Roxy's Story:
Roxy is a 2016 palomino mare, gathered from the Triple B HMA in Nevada. REAR, Rohirwyn Equestrian and Rehabilitation, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and adopting out horses in dire need, came across her and two other mustang mares in the Stroud Oklahoma kill pen in September 2022 and was instantly drawn to them. All three were listed as possibly pregnant and unhandled.
REAR was able to get them bailed and fundraised for, through quarantine and hauled to their facility in Colorado by October 2022. Roxy was the most terrified mare of the bunch, instantly trying to find any way out of her new home.
She went through auctions and the kill pen and arrived at REAR with an old halter on, which has very likely been on her since she was originally adopted from the BLM. Thank GOD it's not tight, just annoying to have on for years, but REAR has been unable to get it off themselves with having no desire to push her thresholds (YAY REAR for respecting the horse's boundaries!!).
A week after she landed with REAR, she miscarried her foal. This is a terrible result of being terrified and shuffled from auctions to kill pens where sickness runs rampant. She looked to have been about 5 months along, and though it was devastating, Roxy recovered well both physically and mentally from the ordeal.
Over the past year and a half, she has put on the weight she needed from being shuffled around, and though she has settled in to her home here, she's never allowed us to help her through her trauma and blend into the domestic world. We have been able to get light touches on her nose, give her alfalfa cubes, but that is where she draws the line, and we have respected that. She is always on high alert with humans around, and is only truly content when she is out with her mare friends.
Giving her the opportunity to return to her wild roots would be amazing for her physically and emotionally!
Roxy arrived HOME on February 16th, 2024! You can watch the video of her journey home HERE.
On day one I sat with her, and created lots of feelings of safety and comfort for her to feel. She came about five feet from me, dropped her head, and showed lots and lots of releases with head shaking, lips quivering, licking and chewing! By the end, her head was dangling, she was very relaxed, and I could tell she was very curious about me and she has certainly never experienced those sensations around a human before so she was INTRIGUED!
On day two I sat with her and brought some feed, which I placed just three feet from me as I sat on the ground with her. She came over, extremely reluctant at first, but gave in and by the end was peacefully eating in my vicinity.
We are ALREADY making strides to gaining her trust and getting that old gross halter off of her! There are MANY mustangs like Roxy that are deemed "untrainable" due to trauma from previous harsh training methods used or harsh handling, so I will be sharing Roxy's journey on YouTube as a series of lessons where we discuss how mustang's training often goes wrong and what we can do differently to ensure we gain the horses genuine trust and build a true connection with them, versus just compliance.
We can't wait to see her progress and regain her confidience!
Sponsorship Tiers:
Bronze Sponsorship: $15/mo
For the Horse: Some Monthly Hay Cost Covered
For the Sponsor: Mustang's Full Known History, Mailed Photos of Your Mustang (one time), and a Monthly Mustang Update
Silver Sponsorship: $30/mo
For the Horse: Some Monthly Hay Cost Covered
For the Sponsor: Mustang's Full Known History, Mailed Photos of Your Mustang (one time), and a Monthly Mustang Update
Gold Sponsorship: $75/mo
For the Horse: Half of the Monthly Hay Cost Covered
For the Sponsor: Official Certificate of Sponsorship, Mustang's Full Known History, Mailed Photos of Your Mustang (one time), a Monthly Mustang Update, a t-shirt (one time), Invites to Sponsor Only Events at the sanctuary to meet your mustang!
Platinum Sponsorship: $125/mo
For the Horse: Partial Monthly Hay Cost Covered
For the Sponsor: Official Certificate of Sponsorship, Mustang's Full Known History, Mailed Photos of Your Mustang (one time), a Monthly Mustang Update, a t-shirt (one time), a Mug with your Mustang on it (one time), invites to Sponsor Only Events at the sanctuary to meet your mustang!
Diamond Sponsorship: $200/mo
For the Horse: FULL Monthly Hay Cost Covered, Deworming, any Hoof Trims or Dental Work Needed
For the Sponsor: Official Certificate of Sponsorship, Mustang's Full Known History, Mailed Photos of Your Mustang (one time), a Monthly Mustang Update, a t-shirt (one time), a Mug with your Mustang on it (one time), Wall Canvas featuring your Mustang, Invites to Sponsor Only Events at the sanctuary to meet your mustang!
