spartacus & gatsby

The brutal roundup in the Calico and Surprise Complex in September 2023 was marked by the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) usual violations of its own mandatory procedures and Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP) regulations. The valiant struggle for freedom fought by a warrior stallion, Spartacus, was thoroughly documented by Marie Milliman, an observer for Laura Leigh’s Wild Horse Education (WHE). She chose “to share his truth without prejudice or ulterior motives”:

Run 4 on September 26th, 2023, this amazing stud escaped trap and was roped, choked down, and then took wranglers for a ride. He eventually had numerous ropes around him as he entered the trap and we nicknamed him “Spartacus.”

He portrayed what we covet and appreciate in our Wilds: intelligence, grit, strength, and honor for his family.  He attempted to guide his band to evade the wings of the trap, and paused in a draw to wait for them, but the chopper came back for him instead. He was constantly moving, constantly thinking, constantly reacting to the chopper and his family’s every move. Even when the overwhelming power of the chopper bore down on him, he put himself between his family and the chopper, then charged it. He is a verifiable guardian of his herd and a scrappy fighter. He is a Mustang.

Entering the jute of the wings eerily resembled a gladiator entering the Hypogeum (the subterranean passages to the amphitheater). He followed the Judas horses as if they could be trusted, but they were traitors. In the wild, the horses bear themselves with honest, forthright truths, traitors are foreign to them.

He is obviously a contender to aim to jump the trap, his freedom has vanished, briefly. Like the warrior that he is, he did not surrender to the height of the pipe panels, nor the tarps primarily placed on the “observers” side to obscure the view, nor the adversaries that lurked on the perimeter with their flags. It took an entire 1 minute and 18 seconds from the time that he entered the trap, to his notorious jump.

Even when the odds of his freedom appeared to be imminent, he became hung up by a rear leg on the top of the pipe panel, yet he did not surrender. To him, the wranglers waving their flags were no more a deterrent than a gnat.

He seemed near the end of his reserves by the time that the 3 rope horses forced him into the wings of the trap. He dug deeper and still tried to escape/evade going into the trap moving side to side, backward and only going forward to make an escape as he was “sandwiched” between 2 rope horses.  A Judas horse ridden bareback joined in. At this point a chopper, 3 rope horses, and one of the Judas horses ridden bareback is what was required to get this Spartacus back into the trap. The ropes were his chains to culminate his second, and final entrance into the trap.  His final and ultimate fate was sealed.

This truly makes me boiling mad and at the same time makes me cry. Spartacus fought to exhaustion to protect his family and his freedom in his rightful homeland. Laura told us that he escaped and was recaptured more than once. I will never understand why the BLM has to run down one horse with unjustified cruelty.

WHE tracked Spartacus to the Litchfield corrals and tried to negotiate his release. When that failed, Laura reached out to us about giving him sanctuary. In much the same way that we found Rocky after seeing his best friend, Pegasus, fly over a trap barrier, we found Gatsby standing resolutely beside Spartacus, whom Laura believes is his father. He never left the warrior stallion’s side. The rest of their herd had already shipped to long-term holding, he and Spartacus were the only ones left. The expression in his eyes spoke of the loss of family and freedom that breaks the spirits of mustangs. Thanks to the immediate and enormous support of donors, we reached our goal on Instagram in just 30 minutes (!), and were able to bring both mustangs to Skydog.

Janelle and I met Laura and Marie, who came to watch them load at the corrals. There was a delay while another wrangler was called in because the horses were so wild. This process is always hard to watch as the powerful animals are terrified and injury is always a possibility. Spartacus’ fear was palpable and he was on the defensive. The Litchfield staff managed to remove their tags and load the horses safely. After stress testing the trailer, the mustangs settled down with hay and soaked hay for water. Every mile took Spartacus and Gatsby further from their old life, the trauma, the stress, the panic of roundup, and holding corrals. No more barren dirt pens with gates clanging, flags waving, and harsh voices shouting. The definition of sanctuary is “a place of refuge or safety” and that is the future these two will have for the rest of their lives.

They did not need quarantine, so we were able to release them immediately into an enclosure with Ford, Tesoro, Ripley, and Slash. Ford and Spartacus immediately sensed they were the ones in charge and should meet first. Just as they witnessed their capture, Laura and Marie were there to see them set free, which was as important for them as it was for the horses they fought so hard to help.

Oliver and Dundee joined this group. Spartacus was positively giddy when Las Vegas arrived for a temporary stay before we reunited him with his mare. He skipped and hopped and tossed his gorgeous mane. Gatsby was - and is - wary and protective of his dad. They are always found together.

The historical Spartacus was a gladiator, who led an army of slaves in revolt against the Romans starting in 72 BC. There are parallels between their struggle and what his happening to mustangs in the US today: Savagery took the freedom and shattered the families of both. Heartless crowds cheering at the lethal brutality in the Colosseum are no different than those who gawk at the torment of animals in rodeos. Like the slaves, captured mustangs long endlessly for freedom that they would willingly give their lives for. The gladiator lived a short, violent life, which is where the similarities end.  Spartacus and Gatsby won their freedom and will live the rest of their lives with the wildest of wild boys in Spring Valley, protected and respected for the rest of their lives.

#skydogspartacus #skydoggatsby

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.