A wild horse captured in 2000 from the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. All horses and burros have been removed from the Sheldon Refuge. Photo taken at Return to Freedom’s American Wild Horse Sanctuary by Sarvey Tahmasebi Rector.

Today, we honor the brave men and women who gave their lives to our country.

We honor the brave dogs, burros and mules that worked by their sides.

We honor the brave war horses that carried them. More than 8 million horses, donkeys and mules died in World War I alone.

Many of these horses were bred for the cavalry and, later, when large ranchos were sold to the U.S. government refuge system, many of these free-ranging horses returned to a natural state on federal lands.

Today, descendants of these war horses have been permanently removed from their ranges.