Once-wild mustangs find new homes, purposes at 2024 Mustang Magic competition
by Emily Wolf with the Fort Worth Report - January 22, 2024 5:13 pm
Miranda Wiley stands with her newly gentled mare, Waffles, inside a stall after the 2024 Mustang Magic competition.
(Emily Wolf | Fort Worth Report)
Four months ago, Waffles had never been handled by a human. By Jan. 20, she was performing for a crowd of 5,000 inside Will Rogers Coliseum.
Jessica Flaherty knew the minute she laid eyes on the mustang that the 7-year-old buckskin mare from Oregon would be making the nearly 2,000-mile trip with her to Fort Worth.
“From the first sight, I thought, ‘That is a beautiful animal,’” she said.
Flaherty, who is from Maine, was one of 16 horse trainers who participated in the 2024 Mustang Magic competition. The competition challenges trainers to gentle and train a wild mustang of their choice over 100 days, then show off their equine partner to thousands of onlookers at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
At the end of the training period, the pairs compete in a multiclass competition that ends in an auction to find the horses their new forever homes. The goal is to educate the public about the beauty and versatility of American mustangs and ensure a long line of adopters for years to come.
In those 100 days, the trainers teach their once-wild counterparts a variety of skills, including haltering, lunging, picking up their feet, loading into a trailer and, eventually, riding. Once they’re comfortable with being ridden, the horses are taught more advanced skills, such as sidepassing, flying lead changes, spinning and lying down on command.
Jessica Flaherty and Waffles perform a Spanish walk during their freestyle performance Jan. 20, 2024 at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. (Emily Wolf | Fort Worth Report)
Waffles and Flaherty made the longest journey to compete, joining trainers from Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Flaherty has competed in five mustang makeover competitions, and she said the mare is the best she’s ever trained.
She worked nearly daily with Waffles leading up to her performance in Fort Worth. Still, she was worried that the loud atmosphere would spook the usually even-tempered horse. In the end, her worries were unfounded.
“I was more nervous than her,” Flaherty said with a laugh.
Waffles prepares to lie down during her freestyle performance with trainer Jessica Flaherty on Jan. 20, 2024.
(Emily Wolf | Fort Worth Report)
The hard work of Flaherty and her fellow trainers paid off in a big way Saturday night, when an estimated crowd of 5,000 watched them compete in a freestyle event at Will Rogers Coliseum. Flaherty and Waffles performed a “Lion King ”-inspired routine, where the mare showed off her Spanish walk, laid down, dragged a parrot floatie, and trotted and loped through a series of maneuvers.
While Waffles didn’t snag the champion trophy — that honor went to Chris Phillips and his bay mare WFR Mocha Bay Latte — she did place fifth and prompted a bidding war that solidified her standing as the most expensive purchase of the night.
Chris Phillips and WFR Mocha Bay Latte, champions of the 2024 Mustang Magic competition.
(Emily Wolf | Fort Worth Report)
Miranda Wiley, 48, spent $14,000 to take the buckskin mare home — and back to Maine. Wiley said she first heard about Waffles when the mare became something of a microcelebrity in the Maine horse community. Wiley decided to visit Waffles ahead of the competition and quickly fell in love.
“Her demeanor, her brain, it’s exactly what I’ve been looking for,” she said.
When it came time to bid, her hands were shaking with nerves and excitement. The auctioneer spoke glowingly about Waffles, and Wiley half-hoped he’d stop before other people got too interested. She joked that her boyfriend might be surprised to hear how much she ended up spending to take Waffles home, but she’s looking forward to building a strong relationship with the horse for years to come.
“I want to get to know her on the ground,” Wiley said. “Then we might start at some local shows. She’s versatile.”
Wiley and Waffles weren’t the only new pair charting their future in the barn after the final performances Saturday night. Jeslyn Hipwell, 17, won the auction for She’s Nothing Fancy, a 5-year-old bay mare from Idaho trained by Betsy Moles Fajen. Hipwell was drawn to the mare’s temperament and movement.
Betsy Moles Fajen and She’s Nothing Fancy sidepass over a ground pole during their freestyle performance Jan. 20, 2024.
(Emily Wolf | Fort Worth Report)
“We’ll start with dressage to build up her muscle, and then maybe see if she likes jumping,” Hipwell said.
Karla Schmidt brought home GH Fluttershy, a cremello mare from California who performed a “My Little Pony”-inspired freestyle with her trainer, Gavin Huffman. Fluttershy was initially won by another bidder, but he backed out afterward, claiming he was inebriated when he bid.
Schmidt said she’s happy to give the mare a home on her 32 acres of land, where she anticipates they’ll take plenty of trail rides.
“She can be a spoiled baby,” she said.
Gavin Huffman and GH Fluttershy stand on a platform during their freestyle performance Jan. 20, 2024.
(Emily Wolf | Fort Worth Report)
