As an opinionated person who has always marched to the right of the center line, I’m somewhat used to being controversial.
For example: I loved horses from an early age in a family where no ancestors had anything to do with a horse, except for one used one to pull a plow. I grew up in a time when going to college was the accepted thing to do. I opted to attend equestrian school. To my knowledge, my move from Long Island to Missouri was the first for my family in generations. When my children were young, I home schooled under threats they would become socially inept.
After we adopted Reno, our wild horse, I took a deep dive into his background. Over several years, I researched the history of the horses, read biographies of Wild Horse Annie, and learned about the 1971 Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act. And I explored the pet food industry, particularly the role of Ken L Ration in destroying wild horses.
Study of the BLM and the subsequent government subsidy system of leasing America’s land to ranchers for pennies, proved the cost of keeping wild horses in long and short term holding needlessly wastes tax payer dollars. The animals are mishandled and treated deplorably all for the sake of ranchers who want cheap ways to make money at tax payer expense. The wild horses are victims of prejudice and poor management of the American people's land and resources. It made no sense in my mind that the horses belonging to the American people could not live on land belonging to the same.
I listened in on BLM meetings with ranchers and horse advocates. I had countless arguments with individuals who considered the horses a blight on the land. Clearly the ranchers believed that government subsidy was their right, while the tax payers paid through the nose for the rancher to receive cheap rent, and for an agency that failed to take care of our horses.
No matter what I did or who I spoke to, it was obvious one person could not help the horses. When I could no longer bear the horror stories, witness the videos, or listen to the fool horse haters who want the horses wiped out, I turned away.
But I still had Reno and couldn’t forget what he’d been through. And what continues to happen with the wild horses today.
So, I decided to let Kristi Trevisano tell the wild horse story in Where the Wild Ones Roam. The nice thing about writing fiction is that your heroines can do the things you could not.
Kristi’s life is organized and everything she does has purpose. Her mom is an archaeologist and Kristi has spent time camping in remote places photographing natural phenomenon. She chose nursing for her career because fit with her wilderness skills. On any given day, it would be hard for her to choose whether she loves the horses or photography best. By her mom’s association with Monty, and through his connections, Kristi is awarded a grant to photo-document Snowflake’s wild herd. Both she and Monty are invested in her finishing the documentary before the grant runs out. Kristi has everything in her life under control until Bob Clayton wants to be more than friends.
Although the settings are changed, the incidences that occur with the wild horses in Where the Wild Ones Roam are based on truth. The figures about lease prices and gold were accurate at the time I wrote the story.
In her personal growth, Kristi learns you cannot schedule every event in your life, nor can you schedule love.
My goal in writing Where the Wild Ones Roam is to provide entertainment and a swoon-worthy romance while making readers aware of the plight of the wild horse. Kristi does the heavy lifting and I don’t have to argue with the wild horse haters.
Or so I thought.
I rotate my books through TikTok videos to give all the stories fair exposure. Each time Where the Wild Ones Roam comes up in the cycle, someone will tell me the horses are starving to death and need to be removed from the land, something that isn’t true. Or they tell me they aren’t wild horses. They are feral and need to betaken off the range because they take the food belonging to the natural wildlife. In reality, there are currently 73,520 federally protected wild horses, and millions of cattle and sheep on 26.9 million acres of public land.
At first, my pulse pumped and my blood boiled at these comments. I hated fighting the same old arguments. For a while, I defended the horses and cited observations from on-the-scene wild horse advocates and from current round-up videos. I’d point out that the 1971 Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros declared the horses wild. This resulted in more rebuttals to my comments. And while engagement on TikTok videos makes the algorithm happy, I know arguing with the ignorant over a volatile topic serves no one.
Now I ask commentators, “Have you read my book?” I’ve never gotten an answer.
The battle over the wild horses has waged since the 1800s, when ranchers believed they owned the animals on their land. In those times, they turned out ranch stock to breed with the wild horses. They gathered them for training and work.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, thousands of wild horses were sent to Europe as war horses. In the 1920s thru the 1950s, tens of thousands of wild horses were ground up for Ken L Ration dog food. Later they were ground up for fertilizer. The wild horse has always been persecuted and I suspect he always will be.
When you expound on a controversial topic, you must be ready for backlash. The comment that stung most was non-verbal from the person who gave the book a 1 star on Goodreads. But I guess that’s one way to make a point. It took a while for the good reviews to make up for the 1 star.
Writing Where the Wild Ones Roam, and then defending the wild horses, is worth every minute I’ve spent at my computer. I’m delighted when the story takes readers on a journey filled with adventure and a swoony romance while sharing the wild horses’ plight.
If my story stirs up controversy, my mission of bringing the wild horses' condiiton into focus works.
Barbara, a marvelous post. I especially like your question “Have you read my book?” I think that would be a good question for me to ask. I write historical fiction set in the time of the Bible and sometimes hear that it’s wrong to add or subtract from the Bible. Which, of course, I’m not doing. I’m telling a story of characters living through times written about in the Bible. I’m careful to affirm the truth of scripture. So I’ll rememember to ask that question next time. 🙂
Hi Dana,
Thank you so much for your comment. I’m glad you liked the article. I’m laughing because I have to admit it took me a while to realize I should ask that question instead of just reacting. Some subjects are hot buttons that people want to express their opinion on without actually understanding the topic or post. Knee jerk reactions never go well. I admire your for writing Biblical Historical fiction. Barbara
Barbara, your passionate about these beautiful creatures and it shows in your writing! Keep up the good work!
Cathy,
Thank you so much for your comment and for reading my writing. I appreciate it more than words can say. Barbara