Wednesday, January 10, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
21
2018 goal: Find new homes for mustangs rescued from Nevada
By Alex Paul
Albany Democrat-Herald
ALBANY (AP) — Tami
Fawcett calls the wild mus-
tangs frolicking in a pasture
near Scio “the kids” since
they are only a few months
old.
Each has a name —
Freckles, Brush, Sage, Paco,
Hope and Ruby — and it’s
easy to tell by their playful-
ness that they are youngsters.
Fawcett — an Oregon
State University master’s
degree candidate — would
like nothing better than to
start the New Year off right
than by finding good homes
for every one of them.
As the founder of
Mustangs MEND —
M i n d f u l n e s s , E m p a t h y,
Nurturing, Dignity —
Fawcett recently rescued
seven 3- to 8-month-old mus-
tang colts from a Nevada kill
pen. They came from tribal
lands in Nevada.
“We do not keep any
adoptable horses long-term,”
Fawcett said. “All horses
are available, unless they
require sanctuary. We screen
potential homes and require
references and no record of
neglect or animal abuse.”
Fawcett, 34, said the
nonprofit 501(c)(3) Mustangs
MEND also requires the
adopting families to have
solid fencing, shelter, and
minimal care requirements
such as access to a farrier,
proper feed and veterinary
services.
Fawcett grew up in
California and has loved ani-
mals all her life. When she
was young, her mother res-
cued a “half-dead pony that
ended up living another 10
years.”
Her grandfather raised
thoroughbreds.
Fawcett’s life took her
away from horses as she left
home for college and then
worked for several years
before returning to college to
earn a degree in global stud-
ies from Cal State University-
Monterey Bay.
She came to Oregon to
work on a master’s degree in
gender studies.
Fawcett believes that
rescued horses can teach
humans about leadership.
“These horses are incred-
ibly smart and hardy,”
Fawcett said. “They make
do for themselves on the
range and cull through natu-
ral selection. They get it right
away.”
Currently, Fawcett is
working with Eve Good, who
has 11 acres near Scio. They
met after former renters left a
horse at Good’s property.
The small farm is now
home to eight rescued mus-
tangs, six wild orphans from
a Nevada Paiute reservation,
a curly mustang captured
in Nevada and a 2-year-old
filly rescued from the Warm
Springs Reservation.
Mustangs MEND can
use donations of money,
feed, used tack and equip-
ment such as feed buckets
and most of all, families that
want to adopt one or more of
the horses. They also need
bedding pellets, wood stove
pellets, funds to castrate
colts — about $150 per colt
— vitamin supplies and ulti-
mately, an indoor facility that
could be leased.
Fawcett’s goal is to save
the wild mustangs from
slaughter. Thousands of mus-
tangs are sold each year and
transported into Mexico or
Canada to be processed for
both human consumption and
dog food.
Fawcett often attends area
auctions and buys the horses.
Contributing to the mus-
tang problem is that there are
thousands of mustangs on
native American tribal lands
spread across the United
States. The tribes do not have
funds to manage the horses
and in turn, the horses suf-
fer from lack of food and
the tribal lands suffer from
overgrazing.
The horses are often sold
for slaughter.
Mustangs MEND has
found homes for more than
30 horses in 2017. Two years
ago, Fawcett fostered and
tamed four young mustangs
from the Warm Springs tribe
through the Warm Springs
Horse Network rescue.
“I respect each horse indi-
vidually,” Fawcett said. “If
it learns something in a few
minutes, that’s fine. If it takes
a day, that’s fine, too. I want
to make it easy on the horse
and myself. The more mel-
low I can be with each horse,
the better.”
Fawcett said the mustangs
can be gentled into outstand-
ing pleasure riding horses.
“I think it’s important that
adopting families find the
horses to be both friendly and
useful,” Fawcett said.
Fawcett said society needs
to also think long-term about
managing the wild mustang
population and that may
include birth control.
She said dart guns can be
used to deliver birth control
medications that last up to
two years.
“It’s about funding, politi-
cal issues and getting people
involved and trained on how
to help wild horses and take
care of them,” Fawcett said.
It’s about funding,
political issues and
getting people involved
and trained on how
to help wild horses and
take care of them.
— Tami Fawcett
“They really are not hard
keepers. They have learned to
take care of themselves and
to adapt on the range. They
rarely have illnesses because
they are culled through natu-
ral selection. The weaker ani-
mals die.”
Fawcett said that because
horses are “herd animals,”
they bond well with humans.
One of her rescued horses
was named the In-Hand
Reserve Champion at the
2017 Oregon State Fair.
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