Gris
This gorgeous mustang came to Skydog from the Bowie Auction in Texas. It’s always the most amazing experience meeting a horse we had only seen on grainy auction video. I named him Grissom (Gris for short) after the main detective on CSI Las Vegas because he came from the Red Rock HMA in Nevada and I love the show.
It rained his first night. He went into his stall to lay his weary body down and slept in soft, thick shavings. I think he realized that he was finally home, took a deep breath, and let go of all his anxiety. There would be no more waiting for the other shoe to drop. No more trailers taking him some place else. Detective horse work helps give us an understanding of what he’d been through. He was rounded up in 2019 and had different new starts in different places with different people before landing in a kill pen.
Once we saw him in person, we realized his coloring is a double espresso shade of brown. We were trying to work out why his mane had been shaven to have a bridal path. Most likely it was to make him look like a riding horse. They probably cut off some matted hair to make him more attractive to buyers, so they could raise his price. Grissom is very affectionate and loving. He’d always come to the fence for pets and scratches, even if it interrupted meals or naps. His eyes were full of kindness and an eagerness to please, which is why it’s so sad that he was let down this way by humans.
He started off in Malibu, where he could regain his balance as he ate good food and looked at ocean views. No pressure, no asks, only love and kindness from that day forward. He had to be isolated, at first, while we treated him for pneumonia, which he came through with lots of extra love, cookies, and our wonderful vets at Alamo Pintado.
When the weather warmed up, he moved up to Oregon, where he took to wild life like a duck to water. The day after we turned him out on a massive area with Bo and his best friend, Whiskey, we went to do a herd check. I was sure they would stay with Bobcat and the tame boys down below. Instead, we found them miles away up a steep mountain with wild guys King, Bowie, Slash, Marvin, Patron, Leonidas, Eastwood, Tinman, Scarecrow, River, Redwood, Francis, Thunder, and Koa! It was the fastest transition I have every seen. Grissom wasted no time getting get back to the business of being a wild horse. #skydoggris
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 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.