Our Mission
What is Nirvana Mustang Sanctuary?
Nirvana Mustang Sanctuary is a 160 acre property where American Mustangs live out their days in peace and harmony! We have successfully raised $10,000 in our first GoFundMe for our first pasture where the mustangs will be kept while they acclimate to their new life. We will be bringing our first horses home in the Summer of 2022- focusing on saving mustangs at risk of potential slaughter situations. We have HUGE plans for expansion, and we hope to have you on board for the journey! If you want to follow our journey, be sure to find us on Facebook or Instagram by searching Nirvana Mustang Sanctuary and looking for our logo, pictured at the top of this page!
This is Nirvana Mustang Sanctuary, located in the foothills of Southwestern Colorado just west of Durango, overlooked by Mesa Verde’s rich history. We can’t wait to fill the horizon with mustangs, running free!
Why do the horses need your help?
Currently 75,000 American Mustang mares foals and stallions (now geldings) sit in holding pens like the ones pictured below, and around 20,000 additional horses are rounded up and added into the government run holding pens each year- all in order to allow more livestock to graze on the Herd Management Areas the horses are supposed to live on!
America’s wild mustangs deserve better than to be stored away in holding like outdated belongings the government feels obliged to hold on to. Thousands of our mustangs each year end up in the slaughter pipeline, being shipped to Mexico to be made into meat. Only 5,000 (on average) mustangs per year are adopted out- at just $25 per head. A lucrative offer for many horse traders. Very few are lucky enough to be adopted into good homes where they remain. Lack of knowledge on how to handle a wild horse, results in many of these animals being cast away after being adopted.
The other thousands of Mustangs who’s freedom has been stripped away are destined to live out their days stuck in small, cramped holding facilities where they don’t have room to run or live a normal social life with a diverse herd. These non-ideal conditions can cause both physical and psychological damage to the horses we all love so much. Our mustangs are being cheated out of the land that is supposed to be set aside for them, so together we are the only hope for many of the captured mustangs to have a better. Each year, 20,000 BLM mustangs are being added into holding facilities and the number remaining in the wild (which once numbered in the millions!) now dwindles down each day as the extreme helicopter round ups continue. In addition to BLM round ups there are also UF Forest Service round ups and Reservation round ups, bringing the total number to untouched mustangs under threat of being shipped to laughter to an all time high. Together we can offer as many of them as possible a safe haven. We will be rewilding as many mustangs as possible, while also training and rehoming the willing mustangs using empathetic relationship based methods where the mustang retains their wild spirit while thriving in a domestic life, so we can get as many mustangs out of bad situations as possible.
What is our money being used for?
100% of the funds raised by Nirvana go straight to building the necessary infrastructure to create a mustang friendly paradise of a property to healthily & naturally support as many mustangs as possible. With these funds we will be purchasing the fencing for our first two 50 acre pastures, installing the fencing, setting up quarantine pens, catch pens for the mustangs being trained, building several loafing sheds, multiple water troughs, installing water lines to the troughs, as well as running electricity to the troughs for heated water in the wintertime, creating a spring drainage filled pond, and adding to a hay fund for the mustangs. Funds will also go towards bail fees for mustangs being rescued out of kill pens. We will be updating the donors with our progress here, on Facebook & Instagram, as well as in our Donors only Facebook Group.
What mustangs are Nirvana Mustang Sanctuary focused on saving?
While some sanctuaries compete with individuals in outrageous bidding wars to purchase a specific horse, we would rather focus on the horses that need us most- the horses no one else is likely to be interested in- Pregnant mares, young horses who would face an entire lifetime in uncertainty or ended at a young age because they were sent to slaughter, old mustangs that adopters don’t want the liability of, mustangs labeled as ‘dangerous’ and not able to fit into the modern horse lifestyle, those with less than ideal temperaments, and any other misfit mustang that is at risk of a neglect or slaughter situation. With that being said we will absolutely work to keep band mates together when possible and practical!
What does the future hold for Nirvana Mustang Sanctuary?
We have big plans for the expansion of Nirvana Mustang sanctuary! Our goal is to save mustangs from kill pens, and allow them to regain their wild spirit! We rejoice in watching the life return to the horses eyes after being reunited with freedom, a diverse herd and if possible, their own herd mates! There is nothing that I would rather devote my life to than sharing the magic of the mustang, and our aim is to give as many mustangs as possible the chance to live our their days in peace with loving homes.
A few mustangs per year that are willing to connect with a human partner will be trained using kind methods that promote their natural state of peace, tranquility, and curiosity. We will take 6+ months to train each one, making sure they are going through their training at their own pace! They will be adopted out into strictly vetted homes and kept tabs on by Nirvana for the duration of their life, and their adoption fee will support the livelihood of the free herd at the sanctuary. We will also be selling merchandise such as T shirts, mugs, air fresheners and more in order to raise awareness of the fact that our mustangs are being stripped from their home at an astonishing rate and raise funds for hay, making happy mustangs!
In the future we plan to host events, clinics, banquets, auctions, fundraisers, and more to spread the word about the fate of these majestic creatures, and how they are much more intelligent & socially sophisticated than most believe. As one of the last remaining icons of the wild and of freedom, they deserve the protection they were promised in the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971.
Once I donate, how can I stay in touch with Nirvana Mustang Sanctuary and the cause?
You can stay in touch by following us on social media!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nirvana.mustang.sanctuary/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NirvanaMustangSanctuary/
You can also check out our website and blog at www.nirvanamustagsanctuary.org
Be sure to join our email newsletter for monthly updates on sanctuary construction and to meet our first mustangs in March!
Thank you so much for reading, if you feel called to help these horses, we would be so grateful, and you can rest easy knowing you’ve done your part to preserve their legacy for generations to come. Every dollar counts, together we can do something beautiful! We have a variety of products and donation funds for you to choose how you'd like to help!
More on Awareness
Right now we’re offering a limited edition T-Shirt featuring the famous mustang stallion from Sand Wash Basin- Picasso! This T Shirt was created in order to spread awareness that our wild horses need help! We will have shirts featuring other famous mustangs in the future, so be sure to collect your favorites while they’re available and spread the word! You can get a shirt for yourself or a loved one through this link. 100% of the proceeds from the Picasso fundraiser goes to the mustangs of Nirvana Mustang Sanctuary.