Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at RTF!

/ Featured, Our Blog, Staff Blog
Photo taken at RTF’s San Luis Obispo, Calif., satellite sanctuary courtesy of Leslie Carlson.

Dear Friends,

We founded our sanctuary with the understanding that horses are sentient and social mammals that live in herds. The herd is a community made up of smaller family and social bands. 

As humans, we share deep emotional bonds with our families and chosen families. With your help, more than two decades ago, we opened a sanctuary to give safe refuge to wild horses and burros displaced by roundups and return some measure of the freedom they’ve lost.  

We also took our place in the fight for a sustainable future for the herds that still roam our remote Western rangelands. 

A sanctuary is a sacred place. While intended for horses, burros, and the wildlife that live here, this has also been a sanctuary for people. We are incredibly fortunate to now have an extended family of friends and supporters who believe in this work, even though thousands of you have never set foot in one of our pastures. 

Many of us are experiencing very trying times, and this pandemic has affected us all and the way in which we spend time with family and friends. In spite of your challenges, you’ve kept the horses fed and you’ve kept our shared fight for wild horses alive, whether by making a donation, volunteering your time, or sending letters to Capitol Hill in hopes of making lasting change. 

For all you do, we are grateful beyond words.  

Wherever the unusual circumstances of this holiday find you, we are proud that you are part of our Return to Freedom family – a herd all our own – and we wish you every happiness. 

The RTF Team