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Please Reply to: Tom Hebert tlhmavrick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Folks:
Those of us who own and ride Spanish Mustangs have long looked forward to an 
action movie about them, our horses being the original horse of the American 
west. When it came, this wonderful movie "Hidalgo" came with a footnote: the 
owner and rider of Hidalgo --Frank Hopkins--may better be described as 
legendary, not true-life. We now don't know if he ever made the long rides he 
has been credited with. I personally think he did, at least some of them, but 
most of us now say, hey, despite 72 years of agreement, legitimate doubts have 
been raised about him and we may have been blind-sided by the truth.

It is hard to give up on Frank, however. Please go to frankhopkins.com and read 
what the man wrote (under Articles), which only came to light after this 
middling controversy began. Hell, we never knew this good stuff existed. It 
doesn't sound like a conman at work. It sounds like a man who knew how to get 
the most out of an endurance horse. See if it doesn't survive your vet check. 
And undeniably, even by the mean-spirited enemies of Frank Hopkins who are now 
pursuing Hopkins into his grave (in particular, an American convert to Islam by 
name of CuCuchulaine O'Reilly aka Asadullah Khan who runs the Long Riders' 
Guild), Frank Hopkins played a major role in saving the American Spanish 
Mustang from full and total destruction. He was a champion of these horses at 
the turn of the century, when they had very few friends.

And is anyone doubting that a Spanish Mustang can take on Arabians? Ask Don 
Funk who keeps on keepin' on a Spanish Mustang stallion. Increasing numbers of 
Spanish Mustangs are passing Arabians in sanctioned endurance races each year. 
Our ponies are as good as yours. Not better than, as good as. Just keep looking 
in your rearview mirrors, folks. If we can find the young kids to start 
training our horses (which since the Indian wars and the building of the West 
have not been much campaigned), we will be dogging Arabian heels from here on 
out, making the world just a little more diverse and fun and authentic.

Anyway, please read the following letter to the editor of  the LA Times in 
response to that paper's attack on Hidalgo and Frank Hopkins. It contains new 
first-hand information:

The Editor, The LA Times:

Regarding your story: Long Trail of Lies by Bobbie Jo Lieberman

Why the fuss over Hidalgo, the story of a man and a mustang horse
who together attempt the impossible?  A movie that has not even been released? 
Why are we suddenly pre-judging a film by a screen writer with a body of work 
that  includes the controversial Thunderheart, the story of FBI murder on the 
Lakota reserve. A story bravely told of a truth that is hard to look at.

So who is attacking the movie Hidalgo and why?

The reason may not be as noble as the detractors would have you believe. It is 
a publicity stunt. Plain and simple.

The movie Hidalgo is being targeted  to create controversy in order to
generate sales for a series of print-on-demand books, including a just
released book bearing  the same title as the movie Hidalgo.

By biting the same hand  that they are begging to feed them, the
detractors of the movie are simply trying to cash in on a share of the
profits by relentlessly, tirelessly attacking Disney, the movie, the
screenwriter and anyone else in their path.

And so, who am I to speak ?

Between 1969-73 my husband and I rode horses 24,000 kilometers up the three 
Americas, including one hundred days across the longest and driest desert on 
earth, the Atacama of Chile.

The details of our ride form part of the database of The Long Riders
Guild. Which is just that: a database, not a member  association as the
OÕReillys would have the public believe.

There is a book out: "Riding Into The wind on Horseback Out of Patagonia" - for 
details please go to www.ridingintothewind.com.
Our family run a horse ranch in northwestern BC. We log with horses, we have a 
summer horsemanship program that draw students from all over the US and Canada, 
we breed, train  and sell quality horses. For details go to www.ststables.com

I have been aware of the Hopkins  research since early on and I was
recruited by the OÕReillyÕs as an expert witnessÕ. Like the author of
your story, at first I swallowed their arguments hook, line and sinker.

However, the research has turned into a campaign that is vicious and
entirely self serving. and entirely off the mark according to the
numerous rebuttals on the IMDB message boards to postings by various synonyms 
to the OÕReillys and their Long riders Guild.

I would have assumed that a  publication such as yours would have taken a more 
professional approach. I can only trust that you will follow with a look at the 
other side of the story.

Sincerely yours,

Elly Foote

e-mail STstable1@xxxxxxx

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