy for me. Although I believe that Cloud will live for many more years, he will not live forever. When he is gone, we will still have Echo as a physical reminder of the great stallion who inspired me, and so many of you.
I ask you to speak up for Cloud’s Echo. Thanks so much for fighting for his freedom!
Happy Trails,
Ginger
January 6, 2012 at 7:54 pm |
Very beautiful…it seems there is room for all of those horses or maybe they should get them another added field to live on as they are very beautiful and necessary parts of our life….They may become our only mode of transportation if the gas and oil runs out…We have enough land for all of them,,,,they belong to the earth just like us…we need to protect their rights as they can’t talk our language…the horses have much to give us and we need to share with them.
January 6, 2012 at 8:09 pm |
this beautiful herd
let them live in peace
all human harrassment
must immediately cease
or empty echoes
no wonderful equine sounds
there will be life in the pryor
mountains
without these beautiful
creatures around
January 6, 2012 at 8:11 pm |
THERE IS NO ‘REAL GOOD ‘ REASON TO DO THIS MURDERING ..NO REASON TO KILL GOD’S ANIMALS FOR FOOD. THE USA WILL NOT EAT OUR PETS. WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE STARTED TRANSPORTING ‘CRUELLY’ OUR PETS FOR OTHER COUNTRIES THAT HATE US TO EAT OUR PETS.
January 6, 2012 at 8:36 pm |
I sent a letter asking them to leave the horses alone for a while, that we needed those horses to repopulate or we’d lose them. However, I didn’t know at the time that they were taking all the young ones. I did fear they’d take Echo though just because …..
God help us to save them all.
January 6, 2012 at 8:37 pm |
Wow What a beautiful colt and I hope the he will have the right to run free. BLM should let are wild mustangs live free and run free in the mountains that they are growing up in. This is a part of our history. We have had wild mustangs roam free for a long time.
January 6, 2012 at 10:35 pm |
These are so cute I wish the BLM wouldn’t round the babies and their moms up 😦
January 7, 2012 at 12:26 am |
I have been reading the blogs from Deb Little for over a year and am incredibly fortunate to have had access to this information. I am still uncertain of what we are to do to help prevent the removal of these incredible wild horses. I have seen some beautiful ones also roaming in special sanctuaries in North Carolina right on the beaches. Thanks, Beverly Stratton in Palmer, Alaska
January 7, 2012 at 1:33 am |
Legacy’s are just that. He is a living legacy of Cloud and cannot be replaced. If he wasnt meant to be here , he wouldnt have been born. may the Angels watch over him and his band. May no man disrupt them!
January 7, 2012 at 5:44 am |
All the more reason to use our voice to speak out, up and over the mantra that continues to roar into the hearts of the uneducated public who believe the continual lies. Write your letters…make your calls…
January 7, 2012 at 4:06 pm |
I would like to plead, beg, whatever it is I can say or do to please allow these young Pryor Mustangs to remain free, with their herd. It is heartbreaking and I beg you to please allow them their freedom. I can only pray that my words will make a difference in your decision. I am not a crazy tree hugger begging to save some endangered species of butterfly, I am a horse lover, this country was founded on the backs of these noble animals and they deserve our respect. The least we can do is allow them the chance to be free. Because after all that is what this great country is all about is it not? FREEDOM>
January 7, 2012 at 4:32 pm |
I really hope that Echo and all the young Pryor Mustangs will stay wild and free forever.
January 7, 2012 at 5:33 pm |
I fear if we request special preference to Echo the BLM will seek him out. I will pray daily for the freedom of our wild horses.
January 8, 2012 at 2:56 pm |
[…] Alert: Cloud’s Echo (Be sure to watch the video on the “Cloud’s Echo” link above. It’s adorable […]
January 8, 2012 at 3:17 pm |
I did leave a message for the BLM asking that no action be taken to remove any horses at this time, young or old. I also stated my disappointment of the BLM’s performance in the last 40 years, my new awareness of what is happening as well as an awakening in the country as to their mismanagement and bias against the horses. I expressed my realization that there is a conflict of interest between the BLM’s “management” of horses and the awards of our public lands for a pittance to large ranchers, mining and energy interests. It is plain to see that these take precedence to the horses. I am all for asking but I am convinced the horses need to be removed from the BLM’s jurisdiction. If they’ve been rounded up, killed, put in concentration camp like enclosures, what makes us think they will stop now? If we keep asking them to do a “better” job, we’re barking up the wrong tree. They can’t do it. Otherwise it would have happened by now. I should have said they “won’t” do it. The horses are collateral damage to what they really want to do and we need to change our strategy, get them away from the BLM and do PR so that everyone in the country knows what is happening.
January 8, 2012 at 3:19 pm |
Please read and post. We can not let this happen to this majestic herd. Echo along with the others should be left alone to be wild, free running so they can grow old like their Grandpa and Dad…Generations of beautiful free horses.
January 8, 2012 at 3:39 pm |
As with any ‘wild’ animals if mankind keeps removing the strongest of the blood lines the ones left behind will not have the genitics to fight extention. I understand part of the reasons they feel the need to thin the heards but like I send the blood lines are inmortant to keep intact. Keep Clouds “Echo” home with his family! Keep the youth of the next generation intact.
January 8, 2012 at 3:41 pm |
The BLM has removed enough horses from the west & I hope they don’t touch Cloud’s band. I’ve sent messages to them about the wild horse round ups to no avail. Some of the horses die from exhaustion & the babies run their feet off on the rocks while being pushed by the helicopter. This is cruel & inhumane & I wish it would stop.
January 8, 2012 at 3:57 pm |
He sure is a frisky one a lot like Cloud!
January 8, 2012 at 4:46 pm |
please leave the horses free & wild in nature forever ; they have special feelings & rights.
January 8, 2012 at 5:28 pm |
why is it we cant keep our visions of ponies running free on the land provided for them? It is a place of beauty. I visited the Pryors with my best friend Connie Payant and our dad Robert vinzant last year. We came to where the crime scene tape of Admiral and his son. Where they were they were killed by a drunk driver of all things. I want to see all the horses stay where they belong. Are these people just another drunk drivers and taking these animals and not knowing what they are doing? These lives should not be taken from where they are and let them live where they belong. Have we not lost enough lives in the pryors? Lets fight to keep them in the home they love and run free in until they are taken by their maker. They are there for one reason to run free and keeping memories alive for us to enjoy and remember the beauty of their freedom. Lets keep on fighting for all our wild friends. We will overcome all the drunk drivers at Blm and save them from all of this horror.
January 8, 2012 at 6:16 pm |
Do not kill off something so rare. Why are you humans so mean? This isn’t a choice you deserve to have. Obviously you don’t know what you are doing when it comes to horses, or how to respect them. You’ll pay for all you will do here, someday!
January 8, 2012 at 6:31 pm |
One look at these pictures should be enough for any human being to realize that this is where these horses belong not in corals! Please leave Killian and the other Pryor foals and Mustangs on the range wild an free forever the way the original mustang act of 1978 intended you to do!
January 8, 2012 at 7:51 pm |
This is horrible news. These young mustangs are at grave risk of injury at such a young age. This removal has got to be stopped. The Gov’t has got to be aware that this is leading to the extinction of Our Cloud Herd. Please leave our mustangs from the Cloud as they have not increased their herd this year.
January 8, 2012 at 8:06 pm |
I hope and pray that not only Echo, but none of this herd is removed form their range. Why remove young horses? Is this to destroy this herd? Please let them be!!
January 8, 2012 at 9:37 pm |
i love what you guys are doing… i thing wild mustangs should stay WILD thats what their name says…. they’re ment to be free and on going… thanks again… 🙂
January 8, 2012 at 11:37 pm |
Echo and all of the other Pryor horses SHOULD not be removed.These horses should be free & unharmed to enjoy their short lives here on Earth.
January 9, 2012 at 4:06 am |
To the Bureau of Land Management: Please don’t desecrate a beautiful, strong herd of wild Mustangs. To break up this family by removing 30 of it’s youngsters would be a tremendous, shameful crime. Why can’t people just stop ‘meddling’ with nature. All we do is just muck things up for the next generation to try and “fix” later on. Just let nature take it’s course, the way it’s meant to be. Please leave “Echo” AKA “Killian” and his Pryor siblings with their family. It’s all they’ve ever known. It’s where they’re supposed to be…wild and free. Thank you for your valuable time.
January 9, 2012 at 4:58 am |
please forward links that will continue to lobby the BLM to leave our wild herds alone
January 9, 2012 at 7:10 am |
I’m all for Echo (and all the other young and old Mustangs on the mountain) to remain free. I’m signing this in hope that we all raise our voices and stop the horrific and tragic round ups that tear apart horse families
January 9, 2012 at 7:25 am |
i grew up watching cloud grow up as well, i watched the first documentery on him when i was 10 and watched him grow into the strong band stallion tht he is now,id hate for his children and his childrens children to miss out on the freedom their father and grandfather and great grandfathers got to have, the wild horses belong wild and should stay that way forever
January 9, 2012 at 7:30 am |
I hate that the BLM thinks they have a right to play God with other creatures’ lives and futures. someone ought to round THEM up by helicopter and auction them off to people. see how they like their freedoms being taken from them. or having their children rounded up and taken from them. Might change their tune a bit.
January 9, 2012 at 6:40 pm |
Thank you for your efforts to keep the public posted about the Pryor Mt. band. I will be writing a letter today and will also try to get some of my horse loving friends to do the same.
January 9, 2012 at 9:27 pm |
We need to leave all Mustangs alone and free. And that includes Echo.
January 10, 2012 at 8:48 pm |
If we remove Clouds band and family members we will lose History forever
January 11, 2012 at 4:06 pm |
PLEASE LET THE CLOUDS ECHO AND ALL THE YOUNG MUSTANGS HORSES STAY WILD AND FREE FROM HARM.
LET THEM LIVE IN THE WILD WERE THEY BELONG. I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER CLOUD. THEY WERE BORN FREE SO LET THEM LIVE FREE……IN THE WILD………….WITH CLOUD
January 11, 2012 at 4:58 pm |
Why must they remove the young horses from the herd?
January 12, 2012 at 3:39 am |
If they would only listen, leave the wild horses alone.
January 12, 2012 at 9:31 pm |
Echo and the Pryor Mustangs have to be left alone!!
January 13, 2012 at 2:28 am |
Get everyone you know to e-mail the BLM at the address above before January 20th. Cloud’s Prior Band is very very special. Voice your opinion to stop the roundups, especially against this very treasured Cloud’s family. We love them.
January 13, 2012 at 5:42 am |
PLEASE—tell us what we can do to REALLY HELP—-and make a DIFFERENCE!!!
January 13, 2012 at 5:11 pm |
I am absolutely against the BLM roundups, no matter where they are. But this is the tip of the iceberg! When will there be finally something done, something effective, that get’s rid of the BLM, rid of the holding pens and let the horses run free.
January 14, 2012 at 12:10 am |
I am going to the Arrowheads in July 2012 to view the horses. I love Ginger and all those whose goal is to preserve the beauty of creation such as Cloud and all the wild horses. BLM leave them alone! Let nature take care of nature!