fig

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what’s the fairest thing of all? It’s subtle, quiet, out of sight, the love of Fig and fair Snow White

Fig was born in Paisley Desert, Oregon. He was rounded up and adopted out to a trainer, who returned him to the corrals. The notes said he despised being handled and trained. He was a wild boy who wanted to stay that way. 

We first saw Fig when we were looking for horses to kick of our Year of Special Needs in 2022.  He was the saddest horse in the world standing alone in the middle of the pen at Ridgecrest. He made no eye contact nor showed any interest in the horses around him, but hung his head low in defeat. He did not have any particular special needs medically, but spiritually we felt his sadness. Fig had checked out and shut down. He had clearly lost the will to live in that barren dirt pen, where one day dragged into the next with no hope of anything good ever happening. We decided to take him JUST to make him happy again, which is a special need in itself.

In the fairy tale, the handsome prince revived Snow White from a sleep so deep that it resembled death. At Skydog, it was Snow White who brought her prince back to life for his happily ever after. We rescued them together with three other special needs mares - Paris, Buckley, and Arizona.  They shared a pen upon arrival. The others were friendly and curious, but Fig and Snow White kept their distance and formed quite the bond. Fig was besotted with this enchanting flea bitten grey mare with her stunning face, fine features, and other worldly mystique. She had been classified by the BLM as imperfect and unadoptable due to her swayback, making her of no use for riding. To us, she is perfection. To Fig, she was his reason to live.

Fig, Snow White and the other horses from that rescue joined Sheldon’s herd. We find him belly deep in grasses, nibbling the tops off his favorite oat grass. He gallantly defended the new special needs members from being pushed off their hay. Fig possesses a strong, but quiet power. None of the other horses have ever picked on him. They show him unparalleled respect.

#skydogfig

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.