Mustangs to Moab

23/07/2022

Laugh of the day:

Here’s a wet Willie 😂😂🐴❤️

23/07/2022

Since coming home Marvel has been the sweetest boy! It’s amazing how chill he is now and how much he loves to be touched. Long days and wet saddle blankets really are the best training you can give a good horse. 🐴🤠❤️

14/07/2022

So many people along the way helped make Mustangs to Moab a reality. I wish I had pictures of everyone and could thank everyone publicly.

It was a monumental effort to get me, two horses and a truck across the west and together we did it. If you’re reading this somehow someway our paths crossed. You read about me in the paper thanks to the efforts of Kirsten or Christine, you saw me on the road and asked what I was doing, we have a mutual friend, or maybe I just showed up in your feed. However you’ve come to this post you’re one of thousands who have learned about the plight of the 50k mustangs in holding facilities as a result of this ride.

Together we’ve witnessed the amazing things these horses are capable of and hopefully you’ve been inspired to act in whatever way is appropriate in your life. Share their story, adopt a mustang, support a local training program… there are so many ways we can work together to get these horses out of holding and into homes.

Riding to Moab was about planting seeds. Seeds of knowledge and seeds of inspiration. I feel like we planted fields and fields of hope for these horses. I want to thank everyone along the way for their help and remind them that their efforts will continue to grow and manifest great things long into the future.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Karen, Willie and Marvel
🐴❤️🤠

07/07/2022

It’s been a while since I was able to post and a lot has happened!
First the boys are amazing!! We are all happy healthy and enjoying a little down time.
Crossing the Aquarius plateau was a logistical nightmare. The riding was beautiful but getting the support truck to a suitable campsite was involving a 2-4 hour drive on FS roads that sometimes didn’t actually exists. So executive decisions were made and we skipped the first half of the decent off the plateau and started again at the highway. The decent from there into the desert was a 15 mile ride to another paved road.
I can say with all honesty this is some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. Remote, very very untraveled, and stunningly gorgeous. The 15 mile ride took 10 hours and tested ever skill the horses and I have. We all handled it well and navigated washed out trails, steep decents, boulder fields, slick rock, swarms of biting flies and oppressive heat. It was challenging but very satisfying to work together to make it through.
However it took us twice as long as we had anticipated and out support team was terrified something horrible had happened. Quite frankly I was terrified something horrible might happen. No cell service, no radio contact, no human contact for 10 hours made me take a long hard look at what I’m doing and if it’s a smart thing to do.
After much thought and a night of restless sleep. I decided to haul the last 175 miles to Moab. I have to put the safety of my horses and myself ahead of everything else. Riding alone across this remote landscape fills my soul but it just isn’t a smart thing to do. So the Mustangs are in Moab and we are spending g some time riding with friends, working on some finishing skills for both the boys and having some short fun rides.
Thanks to everyone who has followed us, thanks to everyone who has helped us along the way (there will be a gratitude post soon) and thanks to all my support crews who made this all possible. Please look forward to some pics of the boys and I enjoying ourselves in Moab before we head home.
🤠❤️

29/06/2022

A really hard day.

Some days on the trail are magnificent and magical. Some days are just hard.
These two horses are amazing. They give me their all almost every day. We have crossed some of the most rugged terrain in the west so far and endured every kind of weather short of a hurricane. But everyone has a bad day and everyone gets tired and cranky. Yesterday it was all of us.
We had a two day ride ahead of us and the truck and trailer had been pre-positioned to a remote area of the Dixie National Forest. The trail over the mountain was terrible! It was steep, it was rocky and it was completely out in the open. Summer has finally arrived so it was also hot. We were climbing over 3,000 feet so the sun was intense and there was no water until we got to the top. Marvel was the first to call it quits. He just refused to take another step up the hill. With some effort I managed to get him moving again. Then Willie decided Marvel had the right idea and quit moving and communicated that he felt his was stupid! Now I had a mutiny on my hands.
For the next hour we proceeded up the mountain with me on foot leading them. They would walk five steps stop, I would coax, cajole and cuss and we would take five more steps. After an hour I had run out of profanities and Willie decided it was better to stop in any tiny amount of shade instead of the direct sun, so we started making slightly better time but I was still on foot. Finally Willie had watched me struggle enough and nudged me in the back and gave me a soft look that translated roughy to… “You’re more stubborn than me but I’m stronger than you so get on before we both die of heat exhaustion “. So although we were moving once again it had taken an hour to go only 1 mile.
Unfortunately the trail managed to get worse. Now it was a single track skirting the side of a rock face. The footing was loose and the drop off to the creek below was significant. So I was on foot leading again. If you notice in the picture Willie has only three feet on the trail and a mouthful of food - which he nearly drug me off the cliff to get - but hey at least we were still moving up the mountain.
Finally the trail opened up to a lovely forest, we managed to get water from a stream and in another hour we were at the top. We had made 9 miles in 6 hours and fortunately the next 3 miles should be down hill to the trailer.
Exhaustion, frustration and hunger were probably contributing factors to what happened next. I took the trail off the wrong side of the mountain. So for the next three miles we happily rode down hill with me telling the boys what good horses they were and thanking them for sticking with me and we would be at the trailer in no time. At 5:30pm we still weren’t at the trailer and we should’ve been. As I looked at the map, I realized with equal parts horror and confusion that we had we were 6 miles away from the trailer and had to go back up hill to get there.
This is when I cried. Not when the horses wouldn’t move, not when Willie tried to knock me off a cliff, not when I was bitten by 1,000 biting insects. But when I realized that I had led us astray. That my mistake was going to cause my horses more work, more time and possibly harm. It was all more then I could bear. And at that very moment the battery on my phone died, so I sat in the middle of the forest alone, staring at a black screen and wept.
After a few minutes, I gathered myself, plugged my phone into my battery pack and turned the horses back up the mountain. We had 3 hours to make it 6 miles before dark. Normally that would be very doable but today that seemed like an overwhelming task. That’s the thing about life on the trail, your options get real limited and in order to survive you just have to keep going.
The horses seemed to understand that the sun was getting low in the sky and they needed to step it up a notch to make it to the trailer before nightfall, and they did. At 8pm we rode into camp. We had been going for 11 hours. We were all exhausted but unharmed.
It took about an hour to untack, feed, water and settle the horses. As the light of the day was fading I rummaged through my saddle bag for snacks because I was to tired to even boil water to make myself some dinner. I passed out on my cot without even finishing my trail mix.
Around 2am I woke up, checked the horses, refilled their water, threw more hay - mostly out of guilt, not because they were hungry - and sat down under the big Western night sky to listen to them eat. I could see the Milky Way, most of the planets and some satellites. I was in a big open valley so the stars surrounded me like I was inside a snow globe. As I counted the stars, I started counting my blessings. This is how I find peace. Alone in the vastness of the wilderness. Surrounded by the vastness of the universe. I find a peace that fills my soul. A peace that sustains me. And a peace that I can draw from on really bad days on the trail.

25/06/2022

New support driver, old friend! Jen, Rod, Queenieand Chip are on the job! The boys and I had a good day on some seriously rocky roads. And of course more then a few cattle guards to test my willpower and tenacity.🤠😂

23/06/2022

My new look, trying to keep wearing a helmet but I require shad so I addled a brim to my helmet. Seems to be working well but does catch a fair amount of wind. 😂🤠. Now that Marvel is a riding horse he gets to be naked if he’s not being ridden. And Willie continues to be my steady Eddy on blustery days. 🤠❤️

19/06/2022

18 years ago he said “I do” I promised life would never be dull 😂. I couldn’t be who I am or do the things I do without his eternal enduring love and support. Happy anniversary Barney, sorry we’re not together today but glad we’re together forever. ❤️🤠❤️

17/06/2022

Shout out to the Jackpot City public works department!!
I Was in need of a place for the boys last night so I could meet the farrier this morning and get new shoes on everyone. The “rodeo grounds” was locked but with one phone call and several very helpful city employees we found a nice safe spot for the boys, a soft bed and a hot shower for me and most importantly and entire evening not having to worry about anything! This morning they made sure I had everything I needed before I headed out. Gold star and two thumbs up to Jackpot 😍😍

16/06/2022

Here’s your chance to go pick out a new member of your herd!!

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

16/06/2022

Yesterday I had to pack to the truck so Marvel had his first day as an actual pack horse. He did amazing! It’s impossible to capture the vastness and the grandeur of this high prairie. We covered 30 miles and only saw 2 humans.

14/06/2022

Farewell to a good cowboy!

A sad farewell...Rest in Heaven BAXTER BLACK

Baxter Black’s Final Column:
A Horse Matters
I like living someplace where a horse matters.
There is just some country where horseback is the only way to get the job done. Places where the four-wheeler is a poor second, not to mention a noisy, track-leaving unnatural conveyance. Besides, it’s hard to throw a rope from.
Helicopters can spot and scare, if that’s what you need, but it’s helpless when you have to doctor a calf. It is a great feeling to be pushing a cow out of a mesquite thicket, packing a dude down the Grand Canyon or tracking a mountain lion on a high ridge, knowing you’re on the perfect tool for the job. You look at a horse different when he’s on the payroll.
I like being a person to whom a horse matters.
It puts me in such good company, Robert E. Lee, Teddy Roosevelt, Rudyard Kipling, Ray Hunt, Queen Elizabeth, Jerry Diaz, Casey Tibbs, cowboys, Mongols, Gauchos, teamsters, Lipazzaners and vaqueros of all kinds. Granted being a horse person doesn’t make me easier to get along with, better at spelling or richer. It simply gives me a direct connection to one of the most ancient, mutually beneficial interspecies relationships on the planet.
Winston Churchill said, “There is something about the outside of a horse, that is good for the inside of a man.”
I like being there when a horse matters.
When you can’t do the job alone; a cow in the bog, a race against time, a boulder to move, a detour to take, a mountain to cross, a crevice to leap, a war to win, a sweetheart to impress, or...when you’ve gone too far to walk back.
Shakespeare’s King Richard III said when fate hung in the balance, “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”
I’ve also come to believe that you either are a horse person or you aren’t. Many who are, never know it because they never have the chance. It’s a primitive acceptance, often mutual. A lack of fear. You see it in some children when they are first introduced to the horse. It always gives me a sense of wonder to be there and help them make their acquaintance. I believe the horse can sense the child’s innate trust. It is the beginning of a natural bond.
I count myself very lucky that I get to be a part of the wonderful world of horse sweat, soft noses, close calls and twilight on the trail.
I like living a life where a horse matters.

13/06/2022

So this slowed us down a bit. ❤️🌧🌧

09/06/2022

Birds of prey conservation area. What a wonderful ride! Just me, the horses, birds, Antelope, Rabbits, Lizards, Kangaroo Mice, Bettles, Coyotes and all other manner of desert critter..

08/06/2022

Update from the trail
First, internet and cell service is a good thing!
Second, we’ve added a new State this week, Idaho. Wonderful people and phenomenal scenery. My advice, get off the freeway and explore! It truly is the Gem state.
So a recap of the past month we’ve been to…(sing along if you’d like) St John, Colfax, Lower Granite Dam, Asotin, Hellar Bar, Frog Pond, Zumwalt Prairie, Imnaha, Imnaha Woods, Olikot, Lake Fork, Halfway, Richland, Snake River, Huntington, The Oregon Trail, Nyssa/Ontario and currently Homedale…. That’s roughly 500 miles covered and as many friends made. Now it’s up to all of you! Share this post, share this page, tak amongst yourselves until we have 500 likes so we can get those Mustangs out of holding. 🐴❤️🐴

08/06/2022

Winner winner…. 😂😂

07/06/2022

Barney’s turn as support driver has started well! Good food, new state and a few new friends already 🐮🤠❤️

03/06/2022

Pretty cool!

29/05/2022

Gratitude post.

We’re ridding to get 5k Mustangs out of holding but the story behind the story is the hundreds of people along the way that help make this all possible. Every day we depend on the kindness of strangers to help us safely make it to our next stop. We literally couldn’t do this without them, nor would I want to. Meeting people where they are, asking for help and accepting what may come is best part of doing a long ride. The world is full of kind, gentle people who want to make real human connections. Today I want to share my gratitude for them and introduce you to the ones I’ve been lucky enough to get pictures of so far. This is not a complete list, I wish it was but please know I am grateful for each and every person we have met along the way.

27/05/2022

Halfway Oregon! What a wonderful town, full of kind sweet people.

26/05/2022

We made it!!!

26/05/2022

We’re still going!!

26/05/2022

Maybe not😂😂

26/05/2022

I’m back in civilization and can do some updates so here’s what I’ve been up to for the last week. 🤠❤️

26/05/2022

So this is what’s keeping us from crossings the mountains???

26/05/2022

Camp dinner one day closer to the top of the 39 road.

18/05/2022

Isn’t this beautiful! It’s called the Zumwalt prairie. It’s been a challenging week but amazing. The horses are holding up well to a demanding pace. We left Asotin Friday and arrived on the prairie on Tuesday. There were washed out roads that required the support truck to take a 150 mile detour, thunderstorms that caused me to take refuge at a FS corral shed, and miles and miles of gravel road that left us all a little sore and cranky but I wouldn’t change a minute of it. I’ll introduce you to some of the people along the way soon.

11/05/2022

Thank to Don for helping move the support truck. What pleasure to spend the morning with you. 🤠❤️

11/05/2022