Alhambra couple rescues mustangs and burros

The 35-acre Lewis farm in rural Alhambra is a far cry from the Western plains with its small paddocks, metal pole barn and colorful assortment of chickens, dogs and cats.

But owners Kathy and Shawn Lewis do their best to make it feel like home to the once free-roaming horses they’re trying to rescue.

“Our dream is to have 300 or more acres and just let them run wild, like they should be doing,” Kathy said. “But since we don’t have that now, we’re giving them the next best thing.”

The couple buys mustangs and burros from the U.S. government, which rounds them up in “overpopulated” areas and places them in holding facilities. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management adopts out the animals for $125 or sells them at auction, but the Lewises have found that some adoptive families don’t have the patience or expertise to train them.

“People get them home and say that they’re ‘wild and crazy,’” said Kathy, 55, formerly a bookkeeper at Jacoby Arts Center in Alton. “Well, yeah, they’re wild and crazy. They’ve never been touched with a gentle hand. They’ve just been moved from place to place. They’ve been ripped away from their families.”

Mustangs travel in herds that provide social interaction, protection from predators and help with grooming.

Kathy and Shawn act as middlemen between the government and potential owners, buying and training horses (they prefer the word “teaching”) and, in some cases, nursing them back to health. Tools of the trade include patience, a gentle touch and recognition that mustangs are intelligent animals that won’t be bullied into doing anything they don’t want to do.

“You have to take a step back,” said Shawn, whose full-time job is delivering freight as an independent contractor. “By taking it slower, you actually get further faster. You don’t do it the ‘cowboy way.’ If you try to break them by saddling up and riding them right away, you’re going to be taking a trip to the hospital.”

The Lewises have found homes all over the country for about 35 horses in the past five years through their non-profit organization, Legendary Mustang Sanctuary. Adoptees pay only the $125 fee, unless they want training beyond minimum government standards.

One client is Rachael Cieslak, 15, of Algonquin, Ill., who adopted a mustang two years ago through the sanctuary, despite the nervousness of her parents, Cindy and John.

“I had a 13-year-old daughter who wanted to train her own horse,” said Cindy, a retired nurse. “And then it was a wild horse. You think of these cowboy movies where they’re jumping and bucking.”

Rachael named her horse “Maverick” after Tom Cruise’s character in “Top Gun.” It’s black with a white star and blaze and three white socks.

The government captured the horse near Twin Peaks, Calif., according to numbers freeze-branded on its neck. Shawn bought it at auction, keeping in mind Rachael eventually wanted to barrel race.

“(Maverick) actually came up to Rachael three times,” her mother said. “It was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ There was an instant connection with them.”

Rachael has done most of her own training in the past two years. She and Maverick have entered Western pleasure competitions and now are working on barrel racing.

Mustangs are descendants of horses brought to America by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. They later were used widely by Indians and pioneers who liked their speed and stamina.

“These horses are an historic emblem of the United States,” Kathy said. “They should be just as protected as the bald eagle.”

Today, an estimated 49,200 mustangs and burros roam free in 10 states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management website. Debate rages over whether they’re “wild” or “feral” (domesticated animals that have escaped to run wild).

The government has been controlling herds since 1971, largely because they compete with livestock and wildlife for grazing lands and other natural resources.

“The estimated current free-roaming population exceeds by more than 22,500 the number that the BLM has determined can exist in balance,” the website states.

The government has removed more than 230,000 mustangs and burros from the wild and adopted out or sold them. As of April, 47,393 were in holding facilities.

The Lewises bought their first two mustangs, Fred and Shiloh, 12 years ago from an Okawville couple who were moving.

“(The horses) were gentle, but not rideable,” Kathy said. “But within 30 days, we were riding them all over the farm. You have to build trust with them, and you have to bond with them.”

Today, the Lewises have five mustangs they plan to keep permanently. They’re training one horse for another owner and trying to adopt out a burro named “Shorty.”

“He is 5 years old,” Kathy said. “He ran in the wild until he was rounded up. He’s a real sweetheart, and he’s funny. Just his facial expressions. He’ll stick his tongue out at you, and he’ll wiggle his ears.”

The Lewises cover sanctuary costs by asking people to contribute, sponsor horses or become members. They have been trying to raise $10,000 to replace their 45-year-old horse trailer, or find someone willing to donate a newer model.

They encourage the public to educate themselves on the situation with free-roaming mustangs and burros in the United States.

“We do this for the love of the horses,” Shawn said. “If somebody doesn’t do something, they are going to become extinct. Our grandkids will never see horses running in the wild.”

This story was originally published July 4, 2015 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Alhambra couple rescues mustangs and burros."