HOPE — Put three girls, ages 11 to 12, into a paddock with three young mustangs from Antelope Valley, Nevada, and there is bound to be some fun, mischief and in this case, a lot of hard work. The girls spend their afternoons after school, and on weekends, gentling and training the yearlings while the horses — Apollo, Mango and Jasper Cactus – teach the girls about patience, care, and most of all, the art of horse whispering.

The yearlings were rounded up last August in Nevada by the Bureau of Land Management, separated from their herd, and their mothers, penned into a holding facility in Utah, trucked east to Illinois, and finally, through the kindness and funding of organizations working to save America’s wild horses, to another facility in Orange, Massachusetts, where they were handed over to young trainers, all participating in the Mustang Heritage Foundation’s Trainer Incentive Program (TIP).

“Since last August, they have been in a round-up, and traveled from Nevada to Maine,” said Wendy Harvey, who owns Equine Connections in Hope, where the yearlings now are.

The Mustang Heritage Foundation is a Texas-based nonprofit that tries to place the 50,000 and more wild horses and burros that have been rounded up from public lands by the BLM, and save them from the slaughterhouse.

“They need our help!” the Foundation says, adamantly. “We’re dedicated to removing these animals from BLM holding pens and placing them into homes and private care through innovative programs, events, and education.”

Wendy Harvey knows mustangs. In 2015, she took on her own challenge, the Extreme Mustang Makeover, bringing home to her horse farm one mustang mare, Maggie [formerly Freedom], and getting her accustomed to a domesticated life in Hope. The Mustang Makeover is a different program from the Trainer Incentive Program and involves saddling and riding a mature horse.

Wendy’s niece, Liza Esancy, of Union, watched her aunt seven years ago work with Maggie, a long process involving micro-training steps.

Liza and her friends Ava Deane and Tildy Stewart, both of Camden, were young when Maggie arrived, but they have grown up around horses, and part of their own everyday lives.

Now they have taken on their own Mustang challenge, and have 120 days to work with the yearlings, all with the goal of eventually finding them a new and safe home. Once a home is approved by BLM the TIP trainer is reimbursed for their training services.

On the other hand, they may just want to keep them, if their parents say yes.

“The lady said they are probably all siblings from the same stallion,” said Liza, standing in the paddock May 31, surrounded by the three yearlings they picked up in Orange, Massachusetts, on May 7.

“They were OK,” said the girls, describing the ride back up from Orange along Route 2, to I495, I95 and Route 17 to Hope. The horses were transported in a trailer borrowed from a friend that normally carries long-horned cattle. At the wheel, was Wendy and her sister, Robyn Esancy; in the back seats, three girls, and in the trailer, the three brother yearlings.

“They were pretty wild,” said Wendy. 

She could not use her own horse trailer because they had been warned that the yearlings would try to jump out any trailer with a ramp.

When they arrived in Hope, the horses stampeded off the trailer right into the safety of Wendy’s paddock, and into the hearts of the girls.

Since then, it has been a day-by-day learning curve.

“It all started when Ava and I were watching TV,” said Liza. “We were having a sleepover, and I felt like she needed to see this video of someone I follow on Youtube named Cat Zimmerman [a 19-year-old horse trainer and mustang rescuer]. We had the idea of asking my aunt if we could try and do the extreme mustang makeover and she actually said yes... somewhat maybe.... and we were very surprised. That led us to where we are now.”

Tildy then joined them.

Ava’s aunt, Lisa Annis Thomson, and Wendy have been riding together since they were young, as has Robyn. Tildy’s mother rides horses, as well. It is in their blood, so taking on TIPs at age 11 and 12, it seemed a natural turn of events.

Ava asked her mom, and she said, “maybe.”

“So, I just took it as a yes,” Ava said.

Ava is working with Apollo.

“I love him,” she said.

They – the yearlings — all seemed to know the second that they got there, in Hope, just who would go with whom.

“Horses know,” said Eliza.

“They just came up to us,” said Ava. “The first day when they came into their pens, he came up and touched me.”

It is evident that Apollo appreciates these humans. With enthusiasm, he stretches his neck and forehead toward Ava while she brushes and braids his curly forelock and mane.

Jasper Cactus is goofy and smart. He likes to pick the whip up in his mouth, like a giant Golden Retriever. He is also known to pick up a pitchfork. He can also be touchy, and tense. Likely, said Harvey, from being in stressful environments since last summer.

Liza is working with him on the lead, and he sometimes stops, digging his hooves into the dirt, standing still like a rock.

Jasper was the most challenging when they first arrived, said Wendy.

“I think he was really afraid,” she said. “He ears would go back.”

Usually, she will give horse space, walking away. But, she said: “H was getting more and more aggressive. He felt like he was pushing you around. We had to back off of that and find a different way to relieve the pressure by dropping our own energy.”

That has seemed to work, and he is curious and friendly.

Mango is the smallest, and maybe the youngest.

“He just follows the other two a lot,” said Tildy. “And he is the most quiet.”

On the other hand, Mango is the first to enjoy walking around on a lead in the big riding ring, because he is so amiable.

He still has some of his winter coat, and is thinner. He is also sweet and accommodating, following Tildy around. He has started to lift up his feet for her, in advance of Wendy being able to trim their hooves.

“We think Jasper is the oldest, because of the way they follow him around,” said Liza. He is already learning how to sidestep.

Apollo is considered the middle child, in the girls’ assessment, being close to Jasper in size.

“Mango likes to hide out,” said Wendy. “He’ll hide here behind Jasper – ‘maybe they won't see me’ – hiding out. ‘If I eat, I can pretend that you’re not there.’”

They all eat well, the girls agreed.

In early June, one month into the TIPs, the yearlings are all now wearing halters. Mango is happy going out to the riding ring because the grass out there is lush and green, and Tildy will let him graze there.

When the TIPs is over, the girls, Wendy and Robyn will take them back down to Orange or Connecticut for the final assessment.

But that’s a ways off, and they are making progress in meeting benchmarks set by the Mustang Heritage Foundation.

The work involves teaching the horses to be on a lead, loading them successfully into a trailer, having them allow human contact for grooming, as well as hoof work. The requirements must be met within a minimum of 10 days and a maximum of 90 days. 

At one year old, Jasper, Apollo and Mango are just learning about their world. And at age 11 and 12, the girls are learning about the world of North America’s wild horses, their legacy and the threat to their existence. They are joining fellow trainers in 40 states to help save wild Mustangs.

Liza, Ava and Tildy are also learning how to be horse trainers, a calling that comes naturally to Wendy, who has spent decades refining her approaches, and is always learning more about the relationship of humans to animals, and exemplifying mutual understanding and respect.

“All of the girls have have had amazing feel and timing,” said Harvey. “It’s made my job pretty easy. At the beginning we struggled with patience. They [the horses] need to settle a little bit before you push too hard.”

Plus, they are all young.

“All six of them,” said Harvey, chuckling at thought of exactly what she was overseeing these days at her farm. 

It’s also a turning point for the girls.

“It’s huge,” said Harvey, because what comes with owning a horse involves a lot more than brushing a coat or throwing a saddle on a back. Watching the development of Mango under a lead, in the riding ring, she said, “And this really huge.”

He had just made it around the ring walking beside Tildy, and was starting on another loop.

“Because yesterday, he had a meltdown right about here,” said Harvey, pointing to where she was standing. “He looks fantastic today, like, ‘this is my job, now.’”

“I have a routine with Jasper,” said Liza. “We walk, so he can get his head in the game. Then I pet his neck, and pat his body, and then I put his halter on. Then he gets play time. Normally, I give him a longish break to let him know that when his halter is on, it doesn't mean work straight away.”

Ava works with Apollo, who can be mischievous. He sees the halter and edges away, almost grinning.

“Has Apollo forgotten how to wear a halter,” asked Wendy.

“Yeah,” said Ava, following him.

Meanwhile, routine life at Equine Connections continues as usual. People arrive to tend to their horses boarding there. That includes Maggie, the formerly wild mustang, who now is a plump middle-aged mare grazing on the spring grass. Wendy gives riding lessons, and Robyn visits with her 19-year-old handsome horse Sam Wise.

Horses nicker back and forth about the possibility of grain or treats, eyeing the tack room. The 18 of them — easy going and happy – graze and move around, watching the action of yearlings.

In a different pasture, Wendy introduces another yearling, but born of far different circumstances. She was a rescue from a race track breeding program, the daughter of a mare bred only for her milk used for thoroughbreds. She arrived at Equine Connections because that is what Wendy does, helps out horses as she can, when she can. And, now, she is training the next generation how to do it — with kindness, talent and skill, all on a small hill in Hope.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657.