Legendary singer Willie Nelson is lending his voice to the effort to protect America's horses.

Proceeds from the exclusive release of the Rolling Stones' classic "Wild Horses," performed and produced by Nelson and his family members, will benefit wild and domestic horses, the Animal Welfare Institute says.

AWI says Nelson is a long-time supporter of the organization and its efforts to end horse slaughter and preserve the right of wild horses to roam free.

"The BLM has been rounding them up at an alarming rate, supposedly for their own good," said Nelson. "Sadly, there are more wild horses in holding pens than in the wild. Something is wrong with that, so we must act now before the BLM has managed these magnificent animals into extinction. "It's time for the cowboys to stand up for the horses."

Nelson and AWI are asking the BLM and the Obama administration to halt wild horse round-ups, restore the land provided by law to wild horses and to stop warehousing horses on private lands at even greater expense to the taxpayer.

For more information about the problems facing wild horses, visit www.awionline.org/wildhorses.

To download your own copy of Willie & The Nelson Family singing "Wild Horses," visit www.awionline.org/willienelson  You can download a copy from your favorite service such as iTunes and CDBaby.