Wendy Harvey, of Hope, is no stranger to the plight of the American Mustang. She spent most of last winter and spring gentling and training a wild roan mustang from the Wyoming plains. It was all part of the Extreme Mustang Makeovers, a nationwide effort to raise awareness of America’s wild horses and find them homes, as their grazing territory continues to shrink.

By August, Freedom, the traumatized mustang, had blossomed under Harvey’s quiet and persistent touch. At the Extreme Makeover competition in Massachusetts, Harvey took Freedom to 10th place in a contest that inspires the best in horse trainers.

Freedom came back to her new home in Hope, and by Thanksgiving, she was one of the herd at Equine Connections, where Harvey boards and trains horses, and teaches people not only horsemanship, but how to build healthier relationships between humans and equines.

“I am devoted to the business of helping horses,” she said.

She is particular concerned about the American Mustang, whose habitat has shrunk, as the industries of oil, gas and cattle have driven those wild horses into the violent round-ups. Those wild horses are pushed in captivity in order to get them off open land. Some perish in those round-ups. Many get trucked to slaughter houses in Mexico for money. Others spend the rest of their days in cramped, substandard corrals.

A few, very few, like Freedom, find the grace of humans such as Harvey.

“Something has to change in the way the Bureau of Land Management is operating,” said Harvey. “The numbers culled are way too high. And they way they are being rounded up is inhumane.”

There is politics and there is plain greed at work on publicly held land, and Harvey is determined to change it.

On Friday morning, Harvey will talk about the American mustang, and the respect and care that all horses deserve.

About the American Mustang

According to the Foundation, there are approximately 36,000 free-roaming wild Mustangs and burros in 10 western states. Many are descendants of wild horses transported to the Americas by by Spanish explorers and missionaries in the 16th Century.

“More than two million wild horses and burros are reported to have roamed the west by the late 1800s,” the Foundation said. “By the early 1900s, competition intensified between wild horses and cattle, sheep, fences, farms, and ranches for the remaining open range. Wild horse population plummeted as tens of thousands of animals were rounded up for use as draft animals, saddle stock, military mounts, food or to reduce competition with domestic livestock for limited forage, water and space.”

In the 1960s, many were brutally rounded up and sold to rendering plants.

After the event, the schooled mustangs are then auctioned and adopted. In 2012, through these various events, the Mustang Foundation saw 561 horses adopted.

If you have any questions or comments on the day of broadcast, call between 8 and 9 a.m., 207-594-0721, or email Chris Wolf before or during the show at TheChrisWolfShow@gmail.com. We hope to see you listening, watching and commenting!

VIDEO: To watch the show live, go to MaineCoast.tv/streaming or watch later on Channel 7. Maine Coast TV is located on Time Warner Channel 7 on converter boxes and set top boxes and on Channel 121-7 on digital TVs without set top boxes. The broadcast is available to all Time Warner subscribers in Knox County, Maine, including the islands of North Haven and Vinalhaven. And the recorded show will be available afterwards onwww.MaineCoast.tv web site.

AUDIO: To listen to the show, WRFR 99.3 FM Camden or 93.3 FM Rockland, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday shows with news from PenBayPilot.com. Or, stream the audio live WRFR.org or TuneIn.com athttp://tunein.com/radio/Radio-Free-Rockland-933-s14055/ or on the TuneIn app or your iPhone or Android.

The Chris Wolf Show is a joint project of PenBay Pilot, WRFR FM Community Radio and Maine Coast TV Community Television.

Views and opinions expressed on The Chris Wolf Show are not necessarily those of penbaypilot.com, wrfr Community radip, maincoast.tv, Channel 7 its affiliates and sponsors.