Phoenix & Ghost

The story of Phoenix and Ghost is a love story for the ages and one which has now been shared by over 15 million people thanks to The Dodo. We originally saw a photo of Phoenix taken by Steve Paige of the American Wild Horse Campaign during the Warm Springs roundup. Phoenix jumped the six-foot-high panels in the trap he and his family were driven into by a helicopter. From a standing start, he leapt for freedom and made it, but then refused to leave his family behind. He was captured and lost them anyway. We understand how deep the bonds are between horses, which is why reuniting families is at the heart of our sanctuary.

We went to the BLM corrals to look for Phoenix and his family. We managed to find him and get his tag number. We were told he was to be turned back out to the wild, so we’d visit him and tell him he was going to be free again soon. After a year, I visited and found him alone. His friend was gone, and the plan to release him was canceled.

We applied to adopt him and brought him to Skydog. This horse who wanted so badly to be free was going to get what he fought so hard for. We set him free on our 9000-acre ranch, where he was safe, but there was a sadness about him. When he scanned the horizon for his family, my heart hurt for him.

I always looked for his mare whenever I visited the corrals. I took photos with a long lens trying to locate his mare.  They had been rounded up a year before, so I figured she had been adopted out, but still I searched. A full two years after the roundup and their separation, I was looking at the Internet Adoption and saw a familiar mare. I looked and looked at the old photos and the ones on the adoption page, checking every mark and spot. It was her. We named her Ghost for the way she had vanished and reappeared. I went to pick her up and the reunion was one of our happiest days and they are still together.

We have areas for different herds to live on, as they would in the wild, which cuts down the fighting. Just because the males are gelded doesn't mean they instantly stop acting like stallions. Some never do. Maestro and Blue Zeus will charge each other at the fence. Maestro was adamant about not accepting his son, Bo, back into his family. This is why we spend so much time getting to know them before we place them with other horses. We watched Phoenix for a long time. He was never a studdy, aggressive horse and was not overly protective of his mares. When we first turned him out, he and Hawk took different mares and agreed to live and let live. With a little help from Angel’s peace-making skills, they now peacefully co-lead a large, mixed herd.

#skydogphoenix #skydogghost

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.