ASPEN

Little Aspen was in a kill pen in Kansas. An incredible fundraiser for Lightning allowed us to additionally save her, Gabriel, Leonidas, Mary, London, and bring them to Skydog.  A beautiful grulla with a little white star, she was tiny at 13.3 hands - not big enough for anyone to want her for a riding horse. She is small-boned, tiny-framed and seemed entirely wild and unhandled.

We added her to our rescue as she was also from Divide Basin, one of the Wyoming herds the BLM is proposing to entirely wipe out. We had spent three weeks advocating for the three herds involved and it seemed like the truly best way to help was to rescue a horse from that HMA so we could better put a face to the herd.

When she arrived in Oregon, Aspen was a nervous and reactive wild horse. After sitting with her a while and winning her over with grain and scratches, we put a halter on and realized she had at some point been gentled. As is so often the case with our rescues, she was a sweet and loving once she felt safe to be herself.

Aspen strongly resembles another mustang, Lewis, who is also from Divide Basin. When we turned Lewis out with her, she wouldn’t leave Aspen alone and is usually by her side, making us wonder if they are related.

We feel so lucky that through a series of circumstances, including a home falling through once, that she is with us, where she makes a fine ambassador;  a face for the herds of Wyoming horses that we continue to fight for to keep them wild and free. #skydogaspen

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.