How It All Began
In the summer of 2010, Chris and I attended an auction in Fallon, Nevada where 170 wild horses were going to be sold by the pound to “kill buyers” who would truck them across the borders to Mexico and Canada where horses are slaughtered for human consumption. Even though horse slaughter is illegal in the United States, there is an international market for horse meat and horses can be legally transported across the border.
Chris and I went to the auction with the intention to save the 18 mares with foals by their sides, but when we saw this herd of horses and looked into their eyes, we decided to buy as many as we could. We bid against the kill buyers for almost 4 hours, and in the end, we bought every horse there.
Amazing moment: local wild horse advocates showed up with trailers to help us move the horses to a feedlot nearby. Our hearts were full of gratitude.
The horses stayed on the feedlot for the next year and a half while we looked for a permanent home for them. We gelded the stallions and all the horses were vaccinated and wormed. We thought we had ‘saved the day’ but basically our work had just begun.
Finding a Home
In 2012, we finally found Montgomery Creek Ranch (MCR) and created Montgomery Creek Preserve, a 2,000-acre wild horse sanctuary. MCR has its own small valley surrounded by rolling hills of chaparral and steep, gravelly ridges dotted with grey pines.
We moved the mustangs to MCR in July of 2012. On the day of the release, we shuttled the horses out to an open spot in the middle of the ranch. When the trailer doors swung open and we witnessed the pure joy of wild horses taking to the hills and finally enjoying their freedom — it was all worth it.
Since that time, our herd has grown to over 200 mustangs in the big herd and 30 young horses in our training program with the addition of:
The Deer Run herd captured from BLM lands near Dayton, Nevada.
Virginia Range mustangs, captured by the Nevada Department of Agriculture from private, state and local lands in and around Reno.
A family of burros rounded up from public lands in Arizona’s high desert.
Ft. McDermitt horses, captured by the Paiute-Shoshone tribe from their lands and sent to an auction in Fallon, Nevada. These horses were purchased at the auction and saved from slaughter.
BLM mustangs from various states that were at risk of going to slaughter.
MCR Today
Over the years, our model for the sanctuary evolved. We didn’t want to just provide refuge, we wanted to educate the public about the plight of the wild horse and the solutions that are yet to be fully implemented by the federal government. We developed a humane horsemanship training program for younger horses, hiring trainers that make sure our horses are gentled and trained to be adoptable. We give them a solid foundation and ride them in all sorts of situations with lots of time crossing creeks, climbing steep hills, and riding out over different terrains to give them the mileage that will make them safe and dependable trail horses.
Since the program’s inception, we have seen over 60 of our mustangs placed in incredible forever homes which has enabled us to help more horses.
That day at the auction changed the course of our lives. There have been some tough days and some heartbreaks--there always are with horses--but when we see our young horses begin to trust their trainers or watch tight-knit bands of older horse buddies still together nearly 10 years later, we are amazed at their beauty and resilience. Watching our mustangs running along the ridge, drinking from a pond, grazing and playing around the ranch, it’s hard to remember that they once faced the worst of fates. They are survivors, and we hope their story sheds light on the bigger picture of what America’s wild horses and burros are facing today.
