Curly Girl

Curly Girl is a very dear curly bay mustang from Fish Creek, Nevada. She was rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management when she was just a baby in 2020 and ended up in a kill pen.

One of our Giving Tuesday rescues, she was described as too wild to handle. We saved her the day she was set to ship to slaughter. Fiercely loyal, she’d panic when separated from companions, so we hauled her with a donkey, Mrs. Tiggywinkle, who had also lost all of her friends and family.

As soon as Curly Girl arrived at Skydog Malibu, her wild quickly turned mild. She’s a sweet, spirited, and emotionally intelligent young mare, who quickly reads the intentions of people around her. Sharing a pen with old Toby when he was sedated for a medical procedure, Curly Girl was at his side, watching every move the veterinarian made. We will never forget how she positioned herself under Toby’s neck to hold him up when he started to lower his head as the sedative took effect. She also untied his harness.

When Curly Girl arrived in Oregon, we placed her in a band with the Queens of South Steens: Calypso, Chardonnay, and Cloud. Who better than these wise, experienced seniors to teach the wild ways to a youngster in need of guidance?

In the spring, they were released onto 1200 acres, where Blue Zeus and his family live. As the two groups went through the usual drama of introductions, Curly Girl and Cloud went off together by themselves. With help from Nike, the two bands came together as one. Curly Girl found herself with horses her age in Blue Zeus’ children and Stargazer. She has regained the sense of security that was stolen from her when she was violently separated from her family. She now has many maternal mares to watch over her the way she watches out for everyone she loves. And what could be more reassuring than Blue Zeus protecting them all?

When we won the law suit filed with The American Wild Horse Conservation to stop the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program, I hiked out to read the court ruling aloud to Curly Girl. She is a perfect example of the defunct program’s betrayal of wild horses, which was designed to funnel unprecedented numbers of wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline.

#skydogcurlygirl

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.

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.

A bill from the previous 118th Congress that we hope will be introduced again this session:

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.