And Kathi McConnell would like it to happen sooner rather than later.
Her new 3-year-old chestnut mustang gelding would probably respond to just about any moniker that McConnell might conjure up, but still she'd like something that's going to stick.
In the next week, McConnell is hoping someone will come up with the perfect fit in her “Name the Mustang” contest.
It's been just a couple of weeks since McConnell picked up her new horse.
Over the course of 100 days, the Florence-area horse trainer will work with the mustang in hopes of claiming a part of $50,000 prize at the 2008 Extreme Mustang Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, this September. McConnell was one of 200 trainers from all parts of the country invited to participate in the event.
This is the second time that McConnell has been selected to join in a mustang training event sponsored by Mustang Heritage Foundation.
In April, McConnell placed 17th at the Midwest Mustang Challenge in Wisconsin on a mare named “Classic Edition.” Everyone calls her Classy.
That mare is quickly becoming a poster child of sorts for the potential of mustangs.
There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses and burros that roam free across large expanses of public land in the West.
To keep the herd from growing larger than the range can support, the Bureau of Land Management started a wild horse and burro adoption program years ago that allows people to take in the animals. Since 1971, the agency has placed more than 235,000 wild horses and burros into private care through adoption.
With rising energy costs, stagnant federal budgets and adoption numbers down, the BLM is exploring the option of euthanizing horses for which no adoption demand exists.
Last week, McConnell took Classy to a BLM adoption event in Kalispell to let people see for themselves what a mustang can do with some training and decent care.
“She's done a fabulous job with that horse,” said Nancy Bjelland, the BLM's wild horse and burro program administrator. “There were people there that could hardly believe that it was a mustang. Š It was calm enough that kids were coming up and petting it.
“She showed people that these horses can be used in all different kinds of venues from trail riding to horse shows,” she said. “With the situation we're facing now, it's important for people to see the potential for these wild horses.”
The BLM attempts to find homes for about 6,000 wild horses and burros a year.
Last week in Kalispell, 16 horses and 10 burros found new homes. Another 27 animals were put back on the truck after no one bid on them.
That's something that Bjelland sees too often these days.
“The last time we were in Kalispell, the placement rate was really high,” Bjelland said. “We were hoping to go back and have that happen again, but hay prices are incredibly high right now and the same goes for fuel. As every horse owner knows, the purchase price is the cheapest part of owning a horse.”
Debra Marbut accompanied McConnell to Kalispell and saw firsthand people's reaction to her mustang.
“No one could believe it was a mustang,” Marbut said. “They all thought it was some high-priced show horse. We're trying to change the stigma that some people still have for mustangs.”
Marbut is coordinating the fundraising effort McConnell will need to get her latest horse trained and to Texas this fall. That effort is focused on a raffle with prizes that include a $3,600 Dale Chavez roper saddle, chinks provided by Louie's Horse Tack in Stevensville, and a custom saddle stand donated by Hamilton's Champion Custom Woodworks.
Raffle tickets are $5 and can be obtained by sending a check made payable to Kathi McConnell, c/o Dan Burger, 5619 Prospect Drive, Missoula, MT 59808, or at Corral West in Missoula.
The raffle winners will be announced at the Western Montana Fair's Missoula Stampede afternoon performance on Aug. 9.
McConnell and her new horse will be performing at the fair, as well as at Missoula's Quality Supply on Kids' Day, July 25. Marbut hopes there will be other places for McConnell to show off just what a mustang can do.
McConnell rode the new horse she's calling Charlie for the first time this week after only putting in about seven hours of groundwork.
“He just took it all in stride,” she said. “He was about half asleep, which is typical. Mustangs don't seem to exert any more energy than they have to as long as they are started right. That's what's really important. If they are started right, you can do just about whatever you want with them.”
He's not Sally
Do you want to help name Kathi McConnell's mustang and win two Wrangler VIP tickets to the Missoula Stampede, courtesy of Quality Supply? Log on to the Ravalli Republic's Web site at www.ravallirepublic.com, pull up this story and enter your idea in the reader comment section. A winner will be announced the week of July 14.
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