About Freedom Acres
Freedom Acres Mustang Sanctuary was built from a simple but powerful belief:
that every wild horse deserves dignity, freedom, and a safe place to live out their life.
Freedom Acres Mustang Sanctuary is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: every wild horse deserves dignity, freedom, and a safe place to live out their life.
Today, the sanctuary provides a permanent home for rescued American wild mustangs, offering them space to roam, proper care, and the stability they often lack after removal from public lands. The focus is not just rescue, but lifelong sanctuary, a place where horses can simply be horses.
Founded by Mike and Nina Archer, Freedom Acres grew from their shared compassion for animals and willingness to take on meaningful challenges. What began with rescuing two abused draft horses quickly expanded when they learned about the ongoing crisis facing America’s wild mustangs, thousands removed from their natural habitats and placed in holding facilities without permanent homes.
Freedom Acres exists to change that reality, one horse at a time, through care, advocacy, and education about the importance of protecting America’s wild horses.
Our Story
A Second Chance at Freedom
Every horse arrives with a different story. Some come wary of human contact, others visibly stressed or uncertain after transitions through the holding system. Over time, with consistency, patience, and respect for their boundarie, many begin to relax. Some eventually choose to approach their caretakers on their own terms, forming quiet, trust-based relationships that develop naturally rather than through pressure.
Watching formerly traumatized mustangs settle into herd life, raise their foals in safety, and gradually find peace has been one of the sanctuary’s greatest rewards. These moments remind us why sanctuary matters: not simply rescue, but lifelong refuge, dignity, and the chance for each horse to live as authentically as possible.
Freedom Acres continues to grow with that mission at its heart: providing safe haven, educating the public about America’s wild horses, and advocating for compassionate, sustainable solutions for their future.
At Freedom Acres, our goal is to give horses the space to be horses again.
Our herd lives in a thoughtfully designed natural environment created to support both their physical health and emotional wellbeing. Open pasture, varied terrain, and herd companionship allow these formerly displaced mustangs to rediscover natural behaviors that are often suppressed in holding facilities or domestic settings.
Building this sanctuary has been a true hands-on labor of love. Much of Freedom Acres was created by hand, including more than 1,000 fence posts cut from beetle-kill trees in partnership with Forest Service land management efforts. Repurposing these trees not only helped us build safe, secure habitat for the horses but also supported broader forest health and wildfire mitigation work in our region.
Our Community
Freedom Acres exists because of a community: family, volunteers, donors, photographers, advocates, and horse lovers who believe in protecting wild mustangs.
Running a sanctuary is challenging, but shared dedication makes the mission possible.
Every contribution helps provide:
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Daily care and feed
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Veterinary support
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Land maintenance and fencing
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Long-term safety for rescued horses
Whether through visiting, volunteering, donating, or simply sharing the story, you can help ensure these horses continue to live safely and freely.
We are deeply grateful for every donation, visit, shared story, and helping hand. Your support truly makes this sanctuary possible, and ensures these horses can continue to live safely, freely, and with dignity.
We’d love to hear from you!
Whether you have questions about the sanctuary, volunteering, visiting, supporting our work, or simply want to connect about wild mustangs, feel free to reach out. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.