Follow my progress with an untouched mustang!

Meeker, CO

April 25th was a lucky day! I was second in the draw and chose #1256, a flashy little brown bay with lots of chrome. We stayed in Meeker to work with Nick Mantle and had some great trust building and first touches before we left for Lander. I couldn’t be more excited to work with this little guy for the rest of the summer. He’s a stunner!

Lander, WY

Welcome to the Rainbow Ranch, #1256! After a few days of deliberation, “1256” became “Frankie.” Pickup weekend saw the first of several bursts of much-needed precipitation in the region, so Frankie’s early days of training were characterized by fetlock-deep mud. In spite of the conditions, we made a good start, focusing on building connection and trust, basic groundwork, leading by front feet, standing tied, and saddling. Frankie is proving himself to be a curious, friendly, and willing little horse. He’s showing a fair bit of sensitivity which will likely make early training slower but will hopefully result in a responsive riding horse!

Lander, WY

By the end of the week, Frankie was happily cantering under saddle—what a progression! I put a first ride on Frankie on Day 10, and it was boring…exactly what I hoped for. With persistent mud and slippery footing in the round pen, Frankie started working in the local indoor arena straight away; while the first ride in the large open space was stressful for me, Frankie took it in stride. We also made a lot of progress with his feet: lifting them, picking them out, and starting to clean up his soles and frogs. The more I get to know this little horse, the more I appreciate his brain; he can have big reactions, but he moves through them quickly.

Lander, WY and Boulder, WY

Wow. The last couple weeks really flew by! Frankie and I and four other Rainbow Ranch mustangs drove to the other side of the mountains to spend a few weeks based out of the NOLS Three Peaks Ranch in Boulder, WY. In addition to living and working in an unfamiliar location, Frankie went on his first few trail rides (first being ponyed and then ponying another horse), gained enough proficiency with lateral movements that I could start opening gates while mounted, kept working on basic flatwork in the arena (walk, trot, canter) in the arena, and acted like a true professional in a two-day clinic with Micaela Love in Lander.

Boulder, WY

Frankie and I had another great couple weeks based out of Three Peaks. I introduced Frankie to a snaffle and, on the first ride, he started to accept gentle contact. In the arena, we’ve been working on transitions, leg yields, shoulder yields, and have started to jump over small obstacles. Outside of the arena, Frankie is leading out, crossing water, and riding calmly in a group.

Boulder, WY and Meeker, CO

Highlights of this week included Frankie riding out alone on BLM land adjacent to the NOLS Three Peaks Ranch and traveling to Meeker for a clinic with Bryan Neubert. In the clinic, I practiced redirecting Frankie’s energy and was reminded that a horse having excess energy is fundamentally not a problem. Bryan’s approach helped me see challenges as opportunities and will hopefully allow me to work more effectively with Frankie and with the rest of the herd!

Lander, WY and Dubois, WY

At the end of this week, Frankie, Sammy and I traveled to Dubois, WY to participate in a multi day dressage clinic with Alexis Martin-Vegue. Alexis is an upper level dressage and USDF judge. She trains with French classical dressage principles, biomechanics of horse and rider, and R+ thinking-outside-of-the-box problem solving. It was a privilege and a pleasure to spend the weekend riding with Alexis! One of Alexis’s impressions of Frankie: “he has a really good possibility for a lot of range and expression in the trot.” This little horse was such a willing and amiable partner in this weekend of incredible learning!

Lander, WY and Southern Wind River Range

This week I went on a short camping trip in the Winds with Frankie, Ben and Sammy. My goal was to expose Frankie and Ben to backcountry systems before they started working in the mountains, and both horses did great! Frankie proved himself to be very handy at the end of a string, and on our second day I rode him out front to the next camp. Being in the mountains with horses is incredible—you get to know them in such a special way! I’m looking forward to spending a bunch of time camping with Frankie over the course of the summer!

Lander, WY

Frankie and I spent this week at home, enjoying some down time and starting to work on some more advanced skills and maneuvers. Preparing for a mustang makeover is all about identifying your horse’s strengths and capitalizing on them! Frankie is sensitive and responsive, and he’s starting to understand how to move different parts of his body independently. In the future, this will help Frankie to be able to do things like spins, flying changes, and side passes. At this stage of training, it’s tempting to breeze through the basics, but I keep learning, over and over, that going slow and being patient with the fundamentals gets you to the fancy stuff sooner!

Box Creek, Trail Lake, and Turpin Meadows Trailheads, Absarokas and Wind River Range, WY

July was busy for all the Rainbow Ranch Horses! We spent the bulk of the month packing in food and gear to three different NOLS courses in the Absarokas and the Winds. Each reration was a multi-day affair, and the horses were on the road for over a week at a time. Frankie did it all! He packed small (but essential!) loads in all positions in the string and I rode him often, sometimes out front. Riding and packing in the mountains teaches horses, especially mustangs, to be excellent problem solvers, to work in a team, and to face unexpected situations with level-headedness. Frankie was a joy to have in our little working herd!

Lander, WY

This week’s highlight was taking Frankie and Sammy to Gilette to do some XC schooling. I haven’t jumped horses cross country in over 20 years, and I remembered just how much fun this is! Frankie was a careful, bold, energetic partner. He jumped logs, ditches, gates, banks and rolltops, and he got some practice balancing himself at speed going up and downhill. This little horse is a real athlete!

Lander, WY

Frankie and I packed our bags again and headed to Hayden, CO for the Routt County Fair Open Horse Show. What a weekend! Frankie exceeded all of my expectations, winning the Overall Mustang Champion buckle! Notable successes included taking 6th place in both of our first ever individual cow work class, winning Frankie’s first jumper class (crossrail power and speed), and completing all 5 changes in the western riding pattern. Not only did Frankie excel in the show ring, but he was such a pleasant traveling companion. He took all of the activity in stride, and showed up as his willing, affectionate, self.

Lander, WY

After a lot of travel over the last few weeks, Frankie and I caught our collective breaths back at home. I took advantage of some down time to connect with a friend and shoot sale videos for Frankie. We got dressed up and filmed in a local indoor arena (new to Frankie). It didn’t take Frankie long to get two single take videos of walk, trot, canter in both directions, English and Western. I’m consistently impressed by how well Frankie adapts to new environments and situations.

Boulder, WY and Northern Wind River Range, WY

Frankie, Sammy and I drove over the mountains to the NOLS Three Peaks Ranch to work an Alumni Horsepacking Trip. We spent three days prepping at the ranch, met students on the fourth day, spent another three days teaching basic riding and packing skills, and then headed into the mountains. Our route was stunning, taking us into the heart of the Northern Winds and near the headwaters of the Green River. It takes a special horse to work a NOLS course—as an instructor, I need to devote most of my energy to managing students and their horses (rather than managing my own mount)—and once again, Frankie really excelled. I couldn’t be more proud of this horse.

Lander, WY

The final two weeks before the Makeover were devoted to final preparations and enjoying spending time with Frankie. Several new people rode Frankie, we practiced our Freestyle, and we ran through obstacles at a friend’s place. It’s hard to put into words what time with this horse has meant to me…and that might be for another time. Instead, enjoy the video I made to document our summer together!