Monero Mustangs

I have known Sandi Claypool now for 6 years. I have worked with her for over 4 of those years. In that time, I have been convinced of her honesty, integrity, and love of her horses. She is very well liked in our town of Chama, and all know of her dedication to the 130 wild mustangs in her care. Having spent 4 years working with her on the ranch, I was taught a great deal about these animals, their social structure, their complete openness with each other. I adopted one of these horses, and am raising her foal, a 2 year old stallion named Musashi. He is a very quick learner, and seems to love the interaction between us. I am indebted to Ms Claypool for presenting a new world to me.

Since meeting Sandi Claypool in December, 2012, we have shared many experiences and Roger Webb and I have volunteered to help do necessary work, and we also donate funds and raise funds and hay by selling original handmade jewelry. We do all this because Sandi Claypool and her mustangs became a part of our lives as friends and colleagues and because we love her and the beautiful horses she has saved and nurtured for decades. We consider Sandi an expert on wild horses from the New Mexico region where her heritage Spanish Mustangs originally came from. She has had a successful Eco Tour for several years that brought in premier painters and photographers of wild horses. The number of photos and paintings of Monero Mustangs is very impressive. The beauty of the horses and their special bloodlines will surprise any longtime horseman or someone who has never seen a wild horse before. Sandi Claypool is knowledgeable and experienced and soft spoken. We are looking forward to seeing her again soon.

I have been working with Sandy Claypool, Monero Mustang's founder since she acquired her first wild horse stallion back in 1998. Sandy has continually put her horses (she now has nearly 100) ahead of her own interests...her horses eat before she does. Sandy has worked very hard to find a ranch where she could take the horses and allow them to remain wild free-roaming. The ranch is at a very high altitude so she does have to supplement the horses natural diet with hay in the deep winter as the horses would not be able to get adequate nutrition from what was available peeking out of the snow. Sandi is constantly fund raising in order to afford the hay, facilities maintenance/upgrades, and veterinary care. Sandi lives in a tiny camp trailer on the ranch to ensure the hores needs are met. This is an extreme hardship for her but she does it because she loves her horses and believes in trying to save the bloodline - Colonial Spanish mustangs brough to the Americaqs by the Conquistadores in the 1600's. She is primarily trying to save the horses from the Jarita Mesa Wildhorse Territory on the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. These horses are rounded up and adopted on a regualr basis. The Environmental Analysis for the Territory calls for reaching a horse population that is far below what is believed to keep a viable herd - so Sandi is trying to save the blood before inbreeding takes away the quality of horse that is in the Territory right now. The area where the ranch is located is very remote and it makes fund-raising that much harder becasue of the lack of a major population within a two-hour drive. If you're looking for a place where your hard-earned money can really make a difference - think of Sandi and her "wild ones".

This has been my second visit to Monero Mustangs. Sandi Claypool has done an amazing job with the Mustangs. I am a Equine photographer that always had a dream of seeing and experiencing the majesty and beauty of these true monuments to our history up close. Sandi knows all the horses by name and the story behind each and every one. The existense of this American Heritage lives on through Sandi's unselfish will. This is a true moving experience that shouldn't be missed.