New story: To Train a Mustang
August 13, 2025

Loriann Warner, of Eatonville, Wash., rests her hand on the back of her mustang, Glory, during a morning walk before the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition in Enumclaw, Washington, USA, on Sat., Aug. 3, 2024. In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches.
Loriann Warner, of Eatonville, Wash., and her mustang, Glory, display first place ribbons won in the Mounted Division events during the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition in Enumclaw, Washington, USA, on Sat., Aug. 3, 2024. Loriann and Glory won 1st prize in the Mounted Division, which comes with an approximate $2500 prize, the largest prize in all divisions in the competition. In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches.

I’ve added a new story to my portfolio: To Train a Mustang.

The story, photographed on assignment over the summer of 2024, was commissioned by Bear Guerra at High Country News and written by Elizabeth Whitman. It focuses on a group of people who adopt wild horses from the US Bureau of Land Management and train and show them in an annual competition in eastern Washington state.

Emily Fouts, 17, of Lake Stevens, Wash., leads her mustang Feathertail through an arch obstacle with streams as practice for the Freestyle portion of the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition in Enumclaw, Washington, USA, on Sat., Aug. 3, 2024. In the Freestyle portion of the competition, trainers lead their horses around the arena demonstrating how they respond to commands or negotiate obstacles like this arch. Fouts says this was her first mustang. "She's been so easy," she said, "I was touching her day two." In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches.
Marjie Hicks, of Roy, Wash., displays a tattoo of the BLM brand of her first mustang, Samba, next to Roulette, one of two wild mustangs Marjie Hicks, of Roy, Wash., took on this year as part of her participation in the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition, at her home in Roy, Washington, USA, on Sun., June 9, 2024. The tattoo starts with "...the horse you need," a continuation of a quote that Marjie says describes her relationship with her first mustang, a Chestnut mare. "In the horse world, the worst horse you can get is a Chestnut mare," she said, "You may not get the horse you want, but you get the horse you need." The markings beneath the quotation are a type of coding that starts with a shape indicating that the horse is part of a US government program, a vertical set of marks indicating year of the horse's birth (15 for 2015, in this case), and then the horse's registration number (024388 here). In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, Marjie and other trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches. Though Marjie is planning only to show her horses "in hand," rather than riding them, some trainers get the horses accustomed to having a saddle and rider on their back.
Marjie Hicks, of Roy, Wash., stands with one of her mustangs, Roulette, during a morning walk before the start of the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition in Enumclaw, Washington, USA, on Fri., Aug. 2, 2024. In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, Marjie and other trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches. Though Marjie is planning only to show her horses "in hand," rather than riding them, some trainers get the horses accustomed to having a saddle and rider on their back.
Marjie Hicks, of Roy, Wash., looks over her notes for her routine before the Freestyle portion of the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition in Enumclaw, Washington, USA, on Sat., Aug. 3, 2024. In the Freestyle portion of the competition, trainers lead their horses around the arena demonstrating how they respond to commands, ignore stimuli, or negotiate obstacles. In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches.
Loriann Warner, 32, preps her mustang Glory for a training session and saddle ride at Frontier Park in Graham, Washington, USA, on Sun., June 16, 2024. Frontier Park is close to where Warner keeps her horses in nearby Eatonville, and features both a horse arena and trails. Warner is a participant in the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth program, a wild mustang training program run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in which trainers pay $125 per horse to receive a wild mustang in the early spring and then train the horse for competition in mid- to late-summer of the same year, after which the horses are either kept by the trainers or auctioned to people who want to own a mustang. Glory is Warner's fifth wild mustang.
Loriann Warner, of Eatonville, Wash., brings coffee to niece Kiyra Marjamaa-Warner, who was sleeping in Warner's horse trailer with her son Warren Threadgill (foreground) and daughter Julianne Threadgill, before the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition in Enumclaw, Washington, USA, on Sat., Aug. 3, 2024. In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches.
Loriann Warner, 32, rides her mustang Glory up a steep hill during a trail ride training session at Frontier Park in Graham, Washington, USA, on Sun., June 16, 2024. During a trail ride, Warner leads the horse through different controlled paces and works to get the horse used to navigating unfamiliar territory. Warner says she's "asking questions" of a horse when she trains it, rather than commanding it. "Most people will say 'I'm training a horse' but I'm asking if she'll do something for me...it's a more compassionate, graceful approach," she says. "Maybe sometimes the answer [from the horse] is 'no.' I asked her and she gave me her answer. It's never 'you have to do this for me,' it's 'can you?'" Frontier Park is close to where Warner keeps her horses in nearby Eatonville, and features both a horse arena and trails. Warner is a participant in the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth program, a wild mustang training program run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in which trainers pay $125 per horse to receive a wild mustang in the early spring and then train the horse for competition in mid- to late-summer of the same year, after which the horses are either kept by the trainers or auctioned to people who want to own a mustang. Glory is Warner's fifth wild mustang.
Hannah Brown, of Burlington, Wash., leads her mustang, Cooper, during the Mounted Division at the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition in Enumclaw, Washington, USA, on Sat., Aug. 3, 2024. Brown has only had the horse for a month, taking care of Cooper after the horse's first adopter suffered a non-horse-related injury making her unable to participate in the competition. Though the 6-year-old horse competed in the mounted division, Hannah said, "He's not quite ready to ride," and led the horse around by hand. Hannah received an award for being so willing to help out another horse trainer. In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches.
Loriann Warner, 32, uses a rope to guide her mustang Glory during an arena training session at Frontier Park in Graham, Washington, USA, on Sun., June 16, 2024. During the arena training session, Warner leads the horse through different controlled paces and sees how the horse responds to different pressures and directions on the rope. Warner says she's "asking questions" of a horse when she trains it, rather than commanding it. "Most people will say 'I'm training a horse' but I'm asking if she'll do something for me...it's a more compassionate, graceful approach," she says. "Maybe sometimes the answer [from the horse] is 'no.' I asked her and she gave me her answer. It's never 'you have to do this for me,' it's 'can you?'" Frontier Park is close to where Warner keeps her horses in nearby Eatonville, and features both a horse arena and trails. Warner is a participant in the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth program, a wild mustang training program run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in which trainers pay $125 per horse to receive a wild mustang in the early spring and then train the horse for competition in mid- to late-summer of the same year, after which the horses are either kept by the trainers or auctioned to people who want to own a mustang. Glory is Warner's fifth wild mustang.
Loriann Warner, 32, removes the saddle from her mustang Glory after a trail ride training session at Frontier Park in Graham, Washington, USA, on Sun., June 16, 2024. During a trail ride, Warner leads the horse through different controlled paces and works to get the horse used to navigating unfamiliar territory. Warner says she's "asking questions" of a horse when she trains it, rather than commanding it. "Most people will say 'I'm training a horse' but I'm asking if she'll do something for me...it's a more compassionate, graceful approach," she says. "Maybe sometimes the answer [from the horse] is 'no.' I asked her and she gave me her answer. It's never 'you have to do this for me,' it's 'can you?'" Frontier Park is close to where Warner keeps her horses in nearby Eatonville, and features both a horse arena and trails. Warner is a participant in the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth program, a wild mustang training program run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in which trainers pay $125 per horse to receive a wild mustang in the early spring and then train the horse for competition in mid- to late-summer of the same year, after which the horses are either kept by the trainers or auctioned to people who want to own a mustang. Glory is Warner's fifth wild mustang.
Loriann Warner, of Eatonville, Wash., looks toward the crowd during awards ceremony of the Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition in Enumclaw, Washington, USA, on Sat., Aug. 3, 2024. In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches.
Cooper, a mustang trained by Lillian Nagy, calmly grazes in a corral at her home in Graham, Washington, USA, on Sun., June 9, 2024. Lillian got Cooper in a previous year's Mustang Yearlings Washington Youth (MYWY) Mustang Madness competition program, in which she won 1st place in the Senior division. "I got a good horse who was willing to work with me and learn stuff," she said. In the MYWY Mustang Madness competition, horse trainers receive a wild mustang from the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program in March and then work with the horses to present them at the competition in late summer, about 5 months later. For the competition, trainers work with the horses to get them to stand calmly with tack on their body, respond to standard horse movement commands, and to ignore distracting stimuli including noises and touches. Some trainers also get the horses accustomed to having a saddle and rider on their back.
All content © 2005-2025 M. Scott Brauer