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10 Things You Can Do To be involved in washoevalley.org 1. Send in a WV story or quip.
The county cable channel 17 has the county commissioner meetings, a news show, and various public info segments.
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Wild Horse Spirit Saves Wild
Horses
The hands-on, private, non-profit Wild Horse Rescue, Advocacy Organization and Sanctuary co-founded by Bobbi Royle and Betty Kelly has saved dozens of wild horses from certain death. The human spirit mending the rescued animals provide is an extra-added bonus. While living in Hidden Valley in the 1980’s, the two women witnessed the amazing, highly socialized, sensitive family structure the beautiful Wild Mustangs displayed. First, the women thought the horses were protected – but they soon discovered their bleak fate. Labeled as “intruders” as development gobbled up land where Wild Horses roamed free – the horses were rounded up for adoption. “But that provided a funnel to quickly and quietly remove the horses,” Royle explains. “Horses that weren’t adopted were auctioned for slaughter.” The duo decided to take action and began to save one wild horse at a time. “In 1994, we moved to Washoe Valley bringing our rescued wild ones with us to their new home,” she explains. “We continued to rescue injured and jeopardized wild ones from both public and private ranges as the need arose.”Each Spirit at the Accredited Sanctuary has it’s own amazing story. Bugz was rescued in early 1999. The Virginia Range filly was
probably a survivor of the 1998 Christmas Holiday Virginia Range wild horse
slaughter just east of Hidden Valley. Because the filly had been well-nourished
by her mother’s milk, she was able to survive through January and February – but
with her mother likely dead, she was in big trouble Kelly responded to phone calls alerting her to the injured filly and she found the young mare on the ground, trying to push herself up on her front legs. “But she couldn’t use her back legs at all,” Kelly explains. She scooted around on her hindquarters trying to get away from the humans. “Had she been hit by a car? Did she have serious injuries to her pelvis or her back legs?” her rescuers wondered. A veterinarian who volunteered her services did a preliminary examination to learn she had no broken bones or soft tissue damage but she was starving. The young filly had to be lifted into a horse trailer and was taken to Wild Horse Spirit for treatment. “Bugz was loaded with ticks and parasites. Above all, she was severely anemic,” Royle explains. “Her thick long winter coat had hidden her mal-nourished state. Her Body Condition Score was a one out of nine, meaning "poor.” She had no fat or muscle mass. No wonder she could not get up.” It took weeks of treatment to regain her strength so she could stand and months before she was healthy.
Mona, a Virginia Range bay was underweight with no milk for her foal when Reno Animal Control picked her up. Three months later she was released to Wild Horse Spirit. Originally, Mona was thought to be an old mare but she was really only 4 years and had a beautiful personality. “She’s gentle and an absolute love,” says Royle. In fact Mona, worked her magic on one particular child during a school field trip. “We get church groups and school groups all the time,” Royle explains. “This one group that came was filled with special needs children. Royal says there was one girl who walked off the bus and went directly over to a corall and began talking a blue streak to Mona. “She was just chattering away at the horse,” Royal remembered. “The chaperones who came with the children were nudging each other and pointing to the girl. I assured them the horse was gentle and they had nothing to fear.” Then she says the instructors told her they were amazed by the child’s actions because she’d been at the school for a year and a half and had never spoken a word! That child obviously made a connection with the horse. Others make strong connections as well and visitors to the www.wildhorsespirit.org are invited to read the individual story of each horse and visit the sanctuary to get their own “Wild Horse Fix.” The 501(c)(3) organization depends completely on donations to
continue their labor of love. To find out more about Wild Horse Sprit visit
their web site or call (775) 883-5488. |
in March. When caring humans discovered her, she was “down.”
If
you saw her today you’d see she’s robust and a remarkable tribute to her mother
and her heritage.