The eco-resort that's taking on the government to save America's wild mustangs

Velvet is one of the lucky ones. Along with 600 other horses, her home is Mustang Monument in north-eastern Nevada, a luxury eco-resort on a ranch which, at 900 square miles, is around the size of the Lake District National Park. It is owned by ardent animal lover and philanthropist Madeleine Pickens, who seeks to preserve equine heritage through her foundation Saving America’s Mustangs. She hotly disputes the government figures, believing they are greatly exaggerated to justify mass killings. Pickens has had a rough ride. Mustang Monument opened in 2014 in the heart of cattle-ranch country where livestock roams on public ranges, sharing them with wild mustangs: the debate around the conservation of mustangs is entrenched and bitter. Campaigners believe the relationship between influential ranchers, their lobbyists and the government’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is too cosy and the survival of wild mustangs is at stake.  Pickens has had a rough ride. Mustang Monument opened in 2014 in the heart of cattle-ranch country where livestock roams on public ranges, sharing them with wild mustangs: the debate around the conservation of mustangs is entrenched and bitter. Campaigners believe the relationship between influential ranchers, their lobbyists and the government’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is too cosy and the survival of wild mustangs is at stake.

“You see, these were wild – they’re mustangs,” said Pickens, “and yet they are the sweetest horses you could ever get.” Savvy and sassy, she is regularly interviewed on TV and radio as a campaigner for the mustangs’ cause. Born in Iraq, educated in England and France and now a US citizen, she looks younger than her 60-something years and does cowgirl chic with effortless style. Her ranch, too, brims with Wild West vibe. The 10 cottages and a new exclusive-use homestead are styled in rustic luxury with exposed wood walls, sumptuous beds, and terraces looking out to the prairies where horses graze. Spacious, funky tepees with leather and wood furnishings and what look like merry-go-rounds of mustangs painted on the canvas will be available again from 2020. A chic dining room has recently been built and the saloon, once an old tractor shed, is furnished with bar stools made from saddles. Elegant candlelit dinners are served on the terrace under the stars, and we went to bed to a distant soundtrack of howling coyotes and a hooting owl.

Eventually, around 200 mustangs surrounded the wagon where the hay had been scattered. We moved closer, quietly watching them feed. Suddenly, something spooked a wild one. He bolted. Whinnying like crazy, others bolted, too, and a thundering drumroll of hooves in their hundreds stampeded, into clouds of dust and a blur of beauty and power. Our horses started neighing, too, scraping the ground and shifting around, sensing the tension but thankfully staying put. Gradually, the horses and the dust settled. Now completely encircled by mustangs, we stood in spine-tingling silence, feeling their innate spirit and energy, moved by their sense of freedom. These horses are the very soul of this land, the essence of its dramatic beauty and wildness. Not quite believing I was right in among them on my own mustang, I’d never felt more alive. Quietly, I stroked Velvet’s neck and thanked her for staying so calm and gracious, and for letting me share this moment.

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  ...a thundering drumroll of hooves

... a blur of beauty and power

These horses are the very soul of this land, the essence of its dramatic beauty and wildness.  

Please don't puke on my computer!