How it works
By committing annually to a $100/month sponsorship of a mustang or burro, you help us enormously by supporting our existing rescues so we can continue saving more.
SPONSORSHIP INCLUDES:
A personalized Certificate of Sponsorship with a photo of the horse or donkey you choose and your name.
A 60 minute one-on-one visit to Skydog Ranch to meet the horse or burro you are sponsoring, spend time hanging out with them, take photographs and ask questions of our staff.
If you sponsor more than one horse or burro, you will get one hour with each animal when you visit.
To visit your sponsored equine, you must be a sponsor for at least 9 months. Anyone who wants to see them sooner will have to pay for 9 months ($900) in advance of their visit. We regret that this has become necessary. We need to discourage those sponsoring for one month in order to visit the ranch, then canceling because they don’t actually care about supporting the animals or our work. These tours take up a lot of time from our staff and the important work they do caring for our rescues.
Choosing a Mustang or Burro to Sponsor
You can search for posts about individuals on Instagram or Facebook with a hashtag that combines the word “skydog” with their name (#skydogzebedee #skydognugget). You can also go to the Then & Now page on the website to see their photos and read their biographies. (Note: their pages are currently being updated.)
Sponsor a SKYDOG on Patreon
A great way to sponsor a Skydog is by becoming a patron on Patreon and signing up for the $100/month Lead Mare level. This automatically makes you a sponsor and gives you access to exclusive content that we don’t post on other social media platforms. Each new episode of the Horse Love Podcast is released there, as are special offers on merchandise, and breaking news.
Skydogs who need sponsors
Top Notch
Top Notch was one of the saves we did during our 10 Years of Skydog celebration. is a 19-year-old mustang from South Shoshone, NV. In 2008 and 2009, he was moved from one facility after another before being sold. In 2026, he was repossessed by the BLM for "inadequate care" - and It had to have been pretty serious as they never do that anymore. A couple days later, he was sold again by the BLM from Paul's Valley, Oklahoma to a place that gives horseback rides in South Padre Island with a weight limit for riders of 300 lbs! From there, he was taken to a kill pen. The sadness in his eyes was heartbreaking. He had no expectation of anything good happening. He’d been torn up badly, I have never seen so many wounds, cuts and bites on a horse in my life. I believe love is an energy and the more of it he felt coming at him when he stepped off that trailer the better. Our team greeted him with kindness and respect. It only took one day for him to relax so much that he slept soundly on his bed of soft shavings. I named him Top Notch because he is a horse of the highest quality. He wasn’t treated that way before, but he will be for the rest of his life. More about Top Notch
Dune
We like new rescues to have a travel buddy on the road to Skydog so they don’t start their new lives alone. Dune was the perfect companion to join the freedom ride with Top Notch. Our hauler drove at night to keep his precious cargo as cool as possible in this heatwave. Santa Ynez welcomed them with 70 degrees and a breeze. Dune is from Sand Springs, Oregon, which is amazing. We don't have a single horse from that herd. He was rounded up as a baby and adopted out as a yearling. Nineteen years later, he landed in a kill pen in Stroud, Oklahoma when he was traded in for a younger, fitter model who could work harder. I can’t understand the way people dispose of a horse who has been part of a family and worked hard. A tame senior, he looked scared and confused at the kill pen, but I saw hope and kindness in his eyes. I wanted him to have a great retirement and he’s 100% onboard with that. When we let him out with Top Notch onto a grassy space, he ran and jumped and kicked for joy. Around and around and around he ran to celebrate his new circumstances. More about Dune
Eclipse
Eclipse and his buddy, Survivor were both from Spruce Pequop NV. They were part of the Bowie 41 sale authority animals - 21 donkeys and 20 mustangs - who turned up at the Bowie kill pen just two days after a BLM adoption event. This group was the most tragic of all the sale authority mustangs we worked so hard to save. Almost half of those beautiful, young mustangs shipped to Mexico after the BLM assured us they would not. Eclipse was injured and needed to do some healing in quarantine before we could bring him and Survivor home. He ran into several panels and fences while loading. There was a wound on his chest and several on his face. In quarantine, he was so upset and frightened that he tried to jump panels to escape any time they brought in feed. A third mustang, Rufus, joined them and his presence has a calming effect. At Skydog, they have the peace, quiet, and distance they need to recover and return to the wild. More about the Warm Springs Herd
Ariat
This glorious red roan from Utah was a much loved member of the famous Onaqui herd. Red Birds Trust shared his story on their Facebook page and it’s beautiful. They lost track of him for a while, which was worrying, but he finally turned up at the Burns corrals. They contributed to the donations for us to take him. He was with Metolius, Coyote, and Rogue, all mustangs returned to the corrals after they soundly rejected domestication. He’s aloof and always slightly apart from the others, but moves with them. He has a mountain to climb, woods for shade, lush grasses, cool water from streams and springs - everything he could want or need to live unencumbered by human demands. More about Ariat
RESCUED MUSTANGS
THERE ARE OVER 250 HORSES AND 50 DONKEYS HERE AT SKYDOG
Click on the photos to find out more or read their stories on our Then and Now Page.
RESCUED DONKEYS, MULES, Minis, ZONKEYS & A ZEBRA
