Ellie Phipps Price—executive producer and co-writer of “American Mustang,” a film exploring the round-ups of wild horses by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—discusses her lifelong love of horses, which began in childhood.
She recalls when she first became aware of the round-ups, and that an essential part of that growing awareness was Deanne Stillman’s book “Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West.” She explains how she and her co-writer (and “American Mustang” producer) Henry Ansbacher decided weren’t interested in pursuing a conventional “talking heads” documentary. Instead, they preferred to fashion a film that blended elements of a doc with those of a feature narrative, involving a 14-year-old girl who’s enamored of horses, wild horse history 
(including the pioneering, pivotal Wild Horse Annie, who campaigned for various pieces of legislation that protected wild horses) and a newly-captured mustang that two cowboys are starting. Price notes that the BLM is a gigantic agency with an equally gigantic slate of responsibilities, including overseeing 245 million acres of land, and that improving the lot of wild horses does not appear to be a priority—for instance, taking the significant step of introducing birth control to the mustangs. She offers an explanation of how, lacking major distribution, the “American Mustang” team is relying on so-called Tugg screenings to get the film seen across the country, highlighting the Tampa screening Aug. 25 at the AMC Westshore 14, at the Westshore Plaza in Tampa. Tickets and info on screening: www.tugg.com/events/10265 (www.americanmustangthemovie.com, http://wildhorsepreservation.org)
ALSO: We paid tribute to Narobi, the rescue turned dressage champion, who had 
retired and become the companion at our house of Sir Jearly, the retired dressage champion we adopted a few years ago. On Saturday morning, Narobi apparently re-injured his leg and it was determined that there was no alternative but to euthanize him. Once the veterinarian arrived, Sir Jearly laid down near Narobi, joining the love circle that was saying farewell to this beautiful horse. R.I.P., Narobi.
COMEDY CORNER: Eddie Izzard’s “Horse Whisperer” (portion) (http://eddieizzard.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” John Doe’s “There’s A Black Horse,” Friends of Dean Martinez’s “All The Pretty Horses,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”
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