STORM

Storm is a wild horse (mustang) who was born on the range in 2001 and rounded up in October 2004 from the South Steens HMA, on the southwestern flank of the Steens Mountain in southeastern Oregon. Stampeded into a holding pen and separated from her loved ones, she was transported to the BLM holding facility in Burns, OR, where she was sold at auction one month later to a man who proceeded to breed her while she was still fully wild (ungentled), sell her two foals, and then give her away to another man. This second man kept her in an overgrazed paddock with almost no care for 11 years before being convicted for injuring several of his horses and being sent to jail.

 

In April 2015, our founder, Lara Lwin Treadaway, received a call from a friend who had answered an ad on Craigslist for free horses and was concerned about the situation he had stumbled across. The man who had placed the ad had been ordered to give his horses away by the local sheriff as he was going to jail for horse crimes and was not permitted to profit from the sale of his horses. One of these horses was Storm and the friend had just witnessed another of the horses being driven aggressively into a horse trailer by a man who was taking them to sell to slaughter. Storm was the next to be loaded and Lara made a decision that changed the course of her life. She begged the friend to intervene and Storm was taken to safety that day. 

 

On her arrival, Storm was ungentled, untrusting, underweight, and malnourished. Volatile when approached, she had never had her hooves trimmed or teeth tended to. She had a large scar on the right side of her body, a side that she was highly protective of, that pointed to possible abuse or an injury sustained during the roundup or from the wild. Fearful of humans, Storm accepted companionship from Shanti, a little mountain goat who loved horses due to having imprinted on a pony as a baby. Over time with love and patience Storm slowly learned that some humans could be trusted too.

 

Storm's color is known as Grullo or Grulla, which is part of the dun family of horse colors. She has primitive markings including a dorsal stripe, zebra bars on her legs, light guard hairs on her mane and tail, and dark ear tips and edging, all considered evidence of ancient equine DNA, and an example of atavism. Our first rescued wild horse, Storm was gentled by our founder Lara, and is our Wild Peace Sanctuary ambassador.