Nugget
When Janelle and I first saw Nugget at the BLM Burns corrals, she was her dragging her leg because of a locked stifle. We wanted to help her that day, but had to wait a couple of months before we could bring her to Skydog with her friend, Soleil, and two others for treatment.
When Pete the Zorse arrived, Nugget and Soleil were in a pen with donkeys. Not really knowing what makes a zorse tick, we wanted him to have a selection of equines to befriend. Nugget and Soleil didn’t know what to make of him at first, but the next day they were following him around. Pete went the way of the mustang.
Nugget was pregnant when we rescued her, so we gave her all the support she needed. What a beautiful gift she brought into the world: a smoky cream with eyes so blue, a silver-grey tail, and white star between those dreamy eyes. We took the historical suggestion to name her foal Josephine (“Jojo”) after the river where the first gold nugget was discovered by settlers in Oregon.
Nugget was beautifully loving for such a young mother. She had a rough go of it in the beginning with not making enough milk, but with veterinary support, mother and daughter thrived.
When Jojo was big enough, we introduced them to Cruiser’s family. Like them, they are South Steens. Cruiser’s and Jorja’s youngest son, Tupelo Honey, is the same age as Jojo. The band expanded further to include the mares Eden and Honor. Under Cruiser’s benevolent, mellow leadership, the family congealed easily and Nugget and Jojo are completely happy.
Nugget currently has a sponsor
By committing annually to a $100/month sponsorship of a mustang or burro, you help us enormously by supporting our existing rescues so we can continue saving more. To learn more about becoming a sponsor and see which animals need them:
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”. There are several important provisions for animals in that omnibus federal law, including the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act. It is currently illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. The SAFE Act would extend the ban to equines and 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 and stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs.
Bills from the previous 118th Congress that we hope will be introduced again this 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.