Open your heart to an
American Mustang

photo courtesy of Jessica Farren Photography

Why should I adopt a mustang?

  • Mustangs need loving homes.
    On the range food, water and resources are scarce. Some who don’t make it to holding or adoption die on the range. Adopting one of these incredible animals helps preserve resources for those left on the range.

  • Mustangs are often easy keepers and very healthy.
    Often these horses can go barefoot, “get fat on air” and less fragile than other breeds.

  • Mustangs are incredibly versatile!
    Because they haven’t been bred for a specific purpose, they are a blank slate ready to go in any direction. There are very successful 3 day eventing mustangs, rope horses, trail partners and dressage mustangs. See our Success Stories page to see some of the horses that have been a part of the MYWY program in year’s past.

  • They come in fun sizes, shapes, colors and personalities.
    Have fun checking out all the options and finding your favorite combination.

  • You’ll be a part of the supportive, kind, humble mustang owner club.
    Many mustang owners are excited to connect with new adopters and go on shared adventures with their awesome horses.

  • You’ll gain bragging rights about riding a horse that was born in the wild.
    Not everyone can say they ride an American icon. Its common for people to get make cups, bags apparel and even get tattoos of their mustang’s brand to show their mustang pride.

  • Many people say the bond they have with their mustang is unlike any they have had with any previous horse.
    Mustangs seem to know that they were rescued and tightly bond with their owners building an incredible partnership.

  • Support the next generation of horse trainers.
    It’s expensive and risky to take on the risk and responsibility of training a horse. Adopting a horse throug the MYWY program helps trainers to recoupe some of the costs associated with training and gives them confidence and resources to keep taking on the challenge of gentling these incredible horses.

Mustangs have proven themselves over the years to be versatile, resilient and reliable to say the least. Check out some MYWY videos and a few of the many MYWY success stories.

Katie & Jazz

AKA Ladybird

Niki & Prairie

My name is Katie and I adopted my horse Jazz, formerly known as “Ladybird” from the 2019 MYWY Competition. I had a series of unfortunate events happen with my horses, including my beloved Arabian gelding cutting his tongue off at a young age and I ended up having to put him down. A friend had suggested going to the event in search of a Mustang and I thought, “How much worse can it get?” I had no idea what to expect. I filled out my adoption application form and started to watch the classes. My friend knew one of the trainers who had a four year old Bay, South Steens Mare up for adoption and told me to keep an eye on her. It started to POUR rain and the event was postponed. My friend and I went around and hung out in the stalls with the horses and I couldn’t believe how well adjusted these freshly wild equines had become, in a strange place with so much going on. I had decided to bid on a couple of horses, but my budget wasn’t much. I was out bid a few times and becoming discouraged. We were all crammed in a large, white tent, and in came “Ladybird”. She walked into that tent like she had been there a million times. Her demeanor was so relaxed and I just had a feeling that I needed this horse. I won her in the auction! When her handler handed me her lead rope she put her head on my shoulder, almost to say “There you are!”. It brought tears to my eyes and I knew I had made the right decision. She hopped right into the trailer and came home with me. Since then she has been the most wonderful horse I have ever had. We have camped in the mountains, swam in the river, galloped bareback through meadows, and are showing very successfully in Working Equitation. Jazz has placed Top Ten at three Endurance Rides. We won the Working Equitation Zone Championships, placed Second in our Region and Sixth in the Nation. Jazz won Mustang Breed High Point!! This year we are moving up to Level 4 in Working Equitation, learning flying lead changes and will be traveling to Saskatchewan, Canada for a National Camp and Cup. MYWY gave me my heart horse.

Sometimes things are just meant to be. The events leading up to my attending MYWY in 2021 are their own incredible story, and I definitely did not intend to bring home a yearling. I made the conscious decision to be open, and focus on “bringing home the right horse for me.” Mace did not have much on social media like several of the other competition horses, but she was a larger yearling and floated when she moved. She was incredibly friendly with everyone and Libby’s excellent care of her was evident throughout the competition. Libby gave her an extraordinary start and she came well equipped for domestic life and learning to be both my liberty and riding partner. Mace was renamed Kairus when she arrived in NJ after a long trip from WA. We spent our first year together going for in-hand walks, working through the basics of liberty training, expanding on her knowledge of lunging, learning to ground drive, and figuring out obstacles and jumps. She was well prepared for our first ride. She was incredibly easy to start under saddle, and our first ride was uneventful as she tried to figure out how to work with me. She is now learning to carry herself effectively under saddle, both on the trail and in the ring. Owning a Living Legend has been a wild and fulfilling ride. I have had to step up my own education and become a continual student, because she is often “too smart for me.” She is a sweet snuggle bug and willing to tackle any new challenge. I am extremely grateful to the MYWY family for setting us both up for success. I’m excited to see where this adventure takes us!

Chloe & Mesa

I first saw Mesa in one of the teaser pictures, her dark tipped ears and fuzzy forehead with a tiny star peaking out from behind the others. From that tiny glimpse, I knew that she would be the one. We met when I was 17, with a lifelong dream of working with a wild horse, one that I never thought possible. Until Mesa. Unsure of the journey that lay ahead I dove into the world of horse training. Mesa as my teacher. From there our partnership blossomed. We celebrated each victory - our first touch, our first ribbon, our first ride - each marking a milestone of our growing partnership. Uncertain if I would be able to keep her after the competition, I knew we had to find a way and so we did. Her playful and joyous personality pushes me to be the best I can be for not only her, but all horses. A constant reminder to make the most of life and enjoy the little things. Mesa is the first horse I have brought up all the way myself, she is now started under saddle and joins me in countless adventures teaching me more everyday. Our partnership has grown strong as we take on life together, showing the world just how incredible mustangs and a kind touch can be. 

Lani, Juno & Whisper

Britton & Kairus

AKA Mace

Sheona & S’Mores

I competed with my first mustang through MYWY in 2021 and chose to keep my mustang. My husband showed up to support me and fell in love with the little fillies he saw at the event. He bid on a few with no luck and then he saw this pretty little bay pinto named S’mores. I never wanted a mare and told him if that’s what he wanted, it was his. In the first year S’mores caused a lot of mischief being a spicy little thing. I was ready to sell her when we got her title, since she was a bit too much for my husband to handle. However, I started to train her under saddle and immediately I knew I couldn’t sell her. She was smart, an excellent mover, sweet, and I loved her spicy spirit. That little bay pinto ended up becoming my horse when I swore I never wanted a mare. My husband still gives me a hard time about that, but I couldn’t help but fall in love with her.

Helen & Peter with Eli & Journey

Prairie was gathered from the Murderer’s Creek HMA in 2017 and was a random draw for the MYWY Mustang Challenge in 2018. After 100+ days of training with her youth trainer Viola, she was adopted by Niki, a Washington State Range Rider at the conclusion of the MYWY competition in Cle Elum, WA in August of 2018. Prairie was allowed to grow up and gain more training before beginning her job as Nikis’ primary mount - riding the ranges in Eastern Washington. Prairie and Niki spend their summers working for the Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. Their job is to monitor the livestock for the ranchers and farmers in the Teanaway Community Forest area. Prairies quiet disposition and her experience growing up in this same mountainous region make her the perfect trail horse for the job.

My eyes first glanced at Whispers in the spring of 2015. She was 2, I was 15. Initially, Whisper was not meant to stay with me, but just a day into our journey I knew Whisper was going to be with me forever. Our partnership has grown from tentative and youthful, into something quite powerful. We have taken on the world together, conquering our fears and living our dreams. From helping me start young horses under saddle, teaching kids about wild horses, and riding every scenic trail we can, Whisper is by my side. I cannot imagine life without her, I am so thankful her number was matched to my name all those years ago. Then in 2022, I had talked myself out of competing in MYWY, thinking I’d switch my focus to clients. After the applications had closed, a few weeks later I glanced at a post saying they had reopened. A sign? Absolutely! I tentatively peeked at the photos of “leftover” horses, and there she was. A solid bay mare, two years old. I was immediately drawn to her. This would become Juno. Now at 22, I was going to compete again, this time as a rising trainer in the industry. After a hard year myself Juno brought me back to life and reminded me the power and healing touch these mustangs have. In just a little over a year, Juno has become one of my closest equine partners. She has traveled across the United States and back with me, been on countless adventures, and has been started under saddle becoming a solid riding partner. Juno has officially wiggled her way right into the center of my life and herd of mustangs where she will stay forever.

In the summer of 2021, after over seven months of watching and re-watching online videos, talking to trainers and not listening to mustang naysayers, updating  ridiculously extensive spreadsheets of available MYWY horses, a three-day road trip to Oregon and a 3000 mile road trip through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, California and Oregon to meet mustangs and their trainers, my husband and I adopted not one, but two, Paisley Desert mustangs through the MYWY program!

It’s been a lot of work and a lot of fun. We’ve met so many kind and helpful people along the way, been amused and charmed (and yes, sometimes challenged) by our mustangs’ unique personalities, and learned different philosophies of training that we might've never  been exposed to otherwise. Eli and Journey have been the best teachers of all, and they’ve opened our eyes to a whole different equine world.