Beautiful Gypsy

Yesterday, our hotline rang with an urgent call; a mare was in distress.

Our team immediately went out hiking and found Gypsy, daughter of Flicka and beloved member of Mick’s band, she was down and unable to rise.

Her painful groans pierced our hearts. Her band had already left her — a sign she had been struggling for some time.

Our field managers recognizing the seriousness of the situation, called our veterinarian and our president to the scene.

After an hour of careful examination and consultation with the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA), it became heartbreakingly clear that her suffering could not be relieved.

With heavy hearts, we made the hardest decision — to humanely euthanize Gypsy.

Her suffering is now over.

Besides for pain meds, we did not use chemicals, so she could remain in the wild, where she belongs. Her resting place is in the hills where she led a super happy life with her family. Gypsy had never left her birth band despite being a grown mare, she was born in 2018 to Flicka and Mick, making her the granddaughter of Shadowfax and Ms. Shadowfax.

Afterward, by palpation, it was confirmed that Gypsy’s colon was rock-hard from a blockage, and had likely ruptured. That helped us, to know we made the right decision.

These types of fatal colic cases happen when we have an abundance of grasses and weeds like we have right now, including weeds that are hard to digest and noxious ones as well.

Because of the extreme pain involved, we are grateful we could shorten her suffering with dignity. No matter how hard it gets, every call we respond to, every moment in the field, reflects our mission of humane wild horse management.

Would another contractor even have known this was happening to her? Because no one else has our well known hotline and our powerful field team, we worry so much about another contractor possibly coming in. Hopefully we that won’t happen, and we should soon be hearing something from the committee.

This is a job that requires vigilance, compassion, manpower, expertise and difficult decisions — ensuring that when suffering cannot be healed, it is eased, and that every Salt River wild horse lives and dies with dignity and care.

Please share this to honor Gypsy and to honor our kind of humane wild horse management.

Run free, beautiful Gypsy — forever part of the Salt River herd and our hearts. ❤️

Pictures by Karen Carney and Destini Rhone.