LACEY

Lovely Lacey is a red dun mustang from Palomino Butte, the same herd as Lily. Born in 2021, she was rounded up last year. Adoption staff at the Burns corrals asked us to take her as she had a catastrophic eye injury. The BLM traditionally euthanizes horses for blindness issues, which we have advocated against for years. Lacey is the second horse after Tupelo Honey they’ve allowed us to take and we are grateful. We don't usually bring in animals at mid-winter because the roads are too slick to transport safely. In this case, as soon the weather conditions an roads allowed, we brought Lacey home for immediate medical attention. By that time, her injury had healed some, but she is blind in that eye, which will in no way diminish her high quality of life at Skydog.

Her herd is not seen and named the way the South Steens are. We may never be able to identify her stallion in the wild, but she was carrying a part of him with her: she was pregnant. She was so young to be having a foal, it was probably her first. Judging by her expanding belly, we expected the baby in early spring, so we kept Lacey close to the elk barn.

When she first arrived, Lacey was defensive and suspicious, snorting out of nervousness, but it didn’t take Janelle long to win her trust. We like to gentle a pregnant mare, if it’s not too stressful for her, so she can be harnessed to accompany her foal to the vet, if that’s ever necessary.

On April 23rd, a beautiful little girl was born. It was during the full Pink Moon, which is named for the wild flowers that bloom in North America at this time of year - not to mention the cherry trees in Bend that were exploding in pink hues. All of this inspired the name we chose for her: Blossom

Lacey loves her foal so much and is doing everything right as a new mother. Blossom suckled plenty of colostrum. In the early days, we keep them in the safety of our nursery. Mother and daughter needed a little veterinary attention, but both are doing fine.

Three mares that we rescued from a kill pen earlier this year are also having babies this spring. Sierra delivered a beautiful mule on May 3rd. Cheyenne and Snow will give birth any day now. We look forward to introducing them to Lacey and Blossom. The little ones will have playmates as their mothers and aunties look on, giving each other support, understanding, and that sense of security that equines only find in a herd.

#skydoglacey

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 Representative 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.