EM horse trainer headed to Trainers’ Challenge with New Mexico mustang

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX — After only a couple of weeks, Bryanna Hoeper is extremely pleased with the progress of the mustang mare, Sandy.

Hoeper, who lives in the Albertville area, participated with Sandy in the Horse & Hound-a-Thon & Adoption Day sponsored by Pony Tales Refuge & Rehab Inc. April 22 at the Colfax Fairgrounds in honor of the ASPCA Help-A-Horse Celebration.

Hoeper acquired Sandy March 30 through Pony Tales and is part of the Pony Tales Trainers’ Challenge, which will conclude with a competition in early June.

The premise of the Trainers’ Challenge is that trainers take horses from Pony Tales for a couple of months to work with them so they can safely be ridden or at least safely handled for in-hand ground work. Then, when the Trainers’ Challenge competition is over, the horses will be adopted and find new homes.

When Bryanna first started working with Sandy, “we could just kind of touch her nose and her face a little bit,” she said.

What a difference a couple of weeks made.

By the time Bryanna and Sandy participated in the Horse & Hound-A-Thon, Sandy was willing, with a little bit of coaxing and some horse treats, to try just about anything Bryanna asked of her, including going over a wooden bridge and walking across a blue tarp laid on the ground.

Wooden bridges and tarps can be especially concerning for horses because of the sounds they make when walked upon.

Sandy began by doing everything but walking over the bridge, including walking around the side, but in just a few minutes she was willing to try putting a foot on the bridge and eventually walked over it. 

Sandy’s turn-around in her training came when “she learned treats are amazing,” Hoeper said.

Sandy is believed to be four years old.

“Pony Tales does a great job with their horses. It’s an awesome place for horses with nowhere to go,” Hoeper said.

Sandy originally came from New Mexico and was part of the White Sands mustang herd. She was transported to South Dakota and held there, and Pony Tales acquired Sandy from South Dakota.

While she was at the fairgrounds, Sandy was willing to allow other people to pet her besides Hoeper.

“All of these extra scary people she is letting touch her is just amazing,” Hoeper said. 

“Hopefully by June, I will be riding her, and we will be able to do the obstacles,” she said.

From the beginning, Sandy was “curious. Even though she was scared of humans when we picked her up, she was curious,” Hoeper said.

Grain and treats have convinced Sandy that “we’re good people,” she said.

“I am very happy to see her letting other people touch her today. For a while, it was just me. Now we are branching out to other people,” Hoeper said.

After the Trainers’ Challenge has been completed, Hoeper is hoping that someone will want to adopt Sandy.

Pony Tales Refuge & Rehab Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located east of Colfax in the Town of Howard just off state Highway 40 and is dedicated to rescuing horses from abandonment, abuse, neglect and slaughter.