calypso, Chardonnay & Cloud

Queens of South Steens

Three dowager Queens of South Steens have been returned to their rightful place of honor at Skydog. Skydog is very close to this HMA, so it is the same Oregon sagebrush ecosystem with all the familiar scents and sounds of home.

The South Steens horses are popular, extensively photographed on the range. They have a following that gives them names and tends to be proprietary, which is why we haven’t followed this herd. These mares are the mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers of famous mustangs. Once rounded up, however, they were forgotten and left to languish for nearly two years in the Burns corrals, their names replaced by numbered tags around their necks.

Calypso is in her twenties and was closely bonded with two other senior mares at the corrals. Photographer Shannon Phifer identified one as Chardonnay. The second, we have named Cloud. We believe they are related because they never leave each other’s sides. In every way golden girls, they all have champagne-colored coats with variations in the blazes on their faces. They loaded and unloaded easily, without pressure, Calypso first with Chardonnay, then Cloud right behind her. We gave them time to decompress in the tree-covered hills of a 40-acres pen before attending to their hooves and general intake health procedures.  

Calypso can be distinguished from her friends by a skinny blaze. She seems to be the most adventurous, the leader of this band of three. Confident, she holds her head high with a quiet strength. She makes the most eye contact with humans and is first to draw nearer. With great emotional intelligence, she thinks and processes quickly, essentially vibrating on the highest frequency. She must have been the fiercest, most incredible lead mare in the wild with her lead stallion, Jackpot - whom we’ve seen, thanks again, to photographs by Shannon Phifer.

Chardonnay has a distinctive blaze wrapped around one eye. It’s almost a bald face. There are pale markings on their sides - many South Steens mustangs have markings that resemble puzzle pieces or countries on a map. Shannon Phifer said, “She has always had a softness to her. A peaceful energy that makes you stop and take a deep breath.”

We added Stargazer and Curly Girl to this group, two youngsters in need of guidance from wise elders. They were then released onto 1200 acres, where Blue Zeus and his family share space with a herd of very wild burros. Cloud led Curly Girl away from the inevitable drama when the two mustang bands first met. Perhaps the senior saw a filly she lost in Curly Girl, and the filly saw the mother she lost when rounded up so young. 

It all came together when Nike took it upon herself to integrate the Golden Girl band into her family. Now we spot them resting peacefully together with Blue Zeus, the patriarch,  and Calypso, the matriarch, standing together watching over their family.

Calypso is named for a mythical Greek being, who was so enchanting that Odysseus lingered with her for years before continuing his long journey home to Ithaca. Calypso, Chardonnay, and Cloud survived an odyssey of their own that was fraught with danger and tragedy. It ends, as Homer’s tale does, with an emotional homecoming and reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.

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 US canned hunt ranches and stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs.