fern

When we rescued the three Triple B mares GG, Ladybug, and Twiggy from the kill pen in Kansas, little did we know that one more of that herd was rounded up on the same day had landed in a kill pen in Louisiana. She is also a victim of the AIP and one of the dozens who have been dumped since the start of this ill-conceived “pay to slay” incentive program. This beautiful girl who we have named Bambi was rescued but then sadly left at the quarantine where she was unable to stay. We wanted to bring this girl to Oregon and reunite her with the first three mares and let her run free with them. Of course, the haul from Louisiana is very far and expensive. Thank you to every single person who donated for her haul and ongoing care for life and the wonderful Louisiana ladies who drove her here.

The splashy pinto with the white in her mane is Fern and her baby is Rebel. She is Dahlia’s daughter from 2018 so we have four generations of this family just like the Pine Nut family. Then there is beautiful Paisley who just captured our hearts when her baby died at the corrals when we were there looking for Dahlia. Sometimes you just cannot leave one behind and she had now bonded with Fern and Rebel and it was impossible to take another baby from her. She is the best mama and definitely the matriarch of the group. One by one the tags around their necks labeling them a number came off. No more of these tiny babies clanking the wooden tag under their chin or strings hanging off their mamas. They are our family too now. You can see Renegade and Lupine in Dahlia - she honestly looks like a shiny show horse in the first moments standing over her baby. Sleek and soft, tall and strong. Fern is always so sweet sharing her baby with Paisley as if she understands her loss and is happy to give her the important duty of care. These horses are so intuitive and their emotional intelligence is so advanced. They don’t need words, they communicate so subtly but are always speaking if you stop to listen. They are settling into their new lives and their babies are safe here. Safe to grow up with each other and run on grass and climb the hills and drink out of streams. And one day when it’s time, they will meet their grandpa Renegade and he can teach them all they need to know about being a wild horse. Just one day at a time in peace and with gentle kindness. #skydogdahlia #skydogfern #skydogpaisley #skydogoutlaw #skydogrebel

American Mustangs and 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 2025 (H.R.1661 in the House and S.775 in the Senate). This bill would amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. Commonly known as the “Farm Bill”, this omnibus federal law includes several important provisions for animals. Among them, the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act, which makes it illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. This SAFE Act would extend the prohibition to equines. Specifically, prohibiting a person from knowingly slaughtering an American equine for human consumption; or shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an American equine to be slaughtered for human consumption. 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.

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.

You can also tell your Rep and Senators that you want these bills from the previous Congress introduced again this session:

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.