Reno

Reno's Story

A Kiger Mustang named Reno

Reno’s story began with a simple note on a billboard — a quiet call for help that would change her life forever. She was a beautiful mustang mare in need of a new home, cared for but missing the time, attention, and companionship she deserved. After the family’s daughter left for college, Reno was left without the daily affection she had known, and her loneliness was easy to see.

When we traveled to Cherokee in Butte County, California, to meet her, we found a horse with so much promise. Reno had been fed and cared for, but her mane and tail were badly tangled, as if the beauty of who she was had been hidden away beneath the weight of neglect. It took four days of patient work to gently restore them, strand by strand, because I could already see the magnificent horse she truly was.

Reno is a Kiger Mustang from the Steens Mountain herd, a horse carrying the spirit of the American West in every step. Known for their intelligence, stamina, and striking buckskin coloring with primitive markings, Kiger Mustangs are admired for both their beauty and resilience. Reno embodied all of that — with her flaxen mane and tail, her rich dun coat, the dark stripe along her back, and the stripes on her legs, she looked as though she had been painted by the wild itself.

Though she was too small for me to ride, she was just right for Cathy. Over the next two years, a deep bond grew between them — the kind of quiet, trusting partnership that only time, patience, and love can build. Before coming to us, Reno had been ridden on the Pacific Crest Trail and appeared in western reenactments, carrying with her both experience and the memory of a life before ours.

Reno also carried the marks of her wild beginnings. She hated helicopters, a fear rooted in the way many wild horses are gathered from the range. Yet even with that history, she chose trust. She chose connection. And in doing so, she reminded us that healing is possible, even for hearts shaped by fear.

Reno’s journey is more than the story of a rescued horse — it is a story of rediscovery, patience, and love. She came to us tangled, lonely, and waiting. What emerged was a horse of extraordinary grace, strength, and spirit. Reno reminds us that sometimes all it takes is time, kindness, and belief to help something beautiful shine again