Once in a while it takes more than one attempt to find a Mustang the right home.

Lieutenant here, 5yo brown Stewart Creek WY Mustang gelding, found his person on the second try. He never left here though and we’re glad we got to see it through with him.

He’s less than a month from going home now and he’s been staying busy. Pony, pack and ground drive is my approach to getting them ready to ride “the uneventful way”.

He’s been doing all of that, plus hobbling and just a lot of real life handling. Riding in the wind, dogs underfoot, wildlife encounters, playing in the creek, being out until dark, standing tied alone and whatever else I come up with that’ll help him succeed as a trail and hunting partner in the mountains.

He wasn’t happy living in a pen by himself so we found him a roommate and he cheered right up

We’re so grateful for our adopters, friends and supporters at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy . It takes a lot of effort to get a once wild horse to the right place, in every way, and we couldn’t do it without all of you!

We currently have several gentled Mustangs available for adoption, we offer continued training for Mustangs we gentle, gentling for outside Mustangs and remote coaching sessions.

WHOA is a Colorado based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We operate and adopt out nationwide.

You can reach us via PM, phone 719-377-8587 or e m a i l : i n f o @ w i l d h o r s e o u t r e a c h . o r g

Making good horses takes work, and lots of it. Especially with Mustangs because they don’t get handled as early and exposed to all the things we take for granted in domestic horses.

It’s also a never-ending process. We’re still putting work into our seasoned horses to keep them good, make them even better, and to keep ourselves humble, attentive and growing too.

Mustangs are great for people who enjoy challenging themselves, the journey, learning, and a horse that thinks for itself and requires them to show up and prove themselves every day.

All that work can be fun – as you can see – and being committed to ongoing improvement keeps things interesting, in a good way.

Tay Martin and I took the biggest and the smallest Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustangs Rock (5yo, Little Colorado WY) and Goose (Bordo Atravesado NM, 2yo) as well as Salt Wells WY Mustang gelding Tiny and Taylor’s 3yo Mustang draft cross colt (his mom was an OR Mustang mare that landed at auction, bred) Finn on an adventure last weekend.

It was my first time taking Rock on a longer ride (he’s been ridden by everyone else and while he’s gentle as the day is long, it’s time he gets some fine tuning and consistency too), his first time ponying another horse, and Goose’s first big outing and 2nd (I think?) time being ponied. It was also Finn’s first long trail ride and Tiny’s first major work day in a while.

There was some chaos and some squealing (the humans, not the horses), much laughter and endless smiles. All went well, much was taught, learned and refined, we enjoyed a beautiful spring day in the mountains and the 3 1/2 Mustangs, 2 German Shepherds and 2 riders returned to the trailer tired but happy and several miles and hours worth of experiences richer.

We don’t go on a single ride or horsey adventure that’s not a training opportunity. For us, training, teaching, learning and pushing ourselves a bit ARE what brings us joy, not just a means to an end. I truly believe that’s the key to being safe and successful (whatever that means to a person) with horses.

Karma is a 6yo seal bay Mustang mare from Antelope Hills, WY. She was born on range. Karma stands 14hh tall, is well built and thick.

She’s as gritty and confident as these photos suggest. Karma knows what she wants and she expects the same from her person.

Karma is gentled. She’s easy to catch and halter, she leads, loads and ties, picks up her feet and stands for grooming. She leads and sends over obstacles and through gates, lunges, backs, moves hips and shoulders.

She gets along well with other horses and has been our buddy horse for insecure geldings, showing them that you can do anything if you just believe in yourself.

We chose Karma on our last day at the Cañon City holding facility before they closed last fall because, well, Tay Martin turned her back on me. I was on my way to the office to give them a tag number for another horse and we were supposed to be done.

There she was, standing by herself in a pen full of mares, staring through the pipe fence into the distance, obviously contemplating world domination. She looked like a tiny Percheron and gave me the most judgmental look.

“Hey Taylor!!!!”, I yelled way down the alley, “I want that one and call her Karma!” “What?! That’s the ugliest horse you’ve ever picked, it looks like a hippo!” came the exasperated response when Taylor caught up for a look at what I was so excited about. “I know, but I think she’s beautiful and she deserves a home!” I insisted.

So we started wandering around that pen for a closer look and picked Chaos and Vinny (Vengeance) too. All because of the sassy faced hippo-mare. And yes, we, too, were feeling sassy that day, hence the names. We had them named by the time we got to the office with the 3 unplanned tag numbers.

Needless to say, Taylor has come to love Karma, her attitude and jelly bean on steroids shape. The first time Karma met Cassie , our farrier, she assertively marched up to her. Instead of sniffing the held out hand I now have lots of pictures with Cassie’s finger way up this mare’s nose because in true Karma fashion, she needed to REALLY get a good sniff and a nose itch scratched at the same time.

Karma is located in Guffey, CO with Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy . She is SA and can travel. Hauling can be arranged.

She’s ready to find her adventure human who will tell her what to do, otherwise she’ll be happy to run your life.

To adopt, please PM, or e m a i l us at i n f o @ w i l d h o r s e o u t r e a c h .o r g or text/call 719-377-8587. Doing it that way will give you good karma. Commenting “info please” on a post I already took a lot of time to write so you have important info will not.

Please COMMENT, LIKE & SHARE to help the most beautiful hippo in all the land find an amazing home!

isn’t exactly where anybody wants their cows. However, yesterday morning that was the only way to get this wayward bunch back to where they were supposed to be grazing, up the hill and over the saddle from there.

Lacy and I were thrilled about the opportunity to help move them. Her first reaction when I first swung a leg over at 6.25am on a chilly morning was confusion. Like, where are we going all alone, without dogs even, at this hour, are you nuts?

Then she saw the cattle that had spent the night in the old roping arena for safe-keeping, and her attitude changed to excited anticipation.

This little Divide Basin WY Mustang mare, the OG Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustang, loves cows. That’s probably her favorite thing when it comes to “work”. Makes me happy to see her so willing and engaged.

I’m definitely still learning how to read the room and each animal, according to #8 and her calf who didn’t appreciate being hurried along and picked their own path. Oops. Learning curves.

Most people envision cowboys and cattle, wide open spaces and large ranches when they picture the American West from afar.

Try ranches getting sold and subdivided, springs, ponds and creeks running dry, grazing being hard to find, and riders dodging speeding cars on county roads, squeezed between barbed wire and pavement, horses tripping over trash carelessly thrown out of vehicles into the ditch.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows out here, but it’s certainly not all terrible either. There’s always so much to be grateful for.

Many of us would give our left kidney for an opportunity to work cattle from horseback or help brand them in the spring. Lacy and I, in our rather cow-deprived state, were lucky to be able to squeeze this little adventure into a work day, with all of our kidneys still in place.

We even got a close look at a tiny, still wet calf born overnight in the old arena, resting after the stress of being born, a protective momma standing guard.

Please join the happy dance!

Why?

These lovely 2yo Bordo Atravesado NM Mustang fillies have been adopted. Remington and Valkyrie found their humans within days of each other. We’re so happy for them!

They will be leaving at the end of this week to their new homes in Indiana and North Dakota, respectively. Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy has thriving alumni in many states, but these two are new on our list and we’re so excited for these fillies’ futures!

We’re grateful to our adopters who are about to embark on long drives to meet and pick up their new partners and who have been diligent and responsive in navigating the adoption process. We make it our number one priority to commit to these horses until the right match comes along, not the first one who says “pick me!”. It’s gotta be good for both the horse and human and the timing needs to be right.

I’d like to thank Tay Martin for caring for these girls and all of our wildies until they start their new chapters and Kelsey Janosik for all your help with the adoption process.

And of course all of you who support our nonprofit organization and make what we do possible, be that by volunteering in various capacities, donations or helping us get the word out about the horses we gentle. It takes a village and we’re so grateful for all of you!

We have other gentled Mustangs available for adoption at this time, two of them with additional training. Even the website will be current again once I send Danielle Lord the photos she’s been patiently – and sometimes, rightfully, rather assertively – requesting.

You can reach us via PM, e m a i l us at i n f o @ w i l d h o r s e o u t r e a c h . org or text/call 719-377-8587 if you’re interested in adopting or are looking for remote coaching to help you progress with your own Mustang(s).

It took me an unreasonable amount of time to go through literally 1000s of pictures of Spur and pick “only” 20 but, alas, here we are. More photos and videos available.

Spur is a handsome 5yo 15.3hh bay roan Stewart Creek WY Mustang gelding. He’s been with Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy since summer of 2024. We turned him out with our Ambassador Mustang herd that fall, not because we needed a giant roan, but because he was…well…special, and was going to need some time to figure himself out in a domestic setting.

Spur is still special and because of that he’s got more nicknames than any other horse here has ever had. At first we jokingly called him “Ed, short for Special Ed”, always accompanied with an eye roll and a sigh. He finally outgrew that phase. Now he’s Emo Kid, Gerbil, Yard Roan, SpurSpur or DammitSpur depending on who’s talking about him and what he’s doing.

The interesting thing about this horse is that a lot of hard things are easy for him and easy things sometimes hard. He can get in his head and overcomplicate simple asks. He can also go in a parade and not bat an eye. He holds grudges and he knows if you know or if you don’t know what you’re doing. He leans a bit insecure and wants a handler who won’t get wound up if Spur has a moment of “I can’t handle my life”. Someone who knows when to pause and when to push through.

He, more than any horse I’ve ever known, wants his person and wants to spend a lot of time with that person. Otherwise he doesn’t rewild himself but he sulks. He loves kids. He’s kind to dogs even when they are making very poor choices. He has oodles of try and zero gelding goofiness. Once he understands what’s asked he applies himself, learns quickly and remains engaged.

Spur is currently at home with me and “helps” with everything: He follows me around when I’m watering horses and steps on the hose every chance he gets. He looks over my shoulder while I’m cutting wood with the chainsaw and quietly appears behind me in the dark to boop me with his crooked nose (old injury, his very first “Spur moment” here). He stands beside the deck wishing he could come inside.

Spur is sure footed in the mountains, knows highlines and 3 leg hobbles, doesn’t get rushy at a trot and lope and stands quietly for mounting and dismounting. He enjoys having a job to do, loves to cover ground and is a comfortable ride.

He’s had more trail than arena miles by far. I ponied him everywhere for a year before starting him. He ground drives, pulls a tire in harness, he’s worn a pack saddle and canvas panniers with no issues. Crosses water. Ties, loads and trailers well. Stands for the farrier. He’s been barefoot here and has done well even on rocks.

Spur is titled. He’s located in Guffey, CO. Hauling can be arranged. While he’s priced above what we offer gentled Mustangs for to reflect his level of training, interested parties will be asked to go through our regular adoption process to ensure a good fit.

We are looking for a herd and pasture home for him with a person or family who can spend a lot of time with him, both at home and out on adventures. Asking lowest xx,xxx.

Please for the love of all that is holy, PM, e m a i l us at i n f o @ w i l d h o r s e o u t r e a c h . o r g or text /call 719-377-8587 if interested. Comments with “info please” are near impossible to keep track of.

Please, everyone, COMMENT, LIKE and SHARE to help this super cool boy find the best home!

Halter and lead rope: Rowdy’s Ropes

Headstall: Southern Nutmeg Leather

Valkyrie is a 2yo Bordo Atravesado NM Mustang filly. She was born on range. Val string tests to 14.3hh mature height and is currently just under 14hh. She appears to be bay with ND1 (not dun 1), meaning she looks dun but genetically likely isn’t. We have not had a color test done.

She’s a lovely, confident and level-headed filly in either case!

Valkyrie has had all age appropriate ground work done and is easy to catch even with time off. She’s energetic without being hot. She enjoys attention, does well with horses and is good with dogs. She respects 5ft fences and enjoys going for walks. Val has hair for days and enjoys being fussed over.

Val halters and leads, loads, ties, stands for grooming and spraying and is good for the farrier. She leads and sends over obstacles and through gates. She lunges, backs, moves hips and shoulders.

She is straightforward, honest and enjoyable to work with. Val is a neat, beautiful youngster to bring along. She could be suitable as a first Mustang or for a youth with guidance. She’s ready to be a fun, engaged, safe and willing partner for her adopter.

Val is located in Guffey, CO at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy . Hauling can be arranged. If you’re interested in adopting, please PM, email us at i n f o @ w i l d h o r s e o u t r e a c h. o r g or call / text 719-377-8587

Please COMMENT, LIKE & SHARE to help Val find her person!

Magic, when it comes to Mustangs or anything else, comes after the work, not before or instead of it.

Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustang Rock is a very good boy. He’s also young, he’s seeing a lot of things for the first time still and sometimes he’s so happy to be going somewhere that he’s not all that concerned with how he’s going to get there, especially when it gets steep. He’s not even stumbly, but it’s like riding a blindfolded spider, so we jokingly count his footfall out loud for him and help him balance his body on tricky terrain.

Tay Martin isn’t a naturally fearless rider. She’s also not willing to sit at home and wait until she’s feeling brave. So when I said we should go play in the sand again, she said “Let’s go!”, knowing Rock had never been there before and that she’d be scared for the first 20min of the ride until she found her sea legs again.

15 riding miles later we’d had so many laughs and gallops, Rock was a better horse than when we unloaded him that morning, Lacy was happy, Firefly, the filly I’d been ponying, was a rockstar on her first big outing and we’d told all the “What if?”s to go sit down once again.

Did we prepare for emergencies, breaks, break-downs and broken tack? Yes. But we didn’t stay home just because stuff can go wrong and we had a wonderful time.

Everyone wants “magical” experiences from working with and being around Mustangs. That’s great. We do too. Magic follows effort. It doesn’t precede it.

My last post thinking out loud about offering personal development/leadership/team building workshops on the basis of horsemanship and with the help of our Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Mustangs was very well received.

It’s something I’d like to start offering in the near future. I’m thinking starting on Sundays, mid-morning until mid-afternoon here in the Guffey, CO area. If that format works, we can do other days too, or make it longer for a 2-3 day intensive.

I had a fellow therapist once say to me that you can’t combine counseling and horsemanship. My belief is that you can’t not do that if you’re involving horses.

They deserve better. Even newbies can learn to communicate with them in a way the horse is able to understand, otherwise they’re just a tool and we’re setting horses up for frustration and putting participants in harm’s way.

So much about horsemanship serves us in real life: We become more self-, other- and situationally aware. We learn to normalize fear and work through it. We learn that sometimes what we say and what we mean isn’t the same thing and how to change that. We learn to step outside of ourselves and consider other perspectives. We also learn goal setting, problem solving, asking for guidance, and about the importance of emotional regulation, fairness, discipline and consistency.

What it’s not:

To be clear, we’re not talking about Mustang gentling workshops. That being said, I’d be happy to adjust content to the needs and desires of the group, so long as we can put the safety of participants and the sanity of the horses first. If the participants are horse people and instead of communication the group wants to focus on ground work, riding prep, packing or ground driving, or even gentling techniques and tips, we can certainly do that.

It’s also not equine assisted therapy. I am a licensed counselor and I can and do bring that to the table but in this case I’m looking for ways to bring together people looking for real-life skills in a relatable and efficient format that pushes them just far enough out of their comfort zone to make it interesting.

We will not be riding. I want to make this accessible to non-horse experienced groups and individuals as well and we simply do not have enough and not the right kind of riding horses to take a group into the mountains or offer riding lessons on a regular basis. I do have recommendations for those looking for riding opportunities.

Input on this developing idea of Mustang Sundays – or Thursdays or Fridays – is very welcome.

Exact location TBD, limit of 6 participants to make it both personal and effective and to allow for hands on horse time for everyone who desires that. Groups and/or individuals can sign up.

Proceeds go to WHOA so we can continue to gentle Mustangs and help them find amazing homes.

Pictured: Some fun in the sun and sand with WHOA Ambassadors Lacy and Firefly. Lacy’s annoyed look at Firefly’s unwelcome sniffs is pretty on point. PC: Tay Martin

I’ve been thinking about a few things I wanted to put into words. Let me know how it resonates. I’m happy to have a conversation and/or go into more detail about any of it down the road. PM if you’d like.

The Mustang world was in uproar very recently, and is on an ongoing basis – rightfully so – about wild horses getting adopted, sometimes in multiples, and then dumped at auction. Sometimes it’s greed, sometimes good intentions gone sideways, sometimes it’s someone at their wit’s or financial end.

This, guys, is why Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy works so hard on the front end to gentle horses and vet adopters. Can that still go wrong? Absolutely, we’ve needed to make changes and network horses into different homes. But the dozens of happy, safe and productive WHOA graduate horses and adopters all over the country speak for themselves.

So many people I never hear from again when I tell them there’s an adoption application, we will be calling references and I won’t let you adopt a horse that I know is going to be a bad fit just because you saw “that spark” in its eye. That’s fine. We’re looking for good matches and reasonable people. Have your instant gratification and fantasy ideas elsewhere.

I sometimes don’t post as consistently as you or even I would like. It’s happened before, it’s going to happen again. I tend to squeeze every bit of life out of each day because I’ve seen, and way too much lately, how fragile and short life actually is. I often go until I very literally fall asleep mid sentence. Between gentling wild horses, managing the behind the scenes stuff that comes with it, working as a counselor, and needing to eat, sleep and spend time with two and four legged friends, there’s not enough energy at times to put words on a screen. I’m also just sensitive enough, believe it or not, that when things get to be too much mentally or emotionally, my words don’t work. At all. Shut-down is real and sometimes it takes me a bit to get out of my head and my words unstuck.

I’m throwing around the idea of offering personal development workshops based on good, solid, completely non-magical horsemanship with the assistance of our Ambassador Mustangs. No harps and no fluff. Helping people gain actual life skills while working with well trained once wild horses in a way that’s fair to the horses too. I’ve been thinking for years about a responsible way to combine my background in mental health with my work with horses in a way that’s a win for all. Thoughts?

Pictured is Remington, 2yo buckskin Bordo Atravesado NM Mustang filly who is available for adoption. We’re a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Guffey, CO. Hauling can be arranged.

She’s wearing her Rowdy’s Ropes Mustang training halter. Brushing and handling: Tay Martin who was not in the mood for baby Mustang photoshoots that day (we did 2 and there’s always some wiggling and repositioning before we get the right shots), but did it anyway and for that I’m grateful.