Gypsy is a permanent resident of Hanaeleh. She continues to be the queen of the ranch, even though she lives in the lower paddock. She is a wild Mustang, and Mustangs often only will bond with one person, and that person happens to be Elizabeth. Gypsy loves Elizabeth, and really dislikes everyone else (unless you are offering her treats- in that case, you may give her the treat, and then you may leave). Elizabeth often will pony Gypsy off of Tamahome when she goes riding around the … [Read more...]
Update: Gypsy (August, 2020)
Gypsy is our resident wild Mustang, even though she was rounded up and separated from her family at three years old in 2006. When she was wild, Gypsy was living in California and Nevada before her family was herded up and thrown into holding pens, then separated from one another. If Gypsy's experience was like most wild horse roundups, several of her fellow herd members, including foals, were killed. Hanaeleh intervened when Gypsy's owner posted her as a "free horse." Her owners had … [Read more...]
Update: Gypsy
Gypsy is a wild Mustang who came to Hanaeleh over a decade ago. After working with her for several years and not finding any decent adoption prospects, Elizabeth finally decided to adopt her. Gypsy seemed unsurprised by this, as she had already declared herself high ruler over all of the Hanaeleh horses. Gypsy continues to rule over all of the horses at Hanaeleh in her usually queenly way. She also seems to rule over the volunteers by refusing to be nice to them unless they give her treats- … [Read more...]
Podcast: Gypsy’s Story and the Beginning of Hanaeleh
A few weeks ago I was invited to speak on The Rescued Horse podcast, put on by Don Harmon. Don asked me to think about a situation in which we rescued a horse, especially one who was at risk of being sent to slaughter. I wracked my brain: who do I talk about? We have so many horses we have rescued, but as we often get to them near the end of their lives, a few of them have already passed peacefully. I wanted to talk about a horse who had been rescued, but who had both a positive story, and one … [Read more...]