Part of: Ben Masters oral history (2 objects)
Ben Masters oral history - Ben Masters oral history
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- OK, Ben, just resuming
- where we were before.
- We were talking about the
- management of these mustangs
- in the West and the
- frustrations that you
- have had with them and some of the
- proponents.
- And I was curious if you have
- anything that you'd like to add
- while we're on that topic.
- Well, I think that
- is one of those deals where
- the, the issue is so
- complex,
- and the finger pointing game
- is always out there,
- and
- it can be
- sometimes tempting, I think, to
- blame the animals for a lot of the
- ecological destruction that's
- happening.
- But it's not them.
- Like most animals, the are going to
- do what they need to do to
- make a living, like all of us.
- And they're not
- the ones to blame.
- It's,
- it's our,
- I think, our
- inability
- oftentimes, as a society,
- to be, as a society, to be proactive
- about good management, good land
- management decisions,
- and instead to be reactive
- and only act during crises.
- But
- if you want to help out
- that issue, there
- is an organization based here
- in Georgetown called the Mustang
- Heritage Foundation, that
- you can donate money to and they'll
- help get horses adopted, or
- you can contact them and you can
- adopt your own horse, if you have
- land, if you
- are interested in getting a wild
- horse.
- I mean, they could be awesome,
- awesome horses.
- I've got five of them.
- I've got a little girl that's 15
- months old. She rides one around.
- Like they're super gentle.
- They're great horses,
- after they've had enough
- training.
- But
- yeah, you can, you can help out the
- issue, especially on an individual
- level.
- That's kind of where I left the,
- that particular topic
- is, I realized that, at the
- end of the day, for things to change
- with wild horse and burro,
- it's going to have to be at a very
- high political level
- and not,
- you know, some 20 year old kid
- with a dream wanting to ride horses
- across the country to change
- the world.
- That's what happened, so I moved on
- to other things.
- Well, let's talk
- about those things that you've moved
- on to do. I know you've got "Deep
- in the Heart,
- you know, in the, in post-production
- now. Can you talk a little bit about
- where that is at, and maybe
- any upcoming projects
- you've been thinking about?
- Yeah, so right now, we're three
- years into production for a film
- called "Deep in the Heart", which
- is a Planet
- Earth type of movie where it's
- just wildlife with
- narration behind it that's
- showcasing a lot of the really
- spectacular species
- that we have here in Texas, as
- well as some of the big,
- some of the big issues that we have
- here in the state.
- And we're wrapping
- up the edit, and it'll be out in
- a handful of months, in April.
- Very exciting.
- And do you have space
- in your mind to think about things
- beyond that - new
- film project or book projects?
- Oh yeah, I always got something
- cooking.
- We're launching straight into a
- 50-minute film for ocelots,
- for PBS Nature.
- Very nice.
- Yeah. Just curious where this
- ocelot film would be shot, is this
- mostly in South Texas and northern
- Mexico or beyond?
- Yeah, it's going to focus on the
- Texas population.
- So we're going to be down,
- down in the Port Mansfield area,
- down there in the brush.
- Great.
- Well, I wish you the best with that.
- I'm so glad you're documenting all
- this, and telling these stories, and
- reaching out to people.
- That's so important.
- Well, you've been kind to talk
- to us today. Is there anything you'd
- like to add about
- about your life to-date?
- You're just a young man, but you've
- done a lot and particularly
- if there are any insights about
- mustangs that that you might leave
- this with.
- You know, I think I think I went
- through it all,
- pretty well.
- Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity
- to be on. I can't think of anything
- that's really at the top
- of my mind to
- leave as a final note.
- OK, we'll just have to watch your
- movies.
- Thank you very much, Ben.
- It's always a pleasure to cross
- paths with you and learn what you're
- up to.
- Thank you.
- Likewise, my friend, you keep,
- keep making history.
- I listen to other people making
- history, but I appreciate
- your kind words.
- All right, have a good one.
- All right. Bye, Ben.