Blue Zeus

SPECTACULAR PHOTOS BY JAMIE BALDANZA who donated these images for sale, so we could raise money for Blue Zeus and family - incredible talent and incredible generosity……

The Journey To Skydog

Blue Zeus is a very special horse to Skydog and the founder, Clare Staples. For years, she had followed and admired photographs of this stunning blue roan stallion, the heart of Wyoming’s Red Desert. He was a favorite of many wild horse photographers and she regularly loved and commented on images of him. For Clare, when Blue Zeus was in the wild with his family, he was her “North Star” guiding her fight to keep mustang families free and together.

When the BLM announced his herd had been slated for roundup in the summer of 2020, it came as a shock. Clare made a silent promise to help him, if he was captured. On October 16, 2020 she received the terrible news that he and his entire family had been run by a helicopter into a BLM trap. In one terrifying day, they had lost their freedom and each other. The only good news was that they had survived the violence of the roundup.

So began an odyssey to track them down, get access to them, and ultimately adopt them. After removal, they were hauled to Cañon City, Colorado. The holding facility there is located inside a maximum security prison, which had shut down because of the pandemic. There was no way to get inside and there were no adoption events planned due to COVID. That didn’t stop Clare, who incessantly called, emailed, and badgered the staff in every way possible, pleading with them to allow this old boy to be adopted. She knew that if he was shipped to long-term holding, Blue Zeus would never be seen again.

After months of trying, good news finally came from the head of the facility, Steve Leonard. He agreed to an event for the older boys, who would be brought to an outside location and offered for adoption. Clare immediately made plans to attend. She traveled there to set eyes on the horse she had loved from a distance all these years. That first morning, Blue Zeus was one of the first horses she found. She sat and watched just feet away from her North Star.

The next day, bright and early, she traveled back to the park for the auction. His turn for adoption came around 10am. Clare’s bid - the only bid - of $25 won him. She also bid on six other older horses, who were less well known, if known at all. Blue Zeus was both magnificent and famous. It was astounding that this mustang sold for so little money, when he had a huge following and his image generated profits for countless photographers. This was only possible because Clare had learned from experience that bidding is maliciously driven up as soon as it becomes public knowledge that a sanctuary is trying to adopt a BLM mustang.  (An example of this was the little McCullough Peaks foal, Thora, whose price was bid up to $60,000.) Clare and the handful of people who knew about this effort to save him kept it quiet. Blue Zeus was loaded in the trailer and they set off for Oregon and the 9000-acre sanctuary he would now call home.

Attention then turned to his mares and babies. Cañon City allowed 9 people who had shown the most interest in these horses to come into the facility and find them. They were given four hours to look at 2000 horses and find the ones they had come to get. It was painful for everyone to see these free spirits they had known in the wild reduced to the miserable conditions of the prison holding facility.

Pen after muddy pen, shoes filled with filth, they tried desperately to identify diminished, malnourished, muddy horses from photos taken when they were robustly healthy on the range. They struggled to read their tag numbers as they ran by at top speed. In the very last pen, dozens of horses took off at a gallop at the sight of humans, but one group broke away from the rest. It was Blue Zeus’ family. Clare screamed with delight at the beautiful sight of his three mares running past - one red, one dappled grey, one black and white.  Also with them were two babies born at the facility, Nyx and Phoebe, as well as two foals who were rounded up with their family, Flora and Juno. Another foal caught Clare’s attention, a bright and playful little blue roan, Huckleberry. He resembled Blue Zeus in every way. Blood relative or not, she filed the paperwork for him and his mother, Charlotte, to join the family at Skydog.

When the adoptions were completed, Clare sat in her truck and released the stress of this herculean task. A migraine that had been nagging at her for days lifted. Tears of joy, relief, and accomplishment flowed. There was also heartbreak for the hundreds of mustangs that would be left behind at the facility. She sent photos to Janelle with thoughts on others they might be able to take, but Blue Zeus’ family was coming home. Weeks went by before they were allowed pick them up, but the day finally arrived when the trailer was loaded and the family headed to Oregon, where Blue Zeus was waiting.

arrival at Skydog

At the sanctuary, Blue Zeus settled in to a spacious pen with trees shared by other mustangs from this rescue. Even though he had companions, he tended to stand and eat alone, seemingly lost in thoughts of the past rather than moving on to the future.

The whole family needed time to recover and relax before the reunion. As Clare was filling his water trough, Blue Zeus was standing quietly, staring at her. She choked up as she told him his family was coming. He needed to rest, drink cool water, and put on weight to be ready for them. Those who have had the honor of standing in his presence know he is an incredibly smart, calm, and deep-thinking wild horse. It was easy to believe he understood what she was saying.

REUNIon

Eleven months after they were rounded up and separated, the big day arrived. Blue Zeus and his family saw and called to one another. When the gate opened, he ran at the gallop toward them. Head high, ears forward, tail flagging, chest full and wide, he proudly pranced by and they all fell in line behind him. He stopped and turned to look at them one by one, recognizing his own, taking a little extra time to meet Charlotte and Huckleberry. Then he took off leading his family in a wild horse parade to show them off to the world.

At first, Juno and Flora were protective of the mares and babies as they became reacquainted with their father. A few months later, they were all living peacefully at Skydog. Charlotte and Huckleberry had been fully integrated. Blue Zeus took particular pride in sparring with the colt and teaching him how to be a wild stallion - the mares stepping in if they thought the boys were playing too rough. All the foals are friendly as can be. Today, they roam on a beautiful expanse of 1200 acres that they share with a very wild herd of burros.

A Great Love

Among the many extraordinary aspects of Blue Zeus’ life is the great love he has always shared with Nike. Never far from each other, they eat their meals together, touching noses as they munch on good hay. At first glance, you might have thought she only had eyes for him with a lower rank in the mare pecking order, but her influence is profound, if subtle. His lead mare in the wild, Nike was the glue that held the mares and foals together at the holding facility. It was her distinctive white swoosh that revealed their presence in that final pen, leading to their adoption. She was the force that welcomed more mares into the fold when we introduced Renegade’s mother, Calypso, and the Golden Girls from South Steens, along with youngsters Curly Girl and Stargazer.

A Breyer Horse Model

Each year, Breyer creates a stunning line up of models that are made exclusively for BreyerFest. This is an annual celebration of horses featuring Breyer models and the real horses that inspired them. Skydog was absolutely thrilled to learn that Blue Zeus would be included as a limited edition 2024 model! His story is a wonderful way to put wild mustangs in the hearts and minds of horse lovers, young and old, around the world. 

Breyer models aren’t just generic toys. Artists design each mold. First, artists design the horses in clay, which is then used to create a steel mold. Cellulose acetate pellets (hard plastic) are melted and injected into the steel molds. After the molds cool, they are assembled and passed on for painting.

The horses go next to the painters, where they are each airbrushed. Some of the finer touches, like the eyes and nostrils, are hand painted. Approximately 20 different artisans work on each individual Breyer model from start to finish. Even 60 years later, Breyer models are still made by hand, not machine. This means that no two Breyer models are exactly alike and greatly increases the value and significance of the product.

Three thousand pieces of this stunning representation of Blue Zeus thru Breyer’s artistry have been made for the event and available for purchase ($75.00) ONLINE ONLY to ALL BreyerFest ticket holders. Anyone who wants to get the model at this time, whether you attend BreyerFest or not, can purchase a ticket in order to buy the model online. The model will be shipped the end of July. If the initial run sells out, it can be back ordered for a second run that will ship in December. Those models won’t specifically benefit Skydog, but we will have 250 of them to sell at auctions or raffles. We know they will be a terrific fundraiser for the the sanctuary.

In 2024, BreyerFest takes place in Kentucky at the Kentucky Horse Park July 12-14. On Saturday the 13th, Clare will be there in person to share the incredible story of this wild mustang and his family. She’s looking forward to meeting any Skydog followers and patrons in attendance.

#skydogbluezeus

Blue Zeus’ Mares and babies

FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM