Ambassadors of Freedom: A Wild Horse Rescue Story Comes Full Circle

Trey and Divine have experienced so much and have come a long way. When the journey started, I thought I was the hero in the story. It took a while before it struck me that it might be something different. What if they were the hero in the story? What if they saved me? Could it both be true? Could it be possible that there were ways that we all saved each other?

Trey and Divine came into my life unexpectedly. I have a longstanding care for and commitment to ensuring wild horses exist in the wild in our country for future generations. I consider it a legacy act where I contribute what I can to the mission. Before I knew them, I had spent several years helping other national wild horse nonprofits launch and build success. During the same time, I also established The American Wild Horse Foundation. I’m from the for-profit world where I’ve built a career based on building successful businesses. 

All of that “building” is reason and intellect based. I’m really good at that. Ask anyone who loves and knows horses and they’ll tell you that horses are creatures of the heart and soul. You can approach them all you want with intellect but it doesn’t fool them. They see exactly who you are and what you feel. It was only time before a wild horse would pierce my intellect and engage directly with my soul to bring a life altering change.

A viral video of a baby being chased by a helicopter. It struck me straight through the heart and took me out of my world of for-profit intellect. Since then, I’ve been stretched into places I’d not been before. I’ve been a witness to the miraculous nature of the soul. To the miraculous effect of patience, love and empathy. To the absolute requirement of engaging my heart to make a crucial decision that can’t and shouldn’t be made by the intellect. 

It’s an “undoing” that’s a doorway to a “becoming.”

So, who rescued whom?

The evolution for me is a relook at what I promised and committed to them. Sure, it was to keep them safe and together. At the same time, as I’ve learned with them, context is significant. The context was my commitment to the continuing legacy of wild horses living in the wild in our country. This is the commitment through which they entered my life. 

Adopting them was a step but it couldn’t be the end-game. How and what do they contribute to the larger mission? Once again, I asked myself the most crucial question: What would they want? 

Trey and Divine’s pain and healing, being orphaned and finding family are experiences many people can identify with. So is their experience of moving from fear and isolation from others to the experience of trusting and confidently showing who they are. Tragedy to Triumph. Victim to Victor. The Hero’s Journey. It became clear to me that sharing their story is part of the commitment. 

They both also love children and young adults. It was young adults that they originally trusted. From then onward, they have gravitated towards them. Divine couldn’t be happier than when a young person is brushing her or hanging out near her. Trey is in heaven when a young person wants to run with or after him and even let him chase them playfully. It’s not just me who noticed this love. It’s noticed by most people that engage with them. Part of what they want is, in my opinion, to reach out to young people. 

Which brings us full circle to the children’s book that the Foundation is launching. Their story was told to children. Equally, their first journey isn’t their only story. Their ongoing story is a testament to what can emerge and thrive when a being feels “safe”. When there is someone in your corner, a best friend who protects you.

For me, the lesson includes my belief that Trey and Divine, who stretched themselves to engage in their own healing, would want their story to be shared as personal and purposeful inspiration. I believe they would also want it to provide a gateway of understanding into and learning about our current situation of wild horses in our country. 

Trey and Divine’s healing included voluntary and loving contributions by every type of “stakeholder” that could be defined. Wild horse advocates. Performance horse facility owners and boarders. Ranchers. Vets and farriers that haven’t worked with wild horses. Performance horse trainers. Parents. Children. Teachers. Writers. Artists. This is why I am sure that their message is global and intends to include everyone. 

From wild to captured to freedom. Isn’t this the journey for each of us?

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