koa
Koa is a mustang rounded up from Three Fingers Oregon. We know he left the BLM corrals a confident and healthy young horse. But then showed up at a mustang competition as a shell of a horse, emaciated and terrified, to the point of making a top trainer cry. The organizer took him home just to be a horse for 2 years. Then he was sent to a wonderful TIP and EMM trainer to see if he could be re-trained for adoption. When she started working with him she realized how unfair it was to ask him to function as a normal horse after what he was subjected to. This is a mustang with an abuse history + suspected neurologic conditions. Koa is a horse who truly needs sanctuary. The original “trainer” is no longer allowed to train for the BLM and has a history of producing very reactive horses. This is the same family of trainers who ruined and starved Charlie, but it took years to get them banned from adopting mustangs and they are still “training” horses.
Koa is a really, really sweet horse who’s well-mannered on the ground and wants to be engaging, but as ones with sad histories tend to be, he is fine until he’s not. He has meltdowns at seemingly random times with ever-changing triggers when learning new things. He would be a hazard under saddle even if he went without a panic attack for months. It’s just not fair to ask him to be that - so we said yes to taking him. Koa has a gait indicating a neurologic condition. He has muscle atrophy not befitting his age, a stiff gait, hind end imbalance, and failed a brief neurologic exam. Thanks to the incredible donations from our followers on Patreon, Koa was brought to Skydog . If you ever think donating just $2 a month is minor just look at what it can do. So Koa your bad days are over and we are so sorry you and so many wild horses had to end up in such horrible hands, but thank you to the good trainers who cared and intervened. #skydogkoa
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.