Her name is Now Beautiful Woman Who Stands.
According to Karen Sussman, from the International Society for the protection of Mustangs and Burros (ISPMB) she is one of the horses made famous by a gather accident in 2008. Photographer Carol Walker was on hand that day when the herd of the Sand Wash Basin were gathered. Carol provided permission for the painting of this horse from some of her reference photos.
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| Beautiful Woman Who Stands 5 by 7 inch watercolor by LindaLMartin, Artist |
As I understand it, and from looking at the photos, the horses were collected and separated with a number being funneled by a series of chutes into trailers for removal. One yearling stopped and tried to turn away from the trailer. The young horse was stuck cross-wise in the cute, blocking the way. So Beautiful Woman doing the only thing she could to keep from running over the young horse went up in the air and caught her chin on a support pole. Another bay mare beside her also tried not run over the young horse trapped sideways in the chute. In order to move aside her legs went dangerously outside between of the poles of the chute fence.
The horses behind were driven forward as the two mares struggled to detangle themselves. Unfortunately Beautiful Woman lost her balance and was trampled. It was a highly controversial and highly publicized accident. Somehow Beautiful Woman managed to survive without life altering injury.
Even though this Sand Wash Basin Mare had more publicity than most wild horses, when she was offered for adoption no one stepped forward. She was scheduled to go to long term holding as a result. So on National Adoption Day the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, headed by Karen Sussman adopted her. She arrived at the Societies’ property, located on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota, on January 13, 2010. Beautiful Woman who Stands, now lives happily at the Society’s Interpretive Center where she greets visitors as they arrive. She spends most of her time just being a horse. The ISPMB not only adopts horses like Beautiful Woman and keeps them in Sanctuary, They also magage three distint herds and operate an eco-tourism facility in South Dakota.
When I first heard of this mare from The Sand Wash Basin, who was adopted by ISPMB, I was very interested in finding out more about this organization. From their website and a conversation with Karen, I discovered that this Is the original organization founded around the work by Velma Johnston, who we all knew as “Wild Horse Annie”. In fact they have a newly published book that you can purchase called “Wild Horse Annie and The Last of The Mustangs” about the Life of Velma Johnston. The book is by David Cruise and Alison Griffiths and can be purchased right off their sight. http://www.ispmb.org/about/wild-horse-annie/ Money from the purchase of the book helps to fund the ongoing projects of the ISPMB.
A portion of the proceeds from this painting, Beautiful Woman Who Stands, will benefit www.ispmb.org
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