OUR HORSES
“The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse’s ears.”
Arabian Proverb
Each of our horses is unique in mind, body, and spirit. We honor that by treating each of them as individuals. We know their likes and dislikes and are in tune with their emotions. We offer our horses the best care, including high-quality food, farriery, and veterinary services. We also understand that they need emotional and behavioral care as well. Our horses are all gentled with scientifically based methods of Positive Reinforcement. We never train with methods that cause fear or pain. Our horses love to be around people, as they've had such positive experiences with us as their guardians. We also provide enrichment as often as possible to keep our horses mentally stimulated, engaged, and active.
Photo by Hollyn Lee - Wanderlust Wild Horses by Hollyn - editing by Lisa Mallory
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Twister is one of our domestic horses here at our rescue. He is an Off The Track Thoroughbred (OTTB). Multiple injuries ended his racing career as a four-year-old. Twister is composed, quiet, alert, interested, eager, and intelligent. We've been battling multiple injuries and health conditions with Twister over the years. He has a condition called Kissing Spine, which causes pain in his back when he is ridden, and arthritis in his hocks and rear ankles. Twister is currently being managed with injections for his back and the joints in his rear legs, along with a farrier specializing in Equine Podiatry.
Despite his health limitations, Twister is a wonderful boy and quite a character. He's a big horse, standing a solid 16.3 hands. We often call him the "Big Boy." But even with his size, he is very gentle. He loves kids. Due to his need for ongoing medical treatments, he will remain at Halfway to Heaven Rescue for his lifetime.
Pascha(Pah-sha) was born on Easter Sunday of 2021. He is the second domestic horse that lives with our herd of mustangs. He is a Gypsy Vanner/Friesian/Paint horse cross. Pascha has a spirited, fun, goofy personality. His favorite activities are eating, training, napping in the sun, and playing jokes on his people and herd mates. Pascha injured his hip when he was just 7 months old. Our veterinarian walked us through his rehab. He healed quickly because he was a healthy young horse, and we followed all veterinarians' recommendations for treatments and rest. Since he completed rehab, we have seen no indication of lameness or other issues with his hip. Pascha will stay with us until we know he can be a sound riding horse.
Pascha is extremely smart and willing to train at any time. He enjoys learning new things and figures out new behaviors we teach him quite quickly.
Jewel is our lovely Blue Roan mare from the Green Mountain, WY Herd Management Area (HMA). She came to us through a Bureau of Land Management adoption event with no previous human handling. Jewel is an extremely sensitive soul. She would never do well in a home with any form of punishment. She excels with the use of Positive Reinforcement Training. Jewel also has a slab fracture in her left hock. Our veterinarian has not recommended surgery as it is a complex area to work with. She is sound and comfortable now, but we will monitor her closely and adjust her routine and management as needed. She has come such a long way, but her sensitivity is inherent. Therefore, we will keep Jewel with us for her lifetime for safety, ethical, and medical reasons.
Jewel is loved by everyone who visits the farm and walks with us to the fields to meet the horses. She is the epitome of an "in your pocket" horse. She greets visitors by snuffling them with her soft nose, then follows them around to see if there are any scratches. If people scratch her, she is in horse Heaven!
Sally is a gorgeous dark bay/black Mustang mare from the Range Creek, UT Herd Management Area. She was gathered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2020 as a yearling. She has always been a very laid-back and quiet horse. Sally has been dealing with a "mystery illness" that, despite spending thousands of dollars and multiple veterinarians to diagnose, took three years to get an answer. As of July 2026, Sally is being treated for EPM and another protozoan that encysts in the muscles of horses. Her treatment is 100 days, and then we will be spending several months after that seeing her through her recovery. Sally needs a special person to love her, and a sponsor or volunteer that would come to hand walk or brush her would be wonderful! Contact us if you think that could be you.
Sally gets along well with all her herd mates. She is a very gentle and kind soul. In the winter, Sally is a deep, stunning black, and in the summer her coat changes to a very dark bay with dapples!
Bella is a 2017 mare from the Onaqui Mountain, UT Herd Management Area. Bella was gathered with her herd on July 15th, 2021. She was adopted from an online BLM corral event in January of 2022 and her gentling process was started by her first adopter. In July of 2022 Bella was reassigned to us and shipped from her first home in Wisconsin, to us in Virginia. Because the Onaqui horses are on a range that has good access to the public, Bella has been photographed in the wild almost since the day she was born.
Bella is a very small Mustang, only 13.2 hands, but we call her "The little horse that could." She seems to think she can do anything a big horse can do, and do it better!
Bella was green broke in 2023 and her riding education will continue on with the years. She is an opinionated girl when it comes to how she believes her herd should behave, and seems to run the show when out on the field with her horse friends. She enjoys scratches and hanging out with people, especially when they are trying to get a project done - she's always there to help!
Glory was born on the range in 2020. She was gathered from the Sulphur, UT Herd Management Area (HMA) in 2021. Glory was taken to 3 different adoption events sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management in 2021 and 2022 but was, unfortunately, never adopted. In late summer 2022, she was offered through a Mustang Storefront (a place where people could go to adopt or purchase a wild Mustang) as a Sales Authority (SA) horse. Sales authority horses are what some call "Three Strike" horses. These horses have been offered in at least three in-person adoption events or online corral adoption events and have been passed over each time by potential adopters.
We'll never understand how Glory was passed over like that. She is a lovely Red Dun color with two matching socks in the back and the most beautiful big brown eyes you'll ever see. She is a very quick learner, and once she understands a training concept is ready to move on to the next. She loves to train and will stand at the pasture gate nickering softly to plead for you to come train her.
Reigny is Bella's half-sister from the Onaqui Herd Management Area in Utah. Their mother was a lovely mare named Rosalita. Bella's sire was a beautiful, majestic stallion named Rocky. Reigny's sire is unknown. She was born in 2020 and is a tiny mare, just like Bella, standing 13.3 hands.
Rainy and Bella were herd mates in the wild. We have many photos documenting them together. They were also rounded up in the same group. Bella and Reigny went through a BLM Internet Adoption, and a wonderful woman in Florida adopted Reigny. She spent her first year out of the wild with her. During this time, she had a beautiful red and white Pinto colt.
When Reigny and Bella were re-introduced after being apart for over a year, they knew each other immediately. They are the best buddies in the pasture and stay close together like old times out on the range! Because Bella and Reigny grew up on the range together, we cannot imagine them ever being separated again. We plan to keep them together for the rest of their lives here at Halfway to Heaven Rescue.
Butterscotch came to us as an unnamed, unwanted horse. He was dropped off at the Stroud, Oklahoma Kill Pen in January 2024. We believe it was Divine Intervention that brought him here to us at Halfway to Heaven Equine Rescue. We rarely have time to be on Social Media, but one morning we saw him posted on the Kill Pen website. We immediately knew we had to save him. Arrangements were made, and he arrived here at our Rescue on a freezing cold January night. We know that Butterscotch came from the Sheepshead/Heath Creek Herd Management Area in Oregon. Butterscotch was born in 2020. We were told he had never been handled or haltered. Because of this, we treated and trained him as we would any other wild horse. We guess that he did not have the best nutrition and will continue to grow for at least 1-2 years. He is curious, has a kind eye, and has turned out to have a very solid temperament. In 2026, we will continue to train Butterscotch to prepare him for adoption in the future. We can't wait to see his daily progress!
Peaches is a gorgeous Palomino Mustang mare captured in the Delamar Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) of Nevada. Sadly, she represents how difficult life can be as a wild horse. In December of 2020, her HMA and another were removed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and zeroed out as part of an emergency roundup due to a lack of food and water. The BLM has determined that the appropriate Management Level for the area is zero, and no wild horses will be returned or allowed to live where they once did. Luckily for Peaches, after the trauma of being taken from her home and family, she found a new, loving human family to take her in.
Peaches has had some training in the past, but is still wary of new people and their intentions. She will be with us for a restart with our Positive Reinforcement training. We are anxious to see her personality continue to shine!
