RENEGADE
The Journey To Skydog
Renegade lived free on Oregon's South Steens HMA until he was rounded up at age 12. Thankfully, he was adopted in 2018 by a wonderful trainer in Arizona, Stacie Thomas. She gave Renegade the best chance of transitioning into domestic life. For 3 years, she worked with him herself, took him to Mustang Matt clinics, and sent him to a great trainer, Jeff Cook, to help him. She found his lead mare, Lupine, on a BLM internet adoption and reunited them. But this wild boy was terrified by much of the training process. The call of the wild was just too strong. The trainer was able to ride him, but he didn’t enjoy it. They could see his wild spirit slowly fading. The team agreed that what Renegade needed - and the only thing he wanted - was to be free. In an act of true love and selflessness, Stacie sent him and Lupine to Skydog. She, her family, Jeff Cook, and photographer John Wheland (who took hundreds of photographs of Renegade and his family in the wild) were all here to witness and celebrate his release.
Marlene Dodge has been a hauler, friend, advisor, and teacher for Skydog Sanctuary from the very beginning. She hauled the very first rescues to Oregon and most of the first year’s saves. Among many others, she hauled Renegade and Lupine.
“I was excited to see Skydog Ranch. I knew how much Clare wanted to do this. Saving horses is her heart. It’s just where she’s at. When I first got to the ranch, I thought what a perfect place for these animals to be. Many of them are going back to where they came from, in some cases within miles of where they came from. I like that a lot.
“When I saw Renegade from the road when I was picking him up, I looked up on a hill and thought ‘Oh my God. This is not normal. This is not a normal horse. There is something way bigger than that.’ I texted Clare to say, ‘This horse is special.’ He wasn’t a horse. I mean, he was, but he was something different, something special that came for a reason.
“Clare wanted to make sure that his girlfriend got to Skydog, too. Renegade made her load first, he wouldn’t go in unless she went in. The girl that had been working with him put a little piece of rope over his back. Nothing around his head, nothing pulling him. She just walked with him and he walked right in to the trailer and stood there. He wanted that respect. He definitely taught people a lot.”
When Renegade was turned out, we all lay in the grass or under a tree to watch with awe and wonder. The ground shook as he galloped by, with Lupine close behind, into the sage brush, juniper trees, and native grasses of his homeland. Tears flowed as he took off up the hill and didn’t look back. It was one of the happiest moments of Clare’s life. We turned him out on a couple hundred acres to begin with. When he first went out, he ran the whole perimeter of the fencing. There was something about that horse, he needed to be free. But this joy would not last long. Clare wrote:
“A few months later, we were shattered when Renegade passed away. I was beside him as he took his last breaths, telling him it was OK. To this day we are not sure how he injured himself, but it seems that sand colic caused him to roll on the ground and cut himself on a branch.We cap every t-post, limb trees, walk pastures to make sure nothing can injure the horses, but we can’t bubble wrap them. That’s not the life they live on the range and it’s not the point of sanctuary. When we turn them out, we understand things can happen, but it was devastating to everyone who worked so hard to restore his freedom. The day we lost him was my worst day in rescue and the most painful. It’s hard when any horse dies, but that was a tough one. I railed at God, it nearly caused me to lose my faith.
“For the next few days, a golden eagle kept flying above. I’ve seen it flying over his family. There are myths and legends about horses traveling between dimensions and taking other forms. I think that’s one of the truest things. Renegade transitioned. I think once he knew his family was safe, he just decided to go. He was the essence of freedom and there is nothing freer than that. It’s what I believe when I see that eagle.”
Marlene Dodge added:
“Clare gave Renegade a gift that no one else could have given him. She brought him home. I believe that when it’s their time, it’s their time. I think that’s why he came to Skydog. If a person passed away, they would want to be some place they call home. At some point, Renegade would’ve died in a corral somewhere, but at Skydog, he was doing what he should’ve been doing at that time. Clare did something for him that no one else could do and I love her to death for that.”
Stacie Thomas posted:
“I had a deep love and connection to Renegade. Many people could feel his intense spirit through pictures and social media posts, but very few people were able to form a strong bond with him. I am grateful he allowed me to be one of the few he came to trust. Renegade died wild and free and he was the happiest horse ever to get that gift back.”
Renegade’s daughter, Dahlia, grandson, Outlaw, Paisley, son, Rebel, and Fern
RENEGADE’S Family
The rescue of Renegade’s family was the biggest we had done since the Pine Nut family. The search for them in kill pens and at the BLM was draining, but getting them home safely, reuniting foals with their mothers brought us great joy. Our original plan was to reunite Renegade with his family. We had brought his daughter, grandson, and great grandson to Skydog. We decided to postpone that reunion because the babies were very tiny and needed to stay in for protection from predators. Renegade, however, was blissfully, wildly happy running as far as he could go on the ranch and we wanted him to have what he needed most: freedom. The reunion never happened as his spirit took flight all too soon, but we frequently feel his presence around them. His Golden Eagle soars above the band and it was there the day we rescued his mother, Calypso, with two other closely-bonded South Steens mares, who are very likely related.
LUPINE
Photos of Lupine in the wild are breathtaking and she’s even more stunning when you see her in person. Elegant and fine boned, she moves with grace. The rich, deep hues of brown to black in her Bay coloring are spectacular. We are so grateful that she and Renegade were reunited after the roundup and able to enjoy some time together back in their native Oregon habitat. She lost Renegade, but was happily reunited with her family, where she led the way as matriarch until the foals were big enough for release into the wild blue-green yonder. Here Lupine really came into her own. She moves between several herds seamlessly. Nobody bosses her around. She’s splashing in the water trough with Bear one day and grazing in the aspen grove beside Cookie the next as Renegade’s golden eagle celebrates her freedom to make her own choices.
DAHLIA
A solid dark bay with high white socks, Dahlia is the beautiful 2015 daughter of Renegade and Lupine. With help from her mother and several aunties, she has raised Outlaw from a shy little foal to a confident colt. Running like the wind or swimming across a cool pond in the summer, she is teaching him to follow in his grandfather’s wild hoof steps.
FERN
Fern doesn’t seek the spotlight, but she’s one of the most strikingly beautiful mares at Skydog. The white streaks in her mane and forelock, white markings and high white socks against her deep mahogany coat identify her as South Steens royalty. Indeed she is nothing less than that as she is the daughter of Dahlia and the mother of Rebel.
Paisley
Paisley lost her baby at the Burns corrals, an unimaginable sorrow. We brought her to heal with Renegade’s family at Skydog. Her maternal instincts were poured into being the very best of aunties - a role that is essential in wild families. She stood watch over the babies, Rebel and Outlaw, as their mothers got some much needed rest. With endless patience, she helped the vulnerable foals grow to embrace their wild side at Skydog.
OUTLAW
Outlaw has a large star on his forehead. He was the shyest of the two foals in this family - around humans, at any rate. For his aunties and mum, he was a handful. Smart and resourceful, he tested various methods to get the mares up and going. Today, he doesn’t hesitate to approach us for cookies and some loving scratches.
REBEL
Looking so much like his lovey mother with his chin resting on her back, Rebel was the more confident of the two foals. Larger with a smaller star on his forehead, he spent a lot of time with Outlaw, sparring as they would in the wild, with never a dull moment for his aunts, grandmother, and mum.
Calypso
Shown here on the range with her baby, Renegade, Calypso was a Queen of the South Steens. When we found out she’d been held at the corrals since 2022, we went off to identify her. We know it was no coincidence that a golden eagle was perched at the entrance when we pulled in. She was deeply bonded with two other South Steens mares in their mid-twenties. Pretty sure that they are related, but even if they’re not, we brought them all to Skydog where they have integrated into Blue Zeus’ family.