COSMO

Cosmo is a Warm Springs mustang. It always feels so good to liberate captured Oregon horses back into the sunshine with trees and room to run in their homeland. An owner relinquishment, he had been handed from home to home five times. Fortunately, his last owner and trainer had his best interest at heart. We received the following email:

I purchased a 13-year-old BLM Mustang, who is from the Warm Springs HMA in December of 2020. I am his 5th owner. He was purchased from an older gentleman who didn’t know much about horses. The lady who got him from her said she rescued Cosmo. Then my friend, also a horse trainer, purchased him and sold him to her friend who sent him back and now I have him.  I was told he was “broke” to ride. I should have paid closer attention. He is the sweetest boy and friendly on the ground. However he was very nervous the first time I saddled him and also when I tried to sit on him bareback. At this point I decided to send Cosmo for training.  She has worked with him for the last 70 days. 

Cosmo not only tenses up under saddle but also bareback, he is also terrified of another rider on a horse that is anywhere in sight. This makes it impossible and unsafe to trail ride or ride in an open barn setting. He has also been very unpredictable under saddle, including rearing, bucking and bolting. During a ride in the round pen he went from nice and relaxed to bucking without any warning signs. Unfortunately that ended with me on the ground. My trainer is adamant that with the behaviors he has demonstrated he is not safe under saddle. We’ve done hours of desensitizing, trust building, and slow relax work under saddle.

I have had the vet check him from head to toe, done dental work, and he’s had body work, so he is very sound body wise. We have also tried diet changes and supplements, with no success. My trainer mentioned to me your organization and that it might be the best fit for Cosmo. I would like to see if you have space and if you believe Cosmo would be a good candidate to be wild again. Thank you for your consideration and I hope to hear from you soon,”

We receive dozens of emails just like this every year. When we think the owner has tried everything and explored all good options, we try to say yes to as many as we possibly can. Cosmo was the last save of the day on Giving Tuesday 2021. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, when we take in as many horses as our donors will support. We promised that if we hit our goal we would take one more. The last thing I did that day was post the story of Cosmo. The tremendous generosity of our donors brought him to Skydog.

His lovely owner hauled him to his new home to live without demands, without a schedule, without a bit in his mouth and saddle on his back. A place where that worried look in his eyes asking "now what?” and “how long will I be here?” softened and faded. Cosmo had been quiet and cautious on arrival, but the change in their mental state was palpable when he was free to exhibit natural, wild horse behavior.  We introduced him to Charlie Eyebrows, who also grew up free on the same Warm Springs territory. They were both rounded up, kept in holding pens, and adopted out. They both have sad stories, but they turned the page to a new chapter together. They greeted one another the way wild boys do with stomping, squealing, deep inhaling of their scents, running side by side, repeat. And they were off.

With time, Cosmo settled into being the kindest, gentlest, most loving horse. He happily pays Charlie’s kindness forward to new arrivals. He welcomed and comforted a traumatized Baby Blue, who had trembled with fear in the trailer on the drive to Skydog. The circle of life keeps turning and the only way to honor the magnificent wild spirits we lose is to give the gift of freedom and friends to another rescued mustang. The horses that love to serve as that all-important first friend belong to a special group of angels - and Cosmo is one of them.

#skydogcosmo

 Mustangs & 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 Senators and urge them to support these bills:

Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2023 (H.R. 3475 in the House / S.2307 in the Senate). This bill will 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. 3656) This bill will prohibit the use of helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft in the management of wild mustangs and burros on public lands, and require a report on humane alternatives to current management practices.

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.

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

See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at US canned hunt ranches, stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs, and defund the Adoption Incentive Program.