About 100 people are expected to attend the second annual International Horse Rally in Carson City on Saturday, said organizer Patty Bumgarner of Dayton.
A musing on Facebook last year in which she wrote, “How I wish all states would get together on the same day and time and be heard as one voice,” led to a worldwide rally to protect wild horses. More than 40 states and three countries joined together in an effort to stop wild horse and burro round-ups, auctions and slaughters.
Now, Bumgarner said, it’s taken on a life of its own.
“I might have started these rallies last year, but it’s each and every one of the states and countries joining it to bring out the awareness,” she said. “They’re keeping our wild horses and burros free on the range where God intended them to live and die, like other wild animals.”
She said her group is working to stop the slaughter of horses in the United States and the sale of horses to other countries for slaughter.
“They don’t deserve it,” she said. “They belong on the range.”
During the rally, she said, a woman who has a Paiute basket from the 1800s will gift that basket to a representative from the Paiute tribe.
The rally will be from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday in front of the Nevada Legislature. Anyone interested in joining the rally should meet at 9:30 a.m. across the street from the Legislature to get posters and a briefing on protocol.
