RAVEN

With the passing of Neptune, our Chincoteague pony, we wanted to honor him in the best way possible. The only way to do this, and heal our broken hearts, was by saving another mustang. Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague had been a favorite book of mine when I was a girl, so I turned to other beloved childhood classics about horses for inspiration. Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion jumped to mind. It was in the air as there had been a lot of requests by followers for videos of our black mustangs. When I found a black stallion at the Stroud kill pen with fear and confusion in his beautiful hazel eyes, and scars on his body, I knew he was the one. It was a pricey rescue for his bail, quarantine, haul, and hospital stay, but there was no better way to honor the memory of Neptune - and our wonderful donors agreed.

Raven is a jet black mustang born in 2006 in BLM holding. He was 18yo when we found him. We have no idea where his mother was rounded up, so sadly he has no herd history. He was adopted and kept all these years by the same owner. Still in tact, he was most likely used as a stud. This is usually a miserable existence for a stallion as they are held in confinement when they aren’t breeding mares. Isolation is cruel for herd animals that are very social. When his owner fell seriously ill and sold him, he ended up in the slaughter pipeline.

Other than the bot fly eggs we combed from his coat, he was in pretty good physical shape when we found him. Emotionally, he was nervous and pacing. We looked for a friend to travel with and found kind-hearted Casper, a mustang as fair and white as Raven is black and beautiful. Casper helped calm him, as did the wonderful Steve Egner, who hauled them for us.

Raven was the first stallion Skydog had ever taken in, so we braced for a snorting, testosterone-charged stallion to burst from the trailer. Instead, we got a timid, small pocket pony, who loves cookies! He’d definitely had some trauma as he was easily spooked and would run you over if he felt trapped. We consistently showed him that we meant him no harm. He quickly became a volunteer favorite when he realized the worst that might happen was someone would scratch his sweet spot. His head and neck swung in ecstasy from loving touches, gentle voices, and kindness.

We consulted with our surgeon at Alamo Pintado, who was confident about gelding him. Indeed, the procedure went smoothly and he was sweet and gentle throughout his time at the clinic. Some of the gelded mustangs we've brought in have behaved a lot more studdy than he ever did.

With that behind him, Raven could begin to enjoy the good life he is meant to have with us. He bonded with Boots the Mini-Mule, for whom he’s a perfect match. They love to play spar and wrestle, chasing each other around. They climb the green hills of Malibu together, looking out at the beautiful views as they graze.

It wasn’t planned this way, but Raven and Casper the Friendly Ghost arrived on Halloween with names of powerful synchronicity. Someone once said coincidences are God's way of staying anonymous and I think it was a definite "God Wink" to tell us "good work" for pulling these two out of danger. We don’t dress up on October 31st, put the animals in costumes, or feed them sweets, but there’s no shortage of Mrs. Pasture’s Cookies in three different flavors year-round.

#skydograven

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.

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.

A bill from the previous 118th Congress that we hope will be introduced again this session:

Ejiao Act of 2023 (H.R. 6021). 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.