What is your name and the name of your sanctuary?
Pat Craig – The Wild Horse Refuge
How and when did you get started?
As the population of free-roaming horses grew in Colorado’s Sand Wash Basin (SWB) to almost 1,000, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) intervened in 2020, rounding up a collective 700 horses and transporting them to a holding facility in Canyon City, Colorado. Soon after, they could be adopted by the public through a series of auctions hosted by the BLM. In response to this news, several supporters of Colorado’s Wild Animal Sanctuary generously offered to donate toward ensuring the organization rehomed the mustangs. Dozens were rescued initially and brought to the ample space of the 10,000-acre Wild Animal Refuge in southern Colorado (one of the Sanctuary’s four facilities).
Among the supporters fighting for the horses’ freedom were Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis and First Gentleman, Marlon Reis, who also reached out with a request to assist the horses. Though The Wild Animal Sanctuary is the world’s largest carnivore sanctuary, the organization has also rescued horses for all 44 years of its operation. The southern Refuge’s wide expanse of rolling hills provided the first horses a bountiful home for three years, but soon it was time to look farther afield for a space entirely devoted to the mustangs – as nearly 100 had been rescued!
This search concluded in securing a large historical ranch near Craig, Colorado in January 2023, just 35 miles from the Sand Wash Basin. A whopping 22,500 acres of the same terrain both the current mustangs, and the hooves of their ancestors once called “home” for centuries. Once again, they are now free to run on lush, natural earth under the open sky. This new facility, now christened, “The Wild Horse Refuge”, is devoid of stock pens or fenced pastures-instead, the horses may run to their hearts’ content across the many thousands of acres.
What is your mission in the horse industry?
The Wild Horse Refuge is a dedicated sanctuary for Colorado-born Wild Horses that have been culled from their native homelands. Captured Horses are adopted and/or purchased and brought to the Refuge in order to give them back their freedom and restore their wild spirit.
Describe what sets your organization or business apart from the competition?
The Wild Horse Refuge is the largest sanctuary of its kind with over 22,500 acres in CO dedicated to preserving the horse’s freedom and wild spirit.
What can clients or members expect to gain from your product or membership?
Supporting The Wild Horse Refuge means contributing directly to the well-being and freedom of the horses, all while being assured that contributions are entrusted to a highly reputable nonprofit organization with a 44-year history of dedication and commitment.
Where are you located and how can supporters contact you?
24319 County Road 17
Craig, CO 81625
info@wildhorserefuge.org
wildhorserefuge.org
(303) 536-0118
Facebook: The Wild Horse Refuge
Contact us via phone, text, email, website and Facebook
The Colorado Horse Source is an independently owned and operated print and online magazine for horse owners and enthusiasts of all breeds and disciplines in Colorado and surrounding area. Our contemporary editorial columns are predominantly written by experts in the region, covering the care, training, keeping and enjoyment of horses, with an eye to the specific concerns in our region.