Dear Jack, 

Today, American Wild Horse Conservation is launching Hold the Line — a yearly organizational commitment to vigilance, accountability, and action to ensure America’s wild horse protections are upheld as intended.

Wild horses are federally protected icons. That protection must be more than words on paper — it must be honored in practice.

Over the past year, we have listened closely to our community of advocates, sanctuaries, rescues, and supporters. We have heard growing concern about agency conduct that undermines the spirit and letter of wild horse protections. We share that concern and refuse to accept it as “business as usual.”

Hold the Line is our response.

Each year, this initiative focuses on a specific area where heightened oversight is required. Last year, this was the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Adoption Incentive program. In 2026, our focus is the BLM’s Sale Authority — a program that acts as an off-ramp out of federal protection, leaving wild horses vulnerable the moment they are sold.

When safeguards are weak, wild horses pay the price — losing their freedom, their families, and in too many cases, their lives.

This is not a moment. It is a mandate.

This campaign is about holding the line, collectively — ensuring accountability from the agencies entrusted with the care and management of wild horses, and protecting these animals from practices that place them in harm’s way.

More details will follow in the weeks ahead, including how advocates, partners, and the public can stand with us.

For now, know this:

We are watching. We are listening. And we are taking action.

— American Wild Horse Conservation