Anna’s Story

On April 21, 2009, Carrie Moul guided a spotted horse named Anna out of her trailer, introducing her to a new and final home at the Redwings ranch in Lockwood, California for the first time. This marked the end of a long and painful journey for Anna.

A ranch owner in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range of California had a successful horse business for many years. However, age and increasing infirmity led her to begin to ignore her remaining nine horses’ needs, putting them in great danger of neglect.

On February 10, Redwings received a letter from Leslie Mirise and Jenni Odum who had found these four stallions and five mares all feeding off one bale of hay. All the stallions were in stalls filled with mud and their own feces while three of the mares were in a pasture. Jenni writes:

Then there was Anna and her companion mare. In makeshift pens of various pipe panels held together with wooden boards and bailing twine, the two mares have been standing in mud and feces for who knows how long. Anna’s water is filthy dirty every time we go out there and we remove hay and debris and refill it. Her eyes were goopy the first day that Leslie went out and she took a fly mask to keep the flies away and shield them from the wind. Anna’s feet are horribly overgrown, and Leslie’s husband has trimmed them a bit to make her more comfortable. But the conditions are so muddy it’s difficult to do much in the space. She needs to be moved to a dry space and receive hoof care immediately, or I fear she will end up in immense pain, unable to stand or walk.

Fortunately, the owner of these horses agreed that she needed help from Leslie and Jenni, and that these horses would be better off somewhere else. Hope flickered when she had found a new home for Anna, but Leslie and Jenni visited the property and found rusty barbed wire all over the ground, and no shelters. Then it got worse: Anna’s companion died.

Worried that Anna would soon suffer the same fate, Leslie and Jenni contacted Redwings and made a most eloquent case for Anna, and Redwings agreed. Anna had a new home.

Redwings unfortunately couldn’t take her right away, so she stayed in Plymouth, California in the care of Dr. Jim Garfinkle of At Farm Veterinary Service. They cleaned up and treated Anna who is blind. Once Redwings had a place for her, Carrie Moul volunteered to make the 12-hour round trip drive to bring Anna to Lockwood.

Wild Horses of Lockwood: Their Journey to Safety

How did wild Pryor Mountain Mustangs get from Montana to Lockwood, California? It was a journey from starvation and the threat of slaughter to safety at Redwings Horse Sanctuary.

In 2000, a herd of 110 starving mustangs was discovered crowded into two acres in Montana. Most of this herd had been captured by the Bureau of Land Management and adopted by an elderly caretaker with the hopes of preserving the magnificent Pryor Mountain Mustang line. But his health had declined, his finances had dwindled, and his property was sold. The stallions had not been gelded, allowing them to breed with the adopted mares in an uncontrolled manner. When their foals were born, conditions became so crowded that their umbilical cords were torn from them, leaving open and infected holes. Neighbors tipped off local authorities who confiscated the herd—many in danger of winding up auctioned to slaughterhouses. Redwings helped find other organizations to help with the placement of these horses.

The Pryor Mountain Mustang is special because its Old World heritage has been genetically confirmed. This tough horse, derived from the horses of Portugal and Spain, has ranged the rugged mountain areas between Wyoming and Montana for 200 years. Native Americans, particularly the Crow, likely brought the Mustang to the Pryor Mountains where they enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. The horse and the people maintained a close link in all aspects of Native American life. We at Redwings feel that this centuries-long bond with humans give it much honor.

Redwings placed the most malnourished horses in safe care until they were strong enough to travel, and then facilitated the transportation of several of the herd to California. The remaining that survived from the original 110 were placed at other sanctuaries. Today, 18 mustangs freely roam a dedicated 30-acre habitat at the Redwings sanctuary in Lockwood. We allow them to be nearly wild with very little need for human interference. Redwings hosts special excursions into their pasture, allowing visitors to see them act much like the wild herds before acting like friendly and inquisitive ranch horses.

Redwings encourages visitors to enjoy the daily adventures of this herd. We’ll have you meet the other animals too. The horses, ponies, burros, and Colonel the steer all share the unfortunate story of abuse, neglect, and slaughter.

Redwings Horse Sanctuary, at 47240 Lockwood/Jolon Road, is open Monday–Saturday, 10-4. Call 831-386-0135 to schedule a tour. For directions and more information, see www.redwingshorsesanctuary.org.