Saving America's Mustangs Float Gallops into Rose Parade

For the first time, Saving America's Mustangs, the foundation started by Madeleine Pickens to protect America's wild horses, will have a float in the Tournament of Roses Parade.

The 55-foot long and 35-foot high float is described by its designers as a patriotic representation of "the grandeur of the natural home of the endangered wild mustangs." The larger-than-life mustangs will be galloping down the parade route accompanied by members of every military branch, wounded warriors, canine war heroes, boys and girls scouts, and representatives from Native American tribes from across the country.

The float's theme is Mustang Monument, in honor of Pickens' proposed eco-sanctuary for horses. Here's her concept: Instead of leaving tens of thousands of wild horses — who have been rounded up from public lands — languishing in substandard, expensive government holding facilities, set them free in a sanctuary on their native range.

Saving America's Mustangs' float is a reminder to the parade's 54 million or so viewers of the place wild horses hold in our country's heritage, and it's a reminder to the Bureau of Land Management of how committed wild horse advocates are to protecting these animals.

Of course, no plan in the Wild West would be complete without grumbling ranchers. When it comes to Mustang Monument, there are plenty of those in the local government, but that hasn't deterred Pickens. Not much can. The Wall Street Journal called her "a force of nature" — she's fiercely dedicated to saving the mustangs and she has the money and strategy to do it.

Pickens envisions sanctuaries for at least 10,000 horses. She's already purchased 14,000 acres in Nevada for the first thousand or so horses she'd like to free from government facilities. "I'm sorry," she said, "but there's no putting this back in the bag." Now all she needs is the green light from the Bureau of Land Management. Tell the BLM that you support Pickens' plan.

You can also show your support by helping Saving America's Mustangs win the Tournament of Roses Viewer's Choice Award. Voting runs from 8:00 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. PST on January 1, 2011. You can vote online or text "FLOAT83" to 50649.

As they say, vote early and vote often ... No, really, you can vote up to five times for your float of choice (Hint: FLOAT83). This is a great opportunity to raise awareness for the horses and Mustang Monument.

Also, it would be unfortunate if Bayer's float won, considering the company was just exposed for knowingly poisoning honey bees. So, help the wild horses ride into the sunset with the national attention they deserve.

Photo credit: Dan Bock