Whisper

Whisper was the first foal born at Skydog, which was a huge learning experience for me. He was born in midwinter, January, in 4 feet of snow with -15° overnight temperatures. He arrived in a thick, furry coat that kept him warm and helped him survive. He was the living embodiment of mustang tough and taught us how unbelievably hardy these wild ones are on the range.

Whisper is the son of Aerial and Bear, whom we saved with Goldie from a kill pen in Texas. Bear was still a stallion and had to be gelded before bringing them all to Oregon. A few months later, Aerial delivered Whisper. Goldie gave birth to Mariah one month later. They have stayed together in Bear’s herd. They were our first official rescue of a family, the impetus for our endeavors to keep families and bonded horses together.

Those bonds have not dimished over time. In 2026, Whisper was being trailered out to his herd after a leg injury kept him in the barn for a few weeks. Running to meet him was Aerial and his best friend Dalton, who grew up with him. They had missed each other a lot. We could hear it in the way they called back and forth to each other as he unloaded. Whisper leapt out of the trailer and ran right to them with such excitement, he literally jumped in the air with joy. As they ran and kicked, the rest of the herd joined in to welcome him home. It was a reunion of pure elation.

It rips my heart in two to see the bonds these horses form, the love they have for each other, knowing the agony they suffer when the BLM separates them from all they know and cherish. Whisper’s parents went through that, but this is something he will never experience at Skydog.

#skydogwhisper

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.