Boomer

Boomer was our last official save of 2021 after the Giving Tuesday rescues. This is his story told by his adopter:

“I have a mustang gelding named Boomerang, who was removed from the wild for jumping into domestic corrals and breeding mares. He got the name Boomerang as they would drive him 20 miles out into the desert and he would be back in the corrals before they got home. No matter how far they took him away, he would always end up back. So he was captured. I saw a flyer for Boomer, a Virginia Range Mustang, and fell in love with him. Though I was a new horse owner, there was something about him, I felt I had to get him and save him from potential slaughter. I sent him to the best mustang trainers that I trust in our area, and they were able to do a lot with him. They let me know that he was a mustang who has a very wild heart, so I chose to end saddle training as I didn’t feel like it was what he wanted. We brought him home and in that time he has gone back and forth from being wild to allowing some handling. Two weeks ago he stomped my foot, and I have permanent damage in it now. He didn’t do it to be mean, but he spooked purposefully, something he does frequently. He spent two years in training, just trying to get him gentled enough to be touched, he also doesn’t get along with any other horses. Sadly I don’t feel safe around him anymore which is heartbreaking to me because I have poured so much into him. He is just a horse who wants to stay wild. I adore Boomer, and I do not give up easily, but after four years of doing my best I would love for him to go to a sanctuary where he can run wild and be in a herd.”

Boomer is a challenge, to say the least. He doesn’t read the social cues from other horses, which made finding him a friend difficult. We introduced him to one mustang after another, but he overwhelmed them all. Finally, we released him with some really wild boys, whom we hoped would be able to teach him some equine etiquette, but he ran them off the water holes and fractured Jalapeño’s leg - not a catastrophic injury, thankfully, but he had to come in for extensive care.

Boomer could be dangerous to other horses, people and dogs, so we put him in a pen by my house all by himself while we considered the next steps. To our amazement, this was exactly what Boomer wanted. Had he not liked it, he could have jumped the fence, but he loved having space that was all his own. For the first time, we saw him lie down to sleep deeply, even without a companion to stand watch. This living arrangement was exactly what he needed to settle down and settle in.

From this location, Boomer can keep his hooves on the pulse of Skydog. He sees other residents going back and forth from the barn. He hoots at the pretty mares as they trot by and smack talks the geldings. He races the feeding vehicles as they pass and runs circles, bucking with excitement, when the hay trucks arrive. When pretty Blue moved in with Read, his next door neighbor, Boomer loved to annoy him by flirting with his mare over the fence. Just when we thought he had everything he wanted, along came Libby.

Libby and Boomer knew each other from the ranch where he got into trouble jumping fences to be with the mares. After Boomer was removed, another wild stallion came a courting at the fence. When he stopped showing up for their fence-line trysts, Libby fell into depression. The woman who runs this ranch has done so much for so many mustangs over the years, but reached the point where she needed some help. We are assisting her with hoof care and brought Libby to Skydog.

When Libby walked by Boomer’s pen after getting out of quarantine, they recognized each other. We tried several different placements for her, including open spaces with wild bands, but she wanted to return to the pen near his. So we very carefully let them meet on neutral ground to avoid him feeling territorial about his turf. He displayed Flehmen’s response (a toothy grimace) as he memorized her scent, of which she gave him a good, long whiff. This reaction might appear to be a negative response, but in fact, he was processing the remedy he needed. In other words, it’s love!

Mustangs & Burros Need Your Help

In addition to supporting our work by donating, becoming a patron on Patreon, or sponsoring a Skydog, there are several important pieces of legislation to protect American equines currently moving through Congress. It only takes a few minutes to contact your Rep and Senators and urge them to support these bills:

Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2023 (H.R. 3475 in the House / S.2307 in the Senate). This bill will shut down the slaughter pipeline that sends some 20,000 American horses and donkeys to savagely monstrous deaths in foreign slaughterhouses every year.

The Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act of 2023 (H. R. 3656) This bill will prohibit the use of helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft in the management of wild mustangs and burros on public lands, and require a report on humane alternatives to current management practices.

Ejiao Act of 2023 (H.R. 6021). To ​​ban the sale or transportation of ejiao, a gelatin made from boiling donkey skins, or products containing ejiao in interstate or foreign commerce, which brutally kills millions of donkeys primarily for beauty products and Chinese medicine.

You can Contact Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121‬, submitting contact forms on their individual websites, or sending one email to all three simultaneously at www.democracy.io

See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at US canned hunt ranches, stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs, and defund the Adoption Incentive Program.