Faith

Faith had been used up and discarded in a kill pen by the time she was 8 years old. The photos we were sent of her standing in the filth of the slaughter pipeline haunted me. It wasn’t just her battered face and eyes crusted with blood. It was her broken, defeated expression and all the cruelty and inhumanity it reflected.  I had never seen a horse in such bad shape looking so forlorn and broken. I wanted to restore her faith and give her hope for a better life. We immediately paid for her and sent our hauler, Carla, to pick her up.

Faith was underweight. When she entered Colorado, she was seen by a vet, who cleaned her up and got her ready for the final part of her trip to Oregon. She found a soft bed, good food, clean water, and good care waiting for her.

When she arrived at Skydog, her feet were in terrible shape with homemade pads and shoes patching together some injured soles from a road founder. We think she might have been used as an Amish buggy horse as she had obviously been run on concrete for several years. Janelle set to work on her hooves, which will make her feel so much better. 

Our came vet out several times to examine her face, which wasn’t healing properly. X-rays revealed numerous bone splinters in her broken face, which needed to be removed before the wounds could heal. It took several weeks, but finally the hair started to grow in again. Her worry wrinkles relaxed and the light returned to her eyes. With her bandages removed and healthy feet, she was ready for release and her new life really began.

Once she was out with a herd, Faith and Love found each other and became close friends. Love was one of the first 5 horses we rescued as a sanctuary, and my first personal experience with a kill pen save. These two beautiful, loving beings had both been abused and betrayed by their owners, thrown away, then saved from the horrors of the slaughter pipeline. I am inspired by their ability to move forward, mutual understanding, and fast bond.

We named her Faith as she came to us in 2019, a year when the faith of many wild horse lovers had been shaken. The BLM launched it’s terrible Adoption Incentive Program that plunged unprecedented numbers of wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline. The bureau also announced its lethal Path Forward plan to drive wild horses to extinction, written and endorsed by ranchers, hunters, and, shockingly, three animal welfare organizations. We must never lose faith that there will always be good people to help right a terrible wrong. We have to hold faith that things will change, that more people will wake up and not sell our horses out for the almighty dollar; hat more people will understand and appreciate their value on this earth; that we need to start fighting for the right reasons, not for a personal agenda or cash. 

The great moral powers of the soul are faith, hope, and love. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light. (Ellen G. White)

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.