About Denise F. Brown - Author and Artist


About Denise Brown - Author, Illustrator and Horse Admirer

Abenaqui - Trail of Painted Ponies Horse

Denise was a finalist in the Trail of Painted Ponies
Art Contest. Here she is with her pony Abenaqui
entered as "Indian Pony Life Story"

I grew up next to several horse farms in New Hampshire, took riding lessons, and have sketched and painted horses all my life. I was never able to have my own horse, but I have always had a soft spot in my heart for them. Being an equine artist has allowed me to stay in touch with horses and horse people.

More of my artwork can be viewed at www.raccoonstudios.com

During my research about mustangs while writing this story, I discovered the troubling and haunting reality behind the capture and treatment of wild horses.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of wild mustangs and burros are being legally harvested, chased and harassed by mustangers and helicopter pilots; hot shot, branded, and placed in holding pens with no shelter (often for years); and only given a few chances of adoption. If not adopted, they are sold and transported via crammed trailers across the United States' borders to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. They are then killed and processed into horse meat which ends up in Europe and Japan for human consumption.

Some horses are poisoned by cattle ranchers, others are abused and neglected by owners who cannot take care of them due to a troubled economy. Rescue shelters and organizations across the country have joined the fight to help save them. However, stronger legislation and enforcement is needed to protect the wild mustangs and burros from terrible fates.

In a perfect world, the mustangs placed in the overcrowded holding pens would be vaccinated and immediately returned to the public lands to live free forever. However, the current laws do not offer this option. The multi-faceted slaughterhouse debate will continue unless it is banned forever.

That is why I have joined the public outcry to rescue these horses from inhumane treatment and slaughter. I hope to educate people about the plight of the mustang and their potential elimination forever from public lands.

You can help, too. Share this story with your friends and family. Write a
letter to your Congressman to vote to protect the horses from a
slaughterhouse. Volunteer at or donate to an animal rescue center, or adopt a wild horse or burro if you have a farm or ranch.

Denise

Special thanks
for helping the author
proof and edit this book go to
Loretta Brown,
John O'Sullivan,
and
Laura Brown

This time, it's personal
by Jeanné McCartin, Seacoast Online March 15, 2012

Denise Brown, Raccoon Studios, (painter, and author/illustrator of "Ted the Cat"), just released "Wind, The Story of a Wild Horse Rescue."

"I've designed books a lot for clients, so it was time for me to do my own," says Brown. "Wind" features more than 100 illustrations, paintings and sketched, most created in the past five months with some earlier works. "It's kind of an equine art book as well as an adventure book for anyone, but (certainly) for people that love horses and animals."

Brown's book focuses on the issues facing wild horses, including being shipped to slaughter outside the United States, and the current effort to reinstate slaughterhouses here.

"I wanted my art to be meaningful. It's like my whole life was geared toward this. I've always loved and drawn horses. ...; A percent (of sales) is going to horse rescue organizations. ...; So it's not so much to get my artwork out but to help the horses."

Brown will hold a signing at the Stratham N.H. SPCA on March 18. Declan Gregg, the Greenland 9-year-old who, on behalf of the horses, will gather and deliver letters to Congress, will also be in attendance. More on the book at:

and for special editing assistance from
Crystal Kent, freelance writer and owner of
Kent Creative, http://www.kentcreativeweb.com

and for an excellent pr article rewrite by
J. Dennis Robinson of SeacoastNH.com,
seacoast historian and writer...
and Dennis is a good friend too!

This time, it's personal by Jeanné McCartin, Seacoast Online March 15, 2012

This time, it's personal
by Jeanné McCartin, Seacoast Online March 15, 2012