A conversation with Clare Staples, founder of Skydog Ranch & Sanctuary
This year, Maria Nila is donating $68,373 to Skydog Ranch & Sanctuary, a wild mustang rescue in Malibu and Oregon, through The Perfect World Foundation. Skydog is founded and run by Clare Staples, and none of this would be possible without the continued support of our salons, hairdressers and customers.
We sat down with Clare over video to talk about the two horses at the heart of our campaign, Sunny and Birch, and what this year's support makes possible.
How it all began
You've dedicated your life to wild mustangs. Was there one horse that started it all?
"At 50, I had this strong yearning to change my life completely, to make it about being of service," Clare says. "I rescued a horse called Buddy, a palomino with a brand on his neck. It turned out he'd been a wild, free roaming horse from Nevada. That sent me down a deep dive into what was happening to America's mustangs, and I was horrified. I started rescuing a few at a ranch my husband and I had in Malibu. Then one day I told him we needed a bigger ranch. We bought 9,000 acres in Oregon, and that was the beginning of Skydog Sanctuary."
People call you "the wild horse detective." How did that come about?
"The only way to reunite a family is with photographs, taken in the wild or at a roundup, matching the markings," she explains. "Sometimes there are 2,000 horses at a corral. Photographers are such an important resource, and anyone who's photographed a herd can send it in. We once found a horse from a photo taken years earlier of him as a baby. The markings still matched, six years on."
Meet Sunny and Birch
Our whole campaign has a face: Sunny and Birch. How are they doing today?
"They're doing amazing, and so beautiful," Clare says. "They look like twins, both golden boys. Sunny's been gentled a bit, he'll come up for cookies now. Birch is a little more shy. You can always spot them in the herd by their golden colour."
What condition were they in when they arrived, and what's changed since?
"They were so sick and so skinny when they came to us. Now they've got the famous 'Skydog belly', from eating out on the range all summer. Health wise, they've been perfect since, not a single vet bill, just twice a year shots. Two older boys, Hyas and Flash, have taken it on themselves to look out for them."
If Sunny and Birch could talk, what would they say about their first morning of freedom?
"I think they'd say they landed in heaven," Clare says. "They were rounded up as babies, taken from their mother, and very nearly didn't make it. They were sick for a long time after they arrived. It's a miracle they survived, and seeing them this healthy now is honestly the biggest reward."
Where the money goes
What will our donation actually go toward?
"It goes directly to helping more horses like Sunny and Birch," Clare says. "Bailing a horse out of a kill pen can cost up to $1,000, and that's the cheapest part. There's transport, quarantine, vet bills that mount up fast. Then there's the cost of feeding and caring for them for life. Sunny and Birch are two and three years old, so they'll be with us until they're 30. We have 13 people in Oregon taking care of the horses, and everything, hay, feed, vet care, staff, is part of that expense. We feel very lucky to be so well supported."
To put a number on it: caring for one mustang costs roughly $10,000 in the first year alone, and some horses need far more. It's a reminder that every donation genuinely changes what Skydog can do.
Has partnering with a beauty brand made a difference?
"Definitely, it's one of my biggest goals," Clare says. "Fifty percent of what we do is rescue horses, and fifty percent is raising awareness. Working with an international brand in Europe helps us reach people who might never have heard about this otherwise. That's the whole goal: get more people aware, so more people raise their voices and help us rescue more."
What you can do
For someone who's never seen a wild mustang, what can they do to help, beyond donating?
"Educate yourself on the subject, follow along, raise awareness," Clare says. "There's a lot to learn from how wild horses live: freedom, forage and friendship matter to them, just as they matter to us."
What's the dream for Skydog, and for Sunny and Birch, a year from now?
"I hope for them a wild and free life, the way wild horses should live, and that they really understand this is their life now," Clare says. "They've done so much as ambassadors for this story, for themselves and for the friends we've saved since then. A lot of mustangs end up in Europe, actually. We've sent 20 to Germany, and I get messages from people in Switzerland, Sweden and France who tell me how highly they value them. I wish we saw that same appreciation here in America."
Quick fire with Clare
- Describe Skydog in three words: Love, kindness, compassion.
- Coffee first, or horses first? Coffee, always.
- A song that sounds like freedom? "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver. I play it every time we drive horses back to Oregon.
A message to the Maria Nila community
We asked Clare if there was anything she wanted to say directly to the people who made this year's donation possible.
"Just the biggest thank you, from Skydog, from all the horses and donkeys we take care of, and from Sunny and Birch," she says. "We are so grateful to everyone who's been involved. The money will go directly to help more horses. We could not be more proud and grateful."
Thank you to our community for helping us make it happen!
