They shoot horses, don’t they?

Toronto – The activists behind Save the Mustangs will have to act quickly when their one-hour doc about the plight of American wild horses is finished later this year. They don’t plan to be done until November and the steeds they’re trying to save are scheduled to be slaughtered in January. Not much time to relocate 8,000 or so ‘untamable’ broncos to opposite ends of North America.

‘Our motto is, we can’t save them all, but we can save them one at a time,’ says executive producer Alberta Botha.

The doc is a pro bono project by Botha and others to encourage the adoption and relocation of wild mustangs that, because of some last-minute lawmaking in Washington, DC, may soon be put to death. Until recently the mustangs were protected against herding and hunting by U.S. federal law which, in 1971, declared that they were ‘living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.’ But late last year legislators introduced an exception – allowing that horses more than 10 years old, and certain others, can be sold ‘without limitations.’ Activists fear that the 8,400 horses affected by the law, which goes into effect next year, will be sold for slaughter.

Botha, of Toronto ad house Primitive Pictures, is working with producer/codirector Rob Davidson and noted ‘horse whisperer’ Randy Bird. The doc is meant to demonstrate that the notoriously difficult mustangs can be trained. The team brought eight horses from Wyoming into Canada earlier this year – the first of their kind ever allowed to leave the U.S. – and are filming the training process. Michael Davidson, who made a one-hour doc about Bird just last year, also directs and will edit.

It is hoped that broadcasts and screenings during the horse show season will prompt adoptions. Activists are also looking to relocate horses to a 65,000-acre sanctuary in Arizona. The doc is set for the U.S. digichannel HorseTV but no Canadian broadcaster or distributor has signed on. Sean Davidson