Wiley is a tall 2yo buckskin White Mountain WY Mustang gelding. How tall you ask? Very. That’s all I’ve got for now. He’s not to a point where we can measure him yet, let alone string test.
We were asked by capable wild horse people we respect to take him on after he’d proven promising but less than eager to learn. His previous, experienced Mustang trainer was no longer able to continue working with him for medical reasons, not Wiley-induced.
Wiley is not titled yet. He’s being reassigned to us with the goal of gentling him and finding him a suitable home when he’s ready. We don’t normally do this but sometimes you’ve got to go with your gut and hope for the best.
With that said, this isn’t a 2 or 4 or 6 week commitment. This guy is going to take a little – or a long – while to really come around.
If you feel like helping us help him, your support would be so much appreciated. Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We have donation buttons on FB and IG as well as on our website. I’ll post other donation avenues in comments.
We can only help these long road kiddos with your support and we’re so grateful for you. If you’re not currently able to help financially, helping us spread the word via comments, likes and shares is so needed and beneficial too!
Wiley has so much potential and fairly little try. He’s flighty, snorty and high headed, always on alert.
On the bright side, he’s not at all “crashy” and has shown no inclination to hurt himself or others even when he’s bothered.
Ever since I started on this Mustang journey, I’ve been diligent about setting time and resources aside each year to invest in continuing education beyond books and videos or just working horses because if we’re not intentionally growing where it matters, we’re shriveling up and dying.
This year so far that’s been a clinic with Bryan Neubert and Steve Mantle , and recently having Mark Lyon here for 3 days, working with just us and some of our tougher wild ones.
The tools I learned there have helped me make good progress quickly with this big, spirited and currently very muddy (we’re just coming out of a late monsoon) boy.
It really does take a village, including Tay Martin saying yes to another mouth to feed, and it takes time and perseverance too. There’s a huge difference between gentled and gentle, manageable and “user-friendly”.
The photos are from Wiley’s first two sessions, in order. I love how calm and relaxed (just hanging out near a person with his head down is HUGE for him) he was at the end of session two.
We went from working on directional control to touch with objects from a distance to touch with the hand on head and neck, neck rope, temporary halter, Rowdy’s Ropes halter and lead, leading, lungeing, stopping and backing to touching him everywhere with the flag and even tying.
Onward Wiley, we’re rooting for you!
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