NAMPA, Idaho — Sometimes transformations are not easily noticed. But other times, it doesn’t take a second glance to know that something is different. Like transforming a wild horse into one that looks like it’s been in a stable all its life.
That’s what one local competition, called Mustang Mania, aims to do. Judges look at how the horses react to putting on a halter, walking, trotting, and loading into a trailer, among other things. Essentially, the goal is to make them as easy to handle as possible.
It’s an incredibly daunting task, especially because handlers only had 118 days to do this. But, Kacey Widick from Nampa is one of the people that was up for the challenge.
This year, the Bureau of Land Management made about 100 wild horses and burros available for this program. BLM says they move these animals because they can overpopulate rangelands across the Western U.S.
So, in March, a Pinto mare was at the BLM corrals, not knowing she'd soon be going home with Widick.
Widick and her kids decided to name this mare "Sailor Moon" after her warrior spirit. By day two, Sailor was still getting used to wearing a lead, and to Widick
KTVB was able to meet up with Widick and Sailor about a week into their progress. Widick elaborated on what she was working on at the time:
"Horse training is a lot like training kindergarteners their A,B,C's. So, each day you start out with A. Every time you go back, you go back to A. What point A is, is getting forward movement. They actually relax when their feet are moving," Widick said. "Then, they'll get used to that. Then, I like to get some form of contact. Usually, they're not going to let you walk right up to them. So, you have to throw a rope and get that contact. So, the rope on her and you're holding the end of it, and that's your first form of contact."
Widick slowly gets Sailor used to her body weight, to prep her for a saddle and eventually walking and trotting with a rider. Widick said the amount of training she does in a day all depends on the horse. If they're having a calm, quiet day, then she'll end on a high note.
When learning anything new, progress is never a straight path forward – there are good days, and some days may make you nervous.
"Sailor is an amazing mustang, but she's also a hard mustang," Widick said. "She challenged me all the time and bucked me off quite a bit, quite a bit."
But, Widick continued to guide Sailor. A little more than a month from the competition, finding their footing came a little bit easier and loading into the trailer was a breeze.
About 25 days from the competition, Sailor was even comfortable around loud noises.
"She'll remind me when my head starts to get big. She's like, 'hang on, let's humble you a little bit.' She's changed me a lot," Widick said.
This change was not only one marked by Widick and Sailor's progress, but also by Sailor's appearance.
"When I found out she was a paint, I thought, 'oh my gosh, this is going to be the coolest transformation ever.' She's going to go from this plain white horse to having markings and freckles," Widick said. "So, she's a very flashy mare now."
This transformation led up to a July Saturday night at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. The mustang challenge includes several events, such as handling and conditioning, and trail riding.
"I was getting ready to do my train pattern, and I took a deep breath in and I'm like, 'oh my gosh, I did it.' I took this wild horse that was hot, she just wants to go as fast as she can, and I'm able to slow her down," Widick said. "She nailed it. She got a 10 out of 10, and that's perfect."
A sign that all their hard work together was paying off.
The last portion of the competition was a freestyle ride. Essentially, a choreographed dance between horse and trainer to show all the things they have learned and overcome literal obstacles.
"I took this wild, hot horse, and made her quiet. That was one of those moments where I was like 'oh my gosh, this is so cool.' This is like a dream of mine, and she made it true," Widick said.
Widick and Sailor ended up placing second overall in the competition.
Widick also said she couldn't have done this without Matt and Stacie Zimmerman. They host this challenge and help the competitors in training their animals. Widick said they are the true horse and people whisperers.
Now that Sailor's work is done in this competition, the plan is to rehome her to Colorado. She will be going to a ranch at the base of Aspen, where she will be reunited with 10 members of her herd, including her mom.
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