Our Horses: Joyee
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Acorn, Aspen, Athena, Beryl, Blackhawk, Cedar, Chaparral, Daisy, Everest, First Star, Hickory, Honey Girl, Jade, Jasper, Joyee, Juniper, Navajo, Onyx, Pearl, Pepper, Pinon, Raven, Sapphire, Sequoia, Springtime, Starbright, Teak, Teton, Tiger Eye, Topaz, Vaquero, Wild Sweet William, and Zoey
Joyee was my Extreme Mustang Makeover draw. He was a, just barely, four-year-old and had been born in the Palomino Valley Facility, so he didn't have the herd socialization or the experience of being out in the wild. Joyee had to adjust to tree branches over his head and touching his sides. I would put willow limbs, which frightened him at first, in his round pen, but his curiosity finally over-rode his fear and he learned to walk through them. Mustangs gathered from the wild have more confidence and artfully negotiate natural terrain.
The Makeover gave me focus and an opportunity to test my methods of preparing the mustang by "Creating a Willing Relationship." I used only gentling skills and training techniques that did not require cowboy skills. My learning technique of "Working the Edge" was the most effective and satisfying method because "it's not what you do, it's how you do it" that makes the relationship work. I also wanted to test how "Working the Edge" could make it possible for women and children who didn't have extensive equine skills, to gentle mustangs. Also, this approach of "Creating Willing Relationships" is what makes our M.E.E.T. The Mustangs (Mustang Educational, Experiential Training) programs so powerful and unique.
My plan was 30 days of gentling, 30 days of groundwork, and 30 days of riding. I actually had only ridden him fourteen times before the Extreme Mustang Makeover Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, indoors and in front of three thousand people with cameras. Joyee was frightened, and so was I.
In my fifty years of competitive experience I have never had a horse try so hard and trust me like Joyee did. We supported each other and pushed through our fears to finish 15th out of 100 competitors. His success, like the other Windhorse Mustangs, teaches me about how much the mustang is willing to give us.
Unfortunately for us but great for the people who adopted him, we couldn't afford to adopt him back at the auction. He went to a very good home and family in Texas. One of the points of our mission statement is that we create ambassadors for the mustangs who demonstrate what wonderful horses mustangs can be.
