This is a question I get asked a lot: How do you contain the horses in the backcountry, especially overnight?

There are several ways that can work depending on where you are and what works for you and your stock. Highline, lowline, electric fence are a few. Some people keep one animal tied in camp and turn the rest loose to graze.

What’s important is that… you leave no trace (your animals aren’t digging craters or eating the bark off of trees, cleaning up camp and scattering manure when you leave is part of that too), your animals aren’t fighting and are still there in the morning, and you can get some rest without constantly worrying about what the horses/mules are doing.

Highline works for us in most places (you need strong enough, live trees for that). Nothing wrong with setting up several highlines either, because you need to get the spacing right and not have animals tangled up in each other, in ropes or in trees.

I tend to use the “looks good” approach for measuring but if that’s not something that works for you then the 777 rule might help you (I heard that last year and I think it’s a great rule of thumb and easy to explain): Highline should be 7ft high, and animals 7ft apart, and 7ft from trees. You can tweak that based on your needs of course.

I’m going to put links to the equipment we use at the end of this post. For your animals’ safety it’s really important that the highline is tight and that there are swivels. At least one, but I prefer two. One at the highline end and one at the halter end. That way the rope turns as the horse moves and they don’t get choked by the rope that’s getting shorter as it twists (that happens without swivels and you can end up with a dead horse that way). I like to tighten the highline every day because it does get slack in it overnight. Saggy highlines can cause a horse to get its head too low and get a foot over the rope, or to get tangled in the highline if they get upset.

Rope length: I like the rope so that they can get their poll at wither level to sleep. Any longer and mine will paw, try to eat, visit each other, get tangled in the rope.

For short people and for convenience/safety: I have a piece of rope tied to a climbing carabiner that’s clipped to the highline swivel (those are nice, they are movable but so long as the line is tight won’t move on their own). I can reach that from the ground and to me it’s a better way to tie than to risk getting the rope bound up in the loop of the swivel. It can also be cut quickly if there really is a problem.

Yes, sometimes I do climb around on my horse to set up a highline. Not every horse will appreciate that. I do tighten the highline from horseback. That works well if you can keep your horse still and yourself from getting clotheslined (or would it be highlined in this case?).

For the really special horses/mules out there: Both Tiny and Lacy are hobbled at night on the highline. The hobbles are loose enough for them to be comfy, yet not so loose that they come off. Tiny is a mouthy busybody and I wouldn’t put it past him to chew through his lead rope. Lacy wiggles and paws and gets more nervous the more she does that. I put the hobbles on and she goes to sleep. Littlefoot wouldn’t paw if he had a single cuff hobble on one front foot. I couldn’t hobble him or he’d wake up and panic because he couldn’t move his feet freely. He is hobble trained. Just couldn’t be highlined in them.

Another thing to ensure happy, quiet horses: Don’t make them go to bed hungry. My guys graze until I go to bed and get taken off the highline as soon as I wake up. That way they’re more likely to be calm overnight.

For your own peace of mind and that of your animals: Put troublemakers on the end or on their own highline. Nobody needs a kicking match at 2am and a lame horse because of it.

This equipment/setup is what works for us. It’s not gospel, so if you do something different and it works for you, by all means. I’m sharing this to help those who are looking for input and who maybe (like me) don’t know 18 different knots.

Pictured here: Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustangs Lacy and Tiny. Denali the Shepherd wears those goggles for an eye condition per vet recommendation.

Here you go:

1″ ratchet strap, good quality. That’s a smooth way to keep you highline tight. Make sure it works right before you leave for your trip.

Tree savers so your rope doesn’t kill the trees you’re tying to (lash cinches can work too): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032CR2C2/

Highline rope (can use your lash rope too): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D2ZNZDE/

Swivels: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002L99LH6/

This is a post for and about the newest member of our Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador herd: Petrie, a coming 3yo Devil’s Garden Mustang filly and one of the 10 DG Mustangs from the 2021 gather on U.S. Forest Service-Modoc National Forest land that were passed over for adoption and sent to us by our friends at Double Devil Wild Horse Corrals in Alturas, CA.

We gentled them and by now 8 of them have been placed into wonderful, loving homes. Some are already under saddle. Peanut is still with us to give her time to calm down and learn to trust humans. And then there’s Petrie.

I knew I wanted to retain a youngster to bring along, for one because evidently I’m a sucker, and because I really did need an up and coming pack horse as well as something that would be big and tough enough to work horses off of one day.

I said 4 youngsters ago no more baby brains and starting young horses for me. Apparently I don’t actually mean it, and here we are.

I also knew what wanted in the Mustang I would keep: A mare – I’m a mare person, what can I say. One with grit, courage, sass and opinions. A horse that faces challenges head on, is curious and will stand its ground in the face of perceived threat. Some of these are necessities for the kind of riding I do. Others are personal preference.

The good news: Petrie is all of that. The bad news? Petrie is all of that. My friends and I often joke about how men tend to want a strong woman, until they have one and she starts holding him accountable and voicing her opinion.

That’s pretty much what happened here. This filly cuts me no slack. None. If I’m not on top of my game, she tells me. If I don’t take my time teaching her something thoroughly, there’s a fight. And I mean a FIGHT. I’ve swallowed my pride and backtracked so many times, making sure that she actually understood the assignment, rather than me just casually introducing something to her and then expecting her to fill in for me.

She’s into absolutely everything, afraid of nothing almost to a fault. She slimes all over my car, opens doors, knocks on walls, tries to climb stairs, paws at and digs through things she finds interesting. She first introduced herself to Tiny, the boss of our Ambassador herd and twice her weight, by running at him backwards and double-barreling at him. She’s growing like a weed and getting thicker all the time.

She’s not only what I thought I wanted, she’s exactly what I needed. A horse that makes me earn it rather than wing it, every step of the way. She’s definitely a case of “be careful what you wish for”, in the best possible way.

For those who want to know:

Hat: Montana Rio Buckaroo Hats

Riding coat: Outback Trading Company LTD.

Halter and lead: Rowdy’s Ropes

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ve seen pictures of Lacy, 8yo dun Divide Basin Mustang mare and part of the Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador herd.

Lacy is gaited, gritty, opinionated and up for any challenge or adventure. She’s been my main riding horse for the past 3 years. “‘Though she be but little, she is fierce.” – That sums up Lacy.

This month marks 6 years together. She was the first branded Mustang I ever gentled, a gangly, fiery 2yo with lots of heart and even more personality. She’s never held back on expressing her opinions, and we sure haven’t always seen eye to eye.

Last month, about a week before I left for Elko, Lacy came in from pasture limping, pretty sore on her left hind. I gave it a little time… No improvement. A trip to the vet revealed a partially torn ligament in her hock, edema and lots of inflammation.

The vet said “She might be fine in a couple or three months, or we may have to make to make a quality of life decision, just depends on how well this heals.” ‘Quality of life decision’ is a nice way of hinting at euthanasia. Not something I wanted to hear.

The outpouring of support Lacy has received since then has been incredible. Tay and Jennifer Martin put ointment and back-on-tracks on her every day while I was gone, Gina Sorrell Kuttrus k-taped the sore hock, our farrier Cassie Krzeczowski donated magnawave treatment that Ashley Boyington has been administering, and Maya Suzuki LAc drove for hours to do acutherapy and moxibustion on Lacy.

Meanwhile, Lacy is penned up with all the hay she could want, and gets to go on short hand walks. I turn to absolute mush when it comes to this mare that can do no wrong (my opinion, most people who know her would tell a different story), is my friend and adventure partner.

She’s handling living in a cage better than I’d anticipated. It’s bothering me more than her it seems, seeing the princess stuck in a small pen. After a couple of weeks of being pretty quiet, she’s all attitude again, and that makes me so happy.

She’s delighted about attention and oh so helpful when it comes to feeding, watering and pen cleaning. She tries to sneak out every chance she gets. We’ve tried letting her roam. Someone just can’t pace herself, so no more of that.

Lacy is on Equioxx and scheduled for a steroid injection. Thank you to everyone who has worked on her, given advice, and sent good thoughts her way. It is so much appreciated. If all goes well she’ll be chasing cows and climbing mountains again come spring.

I spent the past week in Elko, Nevada, visiting my friend Rachel Toler and attending the 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. It was my first Gathering; I have a feeling it won’t be my last.

It was a whirlwind of various events and buckaroo gear shows, great people, amazing food, beautiful artwork and incredible craftsmanship. Underlying it all was a shared love for horses and the American West, for keeping memories and traditions alive, with older generations passing their passion and wisdom on to the younger ones.

It’s going to take me a few more days to catch up on sleep… It turns out the quirky little town of Elko never sleeps, and so Rachel, Tristram Hokenson , Laura O’Connor and I didn’t either. What we did do is wander, look, learn, listen, network, eat and dance our way through the event, for 3 days that felt like an eternity and a second all at the same time.

I’m so grateful to have been able to spend some time in a wintery Nevada, on a ranch where all my pipe corral dreams (if you spend much time around horses and livestock, you understand why 6ft pipe fence is a beautiful thing) are being realized, and with brilliant, accomplished women who are doing amazing things with their lives and their horses.

We talked about horses, men, work, goals and plans – more or less in that order – while meeting makers, artists, horsemen and -women from across the country whom we’d previously only seen on social media or heard on YouTube and Spotify.

This fabulous group of ladies is so horse crazy that we fully supported each other if one wanted to see something “just one more time”. There was a bosalita I probably stared at for an hour over the course of 3 days.

Rachel and Wyatt took time to show me the hidden beauty of Nevada when we went scenic driving, wild horse watching – we saw well over 100 Mustangs on the range; yay for borrowed binos , if you look closely, you’ll see a small, colorful band in one of the pictures – and snowshoeing the day after the Gathering.

I feel inspired, tired and so thankful for the friendships, connections and memories created on this trip. 740 miles (one way) is a long way to drive. I’d do it again in a heartbeat though.

Many thanks to Tay Martin for holding down the fort. It’s back to work with the wild ones here today, I’m excited!

We’ve done this work a little while now, and one of the most important things we’ve learned over the years of gentling Mustangs is what it’s going to take for them to be successful as they go on to their new homes.

That’s what we want most for the wild ones we meet, care for and work with: To find wonderful homes and keep them, to be happy there and not afraid, to be enjoyable to be around and safe to handle, to make wonderful long-term partners for their adopters and owners.

They need to be what I tend to call “user-friendly” or what my friend Gina Sorrell Kuttrus with For the Love of Aria much more eloquently calls “able to take a joke”. Either way, the point is the same.

A Mustang that, like Elsa here, will fall asleep in your arms on a cold and windy day after being easy to catch and halter, willingly leads anywhere and loads into a trailer, stands quietly for brushing, picking up feet and tying, and can forgive some handler error without coming unglued, has a much better chance at making it than one that’s still snorty and bug-eyed, flinches at touch and pulls away at the slightest misunderstanding.

We’ve learned some of this the hard way for sure. We never did – and still don’t – quit learning though, and that’s the key.

There’s no shame in not knowing, but we owe it to these horses to keep working on ourselves until we get better and figure it out. They didn’t ask to be here or to have people and all their stuff and demands thrown into at them. The least we can do is help them out by getting better ourselves so the wild horses we chose to adopt can hopefully just as happy living in our world as they were living in a band on the range.

We’re so grateful to all of our partners, clients and adopters who have and continue to trust us to gentle Mustangs for them, and who understand that changing a wild horse’s – especially a traumatized one’s, as we’ve been working with many with hard pasts lately – mind about it’s new life with humans takes time.

Elsa is a 6yo, 14.2hh mare from Paisley Desert, OR. She is titled. She’s also pregnant. Elsa would like to find her own human to fall asleep on. Located in Guffey, CO.

Elsa was given a second chance at life when Skydog Sanctuary and American Wild Horse Campaign bought her from a kill buyer and sent her to us at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy for gentling and to find her happily-ever-after.

If there is one thing nonprofit work and being part of the Mustang community has taught me, is that there is so much kindness, so many good people out there.

People who are willing to share and give so generously, be that knowledge, talents, encouragement, time, pasture land, equipment or money.

I have no family – well, no two-legged family anyway – in this country but what I do have are amazing friends from all different walks of life. Most of them I’ve met through the Mustangs. The ones I had before have since become involved with Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy in one way or another.

I’ve witnessed and experienced more kindness since moving to the US than I did in the nearly 25 years of living in Germany. I know I have people here I can count on, no matter what. That’s something I’ll never take for granted.

When a good friend who has always been kind to me and the Mustangs was dealt a really rough hand some time ago (having the family ranch sold out from under him counts as a really, really rough hand I believe), I wanted to at least do something to show I cared.

I contacted Kaila Gallegos of Twisted Pine Arts and asked if she’d do a painting of him, his horse and his herd of registered Herefords surrounded by the land he loves and knows so well, loosely based on a photo I’d taken the year prior. She agreed.

I met Kaila a couple of years ago when she came out to meet a yearling Mustang I had up for adoption. Kaila has since adopted two wild ones. I respect her so much for the woman, wife, mother, artist, horsewoman, WHOA volunteer and wonderful friend she is.

Two days ago was the big day. The oil painting is done, it’s beautiful and is now hanging in his home.

He’s never been one to show big emotions but if the look in his eyes is any indication, I think we did alright.

It – life, nonprofit work, anything – takes a village and I’m proud to say I have a great one.

If you’re looking for a talented artist to do a custom painting or drawing for you or a loved one, I can’t recommend Kaila enough.

Have you ever felt like the universe is hitting you upside the head with a message until you finally listen? I have. So. Many. Times.

The one I’ve been getting and trying to respond to lately is less rigidity and more being in the moment, less aiming to control and more seeking to connect.

That doesn’t mean always going with the flow, bending until I break or letting others run over the top of me. It means dealing with horses, people and situations as they are, not as I had them painted in my head. It’s being present and flexible within my abilities and value systems, rather than getting angry because things aren’t the way I had planned.

For me, this applies to gentling wild horses, working with the ones that are no longer all that wild, and life all the same.

We have that conversation here all the time “But (s)he did it (insert leading, loading, picking up feet, not going haywire over some seemingly trivial thing, etc.) yesterday just fine.”, as one of the Mustangs is looking at us on an object bug-eyed, and not about to remember yesterday’s lesson. “Yep, but today’s a new day, and we get to deal with the horse(s)he is today and meet him/her where (s)he’s at.” Oh yes, that can be easier said than done. It’s also the only way to make progress, and not completely lose it in the process.

The other day it meant sending a 6am text to one of our volunteers: “How do you feel about moving some bulls today instead of our normal scheduled routine?And, yes, you’d be riding Tiny.” Of course that was the day after the post about him and his many idiosyncrasies. Bad timing, and my hopes for an affirmative response weren’t exactly high. “Sure, let’s do it!” came the reply, and I confirmed with my friend and favorite rancher that attempt #2 to find and bring home some wayward bulls was on for that day.

For me it was leaning into the discomfort of changing plans because a friend needed help and trusting my gut that McKenzie, whom I’d never ridden with, could handle Tiny, keep herself safe, and move cattle with me on a route I’d never been on without someone who knew it far better than I did. For McKenzie it meant trusting herself to take that on, and trusting me not to put her in harm’s way, knowing she needed to get home in one piece to her life and family that evening.

For both of us it meant riding Lacy and Tiny, two of our Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassadors, independently while getting a job done for someone who trusted us to do it. Doing that sort of thing brings home ‘connection over control’ in horsemanship and riding too. We have no way of physically forcing a horse into being a solid working partner and not coming apart in a real life situation as we navigate new to us territory, sometimes iffy footing, downed barbed wire, opening and closing gates and bulls that are less than thrilled with the journey and each other.

There was a lot of one loping ahead while the other stayed behind the bulls, trotting in different directions to keep the big boys on track.

Tiny did try to take McKenzie for a bit of a bumpy ride. She was paying attention and helped him get his mind back to her rather than thinking about bucking because he didn’t appreciate Lacy leaving him. He did spook at his tail and got worried about some other invisible terrors behind him a few times. She was present and able to support and reassure him through it, so he settled down.

Lacy encouraged the bulls to keep going with her ears pinned, head low, biting the slowest one in the hind end a few times. She moved out without hesitation to open gates well ahead of the bulls getting to them, kept out of the way of the dragging wire of soft gates being opened and closed, and stood quietly for me to mount as McKenzie and Tiny kept the bulls moving once I got done fighting with yet another old wire gate or chain.

Yes, there’s training a horse to do a job and teaching them certain skills. At the end of the day though it’s the connection between horse and rider/handler that makes things work because there’s no bit in the world that can ‘control’ Salt Wells Mustang Tiny, a horse easily 10 times McKenzie’s weight if she can’t get to his mind. No amount of drilling will make a willing working partner who thinks for herself and about the job at hand out of Lacy. It’s her and me working together, listening to one another and giving each other feedback as we go.

It’s also McKenzie and me communicating and working together effectively, trusting rather than micromanaging one another, as we drove those bulls 2-1/2 hours one way to return them to their pasture and a very thankful rancher who is not yet riding after knee surgery, causing him to have to depend on others, and riding 1 1/2 hours back, marveling at the beauty around us, racing the Mustangs for a bit and switching horses just for fun along the way. The day went nothing like I had intended it to go the previous day, but it was beautiful and worth adapting for.

So much about life can feel “messy”, with its unplanned twists and turns. I’m making an effort to lean into and embrace it for its unexpected adventures, and am grateful for the horses and people I’m on this journey with, who undertake the half-sane work of gentling wild horses with me, and who are willing to throw a sense of security and control to the wind for the opportunity to drive cattle across mountains from the backs of Mustangs and ride to the top of rocky, unfamiliar ridges under the light of the full moon, just to see what’s on the other side.

This big guy, a teenage Salt Wells WY Mustang gelding, has been part of our Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador herd for a few years now. He came from Colorado Horse Rescue Network where he ended up because of some…errrr…. unique personality traits.

He joined us as a riding horse for a friend back then, and I said I’d care for him but wouldn’t ride him because I had enough horses to work and ride. So he mostly just sat because his owner had very little time for him.

Tiny is one or the most curious and affectionate horses I’ve ever met. He loves holding things in his mouth, even human hands which he will sneakily try to work into his mouth as he’s licking them (yep, he’s an odd one). He’s also a bit of a bully and food aggressive with other horses, and innately worried about life. Not the kind of horse I would pick but there he was, and as the months went by with Tiny patiently waiting for someone to make him a priority, I felt increasingly guilty.

When DG Littlefoot, a horse that could be trusted to do anything, anywhere, for anyone, got sick early last year, and it became apparent that he may not be able to go on long rides or pack trips, Tiny finally got his chance to shine.

He got worked and ridden more, and he got to prove himself as a pack horse under sometimes difficult conditions.

Is he my favorite horse to ride? No. I like fast, nimble, tough, opinionated mares and he’s a big, drafty guy with odd insecurities, who sometimes still spooks at his own tail. Is he particularly soft and responsive under saddle? Also no, he’s had too much dude string riding (before he came to us; he got fired from a dude ranch) and time off for that, so not his fault.

But is he a horse I can count on to hold it together in a pinch? Absolutely. Is he, even at his age, able to become a better riding horse with time put into him? Yes. He’s surefooted, he goes through any bog, he can be turned loose on iffy terrain and trusted to find his way through just fine. He doesn’t mind a clanky pack that’s leaning, is good with traffic, likes working cows and is cuddly and friendly through it all.

He had never packed – that I know of – until last year, and he took to it and to backcountry living like a fish to water. He’s grown on me over time, even his weird quirks. He’s got a sense of humor too. He can test new riders fiercely, to the point of unhorsing some of them. When someone asks “Do you have a horse for me to ride?”, I give him a sideways glance… I have a horse someone else can get on, that’s for sure. Whether they can stay on or not, that’s between them and Tiny.

Because some of you are going to ask: The riding coat came from Outback Trading Company LTD. Montana Rio Buckaroo Hats made the hat.

I do a lot of backcountry riding far from groomed trails, exploring new-to-me country and difficult terrain, and “I just want to see what’s on the other side of that ridge”. That leads to many an unexpected adventure.

I’m also not, not even in the least little bit, a fearless rider, or a fearless person for that matter. Quite to the contrary. I’ve just learned – and am very much still learning – when to face my fears and reason my way through them, and when to listen to them and adjust what I’m doing. In life, on the trail and in the gentling pen.

We often talk about how horses can’t learn when they’re pushed so far out of their comfort zone that they are in survival mode (fight, flight or freeze). It’s not much different for humans.

I know that when I reach a certain point of discomfort, I become a liability to my horse and myself (and to others… don’t approach, will snap). I either freeze, tighten the reins too much or get angry. Neither of them are helpful and all can be dangerous in rough country.

So if things get too weird, I’m quick to get off my horse. Even if the horse could handle it. Yes, some might say that’s not safe either. Well, neither is getting in my horse’s way and getting all of us hurt or ruining their trust in me. I’ve sent my horses up and down steep terrain alone, in front, behind or beside me. We’re all still alive, stayed safe and were better off for the dismount.

This is not a clear-cut, black-and-white matter that’s the same for everyone. It’s not the same from year to year or horse to horse. I do things now that I wouldn’t have dreamed of taking on 5 years ago. I do things with Lacy that I wouldn’t do with Blanca. And vice versa. Same with Tiny. I imagine 5 years from now it’ll be entirely different again.

They all have different strengths and capabilities, both physically and mentally. Those also change and evolve as we grow together, they mature and then again as they age and need to take it a little easier.

There’s a lot of middle ground between living in a bubble and being reckless. Growth does happen at the edge of our comfort zone, no matter how big or small that comfort zone currently is. We owe it to ourselves and our horses to listen to ourselves and them, and to proceed accordingly.

You can totally feel like you’re a bit of a wimp and still experience and create epic adventures. I know because that’s what I did, and am still doing. Not by jumping off the cliff with my eyes closed but by putting in the work and one foot in front of the other, over and over, year after year. If I wanted to wait to get out until I’m not afraid, I’d die on my couch and that’s not happening.

Pictures are from this week’s ride (hint: there’s at least one Mustang in EVERY picture ). I got us in a bind again by thinking that riding down a different draw on the same ridge would be just as manageable as the draw we came up, just a few hundred feet over. Turns out that was flawed logic. The final few hundred feet of our descent involved some creative problem solving and colorful language.

This was not our first rodeo (metaphorically speaking, that is), and parking horses on their own is nothing new for me or them. Tiny has learned to play follow the leader when I turn him loose. It’s very much in line with his personality and he’s incredibly sure-footed. Lacy is no rookie anymore either. She patiently stood in between the rocks, waiting for me to scope things out and find a way down.

The last picture… That’s my I-think-I-can face. Not happy because of the drop off (don’t like those either) but not so far gone that I couldn’t get us through it. It’s a fine line and definitely a case-by-case decision how we get through what we get into out there.

3 Mustangs, same HMA, all geldings, got here the same day, have had the same number of sessions, all 3 very sane and very, very smart. Oh and handsome, let’s not forget that. We all spend a lot of time just drooling over them. Not ideal when it’s 20 degrees out.

These pictures are from their 3rd session (I think). 3 completely different approaches to accommodate for 3 totally different personalities.

Since everything in this post seems to come in 3s, here are what I find to be 3 of the most important things when gentling Mustangs, or doing anything with any horse for that matter:

Being able to read the horse. What is their emotional state, when can I ask for more, when do I need to back off? What is their personality, how do they view me?

Being able to be present in the moment, mindful of my own emotions and how I move my body. That includes breathing and actively seeking connection with the horse. This is not woo. It just doesn’t work when I’m thinking about what I need to add to my shopping list while expecting the horse to be totally tuned in to me. Connection is a two-way street, in any relationship.

Having tools in my toolbox that fit the situation at hand. That’s how it all comes together:

I need to figure out where the horse is at on any given day, I need to show up for the horse, and I need to know what to do about it.

Easier said than done sometimes? Of course. Still, I believe these are the ingredients for success. And why learning – not just about horses and training techniques, but also and especially ourselves – is so important.

Adjusting to the horse, to the situation at hand, adjusting our attitude… I often say to myself, and to our volunteers when we are working with the wild ones we are gentling “Is what you’re doing working [for you/the horse]?” If the answer is no then what’s more of the same going to do? Yes, that’s shrink talk, as is “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”

True though, isn’t it? I read so many posts along the lines of “I’ve had my Mustang for x many months, I’ve been doing x, and I still can’t x” That’s because one or more of the 3 aforementioned points aren’t there. This is not to shame anyone, but to encourage learning and reaching out for help when needed.

Also, if you’ve missed it, these 3 are our newest students, Sand Wash Basin Mustang geldings Cary (8yo grey), Schatzi (13yo dun) and Frank Stetson (3yo buckskin). They all have wonderful homes and are with Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy for gentling before joining their adopters.

For the Love of Aria and Troublesome Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation, Inc.

PC and kudos to our fearless photographer Tay Martin who tolerated unspeakable temperatures to document these sessions.