Blue Zeus comes home

Blue Zeus spent years roaming Wyoming’s Red Desert alongside his mares and foals, becoming something of a celebrity among photographers and wild-horse advocates. But in October 2020, the blue roan stallion and his family were rounded up by the federal government and separated from one another.

One of the people following his story was Clare Staples, founder of Skydog Ranch & Sanctuary, who had admired Zeus through photographs for years and promised herself that if he were ever captured, she would try to help him.

That opportunity eventually came, although finding Zeus proved a bit complicated. He had been transported to a holding facility in Cañon City, Colorado, inside a maximum-security prison that was largely inaccessible during the pandemic.

• After months of calls and emails, Clare was finally allowed to attend an adoption event featuring older stallions, where Blue Zeus came up for auction.
• She was the only bidder, and adopted him for $25.

The search for family begins: Getting Zeus to Skydog was only part of Clare’s plan; she also wanted to reunite him with the mares and foals he lived with in the wild, which meant finding them among ~2,000 horses at the Colorado facility.

• Clare was eventually granted four hours to search the pens, using photographs and identifying markings to figure out which horses belonged to Zeus’ family.
• She searched through pen after pen without finding them, until reaching the final group.
• There, she spotted Nike, Zeus’ longtime lead mare, along with other members of his family.

The horses were brought to Skydog for a reunion, 11 months after first being separated.

Welcome home: When Zeus was released to meet his family, he galloped toward the herd and greeted the horses before leading them around their new place. Over time, the family settled back into many of the same relationships they’d had in the wild, including Zeus’ close bond with Nike.

Blue Zeus and his family currently live together on 1,200 acres at Skydog, where they have plenty of room to roam.

(P.S. Thank you to our subscriber, Gretchen, for sending in this amazing story!)