Saving Mustangs

Local Woman Rescues Hundreds of Horses from Slaughter and Abuse

Saving abused and neglected horses is the mission of a local woman, Clare Staples, who is so good at running her nonprofit she now has two locations in Malibu. As the founder and president of the rescue Skydog Sanctuary at Skydog Ranch, Staples grew the property in Corral Canyon to another Skydog location near Encinal Canyon. 

After a career in the entertainment business, the Skydog founder has been devoting her life to rescuing horses and donkeys, one animal at a time, with the help of an army of hardworking volunteers.
 
Staples started her rescue after buying a horse with a branding on his neck. Researching that branding on her mustang led her to the “plight of the American Mustang in the West,” she said.

The situation isn’t pretty. “I realized how many of them were ending up in the slaughter pipeline at livestock auctions and kill pens,” Staples said. That startling news inspired her rescue and nonprofit in 2016. Her intention at the start was to just save “75 horses and call it good, but it turned into something much bigger,” she added.

 Skydog Ranch now houses 20 horses and donkeys in Malibu. Between the two ranches, 300 more wild horses spend their days roaming and running free in Oregon on a massive 9,000-acre ranch near Bend.

It’s a beautiful story, as Staples explained, “We rescue those horses from really bad situations. We take special needs, seniors with medical issues, or ones that have landed in really abusive situations. We then get them back into good health and release them to freedom.”
Those animals with special needs requiring extra attention stay in Malibu in a smaller setting for their well-being. “They live a very comfortable life here in Malibu,” she said.

One reason for the success of Skydog is the thriving staff of volunteers who take good care of the horses and other animals and help nurse them back to health. “We have an enormous volunteer program,” Staples said. At times, there are up to a dozen volunteers who come to the Malibu ranches to groom the horses, bathe them, and even muck their stalls. “It’s an amazing community of some of the most wonderful (people) that I’ve ever met in my life,” said the British-born Staples.

In the eight years the sanctuary has operated, Skydog has rescued more than 500 horses. Sometimes, the rescues occur in conjunction with other animal rescue groups, hoping to find forever homes for wild, abused, neglected, or sick equines. 

“When we rescue a horse and ask for help, people are so generous,” the founder mentioned about Skydog’s million followers on social media. “We tend to take horses and donkeys that stay forever, but we’ve rescued at least 250 horses in collaboration with other sanctuaries and rescues.”

Because Skydog operates as a sanctuary, the animals are not available for adoption. They live the rest of their lives at one of the three ranches. 

“Our main goal is to re-wild these horses back out to as natural a setting as they can,” Staples said. “We rescue animals that need sanctuary placement. They’re either wild horses that have gone through numerous trainers and can’t adapt to domestic life, horses with expensive medical issues, and we focus on them.  People who donate for a horse to come here get to follow them for the rest of their lives.”

Although we may not see it in Malibu, there are thousands of endangered horses in the West. Staples explained that “on U.S. public lands in nine western states, the Bureau of Land Management rounds up 20,000 wild horses a year. There are now more horses in government holding facilities than there are wild out on the range. They often end up in bad situations because they’re incredibly cheap to buy , and the BLM will pay you $1,000 to take a horse or donkey off their hands, many of which go into the slaughter pipeline. They’re sold in huge numbers at livestock auctions. There are way too many horses landing in the slaughter pipeline to be shipped to Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered for their meat.” 

Skydog is advocating for legislation called “The Safe Act” to get passed. The bipartisan legislation would stop the shipment of horses across the border. “We don’t have slaughterhouses for horses in America. They were shut down many years ago because America considers horses as companion animals , and, like dogs, they’re a huge part of our history. We founded this country with their help , and it’s really sad that nowadays, they’re being betrayed in such a massive way by our government. Our government lands are being cleared for extractive mining and to grass livestock for cattle ranching interests.”

Skydog is bombarded daily with emails concerning horses in this devastating pipeline. “We do everything we can,” Staples said. “We’ve rescued hundreds and we hope to continue and advocate for wild horses to stay on public lands so that there’s less of a strain on rescues.”
 
“It’s the greatest joy of my life to say ‘yes’ to a horse, which we’re continually doing,” she continued. “It’s an extraordinary thing to see a horse come to us in really horrible condition; they’re often starved, injured, or abused, and [we get] to bring them back to health and life! We have the most incredible team of vets and equine staff that take extraordinary care of these animals. To see them put on weight and come back to the horses they were born to be is such a privilege. These horses are the most extraordinary souls. It’s the most rewarding thing. There’s nothing as sustainable as the happiness involved in saving an animal’s life.

“We have some of the most beautiful wild horses in America at our sanctuary as well as abandoned, unwanted, unloved horses that ended up in a bad situation that are now running with herds of wild horses, really demonstrating the beauty of wild horses in America and being ambassadors for all the wild horses that are still stuck in holding pens or the slaughter pipeline. It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”

Those wishing to volunteer or donate can email volunteer@skydogranch.org.