2yo Twin Peaks CA Mustang filly Echo, the newest addition to our Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustang herd, has taken to ground driving with the same ease as everything else I’ve introduced her to so far.

Ground driving is excellent riding prep, her next steps are ground driving outside of the pen, getting used to the light and then the work harness, dragging the tire and stoneboat.

I use ground driving to prevent buddy sourness and to give the horse confidence in going places with just me, traveling out front and taking guidance from the human behind her.

Horses that pony, pack and ground drive comfortably should ride off without a hitch when the time comes.

There are several steps that came before this one. Ground driving is a process, not an event.

I ground drive all young horses before I ride them, and I like having at least one Mustang around that knows more and likes working in harness for when the opportunity to go sledding or drag some logs arises.

Ever wanted to drive a Mustang? Totally worth it and so much fun!

Interested in ground driving lessons? Let me know! I grew up riding and driving in Europe. Driving is still near and dear to my heart.

#BLMmustang#wildhorseswillingpartners#SunsetMagic

#drivinghorse#makingmountainmustangmemories

You might have read or heard that Steve Mantle from Mantle Ranch in WY was here last week, working with me and the Mustangs here at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy

(WHOA).

Steve has been training Mustangs for 25 years, does demos at Cheyenne Frontier Days every year, helps get the Meeker Mustang Makeover trainers off to a good start, and teaches ‘back on track’ clinics to bring wildies and their adopters on the same page.

My objectives were to learn more about working wild horses from horseback, get comfortable using our chute, get tips on how to improve our gentling program and to work on my riding.

We worked on all of that and more, and talked about horses and life until dark every night.

My main takeaways? “Pet ’em more”, “Wait”, teach them to “follow the feel” and to raise my expectations.

Steve manages to be gentle and firm, patient without being permissive all at the same time. He visualizes the desired outcome and has the tools to get there. He teaches humans and horses in the same quiet and easy-going manner.

It was a fun week building on what we learned from Mustang Matt when he was here 2 years ago around this time. And yes, I’m wearing Gus’s tail as a scarf because having fun isn’t optional and Gus is cool

I’m already applying what I’ve learned and am so excited to continue to do so, to see the outcomes and to pass it all along to our adopters and clients also.

If you’d like to learn from us, are looking to adopt a gentled Mustang or for someone to gentle the wild horse you’re planning to adopt, we’re here to help.

PM or email us with your thoughts and questions, we look forward to hearing from you.

WHOA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Guffey, CO. We work with amazing haulers if someone needs a Mustang transported to or from here.

#wildhorseswillingpartners#bettertogether#learning#nonprofit#makingmountainmustangmemories

Lacy, Echo and DG Griffin, are all working on different, developmentally appropriate things.

Lacy and I had a lesson with Steve Mantle at a neighbor’s arena. We focused on improving our left lead, softness, stops and bending. We got several great pointers and exercises to work on.

We may feel most at home on the trail but having her be balanced and responsive is important for her health and our safety.

I did some untracking, directional and speed control exercises in the round pen with Echo. We’ll start ground driving next. We also took a walk together, away from the other horses, because buddy sourness is no bueno, for anyone involved.

I want her to learn to feel just as comfortable in my company as she does being with her herd. That requires work, time and continued practice.

Little Griffin worked on being left behind, safely on the patience post. He’s learned to go on walks with me without worrying too much about where his friends are. Being able to feel ok all by himself doesn’t come naturally to most horses, so we practice that too.

Many of you have been asking about Cedar. She’s in EasyCare hoof boots on both hind feet and back in her pen. She’s doing as well as one could hope for given her diagnosis.

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster trying to figure out a way forward in the face of several different opinions, prognoses and treatment approaches.

The obvious is that yes, it’s an articular fracture, meaning it involves the joint above the fractured coffin bone and P2 is fractured as well but not dislocated. The outlook is less than great, less than good even. I’ve heard everything from “dead horse walking” to “we’ve had some success with these types of injuries” multiple times.

We’d be looking at 12+ months of therapeutic shoeing and rest, possibly a cast, likely PRP, pain management, regular x-rays. She’s supposed to see the vet again on Tuesday to rule out infection in the joint as that would most likely be a deal breaker.

Lots to figure out, we’re taking it one step at a time. Cedar and I and all of us at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy are so grateful for the support you guys have shown, both through donations, hands on help, advice and so many encouraging and caring messages.

Tiny is alive and well and doing a great job looking after Echo and Griffin. He still fancies himself a band stallion, until it’s time for food and cuddles anyway.

Many thanks to Karyn Tessman Miller for the Best Ever Pad (it’s really been the best pad I’ve ever had and it made a believer out of Steve too; contact her directly to order yours) and to Rowdy’s Ropes for the loop reins with cowboy quick connects as well as the training halters and lead ropes. They see long days, real work and lots of mud here. I wash them when they need it and I get years and years of use out of them.

#wildhorseswillingpartners

#makingmountainmustangmemories

Steve Mantle, one of the most experienced Mustang trainers in the country, has been at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy since Monday.

We’ve been working on different things with different horses and expanding my comfort zone, timing and feel so we can continue to offer even more value to more wild horses and their humans.

Working horses from horseback, doing effective and thorough ground work, throwing a houlihan, safely using our chute and so much more.

We have one more full day before Steve and his 2 geldings head back to Wyoming.

Many thanks to Wild Spirit Mountain Lodge for hosting him and Tay Martin for all your help in making this possible and run smoothly.

#wildhorseswillingpartners

#makingmountainmustangmemories

I love learning even more than I love peanut butter and almost as much as horses.

For anyone looking for an indepth, immersive packing experience I recommend Colorado Pack Company LLC ‘s “Edventure” (Education + Adventure)

We spent 6 days learning about gear, tying hitches, putting together all manner of common and unusual loads, riding and camping in the backcountry.

We made memories I’ll never forget, friendships I hope to keep forever and the two dun Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustang mares and I learned so much. We look forward to sharing at least some of that with you all during our own one day packing workshops.

Packing is a wonderful way to get a Mustang ready to be a safe, brave and well-adjusted riding partner, even if your goal isn’t to disappear into the wilderness for days on end.

Gabe let me bring not only Lacy but also Echo, who was less than 2 months out of holding at the time. She packed her own little light load, crossed the river and spent a night in the backcountry just like the seasoned horses.

I’m so proud of these two gritty Mustang mares.

Horse packing brings people in touch with themselves, each other and their animals in a deeper way. We all found things to work on and learn, not just about packing, but more importantly ourselves and our stock.

Gabe and his family create an atmosphere where you can come as you are and feel supported as you learn and grow at your own pace along with your equines and other participants.

*Cedar Update: Thank you so much to all of you who have and continue to offer support, financially and otherwise. We’re hoping to know more in the next day or two. I’m blown away by your kindness. Thank you!*

#AmericanMustang#wildhorseswillingpartners

#learning#makingmountainmustangmemories

Here’s the happy (I’m trying) post I’d meant to post yesterday, officially welcoming these four handsome Wyoming Mustang geldings (no height yet, they were last measured as babies by BLM)

Sorrel: 4yo from Antelope Hills WY. Tall, kind and drafty. Gus’s half brother I’m almost certain.

Bay roan pinto: 3yo, facility born to a Steward Creek WY mare. Tall for his age, curious. Tall for his age, nicely built.

Grey: 4yo from Stewart Creek WY. Curious, tall, a little shy, kind eyes. Tall, solid, athletic built.

Tri-colored pinto with fish eye: 3yo, facility born to a Steward Creek WY mare. Athletic built, curious and friendly.

Before we get further into this, I want to thank everyone who has donated, sent love, good thoughts, prayers and otherwise shown up for Cedar (please see yesterday’s post if you’re not sure what’s going on). So many of you have commented, liked and shared, called and messaged to provide input, offer help and express empathy. Thank you!

Seeing so many of you chime in and have fun with our last naming “fun-raiser” for the four Wyoming and California Mustang mares was so neat that we’d like to do it again.

How to play:

$5 donation per name suggestion, please specify which horse and comment your names under the post.

It’s a fun way to help us feed these guys and their friends. We provide free choice hay in Hay Chix nets so they aren’t bored when they’re not in school; we currently have 14 – yes FOURTEEN amazing Mustangs available for adoption, ages 1-10yo) while we prepare them for a successful future and find them their very own humans.

How to donate:

Donation avenues in comments (also in bio on IG and on the Support Us page on our website). Please let us know if you’re mailing a check because no notifications there.

How names are selected:

Tay Martin is going to draw them randomly out of empty peanut butter jars, one jar per horse.

How to adopt:

We have a list of horses (these boys will be on it soon) and our adoption application on w i l d h o r s e o u t r e a c h . o r g

Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Guffey CO. Our mission is to help wild horses successfully transition from holding pens to loving homes. Sustainably, with compassion and competence.

Thank you for your support! Please comment, like and share to help these boys get noticed, named and adopted.

Let’s play!

#BLMmustang#wildhorseswillingpartners

#nonprofit#makingmountainmustangmemories

I guess I’ve procrastinated on this long enough. Plan A was to post some happy packing post – after a very happy week spent doing all things related to backcountry packing with horses with Colorado Pack Company LLC – yesterday and then a naming fundraiser for the new Mustangs today.

Plan A died during DG Cedar’s vet visit yesterday afternoon. The radiographs of her right hind show a broken coffin bone with possible joint involvement.

Cedar is part of the Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustang herd. She’s a spirited, independent, beautiful 2yo filly.

She was a wonderful ambassador during her first big public outing at the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo this spring, adjusting to the hustle and bustle more quickly and with greater ease than Lacy.

There are some options to consider and some opinions yet to gather. This may be a life-ending injury. We are thankful for caring friends and for medical professionals in the US and Europe who are offering their input.

She was seen by the same vet who worked on Lacy last year. The vet saw videos of Lacy crossing a river last week and called her a miracle horse as they didn’t have a lot of hope for her to recover from a partially torn ligament in her hock, compensatory lameness in both fronts and an eye injury over the course of just a few months, causing her to be off for most of 2023.

Maybe we’ll have another miracle recovery in us. It’s a bit early still to make a final decision. I’d like to gather more information to be able to make an informed choice that is both reasonable and responsible, both for Cedar and our organization as a whole.

If you would like to help with her vet bills, we would appreciate the help. I’m putting donation information in the comments. Anything raised beyond her cost of care will go towards feeding the Mustangs we adopt from BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program and Double Devil Wild Horse Corrals and are gentling and placing into suitable homes. We currently have 14 wonderful wildies looking for their humans and 3 that have already found theirs.

We are a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Guffey CO.

We appreciate your support. Good thoughts, prayers for Cedar are equally as appreciated. Please share, like, comment if you want to, it all helps.

Cedar is currently enjoying some fresh grass right outside of her pen, this is her first time out since the injury. Her little buddy DG Griffin misses her and I miss seeing her run and play.

#wildhorseswillingpartners#DevilsGardenMustang

#nonprofit#makingmountainmustangmemories

Tay Martin and I went to prison today. Again. I guess that makes us repeat offenders.

So much so that the inmates are asking us about the horses from last time. And the time before. Talk about having friends in low places.

I’m fairly comfortable – not in a weird way – interacting with inmates. Some of you might know that several years back I had the glorious idea to do my counseling internship at a maximum security mental health correctional facility for male offenders.

I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. And I’m glad I’m no longer working in that environment.

Today was something. First we tracked down the school bus (these days I do some counseling for our tiny local charter school) this morning on our way down the hill to hand the school bus driver who’s also the admin and my neighbor one of Taylor’s homemade muffins.

In town we dropped off the Shepherds with a friendly local because no pets on prison grounds (ask me how I know that ), loaded our wildies and talked to the inmates about previous adoptees.

Once out of prison, we grabbed the doggos and took them to their vet appointment. When you live an hour from anywhere, making town trips count is crucial if you ever want to get anything else done.

Coming back up the hill we stopped by the school where the littles were practicing for their end of school year presentations, in costume. We got to shake hands with Ben Franklin, learn fun facts about Little Richard and give a pep talk to Pocahontas.

Once at home, the boys unloaded nicely. Now I’m sitting in a trough with a hay bale as my chair, while the sorrel and the bay roan pinto are calmly eating right next to me.

I’m dead tired today but one day I’ll write a book and call it “Wild Men, Wild Horses, Wild Kids”. Today we spent time with all 3.

Please put your thinking hat on, we’ll have a naming fundraiser for these 4 handsome, young Wyoming Mustang geldings this weekend.

They will be available for adoption once gentled through Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy in Guffey CO. Hauling to anywhere within the lower 48 can be arranged.

Please comment, like and share to help these boys get seen so we can find them their ideal humans!

#wildhorseswillingpartners#mustangtraining#nonprofit#BLMmustang#makingmountainmustangmemories

Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy ‘s mission statement reads “Helping Mustangs transition from holding pens to loving homes. Sustainably, with compassion and competence.”

We don’t just gentle wild horses, we do our best to match them up with the right adopters, because we believe that there’s a lid for every pot, even the unusual or less than perfect ones.

We’re happy to report that Deets the quirky Appy boy has found his human, and so has his bestie Woodrow.

Besides those two now adopted 5yo NV Mustangs (Woodrow is going to be with us for a few more weeks before he starts saddle training), we have dun roan mare Cinder (facility born to a Stewart Creek WY Mustang mare) and bay Devil’s Garden Mustang filly Elanor pending adoption.

We couldn’t be more excited for them.

Two of the four are going to repeat adopters, two to newly approved ones.

For Cinder specifically I had reached out to two previous adopters and told them we had a horse that needed someone like them and if they knew anyone like that who was looking. It turned out that one of them was looking and ready to move forward. She’s coming to meet Cinder today.

Placing these wildies in just the right situation isn’t always an easy or straightforward process. Once everything falls into place it’s beautiful and so worth it. Many thanks to Kelsey and Tay for all your help in making these happy new beginnings possible!

On that happy note, I have some recently approved adopters left to contact. If you haven’t heard back from us yet, please check your email later today, including your spam folder. You’re also always welcome to check in.

We still have several wonderful Mustangs available for adoption, you can find them as well as our adoption application on our website at

w i l d h o r s e o u t r e a c h . o r g

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Guffey, Colorado.

We have a list of reputable haulers for adopters who want to have their new equine partners brought to them. A lot of our wildies end up finding homes out of state, and being able to task an experienced professional with the transport can be a huge relief.

#wildhorseswillingpartners

#makingmountainmustangmemories

As you may have read in last week’s post, the dynamic dun duo from our Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy Ambassador Mustang herd and I were in Pagosa Springs for a packing workshop turned total immersion experience with Gabe and his family at Colorado Pack Company LLC .

I hadn’t planned on completely disconnecting from phone and internet during that time. Once we got started it felt like the right and also somewhat of a daring and adventurous thing to do. The week was not just a whirlwind, but a tornado of meeting mules, learning more about packing, making friends, riding gorgeous country and eating great food.

I got home Saturday night after a 5ish hour drive with just enough daylight left to unload without a headlamp. Lacy was in a foul mood when I loaded her and Echo again only 12 hours later. It had been an exhilarating week for all 3 of us and we were all still tired.

Her attitude changed immediately when she realized what was on the agenda: Moving cows. Lacy loves working cattle and I figured Echo has taken everything else in stride, so why not take the opportunity and bring her along too?

At less than 2 months out of holding and after a week of carrying lightweight packs, crossing a river, seeing ancient ruins and camping in the backcountry in a different corner of Colorado, Echo, a 2yo filly from Twin Peaks, CA went on her first cattle drive.

Lacy is a cow eating machine, ears back and mouth wide open biting slow ones in their hind end if I let her. Echo’s style is different. She’d calmly nuzzle a tiny calf’s tail to encourage it forward. These two Mustang mares are so similar and yet so different and I love them both for it.

More from last week’s adventures to come. I’m catching up on office work, and very, very slowly unpacking because I hit the ground running as soon as I got home.

I’m excited to get back to working wild ones and to update you on what’s new, what’s happened and what’s coming. Thank you all for your patience and support.

Here’s to using social media and the internet for good things and to being brave enough to disconnect when we need/want to. I like to ask myself sometimes “Do I have it or does it have me?”

The mares spent a glorious Sunday morning working cows in their Rowdy’s Ropes halters and leads. Echo doesn’t have anything else yet and I didn’t have time to dig out a hackamore or bridle for Lacy. Spicy as she is, our brakes and steering work well. Quality gear makes effective communication easier, so no problem there.

#wildhorseswillingpartners

#makingmountainmustangmemories