Greetings!

Welcome "Darjeeling", our newest intake. He's a gelded male spotted donkey who was an at-risk estray. With malformed hooves and a fear of people, we felt lucky that we were able to halter, lead and load him to bring him to Sanctuary.

He is actually a sweet soul who was running loose, possibly for years, with hints of having been properly handled in his past. Rachel is getting him to trust us.

We knew "Darj" would be needing a lot of Vet and hoof care. He won't cost much to feed (donkeys need forage and no rich foods, and he is little), but we all knew restoring his health and soundness would be such a priority. We remain forever thankful to our donors, patrons and foundations who fund the care, healing and support of all the equines, tiny and huge!

Darj has to be sedated for now to address those poor hooves.

He comes up to us; he will take treats.

Remember Hope, our last intake before Darjeeling? She is doing so well. Her "bum cheeks" touch now and that's a big deal.

An important project was more shade! With predictions of an even hotter summer than last year, we knew that lots of shade options will be needed. We looked into shade-sails around the track systems, but our winds can reach 90+ mph! A sturdy wooden shelter became the best choice. It will provide more shade plus windbreak.

Joe and Mark worked on it through the month, finishing up before the (unusual) heat set in. As the summer sun rises, the shade footprint with this shelter will be large and it makes it possible to divide this track if needed - both sides will have shelter, automatic filling water tanks and big feeders.

We never know what horses (or mules or donkeys) will need us and being able to shift things around is always a blessing.

With the adoption of Red (Zephyr) to a wonderful home, we brought Chinquapin over to DH2 to live with Deva. Those three came to us together, as cruelty seizures, and Deva knows Chinquapin well. They are happy together on the left track and Red has bonded with the other gelding at his new home!

We had some very cold weather and had to blanket some of the horses and ponies. With that came snow and some rain, which meant Sage had to move to DH2 and the drier quarantine pen with BIG shelter. If Sage "hops" around in mud, he pulls tendons!

Nugget appreciates his spiffy little blanket.

And Sage gets hand walked for exercise while at DH2.

And mashes are essential with the temps fluctuating between the 20's and 90's! Always important for nutrition and gut motility, we feed them 2 to 3 times a week to everyone at both stable yards. Weird weather is often called "colic weather", and we work to prevent that!

With the wheat bran, linseed meal, our own herbal supplement and digestive aids, all soaked with heaps of water, the 21 equines get a soothing, healing meal that they just love. I'm told it's tasty.

We welcome Anthony to our Volunteer Team. He grooms and walks Sage and Andy, helps Mark with the heavy work, feeds, waters and does anything needed while learning about horse/mule/donkey care and handling. He is a needed addition here.

Our Core Volunteers below with Katharine and Andy (Jenn, Katharine, Rachel and Myra). Our Team is why these equines are so healthy, trusting and happy.

The Team also includes Alexis, Richard, Liz, Jesse, Joe, Gypsy, Pip and Clem. They keep everything clean, safe and running smoothly for these precious equines. They love these horses and the horses love them.

Hoof care is ongoing and one of the most important aspects of care. Everyone here is barefoot. Sometimes, Corwin puts rubbery glue-on shoes on a hoof in need of repair or support, but never metal nailed onto them. Hooves need to be able to expand and touch the Earth.

Dharmahorse Equine Sanctuary is part of the Southern New Mexico Giving Day! Donations open on April 24th, 2026 and we have some matching funds for donations! This is a grand way to support our care and healing of the equines. Please bookmark this link and share with others.

And we had a visitor that we caught on camera! He flew right up to this camera and treated us to his beauty. Mark was actually looking at things with this camera when it happened or we would never have known.

Rachel works on trailer loading skills with the little ones and our small horse trailer (like with Nugget, pictured below).

We'll move the large trailer over soon and work with the bigger equines. They need to be comfortable getting on and off of trailers. While we hope we never have an emergency, being prepared for one is essential.

Amber is doing well. She has turned into the most wonderful dog. We adopted her from the Shelter years ago as a puppy and she has the best manners - except when she meets a new person and wants jump in their lap! We're working on it (she's a big dog).

Storms and grabbing mane:

I've always had this concept of "grabbing mane" metaphorically in my life. When my horse, my dogs and I were caught in a brutal ice storm, it became my mantra...

Rachel with Darjeeling:

We see each horse here as an individual with physical, mental and emotional needs that are dynamic and fluctuate with the weather, the seasons, their changing bodies as they age and who they live with as a herd.

Some herbs we use here for the equines

We wish you well. We hold this planet and all who fly with her in love & light.

Mahalo!

Katharine, Mark, the DH Team & the Dharma Horses.