I’m in Elko again this week, for the 39th The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and to spend time with one of my favorite people, Rachel Toler . I met Rachel during the summer of 2019. We didn’t get to chat all that much because we were busy moving cattle through thick timber back to where …
Category: Stefanie’s Notebook
Feb 26 2024
Driving Mustangs
Coming from Europe, I’ve been driving horses and ponies since I could count my age on two hands. Sled races, dragging fields, cutting grass, driving just to drive because it’s fun, skidding logs, I even drove a wedding once. I’ve never had the money for a nice horse, so I either worked my tail off …
Feb 26 2024
Removing the Neck Tag
Removing the neck tag This is 6yo buckskin Devil’s Garden Mustang mare Luna, dam of DG Bibi who found a home a while back. Here we are, taking her tag off, a special “unwilding” ritual that makes me light up even after doing this dozens of times. It marks the transition from wild to handleable …
Feb 26 2024
Sharing Space
Sharing space When we’re working with Mustangs, the four components of a successful session l’ve found are: Learning while moving Learning while standing Moving together Sharing space They are all important. And what’s also important is that the horse you’re working with is at least reasonably happy and comfortable. Pain, hunger, loneliness, boredom, lack of …
Jan 25 2024
Neck Rope Prep with an Unhandled Mustang
Neck rope prep with an unhandled Mustang In training horses, preparation is key. Meaning that before we do something, we need to get ready to do it. Get our equipment/body/mind in the right place. What’s just as important, and unfortunately sometimes overlooked, is that we need to prepare the horse for what’s coming too. When …
Jun 08 2023
Project Littlefoot
We introduced Project Littlefoot some weeks back in memory of DG Littlefoot, the coolest, friendliest and most easy-going young wildie there ever was. He was the first Devil’s Garden (DG) wild horse to join our herd. He carried the BLM freezebrand, one of the few DGs that did. He should have easily had another 20 …
Jun 05 2023
The lost horse
This is another one of those “get a Mustang, they said…” stories that are funny and have a lesson hiding in them after the fact but give you ulcers and grey hair throughout their unfolding. Remember a couple of posts ago when I introduced MustangMatch, a platform for people to list and find Mustangs of …
May 31 2023
DG Petrie – building a partnership
Petrie the baby dragon is turning into a juvenile dragon. Still fiery, bigger now, with fewer tantrums and more willingness to think and work together. I can see glimpses of the proud and pretty mare she’ll be one day. What started out as Petrie-paint-eater (she’s given my nice white car a zebra striped look, grrrrr), …
May 25 2023
When persistence pays off
One of my closest friends is moving out of state. We’re spending as much time together as we can before she leaves, so on Tuesday we met at one of our favorite riding spots, 3 Mustangs and 5 dogs in tow. It was a hazy day (we’re getting smoke from the fires up in Canada) …
May 24 2023
Starting the wild/young/green horse, a little at a time
It sounds so easy, right? We “just” want to halter them/lead or load them/pony, pack, ride or drive them. Why won’t they just get it? Because there is so much more to it for the horse, starting with the fact that nobody gave them a script for the play they’re suddenly expected to take a …