Craig Downer is a widely respected wildlife ecologist who has extensively studied the wild horses of the American West. He is a Cloud Foundation board member. Craig is known for his tireless efforts in advocating for the wild horses. His book “The Wild Horse Conspiracy” details how wild horses actually restore the ecosystem and outlines how they have been unfairly targeted for elimination.

“The Wild Horse Conspiracy” has been updated this year and is now available in both ebook or print form. A great way to order this book is by using Amazon Smile. When you go through Amazon Smile, you can select Habitat for Horses as the non-profit you wish Amazon to make a donation to without paying a dime extra. Get started by logging into Amazon Smile with your Amazon accouunt information at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/76-0586024. You will be asked if you wish to support Habitat for Horses, simply click Yes and then do a search for Craig Downer – The Wild Horse Conspiracy. For a limited time, his book is being offered at 50 percent off! A great read for yourself, as well as a great gift for the horse lover in your life.

From his biography on the Cloud Foundation website:

He has given speeches and written numerous articles and several books. His works are both popular and scientific, in English, Spanish and translated to German. Several of these concern wild horses, their ecological contribution, their North American evolutionary roots, their great natural and social value and their survival plight. He is a member of the World Conservation Union, Species Survival Commission and wrote the Action Plan for the mountain tapir (1997).

Craig is also a member of the American Society of Mammalogists. One of his books, entitled Wild Horses: Living Symbols of Freedom (1977), examines these magnificent animals from a variety of perspectives, stressing their need to live both freely and naturally in appropriate habitats of sufficient size for long-term viability. He frequently emphasizes how much is owed the horse, and by this he means the sharing of freedom on the land here in this world we share as home. Craig has also written a book of poetry Streams of the Soul (2005) containing several illustrated poems concerning wild horses, composes music, and plays the piano.

Craig’s speech “Forever Wild and Free” (Wild Horse Forum-2008) received a standing ovation and has been posted on several websites. He has also been a plaintiff and given expert testimony in several legal suits to restore wild horses and burros at viable population levels in their legal herd areas throughout the West. He is a 4th generation Nevadan and grew up with his best friend Poco, a tall chestnut stallion, with whom he had many adventures in the deserts and mountains of western Nevada and eastern California.

Craig has also given numerous talks throughout the country as an expert wild life ecologist for the wild horses and burros. In June 2013, he gave a presentation and submitted a professional paper in Portland, Oregon, at the International Interdisciplinary Environmental Conference. The title of the presentation distributed to international conference attendees is “The Horse and Burro as Positively Contributing Returned Natives in North America.”

In 2012, Craig published a long-awaited book, “The Wild Horse Conspiracy,” which justifies America’s magnificent wild horses and burros while countering the biased machinations against them. As an ecologist who grew up observing these animals in the West, Craig presents new evidence concerning their history and evolution in North America and then describes their many positive contributions to soils, plants, animals and people. Though true restorers of this continent’s ecosystem, Craig explains why they have been unfairly targeted for elimination.