Celebrate Black [Horse] Friday: Give a Life-Saving Gift!

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Skip the long lines and sharp elbows of crowded Black Friday shopping — sponsor one of our resident horses or burros on Black [Horse] Friday, instead!

Taking part in RTF’s automatic monthly donation program is a meaningful gift that benefits not only the horse of your choice but all of the 465 wild horses and 51 burros in RTF’s care. Benefits of sponsorship range from a framable certificate featuring the wild horse or burro of your choice to complimentary photo safaris, depending on your sponsorship level.

Read the stories of some of our black horses (plus one burro!) below or choose from different horses and burros by clicking here!

Meet Valentino! This tall, elegant black gelding was born at RTF’s American Wild Horse Sanctuary on Feb. 15, 2001. Valentino’s parents, Noble and Angie, were among the family bands brought to the sanctuary in 2000 from the Sheldon Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. In 2000, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was removing wild horses and burros from the refuge. Concerned that these unbranded horses would be shipped to auction and slaughter, RTF agreed to relocate more than 50 wild horses in their intact family and bachelor bands from the refuge. In 2014, the agency removed all wild horses and burros from this refuge. Click to sponsor Valentino.

Meet Mocha Chip! In 2004, Mocha Chip arrived at Return to Freedom’s Sanctuary with 14 other furry burros who had just been captured off of the Sheldon Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Nevada by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Mocha Chip lives at RTF’s Lompoc sanctuary in an oak forest with 24 other burros! He is very shy, but you can usually spot him watching you from a safe vantage point. We can’t be certain exactly how old Mocha Chip is, but he is most likely in his early 20s now. Click to sponsor Mocha Chip.

Dark Star is a magnificent dark grulla dorsal striped stallion who was captured on Jan. 5, 2010 from his home on the Black Rock Range Herd Management Area, located in the Calico Mountain Complex in Nevada. Dark Star now lives in a bachelor band at RTF’s Lompoc Sanctuary. He is a very intelligent stallion with a calm demeanor who avoids unnecessary scuffles. In the winter of 2009 and early 2010, the Bureau of Land Management captured close to 2,000 wild horses on the Calico Mountain Complex in Northwestern Nevada’s Great Basin. Approximately 140 horses perished either during or as a direct result of the roundup. In 2010, RTF gave sanctuary to 20 stallions and 74 mares who endured this devastating roundup. Click to sponsor Dark Star.

Meet Buddy! Buddy was born in 2008 in the vast remote Great Basin ranges of the Black Rock Desert located in Northwestern Nevada. He was captured in 2010 by the Bureau of Land Management on the Calico Mountain Complex when almost 2,000 wild horses lost their freedom and approximately 140 perished. RTF provided sanctuary for 20 stallions and 74 mare wild horses from this roundup. Buddy now lives in a large herd of other horses from the same roundup. He has bonded closely to a beautiful pinto stallion named Tomahawk. Click to sponsor Buddy.