SYNOPSIS:
Wild Horses tells the story of Mills, an established photographer, who returns to her native Nevada following an urgent call from her grandmother informing her that a band of wild horses close to their hearts, faces government roundup.
Cruelty, courage, love and memory collide as two generations of women bear witness to the brutality common to wild horse roundups in the American West.
In this story, that spans one day, Mills is exposed to a complex issue and follows hear heart, choosing to ignore the consequences.
THE ISSUE:
Wild Horses have long been a symbol of our Western heritage. At the beginning of the 20th century, more than two million wild horses roamed the American West. Today, there are more wild horses in captivity than there are in the wild. Thousands of horses are sent to Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses every year. As you read, the roundups continue and dozens of herds are being forever removed from their lands.
In 1971 The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted to halt the disappearance of these iconic animals from public lands in the American West. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was entrusted to oversee their management. Claiming damage to the range, the BLM has removed hundreds of thousands of horses from public lands with evident designs to benefit the extractive and the livestock industries, which are in constant need of more land for exploitation. In the midst of this scramble for land and money are the nation’s wild horses. They have no powerful lobbyists in Washington to aid them in their struggle for survival.
We can change the course of events before these majestic animals are mismanaged into extinction. Wild Horses seeks to add another voice to the cause for the preservation of the Mustangs. For close to a decade, Stephanie Martin has wanted to make a movie that draws attention to this issue. Wild Horses is as much a cry for the preservation of wild horses as it is about the moments in our lives where we discover what's really important and make decisions that change everything. We wish to share this film with those who want to fight for the defense of wild horses. Our goal is to shed light on the issue of roundups, keep horses in the wild, and contribute to their lasting protection.