Meet Skwalker

We have over 400 horses to feed and care for everyday. Some have been with us for more than 20 years. Some have come to us in the recent past. But, I have had to say "no" to many horses in need of safety lately because donations are dropping down and we have to make sure we can feed the rescued horses we have.

That said - Welcome Skywalker. This guy was in trouble and I couldn't say no. Cheyenne Price, mgr of our Lancaster CA ranch, noticed a posting on a local sale page for a mustang. Had to go immediatly for $50. Cheyenne contacted the sellers and found out that the big beautiful palomino was purchased from the BLM only a month prior. He was a stallion for 11 years until BLM rounded him up from Red Rock herd area in Nevada. He was gelded only a year ago and because of his age he was sold, rather than adopted, with no strings attached. Cheyenne offered to pick him up, but the sellers said they already had someone on the way to catch him.

The gelding's owner thought he would gentle him in 3 days and had big plans for training him. However, the horse was able to escape his flimsy barbed wire enclosure and ended up loose on a 40 acre parcel with no means of catching him. The owners tried for days to wear the horse out by chasing him with a truck all over the 40 acre property with no luck. And what their plan was if they did run the horse half dead was unclear. At any rate they finally gave up and contacted Cheyenne to come and get him and they would donate him to Lifesavers.

So Cheyenne and Adam devised a plan. They took catch pen panels, a horse trailer, two mares, stick flags, and a bunch of volunteers, including myself.

The catch pen was set up with one open end and the other end leading to the horse trailer. The two mares were positioned nearby to add an element of curiosity and comfort for Skywalker. The volunteers with flags were scattered out on the 40 acres and everytime the horse ran into a volunteer's area - the flag went up in the air and made noise and commotion that sent Skywalker away. The only quiet safe place for him to rest was near the catch pen. And when he did settle in that spot we all settled as well.

It took about 2 hours for Skywalker to understand the mission, but he finally got it and walked into the catch pen. Adam quietly closed the catch pen gate and as he did, Skywalker just stepped into the horse trailer as if he knew all along that was the goal.

Cheyenne named him Skywalker in honor of the "fourth" of May as it has become the day of "May the fourth be with you" - a play on the Star Wars phrase "May the force be with you". And we can also play with "May the horse be with you" because now he is.

We certainly didn't plan on stretching our budget to add another mouth to feed, but Skywalker had been through enough. Someone had to step in and help this poor guy before he got seriously injured or endured any more mishandling and trauma.

We would be happy to accept your donations to help us with Skywalker and all the other horses we love and take care of every single day