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 all levels of training available for sale or adoption? If you’ve missed it, here’s the link again: https://wildhorseoutreach.org/index.php/mustang-match/

Anyhow, one of the horses on there is Levi, a 9yo Onaqui, UT Mustang gelding, owned by a friend of mine who is moving and therefore rehoming her boy. He’s actually the reason we became friends. Levi, then Napoleon, was a TIP horse I gentled years back. Kait saw him on Facebook and fell in love with his big personality. We’d named him after the tiny emperor for good reason

Kait decided to leave Levi with Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy so we can find him a good home. He is easy to handle on the ground, as safe as they come under saddle and a fun ride.

I put him in a pen, took him on a couple of rides, turned him out and caught him again the next day just to make sure I could, rode him bareback up the side of a mountain and back down on a stormy evening, and decided to turn him out with the herd for the time being so he could have companionship while he waits for his new person to find him.

Well.

He knows our Ambassador horses, he’s met them all. So I didn’t think much of it when I took him out to summer pasture, 250ac of grassy meadows, steep slopes and lots and lots of trees. I figured he’d go find them and hang out with them – because horses are herd animals, right? – and I’ve put many a new horse in with them over the years.

Wrong.

Levi got out there Thursday morning, reportedly did his own thing until afternoon and then vanished. Poof. No joining the others, no hanging out near the barn or the water source, no grazing in in the valley in plain sight. Nope, gone.

Friday afternoon I rode out after him on Blanca with Petrie in tow and Tiny and the Shepherds following loose. We finally got eyes on him, Tiny said hi, they squealed and if that stinker didn’t take off, tiny feet hammering the ground like the needle on a sewing machine, and disappeared into the timber. There was no way Blanca was keeping up with him in that.

Fine, I thought, he for sure knows where the other horses are now, so leave it up to him to join them.

The next day, no reported Levi sightings, no Ponystang grazing near the herd. So I got on Tiny, took Petrie with me and left Blanca at the barn for ‘bait’. She whinnies a lot when left alone, and I was hoping she’d call him to her. Wrong, but not a total fail… As I was coming back from riding a loop looking for Levi, I could hear him responding to her from somewhere up on the steepest of slopes where the trees are thick and riding near impossible. He wasn’t far but out of reach and sight and I was out of search time for the day but felt somewhat reassured having heard him at least.

Yesterday marked day 3 of my wild horse chase. I was hellbent on getting this guy caught. Having to tell my friend that I’ accidentally misplaced the horse she’d entrusted me with, trying to sleep knowing that he’s by himself in lion country… As much as Levi thinks he’s 18hh and 2,000lbs, he’s a mere 12.2hh small and snack size for a big cat out here without protection from the herd. Fences out here are notoriously on the honor system, with trees falling on them and wildlife or cattle tearing them up, so him getting out and wandering off to who knows where wasn’t exactly impossible either.

Yesterday afternoon, after the worst of the afternoon rains, Lacy and I set out after him. Even when she’s not 100%, this mare has more grit and athleticism than 3 other horses combined. She’s fast and nimble and a mountain climbing fool. It doesn’t hurt that she’s quite popular with the boys, so I was hoping that if we found him he’d be too enchanted to take off again.

We rode some stupid rugged terrain, climbed ridges to peek into valleys, scrambled through draws with downed timber, did cliff hanging on soggy slopes and finally heard an answer to her calls from right above us. As in, straight above us about 50 yards. Looking up I spotted Levi looking down at us. To get to him on a direct route I’d have had to be riding a gecko, so we switchbacked our way up the wet and rocky hill, getting closer as he continued to watch us with his typical dubious Levi side eye.

Getting closer, Lacy gave a friendly nicker instead of an evil grimace which I was very thankful for. The little prince charming approached as I was looking for a place to dismount without falling to my death. Shaking the feed container I’d brought along, I slid off of Lacy’s back, halter and lead rope in hand. The first attempt at catching him failed when he hopped sideways further up the mountain. *Insert expletives here* Another friendly, deep grumble from my comically deceiving and two-faced Mustang mare who knew just what to do when normally she’d be threatening to bite another horse’s head off by now, and I got a rope around his neck and the halter on Levi’s face, shoving a handful of cookies in his mouth as I muttered words that shall not be repeated under my breath.

I could hear the song Amazing Grace playing in my head as I ponied him back down to the truck… something about “once was lost but now am found” seemed rather apropos for the situation.

I hope you enjoy the photos of 2 of my 3 days of chasing a branded, gentled, otherwise friendly and rideable Mustang through the Rocky Mountains, especially the second to last picture of Levi looking mildly offended about his rewilding efforts coming to an abrupt end. First and last picture were taken from Levi’s back while riding the little monster bareback out alone.

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), Petrie-panel-pusher (for the time she stuck her head through a panel, panicked and moved the whole pen before she got loose,… yeah, baby horses are great) and Petrie-pain-in-the-neck (opening doors and breaker boxes, knocking on walls in the middle of the night, pulling everything she could reach out of the tack room and spreading it through the yard… so cute. Not) is slowly turning into something that’s beginning to resemble a partnership. And my little ugly duckling is becoming a less little, more visually pleasing young mare.

She’s going to be 3 this year and is what I’d consider a ‘young’ 3yo. Both physically and mentally, she has a lot of growing up still to do, and I want to bring her along slowly so she can be mentally and physically prepared for a career as a pack and riding horse. She’s got big hoof prints to fill, with Littlefoot gone and Lacy’s return to full work still being a big question mark.

I often talk about the difference between getting a horse to do something and them actually owning and understanding what they’re doing, settling into it and doing it well. One could call one “manageable” and the other “competent”. Petrie, who came to Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy unhandled as part of our first load of Sale Authority Devil’s Garden Mustangs from the Double Devil Wild Horse Corrals last summer, is starting to get there.

We have a lot of fine-tuning left to do and with her being so young, I haven’t pushed her hard. But catching out in the field, saddling, ponying through all sorts of terrain, daylight or dark, tying, hobbling, loading and hauling, ground driving, packing a load (tires) for the first time, me sitting on her from the fence, Dustin the heeler sitting on her, standing for her first partial angle grinder trim… It’s all starting to come together nicely and I have hope that she’ll have a good first season as a pack horse with a light load this year. It feels less like having a snuffy little gangly baby wild horse out with the herd and more like interacting with a smart, curious, sassy and opinionated yet friendly and polite young Mustang mare. I’m excited for this summer with the not-so-little punk who’s been exactly what I needed to keep me on my toes.

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) but sunny and the temperature was just right. We stopped to look at wildflowers, loped through mountain meadows, let the horses and dogs cool off in a pond and lay in the grass with the hobbled horses grazing nearby and the dogs jumping in and out of the water.

We crossed streams and climbed ridges, found beautifully twisted old trees and goofed around to our hearts’ content, just as happy and at peace as our wild-born horses and colorful pack of dogs.

A few short months ago a ride like this with Salt Wells Mustang gelding Tiny and DG Petrie would have looked a lot different. He’d have wanted to crow hop into the lope, fought his bit, tried to kick Petrie and been much less relaxed and responsive. Petrie would have been hesitant to follow along next to him on a loose rope, refused to lope in hand, gotten upset about saddling, and spooked at the running dogs.

I put time and focused attention into both of them over the winter, continuously evaluating what was and wasn’t working and making adjustments accordingly. There’s still a lot of room for growth but we’re getting along much better than we did and are having a lot more fun together.

It makes me smile to watch big ol’ Tiny run in a hackamore, with slack in the reins, the feisty filly beside us, as I’m yelling at the dogs to get out of the way (that part hasn’t changed).

With Lacy still out and Blanca too old for big adventures, I was dreading rather than looking forward to summer, longer rides and pack trips. After months of work on myself and with these two Mustangs I can honestly say I’m excited for it now.

On our way back from our ride we drove through our tiny little town just as school was about out. I unloaded not so tiny Tiny in front of our very tiny school so he could say hi to the students before they got on the bus. He even gave a couple of the teachers rides, in a halter in the school parking lot. I’m glad to have him be part of our Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador herd.

Just because something doesn’t start out pretty, or easy, or we mess up or don’t trust our horse at first, or we doubt ourselves, that doesn’t mean it can’t change and get better. Time, effort, persistence and a willingness to learn, ask for help, adjust and reassess can make a huge difference. Mustangs make us better (horse) people if we let them, and I’m so very grateful for that.

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 main role in.

This is true for both Mustangs and domestics, but for the wild ones there’s so much to catch up on before they are at the same level as a horse that maybe doesn’t know much yet but has been around humans all its life. A lot of it is mindset.

Learning to trust and respect humans, how to read and interact with them, learning to think before reacting, learning that many instinctual responses to stimuli no longer bring desired results (namely running away, kicking, biting, striking, rearing as a way of dealing with a perceived threat), learning to give to pressure instead of fighting it.

Learning to see and feel new objects, finding balance while one foot is being held up or with something on their back. Getting used to movement behind them not meaning they should run away or kick at it. Learning to stand tied. Learning to calmly accept halters, bridles, saddles, harnesses, blankets and boots being wrapped around parts of their bodies.

Learning to climb into a metal cave that closes behind them and takes them to unfamiliar places while they are trying to balance inside, watching scary, sometimes noisy objects fly by.

All of that goes against a horse’s instincts. They can’t read our minds or magically know what we’re trying to accomplish and that we don’t want to hurt them.

That’s why it’s important to break things down. And then break them down some more. It’s easier to go to the next step a little faster because the horse thinks it’s easy (that builds confidence) than to go back and fix something after skipping steps and confusing or scaring the horse (that destroys confidence and trust in the human).

This session of ponying 3yo Mustang mare Onyx with the pack saddle was about step 75 out of 100 while she was at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy . We mastered several small steps even in this session. They were so tiny that she could succeed easily, have fun and end the session in a content and confident headspace, ready to still do more.

Blanca, the Shepherds and I enjoyed ourselves too. Breaking learning down into bite sized pieces, where the next one just falls into place like a logical, manageable next step is easier on everyone involved.

Warwick Schiller says in one of his podcasts, in the context of working with not so easy horses, “If you’re thorough you don’t have to be brave.”

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 rope. For the most part though, this is what I do.

I’m going to try and break the process down and explain briefly. Every horse is a little different, and it’s more important to watch the horse, yourself and your communication than to put your brain on autopilot to follow some cookie cutter training approach.

I’m a notorious rope dragger (There are two kinds of people in this world, rope draggers and rope carriers. You can identify them by what their ropes look like when the ground is wet ) so all the horses get used to ropes moving around them on the ground pretty quickly and I can move on to the next step. If you’re more organized with your lead ropes, you’ll need to get them used to ropes around their legs on the ground first.

I start by standing just a little off to the side (so I don’t get run over if they startle and jump forward) and swinging the lash of a training stick around their legs.

Then I put the leg rope (retired 12 or 14 ft lead rope with a loop instead of hardware) on the leg, starting with a front leg. On many horses I’ll use the hook on a stick as opposed to bending down and using my hands (as mentioned before that’s a separate training process for many wild ones).

Not pictured, but I first teach them to lead by each foot. That helps them get used to the idea of giving to the rope pressure rather than fighting it, and to the sensation of the rope around their pastern.

I always work on each front foot, then each hind foot. This process can take several sessions.

Then I ask for the leg, low at first and for just a moment. I start by rewarding just taking the weight off of the foot, then for more. With horses that don’t like me standing next to them yet I’ll ask for the leg forward, with others I might ask from the shoulder.

Either way, the position you ultimately want the leg in needs to be taught. Remember that they have no clue what you’re trying to accomplish so you need to break it down into small steps that make sense and are achievable. Also, some Mustangs are stiff/in pain from old injuries or arthritis and may have limited range of motion. Be mind- and respectful of that.

The idea is that I gradually work myself into the position I want to be in to pick up the foot by hand, little by little shortening the rope so I get closer to the foot, while also showing the horse the desired leg position.

Final steps are picking up foot with rope, and then taking it in my hand, picking up foot by hand and having the leg rope there for back up, and then graduating to picking up foot by hand without leg rope.

It’s totally ok to go back as many steps as possible if your horse forgot or is having an off day. Remember to also teach your wildie that people will be using tools such as hoof picks and rasps on his feet that look funny and make strange sounds on his hooves. He will need to learn to let you pull each foot forward too so it can rest on a stand for the farrier.

Don’t play farrier if you don’t know enough about hoof care, but it’s good to play pretend here as much as you safely can, and to introduce strangers to your Mustang, and to let them pick up his feet when it’s safe to do so, so that when the farrier shows up, it’s just another day in paradise and not some big traumatic event.

Horses pictured: Sand Wash Basin Mustang geldings Storm (dun) and Kiko (grulla). Sorry, no you can’t have them. They have wonderful homes and were/are with us at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy for gentling.

From the looks of things, these two Mustangs are going to be making riding and packing season happen this year, and it’s time to get them out and about for some team building. Making the best of the situation at hand and moving forward… What else can we do?

Salt Wells WY gelding Tiny and Devil’s Garden filly Petrie went on their first longer ride together on a beautiful spring afternoon. It was Tiny’s first outing in the hackamore (I had said I’d wanted to do a re-start of sorts, so here we are) and Petrie’s first time with a good (and heavier) riding saddle.

Walk, trot, lope, climbing up and down steep slopes, crossing water, waiting together while I’m off doing something else… The pair did well. Tiny is strong enough to convince Petrie to keep going when she’d rather plant her feet (working the Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy training horses off of him here lately has given him the confidence to do that) and Petrie’s calm, mostly easy-going attitude is good for Tiny who sometimes worries about life.

Petrie has worn the pack saddle and carried tires on it. She’s only 3yo and I don’t like to put weight on them too early. I’ve ground driven and sat on her but haven’t ridden her yet. If she ends up being my pack horse this year I’ll be keeping the load light and the time she carries it short. She didn’t bat an eye at the heavier saddle and flopping stirrups. Time to take her out with the pack saddle soon.

Tiny is becoming more confident, soft and responsive in his old age (he’s in his teens). Getting taken off of the back burner has been good for the big guy. Never in a million years would I have thought he’d ever be my main riding horse, or that I’d be riding him in a hackamore and not feel like I’m going to die. I’ve stepped up my game with him and he’s responded in kind. While he’s still quirky and goofy, he’s also impressed me with the situations he thrives in and handles well.

He’s incredibly sure-footed, has a lot of energy and grit for his built and age, is more patient than my mares with the horses I pony off of him, and handles dogs underfoot, questionable footing, wind that all but blows you out of the saddle and riding in the dark like a champ. Tiny is wearing a bosal I brought home from the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko earlier this year and a The Colorful Cowgirl mecate. I’d like to see if I can get that hackamore to come up a bit higher on his nose. His noggin is significantly larger than the other horses’ (as is the rest of him, hence the name), and he may yet need a bosal of his own, we’ll see.

Before we go back to regularly scheduled programming, here’s a look behind the scenes.

I haven’t been posting much lately outside of announcing upcoming workshops. We have some other exciting announcements coming up and I have literally dozens of awesome pictures taken by our wonderful volunteers waiting to make their appearance on social media.

Horses have been getting worked, spring is finally here and I’m thrilled about our growing support network, partnerships and community of great people who all come together to help mustangs.

At the end of the day I do this work because I love horses, I love Mustangs and I love sharing that love with others, be that through teaching, pairing them up with a once wild horse of their own or sharing photos and creating content. Right now the two horses I’ve dedicated the most time, effort, emotions, training and learning to over the past 6 years are not ok and – I’m not going to lie – that’s hard.

Lacy, 8yo, the first BLM Mustang I ever gentled and my go-to riding partner for the past 3 years, has been down with a partial ligament tear in her left hock since January. The vet said then that she may or may not ever recover. Her rehab has been a daily, time-consuming task. The support we’ve received from friends volunteering their time to help her has been incredibly humbling. She’s moving much better on that leg and we got cleared for light riding sooner than I’d expected. The princess is as fiery and feisty as ever and has been thrilled to get back to work. However, there’s now something going on in her left front that’s causing her to take wrong steps and trip every so often and I’m not so patiently waiting for her next vet appointment to hopefully figure out what that is all about. To make matters more interesting, Lacy colicked last weekend. It was mild and she pulled through, but was it ever scary.

DG Littlefoot, 6yo, has been battling some mystery illness for well over a year now. He is the horse that caused me to fall in love with Devil’s Garden Mustangs. He’s the kindest horse I’ve ever known and despite being a normal, goofy youngster he was a horse that by the time he was 4yo anyone could ride (lightly), pack, skid logs with and enjoy being around. He was so safe and and friendly that he left our herd to be a trail horse for a friend who needed a horse like him.

Except that’s not what happened. Littlefoot has been struggling on and off and at the vet more than on the trail since early 2022. He is currently at CSU in hopes of finally finding some definitive answers. The short version is that more than likely he is not coming home. He has sternal osteomyelitis and some still unexplained other issue. His current quality of life is low and chances of survival slim. Unless something changes drastically, he will be euthanized within the next few days.

These horses are as close to … well… kids as I have and it’s hard being cheerful all the time when I don’t know if either of them is going to make it. I handle a lot of things with relative ease (I got kicked in the chest last year, that was a cakewalk compared to this). Animals not doing well is not one of them.

I’m done whining now but I figured I’d let you know that if I’m not posting, this is probably a big part of it. If you have a horse in training with Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy you can rest assured they are getting worked and you’re always welcome to check in. Here are some pictures from happier times with these two still so young Mustangs I gentled and started. Lacy was my first pack horse, with Littlefoot following in her footsteps when Blanca needed to step back from long rides. I like to pack horses for a season before I ride them and that’s served me – and them – well. Lacy is the dun, Littlefoot the bay.

Meet Blaze (coming 4yo sorrel mare), Spencer (sorrel yearling gelding), and Pia (bay yearling filly). Some of these pictures may be hard to look at, I apologize. These guys have had a rough go. They need weight put on, veterinary attention and trims. We are working towards that.

A friend of Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy found these three young, unhandled horses at auction, sent them to quarantine and contacted us, asking if we’d be willing to gentle them and find them suitable, loving homes. We had the space and here they are. We’re happy to help all horses as we’re able to.

We are gentling them just like the wild ones we take in. Blaze appears to have had some prior handling, the yearlings don’t seem to know human touch.

I’ve since been able to halter, lead and brush Blaze. The two youngsters are learning to lead by the neck rope (soft flat braid cotton rope) and accepting touch with the stick.

Please keep these three in mind if you are looking to adopt or know someone who is. Branded or not, these horses deserve a much better life than they’ve had so far.

Located in Guffey, Colorado. Adoption contract and fee apply. Please PM us or email us at info@wildhorseoutreach.org if you’d like to know more.

If you have or know of a horse in need of gentling, feel free to reach out. Life is much easier and safer for them when they don’t have to live in fear and can get their basic needs met (vet and farrier care at the very least). We gentle horses of all ages, branded or otherwise, for individuals and organizations. If you don’t already watch our stories on Facebook and Instagram, I encourage you to do so, as we share photos and videos there daily.

One of my favorite Charlie Mackesy quotes goes like this:

“I can’t see a way through”, said the boy.

“Can you see your next step?”

“Yes”

“Just take that”, said the horse.

I feel like that’s been the story of my life. Growing up, changing paths a few times because what I really wanted to do was trained out of me, traveling and later moving to a new continent, some years later the need to somehow figure things out on my own.

Horses have been one of the only constants in my life. Never once would I have dreamed I’d be living alone in the mountainous middle of nowhere, Colorado, surrounded by wild horses, loyal German Shepherds and willful cats.

I vividly remember not knowing that horses could climb hills (I grew up at sea level, our tallest ‘mountain’ was 30ft tall, that’s where all the kids flocked to for sledding on the very occasional inch of snow).

My first encounter with a guy in a cowboy hat is one I’ll never forget, because I didn’t actually know that cowboys were real (I thought they’d long gone extinct, and yes there’s an embarrassing but funny story hiding in there somewhere).

Fast forward a few more years and I finally discovered, after years and years of working with domestics with people problems and other man-made challenges, that there were still real wild Mustangs and that a lot of them were looking for homes.

What started as slowly gentling one wild horse at a time morphed into a nonprofit organization that works with dozens of wild horses each year.

And here we are, I have a wonderful, colorful network of supportive people around me and together we’ve gentled well over 100 Mustangs and helped them find their humans.

(Sidenote: If you don’t particularly like horses but you pay taxes… You’re welcome. Here’s why: Each wild horse that lives out its life in holding costs the tax payer approx. 55k, yes $55,000, and that’s a pre-Covid number; hay prices alone have all but doubled since.)

I had no way to predict, as a little nerdy, horse-crazy kid that grew up in east Germany and was bullied at school for not being cool/pretty/whatever enough, that I’d end up doing what I’m doing now.

I still feel like I’m putting one foot in front of the other without being able to see all that lies ahead, but I’m learning to trust the process.

The best thing I’ve learned through this work and the people I meet along the way is that there are many more good people out there than bad ones, that we can all mess up and learn and grow, and we’re all just here trying to do the best we can with what we know at the time. That’s what gives me hope every day to get up and try again.

As for this ride, scenic as it was, I think I got a little more “mature hair” from it. Bushwhacking along an unplanned route, ending up in a mess of downed timber, in mud, climbing up some Man from Snowy River type hill that looked a lot less steep from the bottom than it actually was, and on the way back coming around a turn just to end up nose to nose with cow moose… All to see a hidden lake the GPS said was really close. I think I used every cussword I know in at least two different languages (English and German) on that ride. We finally made it, the lake was beautiful, both Mustangs did great, nobody died, and it made for yet another pack trip story for the book I hope to write one day. Definitely another one foot in front of the other, trust your horse and hope it all works out kinda day of backcountry bliss.

Three different ground driving sessions, in reverse order from this week to last week to when we first started. Brought to you by one of our fan favorites, Frank Stetson, coming 4yo gelding from Sand Wash Basin, Colorado.

He’s accepting contact on the bit now and following my guidance from voice, reins and whip much more readily and with far less confusion. The first session was only about getting used to the feel of the reins along his body and legs and following the rail. Later he learned to stop and steer, transition between gaits and confidently come off of the rail. It’s a process and he’s not perfect at it yet but he has a good foundation.

I learned to drive in Germany and Hungary. A friend and I were dragging pastures with Shetland Ponies and doing sled races with the same ponies long before we were even teenagers. That was after we trained them to ride and drive as they were basically feral. I still love driving and I believe that ground driving is an important step for the up and coming riding horse, even if they’re never going to pull or drag anything for a living.

It teaches them voice, speed and directional control, to understand and not fear the bit, to be out front rather than follow a person or another horse. It teaches them to stand patiently and wait for direction, not to freak out when they get touched by or tangled up in the long lines (driving reins). The whip takes the place of the rider’s legs, gently reinforces voice commands and can even help steer.

Frank Stetson came to us wild from the holding facility in Cañon City. He is leaving in a few days to live with his adopter and begin his career as a riding horse. We’ll miss him, he’s turned into a friendly, willing partner that meets us at the gate and nickers to us.

Thanks again to our clients, owners and adopters for trusting Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy with your wild ones.

Thank you to Tay Martin for keeping all our wildies fed and happy and to Linnea Helander for dressing up the pony and taking pictures!