David Hesse and Montana Sky participated in a mounted police training clinic
put on by at Wills Park in Alpharetta, GA. There were 15 participants in
this activity where the horse and rider were put through riding formation
drills as well as extraction of emergency vehicles in a crowd situation.
Smoke bombs, flares, blank .357 rounds, sirens and speakers blared and tarps
flapped in the wind as the horse and rider were expected to stay focused on
their job without "spooking". A great training experience for both the
horse and rider. David Hesse said he "recommends this clinic to everyone
who is interested in learning how to keep their horse under control in tense
and potentially dangerous situations". He also has a greater appreciation
of what mounted police are put through during crowd control and how tiring a
job it is. It is to their credit that they can maintain a cool personna
while dealing with drunks and others after working on horseback for 14 hours
a day. Not an easy thing to ask. For anyone interested in finding out
about upcoming training clinics, log onto www.mountedpolice.com.

Both houses of Congress approved identical provisions this October that
would bar the Agriculture Department from inspecting horse meat, effectively
banning the sale of such meat for human consumption. This provision
provides momentum for legislation that will make the horse slaughter ban
permanent.
About 65,000 horses are slaughtered each year in the U.S. to be made into
food for humans. Texas and Illinois are the only two states that slaugher
horses, which are processed for human consumption overseas. Texas law
dating to 1949 has banned the slaughter of horses for consumption but
operators of the slaughterhouses have argued that the law does not apply to
them because they are selling the meat in France, Belgium and other
countries and they are regulated by federal interstate commerce laws. A
federal judge ruled in favor of the slaughterhouse plants and prohibited
authorities from shutting them down.
The effort to ban horse slaughter drew new momentum after 41 wild horses
were killed at the Illinois packing plant under a new law allowing the
government to sell horses and burros roaming free on public lands in the
western states.
For further information go to www.AHDF.org American Horse Defense Fund.

We are in need of some volunteers to help in feeding the horses. Even
though we call them wild horses, they are quite tame. Each wild horse has
her own stall where she is fed. If you, or someone you know, might be
interested in helping, please have them contact us at 404-667-7393, or
mustangdave@mustangrescue.com.

The Mustang and Wild Horse Rescue and Training Center of Georgia