Tesoro

Tesoro means “treasure” in Spanish and this mustang is one. The 21 year-old from Twin Peaks, California is an unusual deep, burnished gold color with a long, thick tail. He does not look his age for all the hardships he has suffered, as described in this e-mail we received:

My mom and I rescued Tesoro together when he was about 7. He almost went to slaughter, he was a 3 strike mustang. I lost both my parents in 2017 and after that I had to give him up as I had nowhere to keep him, so I sent him to his original trainers for safe keeping. Years later, I heard Tesoro looked terrible. He was so skinny and I was told the neighbors were donating hay to feed the horses. So I started asking if I could have Tesoro back. I didn't care what it took just had to get him. Finally, they said yes. When he arrived he acted part dead, he was very weak, I didn't even recognize him. They were feeding him just enough to keep him looking semi normal. His beautiful spirit was broken, he had no energy left. He even acted differently, things only I would know. His eyes were goopy, skin and coat terrible, mane and tail matted and knotted, it broke my heart. I felt so guilty, I thought he was somewhere well cared for. So began the struggle to get him back to the guy I fell in love with. That beautiful Golden Palomino Mustang that had so much life in him, such spirit and loving personality, who was a gentle giant even if he was a naughty one. I really felt like I let him down. I still do as he's not the same horse I knew. This is another reason he must go to his forever home and back to the wild land where he came from. I'm on a fixed income and now my partner who is 73, who beat cancer 2 years ago, well her cancer is back, so I'm not sure of anything right now. If I knew Tesoro was going to a safe forever home to live out the rest of his life that would be a stress off my shoulders you could not believe. Tesoro can't just go to anybody. I won't let him down again. Tesoro and I have been through a lot together, but he doesn't belong in a corral anymore. He needs a herd to call family and his freedom back."

We were able to bring him to Skydog because of everyone who donated and we never ever take that for granted. Every time I worry we may be asking too much by taking in another horse, the resounding roar of support and thanks is deafening and inspiring. We are always happy to do the hard work of rescue when this is the response to helping another mustang in need find permanent refuge.

Marlene Dodge hauled Tesoro to Oregon from Northern California. Like so many mustangs and donkeys before him, he stepped out of the trailer and into the barn. He sniffed the air, sensed the calm energy, and heard the soft knickers of other horses in the barn. Everything around him tells him he is in a good, safe place and has nothing to fear.

We introduced him to Ford, which went beautifully. Ford preferred his company to that of wilder boys, even though Ford is quite wild himself. Tesoro ran with a wild herd, but when winter was approaching, we made the decision to bring him in. He’s a hard keeper, which means he needs a lot of food to keep a healthy weight on him. When horses are cold, they burn calories to keep their body temperature higher. At a healthy weight, you don’t see them shivering. This is why we make sure our horses go into winter at their heaviest weight of the year, but some need some extra help.

Tesoro is keeping good company with other hard keepers on a couple hundred acres. He, Silver, Stetson, Maverick, and Ohbee get a larger amount of hay twice a day plus grain and extra TLC through the winter.

#skydogtesoro

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 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.It all started when…