Dumplin’
Dumplin’ lived wild and free on the Pine Nut range in Nevada, a mare of the stallion Samson. Her life was followed by over 50 thousand people in a Facebook group dedicated to the mustangs on this HMA.
Thanksgiving weekend 2019 was a terrible time for all who loved and followed this illustrious family in the wild. A volunteer went out to check on them and was horrified to find they were imprisoned in a metal corral on private property. A ranch owner complained to the BLM that the horses were trespassing on his land. Nevada is a “fence-out state”, but the bureau came out and built a pen to trap them. Lured by the food and water inside, the family wandered in and the gate closed behind them. They were loaded into a trailer and transported to the nearest BLM holding facility in Palomino Valley. Thousands of people signed a petition supporting their release back to their range to no avail. They were separated and processed, the males gelded, and the entire family put up for internet adoption to the highest bidder.
The Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates group asked the general public not to bid on these horses, but rather let them go to sanctuaries or ranches where they could stay together. We said yes to taking Samson’s family. With the help of the organization that vowed to protect them and help them land softly together, we bid on them in January 2020 and they arrived a month later.
This incredibly close-knit band represents FOUR generations of a family. Old Momma, the matriarch, her daughter, Apple, and her daughter, Dumplin’, who had a baby, Sam, just months before coming to Skydog. Dumplin was Samson’s mare in the wild, but DNA testing showed he was not the father. That didn’t matter to him. Her raised her gangly little colt as his own.
There has been much debate about whether or not wild horses form families. BLM and livestock ranchers insist that no such bonds exist. To justify the extreme cruelties they inflict, they want the public to believe that animals, horses in particular, are not sentient. They don’t want to accept that these incredible beings have deep loving bonds. Denial is a powerful force.
Anyone who lives with horses, or observes wild herds on the range, knows they grieve profoundly when they lose a friend or family member. We couldn’t allow Dumplin’ to lose Samson, her foal, her mother, and grandmother, as well as Samson’s deeply bonded brother, Jet. All six horses came to Skydog where they are a shining example of love and devotion.
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.