Phantom Stallion E-Newsletter February 2011
Dear Readers,
I had a great time in Elko. My friend Suzanne Morgan "Bullrider" Williams and I taught hundreds
of Nevada fifth graders how to write Western poetry and then we were honored to see them present
at the international (really – there were even Hungarian rider-writers there!) Cowboy Poetry
Gathering. In addition to poetry, there was music and dancing!
Some fans of Jake Ely may recall that one of his brothers participates in Native American
fancy dance competitions, so I've included some photos of dancers (and poets) from Flag View
Intermediate and other Elko schools.
You really should come to the Gathering
next year. The Gathering is an entire week of what the West should have been!
Running for the fun of it
- photos by Cat Kindsfather
A herd of wild horses galloping, eyes bright, manes and tails streaming, may not know they swept away
human hopelessness on Friday morning, but I want to thank them anyway!
Before BLM rounded up the Calico Mountain mustangs that inspired my fictional PHANTOM STALLION herds,
my time with mustangs was spent on the range. Since last January, I've seen rarely seen wild ones free.
Instead, they were harassed by helicopters, falling down mountainsides, slamming into metal trailers,
crying or standing with heads in small corrals.
Friday, wild horses ran for the joy of it. Kind voices urged them down a wooden chute -- "Take it easy, darlin'," "Baby, do you think you're a mountain goat?","Come on down, I need a volunteer." Yellow or green paint was daubed on tail tops, numbers were painted on their furry rumps and then they were loosed to gallop through Gate 1 or Gate #2.
For a couple hours, I opened the gates, based on a yell from Mike Holmes (sound familiar? he helped save the real Phantom Stallion!).
|
Foreman Mike Holmes |
PURE JOY is the closest description of what I felt helping wild and happy horses.
|
 LifeSavers' Jill Starr with her faithful companion Pepper |
I LOVED sprinting to a gate & flinging it wide for a galloping young horse. I LOVED reading equine ears and expressions and body language (sometimes even accurately!) to determine how or if I should move to show them the way out.
Come out, baby!: a few colts tried shortcuts behind the gate instead of in front
How did this happen?
A local tribe thinning its herds agreed to give these horses to Jill Starr's LifeSavers Horse Rescue instead of sending them to slaughter. Volunteers and donors did the rest. And I hope blessings are showered on them with the same selflessness.
Hearts for Horses: Rod Rondeaux (he adopted two horses & you can see him in "Cowboys & Aliens") ,
photographer Cat Kindsfather, Jill Starr and Suzi Landolphi of LifeSavers.
Hugs to all,
Terri
This just in . . .
CONTEST RESULTS!
Hey guys!I am Amelia Perrin and I am a youth ambassador for Return to Freedom, I'm going to announce the winners of the naming contest for the Sliver King mustang mare and foal who have been rescued by Return to Freedom.
First, let me tell you that the baby is a little colt., He and his mom are doing well in Return to Freedom's care. Here's a recent picture of the colt and you can see video here of when he and his mom saw their stallion Galahad for the first time after they were separated in a BLM roundup.
Back to the names: it was a very hard choice because there were SO MANY great suggestions. But we decided on:
Hope for the mom because we have hope that the mustangs will have a better future. Shelby Kempf suggested this name.
Sterling for the colt because it is a very pretty name and he is a very pretty boy who will one day grow up to be a beautiful, proud stallion. Elizabeth (of email "lizzypokeman") suggested this name.
We also would like to give an honorable mention for Natasha P, who suggested Hope for the foal, thinking he was a filly. She wrote, " 'Hope', because she will be the first of a new generation of horses for a hopeful future. I pray that someday we may end the hurt being inflicted to wild horses and that through this success man will learn to save all animals because we belong together in this world."
We agree with that!
Shelby, Elizabeth and Natasha, would you email us your mailing addresses please?
Thanks everyone and let's keep working to help the mustangs!! You can learn more about Return to Freedom's Youth Campaign here.
Love,
Amelia and the horses :)
Wow, I know this is not what Mr. Sullivan, our substitute math teacher, meant by make up a quiz. Maybe I'm too full of candy hearts to think straight, but I know Jen will laugh when she reads this, so I'll do my homework later. I mean, why can't horses be part of Valentine's Day, too?
Where is Terri Farley?
February 25-26, 2011
Nevada State Reading Conference
Reno, NV
March 3-5, 2011
Young Writers Conference
Boise, Idaho!
March 17, 2011
Vacaville Library
Hooked on Horses!
Vacaville, CA
April 9, 2011
Terri Farley, Story Book House, Dallas!
The Texas Rangers Foundation and The Story Book House bookshop is partnership with The
Arlington Chamber of Commerce for a speaker series of the best Children's Authors and
Illustrators to benefit The Arlington Public Library.
Thursday, April 29th
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Hooked on Horses at Sparks Library, Sparks Nevada
June 10, 2010
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
SCBWI workshop & available for limited school visits
Buy Phantom Stallion
Terri's books are available for KINDLE!
Phantom Stallion books are available
at your local bookstore and online at
Amazon.com,
Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound.org
