I am sure everyone here is very concerned with keeping their own horses safe from the fierce heat as much as possible this summer so that they don't suffer. This is all-important as a horse’s body heats up 10 times faster than a human body. Professor Michael Lindiger, an animal and exercise physiologist at the University of Guelph says:

“It only takes 17 minutes of moderate intensity exercise in hot humid weather to raise a horse’s temperature to dangerous levels. That’s 3 to 10 times faster than in humans. Horses feel the heat much worse than we do.” (Quoted in the July edition of Horseback magazine).

This is why we should consider the wild horses which need our help, as they are also experiencing these dangerous heat-related problems. I have recently signed this petition, below, addressed to Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior, regarding the horses and burros in Palomino Valley Centre in Nevada, near Reno, and a few other places. The captive wild horses and burros, around 1,800 of them, at Palomino Valley are trapped in corrals with no shelter from the terrible heat and their condition is worsening. The corrals are federally funded, so the government needs to step in and help here.

This campaign is being led by Senator Mark Manendo and the Executive Director of Project Mustangs, Ann Novak. They have officially requested that shade be given to these horses, but the request was refused. The help offered in response to the request was inadequate - a sprinkler has been installed for the horses to cool down but these animals also need shelters to be built, to avoid the full sun exposure that is deadly to them. The organisation Native Wild Horse Protection has offered to donate the materials and labour to build shelters, but for some reason this generous offer was declined. This has caused an outcry and now campaigns such as Palomino Relief Project,#GiveUsShelter and #Shade4Mustangs have been started to achieve this end, and are gaining momentum.

Here is the petition, which I am sure you will all want to sign to give what support you can:

http://www.change.org/petitions/bring-emergency-shade-for-captive-wild-horses-and-burros?utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

Hope you got something from this blog, and I appreciate your votes and comments.

Picture courtesy of www.petnewsandviews.com