American Mustang

Meet A Mustang & See American Mustang

Thursday, September 18, 2014 - 4:00pm to 8:00pm
  • Library Hall

Bud Werner Memorial Library & Yampatika present a special evening for wild horses.

4-6 p.m. Meet Odakota, a mustang who was adopted from Northwest Colorado's Sand Wash Herd

Odakota (Sioux for friend) is a six-year-old wild horse who was adopted in October 2008 by Steamboat Springs resident Nancy Roberts. He was gathered by the Bureau of Land Management out of the Sand Wash Basin, northwest of Craig, and offered up for auction at the Moffat County Fair Grounds. Nancy adopted him and has been riding this gentle giant throughout the region ever since. Nancy will be outside the Yampa River entrance of the library with Odakota from 4-6 p.m., where you can meet the mustang, ask questions, and learn from a variety of folks will be on hand to introduce the public to our local Sand Wash Herd and the issues faced by these wild horses that live on our public lands.

6:30 p.m. See American Mustang, a new documentary film about a girl, a cowboy and a wild horse.

In an artful blend of exquisite nature documentary and character-driven narrative, American Mustang reveals the majestic wild horses of the American West as never before. The wonder in a girl’s eye pulls us into the drama that unfolds on hundreds of millions of acres of public land. Battle lines have long been carved into the landscape, and the players are deeply entrenched. Yet, as the subtle choreography that has evolved over thousands of years begins, we are captivated. The intricate dance between a man and a wild horse presents lessons for us all, even the battle-hardened special interest groups fighting for the place of the American mustang.

"Narrated by actress and activist, Daryl Hannah, American Mustang is, in turns, sweeping and intimate; a visually stunning love song and call to action." ~ Denver Post

Run time: 72 min.

The Issue
There are more mustangs being held in captivity than allowed to live free in the wild. The struggle to protect wild horses from excess roundups has been raging for decades between the Bureau of Land Management, cattle ranchers and wild horse activists who are at odds in a battle for land use rights in which the horses often come out the loser.

The 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act designates public land for the protection of wild horses, however since its passage, more than 270,000 wild horses and burros have been removed from public lands by the BLM. Ranchers insist that federal land used for cattle and sheep grazing is threatened by the grazing habits of wild horses. But wild horse activists argue that cattle outnumber horses on federal land 50 to 1, and since 1971 their protected land has shrunken by 40%.