Ember

Skydog Ambassador for Year of the Fire Horse 2026

Ember’s story will always be incredible to me. We had adopted a curly mustang from Wyoming, Goliath, a couple of years earlier and reunited him with his lead mare, Red Lady, who gave birth to their last foal together, Bodhi. We searched for other members of his family and I thought we had chased down every last lead.

I received an email from a wonderful lady in Colorado, who had adopted a curly mustang mare from the BLM corrals in Wyoming. A trainer - and one of the best out there, in my opinion - she had trained countless mustangs for makeovers and private people, but she told me that this mare was different. She was never present and always looking into the distance, as if searching for her herd.

Then one day, this woman was sent a video of Goliath and Red Lady in the wild. At 3 minutes in, she saw her mare. She emailed me asking if I would consider taking another member of Goliath’s family, a selfless and massively generous thing to do. We said YES, so she hauled Ember to Skydog herself and we all watched as she ran to her family.

It was fascinating that Ember ran to Red Lady instead of her father. She was so protective of the mare that she chased Goliath and Bodhi off at first. I don’t know what the issues were, but I trusted her emotional intelligence and let them take their time settling into being a family. They are all loving and close now, but the bond between Ember and Red Lady remains very special. This band was the first to inspire our mission to bring wild horse families and bonded members back together in sanctuary.

These curlies glide through Oregon winters barely batting an eyelash. When they grow particularly thick curly coats, they know the winter is going to be long and harsh. Even their unborn foals can tell the temperature outside and come into the world with thicker winter coats, as a result.

Standing in Ember’s presence is extraordinary. She’s so breathtakingly strong and beautiful, it’s hard to formulate a sentence. It's little wonder considering she's the daughter of Goliath, the most powerful and extraordinary boy who lived the majority of his 31 years wild and free in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. These horses are unique with their curly genes and the history of the curly mustang is fascinating. More than half of curly coated horses have a mutation of the KRT25 gene and it's incredibly rare. Salt Wells Creek Wyoming and Fish Creek Nevada have the precious few remaining wild curlies. Regardless, the BLM has attacked both herds, intending to zero out the Salt Wells Creek mustangs entirely. It is interesting to note that the BLM rarely adopt out in tact stallions, but they make an exception for breeders with lots of money, friends, and family connections who want these prized horses.

The history of curly herds in the US is not entirely certain, but there are multiple theories for how the American Curly developed:

The Curly horse was first documented in Eureka, Nevada, in the early 20th century by rancher John Damele and his sons. While Mustangs were a common sight, curly coated horses were unusual. Years later, the Dameles managed to catch one, broke him to ride and sold him, thus starting their relationship with the breed. In 1932, an unusually harsh winter hit the area, and come spring the only horses that could be found were the Curlies. This evidence of hardiness was noted by the Damele family, and they decided they should include more of these horses in their herd.

No such story exists as to why they are so common in Wyoming - particularly in Salt Wells Creek, where Ember, Goliath and their family are from.

#skydogember

Year of the Fire Horse 2026

The Chinese lunar calendar moves in a repeating twelve-year cycle, each year represented by an animal: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Chinese cosmology also incorporates Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Each element pairs with an animal in combinations that only occur every 60 years. On 17 February 2026, the Fire Horse galloped onto the scene, bringing a different tempo to the year. Historically, these are times of intensity and bold movement forward that lead to political and social shifts.. This is a year when the change we’ve struggled to bring about for decades can get the push it needs for conservation, protection of wildlife and public lands, reform of corrupt and broken federal land management agencies, and a permanent ban on shipping American horses and burros across US borders to slaughter.

Ember is the perfect Skydog ambassador for this Year of the Fire Horse. Navigating by instinct, she is ever alert and fully conscious of everything going on with a focus that is sharp and controlled. She radiates a warm glow as she exemplifies independence, freedom, and strength. With tremendous loyalty, heart, presence, and power, she is majestic and intuitive. Ember invites us to live out loud again, to not give up when the odds are strong, to move forward with courage and manifest the change we want in the world.

#FireHorseAmbassador

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.