The Mustang Million-2013
By Susan Acree
I recently returned from a phenomenal event in Ft. Worth, Texas. It was called The Mustang Million.
I was looking for an excuse to take a trip back to the Dallas area to visit my friend, Kim, and other friends I had made during my six year stay. I ran across an article in Western Horseman about last year’s winner of The Extreme Mustang Makeover. The article mentioned that the event for 2013 was renamed The Mustang Million and it was taking place at the Will Roger’s Coliseum in Ft. Worth the week of September 16-22, 2013.
I immediately called Kim to see if those dates worked for her to have me come for a visit. She said “Absolutely!” and I purchased my ticket and anxiously awaited the day of my flight.
The Mustang Heritage Foundation started the Extreme Mustang Makeover a few years ago. The premise of the makeover was to take 100 mustangs, and give them to 100 trainers for a 100 days. At the end of the 100 days of training the mustangs would be brought to Ft. Worth for a competition. There were different levels of competitors from youth to amateur and professional trainers.
The mission of the The Mustang Heritage Foundation is this. The Mustang Heritage Foundation, in cooperation with the BLM, created the Extreme Mustang Makeover. The Extreme Mustang Makeover is an exciting national wild horse training event created to show the beauty, versatility and train-ability of these amazing animals currently in holding facilities. This event gives the public a unique opportunity to see the results of wild horses becoming trained mounts and companions.
I was living in the Dallas area the first year the Makeover was held. I went to the event not knowing what to expect. I love to watch most anything that involves horses and engages the new more gentle and kind techniques that trainers are using these days. The training on these mustangs was amazing and the results astonishing.
That first year, I was so impressed with the results that some of the mustangs revealed in essentially three months of training, that I was immediately hooked on the event. Since that first inaugural event, The Extreme Mustang Makeover has grown exponentially.
This year, The newly named Mustang Million promised to exceed all expectations and it did! The trainers and their mustangs competed in a week long show. The top competitors kept moving up to the next round and it all culminated with the top 15 competing on Saturday.
Prize money was paid to the top contestants of each preliminary class. Then, the top 15 were each awarded a substantial monetary prize relative to their place finish Saturday night. The overall winner was given $200,000 plus a brand new truck and championship saddle and buckle. The total amount awarded throughout the week of competition was over $1 million dollars, thus the new name.
The results were as follows:
Legends Overall
1st – Tom Hagwood and Merv, 561 points
2nd – Bobby Kerr and Jingle Bob, 527.5 points
3rd – Bobby Kerr and Trigger, 519 points
4th – Jordan Donnelly and Mercedes, 503.5 points
5th – Dan James and Smart Little Mustang, 494.5 points
By the end of the weekend we all had our favorites and the top 5 were so close, it was anybody’s guess who would come out the winner. I would recommend this event to any horse lover looking for an unforgettable and amazing excursion!
