We would like to thank the ASPCA for a very generous 3-Year grant commitment, and for their continued support and friendship.
Thank you to our Corporate Sponsors for their ongoing generosity and support.
Welcome to Return To Freedom
Return To Freedom is dedicated to preserving the freedom, diversity and habitat of America's wild horses through sanctuary, education and conservation, while enriching the human spirit through direct experience with the natural world.
Upcoming Benefits for Return to Freedom
Join RTF Founder Neda DeMayo at the "Unbridled Souls" photography exhibit and holiday reception in Studio City, CA this Sunday, December 14th. Click here for more information.
Lulu Lemon Athletics in Santa Barbara, CA will be donating funds from their yoga classes to Return to Freedom. Join them for class, held Sunday mornings from 8:30-9:30am, at LuLu Lemon Athletics, 705 Paseo Nuevo, Santa Barbara. For more information visit www.lululemon.com/santabarbara.
A True Miracle...
You don’t have to be an economist to know that times are tough
right now. Businesses are closing their doors and people are
losing their jobs and homes. We are seeing a significant increase
in horse owners simply abandoning their horses, leaving them
to die a slow and agonizing death by starvation. Should the
horse be found and picked up by State livestock agencies, the
horse will be spared starvation only to endure a terrifying
and equally agonizing death at the slaughter plant. But this
was not the case for one lucky mare. Read more...
3rd Annual Spirit of the Horse
Thank
you to all of our supporters for making the 2008 Spirit of the Horse event
a beautiful and joyous celebration. Click here to share in the experience.
Action Alert: BLM Announces Plan to euthanize some 30,000 wild horses July 1st, 2008
As Americans make plans to celebrate the Independence Day weekend, the US Government is considering the mass murder of thousands of wild horses. On Monday June 30th, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at their Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting announced a proposal that involves the phasing out of long-term holding facilities where they house some 22,000 wild horses that they removed from the range. Though they can only find adoptive homes for some 2000-3000 wild horses each year, the BLM has continued for decades to remove horses by the tens of thousands. Faced with budget cuts and more horses than they can afford to care for, their “solution” to years of mis-management is to simply kill them. With additional round ups scheduled this year, up to 30,000 wild horses could face the bullet.
Click here to read more and learn how you can take action.
Continued Lack of Rainfall Creates Hay Crisis
While the Mid-West region continues to be plagued by flooding, those of us out here in the west are facing an altogether different challenge. Severe drought-like conditions over the past two years have wreaked havoc on ranchers and farmers who are facing lower crop yields due to the lack of water. For sanctuaries like Return to Freedom that has meant a substantial increase in the cost of hay, which is becoming increasingly more difficult to secure in regions across the west. Couple that with the rise in fuel prices, and it is creating a real financial threat to horse sanctuaries in the west.
Return to Freedom urgently needs your help. Please consider making a donation today to help us purchase hay for our equine residents, or Sponsoring a Horse to help provide feed and care for a specific horse at the sanctuary.
- $25 will help feed and care for 1 horse for a week
- $50 will help feed and care for a mare and her foal for a week
- $100 will help feed and care for 1 horse for a month
- $250 will help to feed a small family band for 1 month
Want to help protect America's wild horses?
Download our "Take Action Packet" today. You can help Return to Freedom raise awareness about the plight of our remaining wild horse herds by sharing the Take Action Packet with friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. Also, please consider making a donation today! Your generosity helps us provide sanctuary for over 200 wild horses and burros.
Did you know that our wild horses are actually a re-introduced native wildlife species?
Traditionally, horses were thought of as an exotic species that arrived on this continent for the first time with the Spanish in the 1500s. However, advances in molecular biology prove that the modern horse, Equus Caballus, actually evolved on this continent and migrated across the Bering Land Bridge. Though the horse disappeared on this continent between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago, when the Spanish brought horses back to North America they were simply returning home. Click here to read more.
Viggo Mortensen speaks out on behalf of our wild horses:
Click here to watch his PSA. Special thanks to Midthunder Productions
And while you're surfing... visit www.frankhopkins.com, the official tribute site to America's great distance/endurance rider and early-day champion of the Mustang horse: Frank T. Hopkins.
Please help us protect and preserve America’s Wild Horses by becoming a Member today.
