Aerial
Aerial was the first of many magnificent Wyoming mustangs to come to Skydog. She is from the Divide Basin HMA, which the BLM is determined to zero out. We saved her from a kill pen in Texas along with Bear and Goldie.
Bear was still a stallion and had to be gelded before bringing them all to Oregon. A few months later, Aerial gave us the first foal to be born at the sanctuary, Whisper. A little later, Goldie delivered Mariah. Together they were our first official rescue of a family, the impetus for our endeavors to keep families and bonded horses together.
Aerial, Goldie, Bear, and their offspring have stayed together and their herd has grown. Bear, an amazing patriarch and father, welcomed several more pregnant kill pen mares to this family. Whisper has grown to be his lieutenant and helps him keep the mares safe and together.
When Whisper had to be brought in for treatment of a leg injury in 2026, he was in the barn or at the vet clinic for weeks. Once healed and ready to go back out, he and Aerial called to one another while he was being unloaded from the trailer. What followed was a run for joy with Aerial, his best friend Dalton, and the rest of the herd joining in to welcome him home. Kicks and head tosses of joy expressed so much emotion. A reunion of utter elation.
Aerial currently has a sponsor.
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. To learn more about becoming a sponsor and see which animals need them, please click the button:
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 two Senators to urge them to support these bills. 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
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.
The Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act of 2023 (H. R. 4356) The bill would eliminate the use of helicopters in rounding up wild horses and burros, and require a study into alternative methods for humanely gathering the animals.
Ejiao Act of 2025 (H.R. 5544). 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.
See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at canned hunt ranches in Texas & Oklahoma, bringing an end to the BLM using Sale Authority to funnel wild equines into the slaughter pipeline, and stopping production of Premarin & other drugs made from pregnant mare urine.