Silver, Sienna & Raggedy Ann

The Maine Three

Silver (20) was a king in Saylor Creek, Idaho, with a massive family band to protect until the BLM stole it from him. He and two of his mares, Sienna (19) & Raggedy Ann (24), were put up for adoption to the highest bidder. They were all seniors and wanted to give them the softest landing and retirement. At that same time, haters were making the ludicrous accusation that we were preventing good homes from adopting Idaho wild horses, so we stepped back. What “good home” did they go to? The BLM packed them off to be starved and neglected on a farm in Maine, where they were among The Neglected 20 horses seized by law enforcement. We were contacted by the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals (MSSPA), who told us their story: 

My name is Madison Donahue and I am the assistant barn manager at New England’s premier, non-profit horse shelter. I am contacting you in hopes of arranging the best future possible for three adult Mustangs in our care.

Despite its name, the MSSPA receives no state funding; it is entirely funded by a combination of donations, bequests, private foundation grants, and fundraising activities.  The MSSPA is celebrating its 150th anniversary, having been founded in 1872 to protect the horses who pulled fire engines and street cars in Portland, Maine.  The modern day MSSPA provides all shelter services, veterinary medical care, and maintains dozens of equines on its 124-acre farm facility in Windham, Maine. The MSSPA receives horses primarily from Maine law enforcement officials, who have removed them from their neglectful or abusive owners.  The goal for each horse is rehabilitation, training, and adoption into a new loving home. If no suitable adoption occurs, the horses may live out their natural lives at the farm. The MSSPA takes pride in prioritizing the best interests of each horse in its care.

On a hot day in July of 2021, MSSPA received twenty badly neglected horses into care.  The horses were seized, pursuant to a search warrant, from a single owner.  It was the largest one-day intake the MSSPA has ever experienced. The Neglected 20 (as the horses came to be called) consisted of ten saddle horses, six drafts, and four BLM Mustangs (one of which was a three month old filly).

Through many hours of research, I was able to determine the origins for many of these horses. The MSSPA staff and volunteers worked endlessly to rehabilitate, retrain, and rehome all of the horses that had a great chance of finding a soft landing. Unfortunately, we were unable to rehabilitate all of the horses; four had to be humanely euthanized due to the extent of their neglect. On the brighter side, the MSSPA has adopted out 10 of the 20 horses! I personally adopted one of twenty and have named him Duke.

The MSSPA still has the three BLM mustangs, plus a now yearling born to one of them here in Maine. The yearling filly is blossoming into such a lovely, intelligent little horse! She is halter broke, great for the vet and farrier, and even learning some more advanced groundwork skills. She is really as brave as they come! We call her Izzy and she is available for adoption to the right home, where she can mature into becoming someone's greatest equine partner. She has not experienced the challenges the older Mustangs have gone through in becoming captives at a domestic horse shelter. Her dam, known as Sienna, is on site here.  She is an 18 year old pinto mare.  Additionally, MSSPA has Raggedy Ann, a 23-year-old pinto mare, and Silver, a 20-year-old grey gelding, all from from Sioux Falls, Idaho.  The three were purchased via the BLM internet sales in January of 2021. I believe these three ended up on the website due to "aging out" of the BLM’s adoption program.

These feral BLM mustangs have been handled minimally since arriving here nine months ago. They were unloaded via a chute from the transport and have not been moved about the property since arrival. They have been living in a space that is about 180’ x 60' with a shed row of three stalls for shelter.  Candidly, MSSPA staff, though skilled horsemen and women, are not experienced at handling such animals. The adult mustangs require a specialized expertise that we don't have here.  These horses are not simply unhandled, they are adult wild animals and are very feral. The MSSPA also does not have the proper facilities in place to safely handle, vaccinate, trim, deworm, or provide general vet care to these mustangs with routine handling methods. Of course, all of their basic needs are met here with us. They receive free choice hay, fresh water daily, and grain to help keep them at their optimum weight as they came to us extremely malnourished.  We do not have an appropriate pasture space for them.  Nonetheless, we are committed to giving them the best possible chance for a comfortable, safe life.

After many long discussions within the management team, along with repeated failures to try and gentle these older souls, we believe it is in their best interest to be as they once were, freely roaming as wild horses should be. We do not believe these three mustangs will ever be adoptable through our program.  So long as they remain here at the shelter, they cannot receive the proper veterinary and hoof care they deserve.  Many of us here at the MSSPA follow Skydog Ranch on social media and are amazed by the level of compassionate care you provide for so many Mustangs. The life you provide in your sanctuary is the quality life we want to secure for the mustangs in our care. MSSPA is simply not equipped, as Skydog Ranch is, to give the mustangs their best possible lives.

Is it possible to make an arrangement with Skydog Ranch that would result in the three Mustangs here in Maine becoming part of the sanctuary herd there in Oregon?  The MSSPA is prepared to provide financial support to transport the horses and offer a stipend for their care, if necessary.  Our sole interest is in giving these lovely Mustangs an opportunity to live the life to which we know they are entitled.

Thank you so incredibly much for all that you do for horses at Skydog Ranch. Having first-hand experience with these Mustangs, I applaud your organization for how well it is run, the quality of care the horses receive, and your expertise in providing it. You should be extremely proud of all of your hard work! The MSSPA Management Team would be beyond grateful to work with you and help secure better lives for our mustangs.  We so want to give them back the lives they once had.  All of us at the MSSPA are eagerly looking forward to discussing the possibilities of placing our Mustangs with Skydog Ranch.

WE SAID YES ♥️♥️♥️

They were hesitant to step out of the trailer when they arrived, but we gave them all the time they needed. We let them settle in and did an assessment. They had been lovingly rehabilitated and looked fantastic. It is bittersweet for anyone who loves a mustang - and understands they need freedom to be happy - to let them go to a placement where that can happen for them, especially when it is on the opposite side of the country. We value the trust the team at the MSSPA has put in us and we do our best for these horses every day. We will never forget their selfless kindness - and neither will Silver, Sienna, or Raggedy Ann.

Silver

Silver had lived 18 years as a stallion on the Idaho ranges before he was gathered and gelded, then sold to the abusive owner in Maine. He was captured on August 13, 2020 along with Raggedy Ann (formerly Annie) and Sienna (formerly Phoebe) in Saylor Creek, Idaho. When he came to MSSPA two years later, Silver finally experienced compassion rather than harm from humans. He was very guarded; did not like sudden movements or when people approached him quickly. Captivity caused him to close down and he preferred not to be handled at all. His attempts to bolt to freedom could be dangerous for both Silver and any humans and horses who were nearby, but everyone understood his longing for wide-open spaces.

Sienna

Sienna (previously known as Phoebe) gave birth to a beautiful filly, Izzy, while in the terrible situation on the farm. Izzy was young enough to learn to trust humans and could be placed in a good home. Her mother had spent most of her life as a free-roaming wild horse. After her ordeal, from the roundup to starvation, she was timid and difficult to handle safely. Human cruelty almost completely destroyed this beautiful horse’s sweetness and curiosity. MSSPA saw that she needed to be wild and free to heal and thrive.

Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Ann was a stunning 24-year-old pinto mustang mare with an unbroken spirit, the boss mare of this mustang band. When she arrived at the MSSPA shelter in July 2021, she had only known cruelty from humans. Reluctant to trust, she was the most challenging of the three to handle. She had to be tranquilized with a dart gun in order to undergo routine health care. Annie is beautiful and intelligent with an indomitable will. She deserves to live the rest of her life in the freedom that is her birthright as an American mustang.

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.