By Jack Carone | Project Leader
Dear Friends of RTF and our Wild Ones,
Last time we told you about our preparations and excitement for the upcoming Opening Day of our 2026 Program Season and Spirit's 31st Birthday. Now it's a part of RTF History, and it was great!
Opening Day and Spirit's Birthday Celebration
We’re so grateful that more than 200 people from 20 states, as well as the United Kingdom and Canada, joined us on May 9 to celebrate Spirit’s 31st birthday and the opening day of our programs season.
The special Spirit of the Horse event at our Lompoc, California, flagship location raised much-needed funds to help feed and care for the more than 450 rescued wild horses and burros in our Sanctuary’s care.
Spirit, a Kiger mustang stallion, was the muse and model for DreamWorks Animation’s beloved Oscar-nominated film “Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron.”
At one point, visitors gathered in a grassy turnout for a special healing ceremony for Spirit, the horses, the land, and all those in attendance, led by Diné/Navajo healers Jones and Clayson Bennally, which ended with a beautiful friendship circle.
Spirit greeted visitors in the circle, among them mesmerized little girls. Their reactions were an inspiring reminder to live life with a sense of wonder.
Among the event’s other highlights:
Along with the effort of our hard-working volunteers and staff, we’re thankful for the event’s many wonderful vendors and sponsors for supporting wild horses and burros:
America’s Tire, Babcock Winery and Vineyards, Beckmen Vineyards, Charlotte’s Jewelry of Santa Ynez, Chris West Originals, Discount Tire, Draughtsmen Aleworks, Exoceuticals, Full of Life Foods, Flying Goat Cellars, Jenni Kayne, Jones-Benally Family Jewelry, Inspirato Luxury Travel Club, Katherine Natural Cosmetics, Kavalia Jewellery, K.J. Murphys Custom Cowboy Hatter, My Style on the Go, Nexus Direct, Norah McNeely Hurley Foundation, Pacifica Beauty, Puremedy, The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern – Auberge Collection, The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, Tribe Equine Health Solutions, Whiskey in the Wild, Youth Spring Arts.
It's always a thrill to meet the good people who care so much about the work to achieve justice and fair treatment for America's Wild Ones. We deeply appreciate them—and YOU.
Science
From RTF's staff Biologist, Celeste Carlisle —
"In my area of work, we've had some meaningful steps forward. The Path Forward Coalition, spearheded by RTF, has had a hand in helping to defray the extreme budget reductions possible to federal agencies in this moment, and advocated for appropriators to fund the wild horse and burro program at levels that would ensure a comprehensive approach to management and a pulling away from gather-removal-only actions and towards the meaningful inclusion of fertility control. The Coalition has also been able to meet with some regularity with BLM's Executive Leadership Team to communicate how important it is to truly utilize and show success with fertility control. They are signaling that they very much support the tenets of The Path Forward. This is very significant. (more on The Path Forward in the Range section, next.)
Importantly, RTF has continued, even under fire, to work with organizations we do not necessarily agree with. It isn't easy. People want immediate results and to rail against a common evil, but that's not going to work in this issue, which has more players and angles than just about anything we've ever witnessed. The obvious "Ranchers vs wild horse advocates" conflict is just the tip of the iceberg, there is much more in play.
In our educational efforts, we've hosted multiple webinars in our Informed Advocacy series, designed to dig deeper into issues around wild horse and burro management and help members and supporters understand the complexity of science driving policy: The SAFE Act from Start to Finish; Relationships Are Complicated: Predators and Wild Horses; The Ejiao Trade's Devastating Impacts on Donkeys; and Life as a Wild Horse on the Range. "
These webinars are well-worth the watch, and we've included the link to the most recent one in this report.
Range
This last quarter, Ryan McCarthy, RTF's Wild Horse Population Field Coordinator (WHPFC) spent a substantial amount of time in the field in Northern Nevada and Northeast California Herd Management Areas for foaling season.
The majority of the time was spent monitoring spring range and water source conditions, conducting population counts, and identifying and cataloging individual horses.
The data collected will be used to inform future management practices with the main goal of implementing fertility control and reducing dependence on helicopter gather and removals.
When not in the field, Ryan spent time on administrative work, grant research, and outreach, and participated in the Path Forward and attended regional working groups with/led by other stakeholders during the quarter.
What is the Path Forward? A cooperative plan to replace endless family-shattering roundups with safe fertiity control.
Return to Freedom supports these tenets of The Path Forward:
Ryan also worked with the executive staff to coordinate the purchase of a much-needed ATV for use in the field. He also coordinated with agency staff at the State and Field Office level for future projects.
Advocacy
Protective language for 2027
The House Interior Subcommittee has included prohibitions against the government killing healthy wild horses and burros or selling them to slaughter in its Fiscal Year 2027 bill language.
That critical protective language prohibiting funds from being used to euthanize healthy wild horses and burros for management was left out of the President’s 2027 budget proposal.
While a final funding package is far from completion, we are pleased that the House subcommittee recognizes the support of the American people and Congress for non-lethal management solutions for wild horses and burros.
RTF will continue to work with Congress and other stakeholders to ensure that this critically important language protecting wild horses and burros is again included in the final bill.
Slaughter ban added to transport bill
The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently passed a surface transportation reauthorization bill that includes a bipartisan ban on transporting horses for slaughter.
The amendment mirrors the goals of two bills that RTF has long supported: the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, a horse slaughter ban bill with 229 House cosponsors, and the Horse Transportation Safety Act, which would prohibit the use of double-decker trailers to haul horses under any circumstances.
The transportation bill moves to the floor for final passage. The Senate has not taken up action on its version, but we are working with Senate staff.
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Returnt o Freedom is so grateful to our donors, like you, who make all of the above and more possible. From the excellent care of our cherished equine residents to our efforts on behalf of their counterparts on the range, it's our supporters who allow our dedicated staff and partners to work without pause for the Wild Ones we all love and respect.
Thank you!
To the Wild Ones, and Those who Stand With Them,
Return to Freedom
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