Wee Fergus

Waking up to a phone call from Janelle is always heart stopping. It means something has happened. Majesty delivered her baby, Fergus, prematurely during the night. He was weak and unable to stand. Mares have an amazing sense for knowing. They abandon babies in the wild if they know they can’t make it physically. If a foal is unable to rise and travel, it puts the whole band in danger, so they’re left behind. It’s a harsh reality of nature and we understand that, but at Skydog, we do everything we can to help them.

Janelle found Fergus in the soft dirt. He nickered to her as she drew near. Even with help, he couldn’t get on his feet, so she immediately called the best vets @bendequine. Koal put him in the truck, and they rushed him to the hospital for emergency intervention. At that point, it didn’t look promising.

They did blood work, ran a barrage of tests, gave him an enema, took his temperature and heart rate. They did ultrasounds of his insides and x-ravs of his legs. They gave him colostrum, fluids, plasma, sugars, and got a feeding tube going. All of this saved his life.

It was a beautiful thing to see so many of the horse organizations, rescues and advocates we follow sending love and prayers, along with more than 1500 comments from our followers. I absolutely believe Fergus felt the love as the next day, he miraculously stood on his own. With his numbers moving in the right direction, he was even chipper and bright. His name means "strong man" in Scottish, a good Celtic name to inspire him.

If you think about everything Majesty went through before coming to Skydog: the stress of being rounded up blind, the terror of processing and holding. She was worried sick for Precious, the baby at her side, while being pregnant without much nutrition. It’s no surprise she gave birth prematurely and that he was so weak. Majesty, like any wild mare mother, left her baby. She is not a bad mother, she’s simply following natural instincts. She spends the day with her devoted daughter, while Fergus gets the care he needs.  

We are already thinking about a nurse mare. It’s possible Priscilla will be called upon to perform another feat of maternal love. She nursed, nurtured, protected and raised little Shasta like she was her own. She might be willing to do the same for this little boy. Fergus deserves a wonderful life and we’ll do everything we can to make that happen.

#skydogfergus

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.