SILVER

The Maine Three

Silver is from Saylor Creek, Idaho. On the range, he was king with a massive family band to protect, until it was taken away from him. He and two of his mares, Raggedy Ann and Sienna, were put up for adoption to the highest bidder. As seniors, we had wanted to take them and give them them the softest landing and retirement. At that same time, haters were making the ludicrous accusation that we were preventing good homes from adopting Idaho wild horses. Tragically, the BLM packed them off to a horrible situation in Maine. We were contacted by Madison Donahue of the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals (MSSPA), who told us the whole story: 

My name is Madison Donahue and I am the assistant barn manager at New England’s premier, non-profit horse shelter. I am contacting you in hopes of arranging the best future possible for three adult Mustangs in our care.

Despite its name, the MSSPA receives no state funding; it is entirely funded by a combination of donations, bequests, private foundation grants, and fundraising activities.  The MSSPA is celebrating its 150th anniversary, having been founded in 1872 to protect the horses who pulled fire engines and street cars in Portland, Maine.  The modern day MSSPA provides all shelter services, veterinary medical care, and maintains dozens of equines on its 124-acre farm facility in Windham, Maine. The MSSPA receives horses primarily from Maine law enforcement officials, who have removed them from their neglectful or abusive owners.  The goal for each horse is rehabilitation, training, and adoption into a new loving home. If no suitable adoption occurs, the horses may live out their natural lives at the farm. The MSSPA takes pride in prioritizing the best interests of each horse in its care.

On a hot day in July of 2021, MSSPA received twenty badly neglected horses into care.  The horses were seized, pursuant to a search warrant, from a single owner.  It was the largest one-day intake the MSSPA has ever experienced. The Neglected 20 (as the horses came to be called) consisted of ten saddle horses, six drafts, and four BLM Mustangs (one of which was a three month old filly).

Through many hours of research, I was able to determine the origins for many of these horses. The MSSPA staff and volunteers worked endlessly to rehabilitate, retrain, and rehome all of the horses that had a great chance of finding a soft landing. Unfortunately, we were unable to rehabilitate all of the horses; four had to be humanely euthanized due to the extent of their neglect. On the brighter side, the MSSPA has adopted out 10 of the 20 horses! I personally adopted one of twenty and have named him Duke.

The MSSPA still has the three BLM mustangs, plus a now yearling born to one of them here in Maine. The yearling filly is blossoming into such a lovely, intelligent little horse! She is halter broke, great for the vet and farrier, and even learning some more advanced groundwork skills. She is really as brave as they come! We call her Izzy and she is available for adoption to the right home, where she can mature into becoming someone's greatest equine partner. She has not experienced the challenges the older Mustangs have gone through in becoming captives at a domestic horse shelter. Her dam, Sienna, is on site here.  She is an 18-year- old pinto mare.  Additionally, MSSPA has Raggedy Ann, a 23-year-old pinto mare, and Silver, a 20-year-old grey gelding, all from from Sioux Falls, Idaho.  The three were purchased via the BLM internet sales in January of 2021. I believe these three ended up on the website due to "aging out" of the BLM’s adoption program.

These feral BLM mustangs have been handled minimally since arriving here nine months ago. They were unloaded via a chute from the transport and have not been moved about the property since arrival. They have been living in a space that is about 180’ x 60' with a shed row of three stalls for shelter.  Candidly, MSSPA staff, though skilled horsemen and women, are not experienced at handling such animals. The adult mustangs require a specialized expertise that we don't have here.  These horses are not simply unhandled, they are adult wild animals and are very feral. The MSSPA also does not have the proper facilities in place to safely handle, vaccinate, trim, deworm, or provide general vet care to these mustangs with routine handling methods. Of course, all of their basic needs are met here with us. They receive free choice hay, fresh water daily, and grain to help keep them at their optimum weight as they came to us extremely malnourished.  We do not have an appropriate pasture space for them.  Nonetheless, we are committed to giving them the best possible chance for a comfortable, safe life.

After many long discussions within the management team, along with repeated failures to try and gentle these older souls, we believe it is in their best interest to be as they once were, freely roaming as wild horses should be. We do not believe these three mustangs will ever be adoptable through our program.  So long as they remain here at the shelter, they cannot receive the proper veterinary and hoof care they deserve.  Many of us here at the MSSPA follow Skydog Ranch on social media and are amazed by the level of compassionate care you provide for so many Mustangs. The life you provide in your sanctuary is the quality life we want to secure for the mustangs in our care. MSSPA is simply not equipped, as Skydog Ranch is, to give the mustangs their best possible lives.

Is it possible to make an arrangement with Skydog Ranch that would result in the three Mustangs here in Maine becoming part of the sanctuary herd there in Oregon?  The MSSPA is prepared to provide financial support to transport the horses and offer a stipend for their care, if necessary.  Our sole interest is in giving these lovely Mustangs an opportunity to live the life to which we know they are entitled.

Thank you so incredibly much for all that you do for horses at Skydog Ranch. Having first-hand experience with these Mustangs, I applaud your organization for how well it is run, the quality of care the horses receive, and your expertise in providing it. You should be extremely proud of all of your hard work! The MSSPA Management Team would be beyond grateful to work with you and help secure better lives for our mustangs.  We so want to give them back the lives they once had.  All of us at the MSSPA are eagerly looking forward to discussing the possibilities of placing our Mustangs with Skydog Ranch.

AND WE SAID YES ♥️

Maddy accompanied Silver with his mares on their 3000+ mile journey from Windham. Maine to Prineville, Oregon. This is the farthest horses have traveled to get to Skydog. They had been lovingly rehabilitated and looked fantastic when they arrived. I know it’s bittersweet for any person who loves a mustang so much that they set them free, sacrificing the gift of seeing them everyday. I know that heartache and thank Maddy and each and every trainer, owner, and rescue, who let their mustangs go to a placement they know is best for them. We will never forget the selfless kindness of the team at MSSPA - and neither will Silver.

The Maine 3 are our first Idaho mustangs. Today, we call them Silver’s Herd. He deserves it and has more than earned the honor. With his two lead mares at his side, he once again rules the land he roams. We bow to the king!

#skydogsilver

Mustangs & 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.