Thanks to the Montecito Journal for highlighting our work on behalf of America's #wildhorses. Read the story here: returntofreedom.org/montecito-jo...

He’s a man of mystery ~ Spirit on a foggy morning back in March. Sunny spring weather has since arrived, and with it, very soon, will come our Spirit of the Horse event, May 9 at RTF's flagship sanctuary in Lompoc, Calif. We’ll be celebrating Spirit’s 31st birthday!

Join us at 2 p.m. East / 11 a.m. Pacific on April 20 on Zoom for a special webinar about wild horse behavior! Dr. Sarah King will highlight recent research on how #wildhorses spend their time and the intricacies of their social life and choice of reproductive partners. ⬇️

🛑 POSTPONED: Due to unpredictable weather, we’re pushing back an event celebrating a project at Babcock Winery & Vineyard near Lompoc, Calif. We look forward to hosting an event there at a later date. The project will combine a new home for our Alpine herd with regenerative grazing.

4,188 #horses were exported to Mexico or Canada in January and February. That compares to 2,344 during the same period in 2025, according to government statistics. Until Congress acts, the slaughter pipeline will remain open for business. Take action ⬇

Last week, we hosted the first of two photo clinics at our San Luis Obispo, Calif., satellite wild horse and burro sanctuary as our spring and summer programs season got underway. Learn more about visiting us in San Luis Obispo or Lompoc, Calif.: returntofreedom.org/visit/

Rescued from the notorious Bowie Auction in Texas, these #donkeys escaped certain death in Mexican slaughterhouses. Now they are resting with shade, fresh drinking water, and plenty of hay. After quarantine, they will live in our oak forest. ⬇️

BREAKING NEWS: The president’s 2027 budget proposal does not include standard prohibitions against the government killing healthy #wildhorses and burros or selling them to slaughter. Read more ⬇️

During 2025, a total of 25,050 American #horses were shipped to their deaths in Mexico or Canada — a 25.8% increase from 2024 and the most in half a decade. Learn more and take action: returntofreedom.org/watch-our-we...

We’re excited to share an update about our Alpine herd and its beautiful new home at Babcock Winery & Vineyard near Lompoc, Calif.! In all, 40 rescued #wildhorses will make their home on 95 acres at Babcock's vineyard. They remain under RTF’s ownership and management.

Monitoring #wildhorses on the range can be cold, lonely work. It helps to bond with a bachelor band of stallions. Read more: returntofreedom.org/field-notes-...

🧡 Happy Thursday, everyone! — Enjoy a little visit with the one and only Spirit. On May 9, we’ll be celebrating his 31st birthday and the opening day of our summer programs season on May 9 at our Lompoc, Calif., flagship sanctuary. For more information and tickets, see our bio.

🧵 Haloka — Choctaw for “sacred, beloved.” Born right here at Return to Freedom on April 1, 2009, this beautiful bay tobiano mare carries one of the rarest, oldest bloodlines in North America: the pure Choctaw Spanish horse.

🧵 An update on the Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act, which would place a lasting ban on horse slaughter in the United States and on the export of American horses for slaughter ⬇️ #horses

The new figures underscore the futility of business as usual. It brings the BLM's annual population estimate back to within 723 animals of where it stood five years ago — despite removing more than 63,000 #wildhorses and burros from the range since then. ⬇️

Happy St. Patrick's Day! — The mountains around our San Luis Obispo, Calif., satellite wild horse and burro sanctuary are called the Irish Hills, so named because several Irish families settled there. It must have looked a lot like home. #wildhorses

Join us at our Lompoc, Calif., flagship sanctuary as we celebrate the Spirit of the Horse, the start of our 2026 program season, and Spirit’s 31st birthday! Learn more ⬇️ #wildhorses

❤️ Thank you to all of the big-hearted donors who keep our sanctuary’s #wildhorses and burros well fed and happy! This delivery of more than 250 bales of hay will last the horses and burros at our flagship sanctuary about 3 weeks.

The Bureau of Land Management plans to begin capturing and removing 2,075 #wildhorses and 425 burros from Nevada rangelands starting on Sunday. Read more and take action: returntofreedom.org/blm-plans-to...

Miss our webinar about the effort to ban horse slaughter? Check out a recording of “The SAFE Act from Start to Finish” and learn ways you can take action at returntofreedom.org/watch-our-we...

Please join us for a special webinar on the fight to end horse slaughter, from the introduction of the first federal bill to ban it to where it stands now — and what you can do to help. returntofreedom.org/sign-up-for-... #horses

The roundup was deemed an emergency by the BLM “due to severe drought conditions and lack of forage” on 30,000 acres that are not managed for #wildhorses. Read more / take action: returntofreedom.org/344-wild-hor...

Miss our webinar about the ejiao trade’s impact of global donkey populations? Watch it now for free at the link in our bio or go to our website's homepage.

🧵 More than 21,000 American horses die in foreign slaughterhouses, on average, every year. With one word — “equines” — Congress can an end an ugly business profiting a handful of unscrupulous kill buyers.

You can help our our sanctuary feed and care for nearly 500 rescued #wildhorses and burros by shopping in our online store: shop.returntofreedom.org

Our biologist recently spoke about how wildlife and conservation organizations can help move the management of #wildhorses and burros on our public lands in a more humane and sustainable direction: returntofreedom.org/a-unified-me...

🧵The Bureau of Land Management captured 7,853 #wildhorses and burros and removed them from our public lands during the last fiscal year. That increased the number of captured horses and burros languishing in off-range government holding facilities to 62,734.

Exploding demand for ejiao, a gelatin made from donkey skins, is decimating donkey populations worldwide and harming impoverished people who rely on these important animals.

The Year of the Fire Horse is a time to make bold moves — and we hope you will join us. #wildhorses

❤️ Wishing you love and happiness. Happy Valentine's Day from all of us at Return to Freedom. #wildhorses

❤️ Valentine’s Day weekend is a perfect time for our equine assistant, Marina, to introduce you to Valentino, a handsome gelding who turns 25 years old in two days.

🚗 + 🐴 = 🧡. Are you thinking about donating your old vehicle to a charity? Return to Freedom can be that charity, thanks to our partnership with CARS! More info ⬇️ #horses

What will happen to a small herd of #wildhorses on CA's Central Coast? New Times SLO talked to RTF and other advocates for a story about wild horse management locally and nationally + visited our sanctuary to talk about our sanctuary and advocacy work.

The Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service are seeking nominations to fill six positions on the board. The nine-member, all-volunteer board makes recommendations on wild horse and burro management and protection. ⬇️

🛑 Among the more than 20,000 horses shipped out of the United States for slaughter every year are #wildhorses that once roamed our public lands. ⬇️

A glimpse of the peace that should come with freedom for America’s wild horses on our public lands. #savewild

⭐️ Join us May 9 for the Opening Day of Return to Freedom’s 2026 program season and Spirit’s 31st birthday!

What the BLM deemed an emergency roundup was conducted in an area affected by the Jakes Fire, a wildfire that burned about 82,000 acres northeast of Winnemucca, Nev., last August. #horses

Good news: A San Mateo County Superior Court Judge recently put a stop to the sale by two California companies of ejiao, a gelatin made from donkey skin used in traditional Chinese medicine.

🧵Happy #FoalFriday to everyone! This sweet guy, Johnny, was born on Sept. 27 at our Lompoc, Calif., headquarters sanctuary.

🧵 Meet Running Bear (and his turkey friends!): This striking grulla dun stallion from our Sulphur Springs herd arrived at our Lompoc, Calif., headquarters sanctuary with several of his mares in 2003. #horses

🧵 This video was shot at a watering hole on the Salt Wells Creek Herd Management Area, which remains at the center of a federal court case deciding the future of of wild #horses in Southwest Wyoming.

Return to Freedom commends Rep. Vern Buchanan for his many years as a legislative leader in the effort to end horse slaughter.

What’s been deemed an emergency roundup by the Bureau of Land Management will be conducted in an area affected by the Jakes Fire, a wildfire that burned about 82,000 acres northeast of Winnemucca, Nev., last August.

A year-over-year increase of at least 21% is a sobering reminder of the need to push Congress to pass the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act. It would ban horse slaughter and the export of #horses for slaughter. ⬇️

Happy #wildhorsewednesday! Nipping behavior like this is a way young or bachelor stallions play, test their strength or determine dominance.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting public comments until Wednesday about its plan to capture and remove hundreds of wild burros from the Lake Pleasant Herd Management Area in Arizona. ⬇️

🌤️ On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, please take time to stand up for something you care about.

🧵 For decades, the Bureau of Land Management has tried and failed to control herd populations by capturing #wildhorses and burros, then removing them from our public lands. Enough is enough.

The Interior bill: 🟠 bars euthanizing healthy wild #horses and burros — standard annual language not included in the president’s budget proposal. 🟠 allocates $144 million for the wild horse program, a $2 million increase. Read more, take action ⬇️