Stefanie Schaefer
Author's posts
May 19 2025
Adoptable Mustangs: Lightning Bug
When I got this guy home, I said to Tay Martin “Gosh, he sure looks a lot like River!” I pulled this big sorrel boy with soft eyes out of a pen full of young Twin Peaks Mustang geldings, thinking he was one of them. It wasn’t until the evening after the adoption event that …
May 18 2025
Not too much
I’d told myself I was going to ride in the sand this spring. Who can we keep our word with if not ourselves? It’s been darn busy, we’ve got some cool wildies we’re working with at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy and there’s always stuff to do on the counseling side too. We’re quickly running …
May 15 2025
The Neck Rope
Someone on one of our platforms recently requested a video of catching a Mustang with the neck rope, so here it is for everyone. Butterfly, a 5yo palomino Mustang mare from Twin Peaks, CA was a lovely demo horse. Thank you Tay Martin for filming. Caveats: I’ve done this “once or twice” before. I’m in …
Jan 25 2024
Neck Rope Prep with an Unhandled Mustang
Neck rope prep with an unhandled Mustang In training horses, preparation is key. Meaning that before we do something, we need to get ready to do it. Get our equipment/body/mind in the right place. What’s just as important, and unfortunately sometimes overlooked, is that we need to prepare the horse for what’s coming too. When …
Jun 08 2023
Project Littlefoot
We introduced Project Littlefoot some weeks back in memory of DG Littlefoot, the coolest, friendliest and most easy-going young wildie there ever was. He was the first Devil’s Garden (DG) wild horse to join our herd. He carried the BLM freezebrand, one of the few DGs that did. He should have easily had another 20 …
Jun 05 2023
The lost horse
This is another one of those “get a Mustang, they said…” stories that are funny and have a lesson hiding in them after the fact but give you ulcers and grey hair throughout their unfolding. Remember a couple of posts ago when I introduced MustangMatch, a platform for people to list and find Mustangs of …
May 31 2023
DG Petrie – building a partnership
Petrie the baby dragon is turning into a juvenile dragon. Still fiery, bigger now, with fewer tantrums and more willingness to think and work together. I can see glimpses of the proud and pretty mare she’ll be one day. What started out as Petrie-paint-eater (she’s given my nice white car a zebra striped look, grrrrr), …
May 25 2023
When persistence pays off
One of my closest friends is moving out of state. We’re spending as much time together as we can before she leaves, so on Tuesday we met at one of our favorite riding spots, 3 Mustangs and 5 dogs in tow. It was a hazy day (we’re getting smoke from the fires up in Canada) …
May 24 2023
Starting the wild/young/green horse, a little at a time
It sounds so easy, right? We “just” want to halter them/lead or load them/pony, pack, ride or drive them. Why won’t they just get it? Because there is so much more to it for the horse, starting with the fact that nobody gave them a script for the play they’re suddenly expected to take a …
May 18 2023
Teaching a Mustang to pick up feet using a leg rope
This is the method I most commonly use to teach the wild ones to pick up their feet. Every once in a while I have one where I get them used to letting me touch their legs (separate process) and then find that they’re happier if I just use my hand rather than the leg …