Ford

Ford was one of two horses the US Forest Service reached out to us about taking. We don’t see eye to eye with the federal agencies that manage wild horses, but we were grateful for this first opportunity to work with USFS to help mustangs. With donors behind us, we didn’t hesitate to say yes to both.

“Ford”, a strong name for a horse, has been in my mind for a while, but he arrived with a mare named Indy. It’s purely coincidence, but this made everyone think of Indiana “Indy” Jones and Harrison Ford.

Ford is a magnificent blue roan with a strong sense of self. He looks a lot like Blue Zeus: majestic, gorgeous, and powerful. His coloring shifts seasonally from roany blue to black and back again. Physically, he was in good weight and health when he came to us. In Ford’s case, his wild spirit needed saving.

Rounded up from Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory, Ford was adopted out and returned to the corrals several times. Multiple adopters and trainers had not been able to resolve his tendency to bolt. For people who only want a horse for riding, Ford was of no use. He would not be tamed. He could not accept domestication. A wild spirit like his belongs in sanctuary.

It never gets old giving freedom back to mustangs one step at a time. As we guided Ford gently toward a 40 acre pen, he trotted down the road, confident and calm, as if he knew where he was going. He befriended Tesoro right away, a gentle, tame mustang with great emotional intelligence, who is often the first friend to new arrivals. Ford stayed with him even after very wild mustangs like Dundee, Oliver, Spartacus, and Gatsby came into the pen.

Their small herd was released into Spring Valley with endless views of wilderness, cool streams to drink from, and tall grasses waving in the breeze. Most recently, his group joined up with Wild Boy’s herd. 

#skydogford

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.