One Ear Wonder Leaves No Doubt At The Mustang Classic
By Hannah Sherk Chronicles Of The Horse Sept. 17, 2025
When working with a Mustang, trainers know there will always be an unsolvable mystery about the horse’s early life in the wild, the way they were rounded up, and their first experiences of people. So Laura Wilson wasn’t deterred when the Mustang she discovered in a Bureau of Land Management internet auction had a permanent reminder of those unknown chapters: an entirely missing left ear.
“It’s hard enough gentling a Mustang that has already been traumatized in ways we don’t know, and then to have the ear missing, I mean, I can only imagine how the senses are different and just the challenge it would bring,” she said. “Once I saw him, I’m like, ‘That is the horse. I want him.’ ”
The 23-year-old rider, who grew up in Forest Hill, Maryland, eventing with her mother Debbie Wilson, looks for a gut feeling when bidding sight-unseen on Mustang training projects.
When Laura Wilson first saw a picture of the palomino Mustang she’d name One Ear Wonder, she felt it “down in her soul” that he was the horse she should bid on. Photo Courtesy Of Laura Wilson
“Whenever I see a horse on the internet adoption, I have to really feel it down in my soul that that’s the one I should have,” Laura said. “I was telling people, I would have gotten him if he had two ears or not. I really just liked his type and the way he was; he seemed so sporty and fun.”
Debbie also saw that spark in his photos and the short, 30-second clip that was posted with his listing. Although the video was just a glimpse of the one-eared palomino in a tense moment in the BLM corrals, she liked the look in his eye.
“You’ll see horses as you watch these videos: they spook, or they’re startled, or they’re really reactive—and he was just really a cool guy,” Debbie said. “He was pretty chill about everything, and I was like, ‘That’s a pretty nice horse.’ ”
Laura placed the winning bid on the 5-year-old palomino, who had originally been captured from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area (California). When she brought him home in January, she carefully considered his name. Friends suggested Van Gogh as a cheeky nod to his missing ear, but she felt the reference was too dark for the sunny young gelding.
“I am in the mindset of, you have to name them something that’s going to be what you want [the horse] to be, like you’re manifesting something,” she said.
Laura Wilson discovered a challenge of training a one-eared horse early in their partnership. When working from One Ear Wonder’s left side, she couldn’t rely on his ear for cues about his mood. Photo Courtesy Of Laura Wilson
Laura landed on One Ear Wonder, liking that it came out with the obvious. “Wonder,” the horse’s barn name, references both the hope that the horse would become a wonder in the show ring, and plays on the curiosity surrounding his missing ear.
With his name decided, Laura began training Wonder with the goal of making the second annual Mustang Classic, held Sept. 4–6 at the Kentucky Horse Park. The competition draws trainers to Lexington, Kentucky, with BLM Mustangs purchased or adopted from about one year to 100 days prior. The horse she brought home was a long way from show-ready: He was sensitive, looked rough and reluctant to leave the other Mustangs.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this might be a lot harder than I thought it was,’ ” Laura said of their first meeting. “He was beat up really bad, too. He had lost a ton of weight, he was very thin, and he was glued to horses on his right side, the side with his ear.”
Laura isn’t new to starting Mustangs. Her mother brought home their first family Mustang in 2012, and Laura became devoted to wild horses. Last year, she took sixth in the Mustang Classic with her mare Sporty Shorty. Debbie, who taught her daughter to ride, said Laura has always had a special way with horses.
“She could even tell as a little 3 or 4 year old that she was on the wrong lead,” Debbie said. “She’s always had a natural feel. It’s almost like she was born with it.”
Laura Wilson says that One Ear Wonder hasn’t necessarily been easy to bring along, but the payoff for her patience has been seeing his talent unfold in the show ring. Lilian Flemming For Amy Flemming Waters Photography
With Wonder, Laura had to adjust her expectations for the cues from the horse that she would normally use to interpret mood and shape her training approach.
“I didn’t realize how much I rely on the ear for their emotions and how they are doing. It’s something you always think about, but never really realize until it’s not there,” she said.
Luckily, as Laura put those first touches on Wonder, she found him to be a happy companion.
“Pretty much right away, I realized he was going to be pretty—not ‘easy,’ but he was pretty willing,” she said.
As she started Wonder under saddle, Laura finally found an English bridle that didn’t slip over his missing ear. He also has a special preference on that side; while he wasn’t wary of having his scar touched, he did demand frequent scratches from his rider.
As Laura and Wonder developed their relationship under saddle, the two quickly bonded. Wonder is the fourth Mustang she’s started herself, and she noticed that while he isn’t always quick to pick up a skill, with extra patience, he’ll learn to perform it with exceptional talent.
“It’s almost like he found his person,” Debbie said. “I’ll ride by his field and he looks up and acknowledges me riding by, but when he sees [Laura] on another horse, he comes up to the fence and follows us. He is really attached to her.”
Putting Their Connection To The Test
The Mustang Classic is made up of a preliminary, three-phase stage that includes a training level dressage test, show jumping and working equitation. The top 10 horses are then invited to perform a themed freestyle.
Laura and Wonder won the dressage phase and placed third in show jumping. In working equitation, they placed 13th after some bobbles. She hypothesized that the gelding might be sharper on his right, because his working ear has compensated for a weaker left side.
“In the working equitation, having to do stuff on your right side was harder, because he’s more sensitive on that right side; because of his [working] ear, he’s probably got more senses,” Laura said. “So on the left side, he’s a lot better because he can’t really hear, or there’s a lot less going on.
“So that was a little hard, but we got through it,” she continued. “We made it, and he was great. He tries really hard. It’s just hard with the one ear and it being hypersensitive.”
The pair earned their way to the freestyle, where Laura designed the performance as an homage to her family’s business outside of horses: highways and construction.
“I have my [commercial driver’s license], so I drive trucks; my parents own a construction company; my mom and I own a barrier wall company,” Laura said, describing the inspiration for their road-work themed obstacle course.
Because her family business is in highways and construction, Laura Wilson designed a roadwork-themed freestyle for the Mustang Challenge, held Sept. 4–6 at the Kentucky Horse Park. The pair won the top prize and a $50,000 check. Photo Courtesy Of Laura Wilson
Laura donned a neon construction vest while she and Wonder navigated obstacles, pushing a mock steam roller and jumping over an orange-striped barrier. After all the work Laura put into building the construction site obstacles, the pair only had a few days to practice their routine before heading to Lexington. But the rider is quickly learning that Wonder is the type of horse to perform even better in a competition atmosphere than he does at home.
“I really put a lot on him to nail that,” she said. “Going in there with the pressure of the crowd, all these people watching and knowing it had to be perfect, he just did it the best he’s ever done the freestyle.”
The pair’s first-place win in the Mustang Classic came with a $50,000 prize, but Laura isn’t using her winnings to shop for a made event horse. She plans to keep Wonder—the Mustang whose auction listing gave her that soul feeling—and see how far they can climb together.
“She’s like, ‘If it’s not a Mustang, I don’t want it.’ ” Debbie said of her daughter. “She’s found her passion doing what she’s done with Wonder. I think she’ll go far with him. Her journey and her story isn’t over with him. It’s just beginning—and wow, what a great way to start.”
