In January, TCF’s friend, Christi Chapman, leader of a new Wyoming fertility control program and Mary Santagata, Founder of All The Kings Horses Equine Rescue (ATKHER), reached out to TCF with an urgent alert. They’d been tipped off that two young Wyoming mustangs had been found in a kill pen not far from our home office in Colorado. These boys had been rounded up from Wyoming HMAs - Salt Wells and Divide Basin - in fall of 2017. Hardly more than a year later, they were slaughter-bound. We knew we had to intervene.

Christi and Mary were already busy making arrangements. These two are a formidable team; when they’re determined to do something, nothing will stand in their way. Mary pledged that if the funds could be raised to rescue the two geldings - Renegade and Sandman - from the kill pen and transport them all the way to Connecticut, where All The Kings Horses Equine Rescue is based, she would care for them and find them safe and loving homes.

Needless to say, we were in! TCF agreed to pay their purchase fee and quarantine in order to get them to safety. First they had to be saved from the kill pen to ensure they didn’t end up on a truck headed for slaughter. The timing was tight, but Mary managed to coordinate payment and secure transport to a quarantine facility just in the nick of time. Since they’d been at a livestock auction exposed to many horses with unknown ailments, it was important that they be isolated before being mixed in with other domestic horses.

Once their quarantine time was complete and they were given a clean bill of health, Renegade and Sandman traveled to Wyoming to spend some time with Christi Chapman. Christi is an animal lover and professional dog trainer. She’s also the lead in a new fertility control program TCF is helping to support in the Red Desert Complex of Wyoming. We all hope that the program will alleviate the need for large scale helicopter roundups in these HMAs in the future.

Sweet Sandman is still available for adoption (serious inquiries only)

After spending 6 months with Christi, who worked on gentling the two geldings, it was finally time to head east to their temporary sanctuary at ATKHER so they could find their forever homes. They arrived in Connecticut in late September, and by mid-October, Renegade was adopted! His adoptive mom, Ashely, spent a year tracking down the perfect mustang and she found him in Renegade. He now lives in New York state and is totally beloved. He even has his own Instagram page! (@theWildRenegade).

Sandman is still available for adoption. You can check out a short video of him on ATKHER’s Facebook page HERE. He’s a gentle, sweet boy, who deserves a safe and loving home for the rest of his life. And we know Mary and her amazing team will find that for him.

All The King’s Horses Equine Rescue is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Connecticut. Their focus is equine rescue, rehabilitation and education. Mary and her team have rescued over 100 horses, including mustangs, from kill pens, and situations of abuse and neglect. TCF is proud to have worked with ATKHER on this rescue!

The Wild Renegade