Samson’s Family

Samson and his family lived wild and free on the Pine Nut range in Nevada. Samson, a stunning red roan, and Jet, who is black as jet, are full brothers. They are the sons of an icon of the Pine Nut Herd known as Blue, who is thankfully still  free on the range with his mare, Lady. The brothers have always been incredibly close. They grew up side by side, sparring and running the range. Jet stayed close to Samson’s band even when he had his own family.

In the winter of 2019, there were four generations in this close-knit, loving clan: Samson’s mare, Dumplin’, and their baby son, Sam, her mother, Apple, and grandmother, Old Momma, the 26-year-old matriarch of the band and one of the oldest mares on the range. She chose to go with her offspring when they followed Samson. When little Sam was born, followers had the pleasure of watching him take his first steps and grow into a gangling young colt. They were followed by over 50 thousand people in a Facebook group dedicated to this herd area.

Thanksgiving weekend was a terrible time for all who loved this beautiful family. One of their volunteers went out to check on the horses. To their dismay, Samson and his family, including Jet, were imprisoned in a metal corral on somebody’s property. A ranch owner wanted to have a lawn, but refused to fence it in, creating an irresistible temptation for wild horses. When they took the bait, he called the BLM and told them the horses were trespassing. The BLM set up a trap to catch them, loaded them into a trailer, and transported them to the nearest holding facility in Palomino Valley. Thousands of people signed a petition for them to be released back to the range, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. The BLM only sees dollar signs with famous horses like this. They were separated, processed, the boys were gelded, and the entire family was put on an Internet Adoption for the highest bidder.

The Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates group asked the general public not to bid on these horses and let them go to sanctuaries or ranches where they could stay together. They contacted us to see if we could possibly give them permanent refuge. There has been so much debate about wild equine families and their bonds. The BLM insists they don’t form family bonds and many people argue they simply don’t have feelings. I think they choose to believe that as it makes it easier to do the terrible things they do to animals. Denial is a powerful force.

We, however, live with horses day in and day out. We watch them on the range. We see them grieve profoundly when they lose a friend or family member. We said yes to taking this family and everyone involved kept it very quiet.

In January, we bid on them with the help of this organization, which vowed to protect and help them land softly and together. Samson, Jet, Dumplin’, Apple, Ol’ Momma, and Sam came to Skydog to rebuild their lives.

When the family was trapped by the BLM, Jet called to his mare, Scarlet, who had stayed outside the trap with their 8-month-old filly, Hayden. Another Pine Nut stallion, Rascal, herd their distress and came to them. Scarlet and Hayden kept turning and calling for their family as Rascal, kindly and patiently, led mother and daughter back to the range. It was a heartbreaking scene.

This was on our minds when we found a black mare on the BLM’s Internet Adoption. We knew nothing about her other than her tag number and that she was from the Pine Nut Mountains. Nobody noticed her. Nobody talked about her on the adoption pages. There was no bidding war or insanity or meanness. She was just another wild horse rounded up off public lands, set to disappear into the system. Her butt was already branded for long-term holding. In her “then” photo you can see her standing in the chute sticking out her tongue. We knew exactly how she felt.

We named her Mystery and introduced her to the Pine Nut family in the hopes that she and Jet would bond. Not only did she win Jet’s heart with her confidence and kindness, the whole band has become so close, you would never know she hadn’t always been part of the family.

This family cherishes their freedom. Aside from entering the chute for veterinary and farrier care, they are not touchable. They have taken to life at Skydog so well and have a lot of places to hide to keep to themselves and that's fine.

Ol’ Momma is as legendary here as she was on the range. Still the matriarch, she wants to lead them when they move and gets annoyed if anyone runs ahead. To this day, she won't come near her pile of hay until the humans have driven away. She holds quite the grudge and may never quite forgive people for what they did to her family that Thanksgiving weekend. She was in her late twenties by then, it was utterly unfair.

As much as I love going out to some herds with a few gentle Mustangs, who will allow touch, they are very friendly, it's these wild souls that have my heart. Long may they stay that way