My Thanksgiving week looked like this: A chilly, scenic and exhilarating pack trip into one of the magical canyons in the Colorado prairie, with Ambassador Mustangs Lacy (7yo, Divide Basin, WY) as my saddle horse and Tiny (15yo, Salt Wells, WY) packing camp in and out, and ponied during day rides out of camp. The Shepherd brothers Denali and Ranger were also along for the ride and enjoyed country that’s so different than what they are used to.
On each trip we meet people who inevitably ask about the horses, comment on how beautiful, friendly and well-behaved they are. Each time those asking are astonished when they hear that the horses they are petting are Mustangs, learn more about their stories and about the process of adopting and gentling once wild horses.
That, too, is advocacy. That, too, is outreach. We need to do more than just preach to the choir. I can tell Mustang lovers all day long that Mustangs are great. They’re going to nod and go pet the 5 they already own or look at the photo of a wild horse on the range they have hanging on their wall.
We need to reach people who don’t know about Mustangs and their potential as amazing partners, and help those who have doubts about the “broom-tailed, jug-headed range rats” we so love, see what these horses can look like and accomplish. We need to show the broader horse community and future horse people what they are missing by not having a once wild horse in their lives.
We also, desperately, need more than just homes for wild or barely gentled Mustangs. What we need more of are Mustangs that are out there being ambassadors for their kind, living testaments to what we are trying to explain, because words can only do so much.
That is one of the reasons we do what we do: Demos and workshops, teaching our volunteers how to understand and help gentle wild horses, hand pick adopters to match the personalities and talents of the Mustangs we gentle so that they can have a wonderful life together, and get our Ambassador Mustangs out there for people to see first-hand what a once wild horse is capable of.
Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy is 100% committed to the Mustangs we take in. We give our very best to not just the big, colorful, young, easy, “desirable” ones. We work just as hard to support the “plain”, abused, “difficult”, small, and older wildies and the many, many Mustangs who do not carry the now so widely popular freezebrand.
Did you know that Forest Service and reservation Mustangs are usually not branded at all and therefore at greater risk of falling through the cracks if they end up in a bad spot? In our opinion, their lives and futures are just as important as those of the branded wild ones. Our newest Ambassador herd member is DG Petrie, not pictured here, a 2yo unbranded Devil’s Garden Mustang gathered last year from the Modoc National Forest in California. She is just as amazing as her freezebranded friends, and will help us increase awareness for unbranded Mustangs.
If this resonates with you and you want to support our mission:
It is Giving Tuesday, and it is giving season on Meta (Facebook, Instagram).
Meta is honoring recurring donations with their match this year. If you sign up for recurring donations between now and 12/31/22 (by clicking the Donate button on our Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy (WHOA) page on Facebook or Instagram), they will match up to 100% of your donations after the second month. What a great opportunity to double your impact!
WHOA is a 501(c)3 charitable organization registered with the IRS and the Colorado Secretary of state.
Other ways you can contribute:
Via Venmo: @wildhorseoutreachadvocacy
Via PayPal:
paypal.me/wildhorseoutreachWHO or stefanie@wildhorseoutreach.org
Via the Donate button our website: www.wildhorseoutreach.org
Via mail:
Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy
PO Box 113
Guffey, Colorado 80820
Amazon wishlist:https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/276Y41TKY2YFM
Chewy wishlist: https://www.chewy.com/…/wild-horse-outreach-advocacy…
If you’re shopping on Amazon this cyber week/holiday season (or anytime), you can sign in via Amazon Smile and select Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy as the charity you want to support. Amazon donates a portion of the proceeds at no cost to you!
Via our online store: https://www.bonfire.com/store/wild-horse-outreach-advocacy/
2023 WHOA Calendars are in and ready to be shipped in time for the holidays. Stay tuned for a post on those. All funds raised go directly to the Mustangs in our care.
