Smoochie
MWHR welcomed Smoochie to the farm in March of 2017. Smoochie is a 13 year old gelding who was born in a New Mexico holding facility. Much of his history is unknown due to the fact that he is an untitled mustang who appears to have “slipped thru the cracks” of the system. About 2 years ago a lady in SC took him in because he was basically roaming the streets of her small town. She wanted a better life for Smoochie so she asked MWHR to take him so that he could be trained and go on to lead a more productive life. Smoochie stands 13.1 hands tall but has a big barrel that will help take up a longer leg. He’s been started under saddle and is very willing, just green. He’ll make an excellent kids horse with his sweet and loving personality. His conformation and build are excellent with three lovely and naturally balanced gaits. This little guy can definitely excel at any discipline.
MWHR is very happy to announce the adoption of Smoochie. Congratulations to his adopter, Prudence Pitcock of Rome, GA. We know that Smoochie is going to love his new home on 30+ acres and we look forward to seeing this pair in the future at some dressage shows and maybe even making an appearance as a mustang ambassador for MWHR at some of our events.
Wren
Wren is a 27 year old pony sized mustang mare that was captured in 1991 from the Nevada Wild Horse Range as a 2 year old. She came to MWHR as a result of the death of her elderly owner. She is halter broke and safe to handle on the ground but is not suitable for riding. While a little unsure about people at times, she is calm and sweet and seems to enjoy being around horse knowledgeable children.
MWHR is thrilled that longtime resident mustang, Wren, has finally found a wonderful home. She has settled in nicely as a pasture companion for her new buddy, Comanche. Best of all, she is only a few miles around the corner from us so we’ll still get to see her. Special “thank you” to Jennifer at Dr. Marcella’s office for sending this new home our way!!
Midnight
MWHR welcomed Midnight to the farm February 4th. Midnight is an 18 year old mustang gelding from Salt Wells Creek in WY. Due to financial and health reasons, his owners could no longer afford to keep him. They have had Midnight for 11 years so it was a very difficult decision but we are glad they reached out to us for help. Midnight spent a few months with MWHR getting a health check by our vet and spending time getting a training “refresher”. He was adopted by one of our own volunteers, Michelle! Adoption day is always bittersweet but we are so happy for Midnight and Michele. Midnight is so loved and we know we’ll get lots of updates since Michele is one of our dedicated volunteers.
Maya
Maya is a 6 year old cremello mare from the Fox Hog HMA in CA. She was captured as a yearling and then found her way to the East Coast thru the BLM adoption program. Last October she was identified as being at risk due to unknown circumstances that landed her in the hands of a horse dealer that was due to ship her to a kill pen. Thankfully some “rescue angels” intercepted her and asked if MWHR could assist with taking her in and finding her a loving home. We are happy to report that Maya recently headed to a wonderful home in Vidalia, GA with an experienced mustang trainer. She’ll get to be reunited with lots of other mustangs on the new farm. This very sweet and special girl will be greatly missed at MWHR but we can’t wait to see all of the amazing things that she goes on to do with her new adopter.
Pixel
Pixel was captured in 2004 as a yearling during a round up in the Antelope HMA in Nevada. Pixel came to MWHR in October 2016 as an owner surrender from a lady in TN. Her owner didn’t want to pay to keep her thru the winter and was planning to send her to auction so MWHR acted quickly and got her signed over and transported to GA. After arriving at MWHR, Pixel was in regular light work to get more fit. She’s was ridden primarily bareback with just a halter, although we discovered that her training was obviously in a western saddle. Pixel is a quiet mare (rather lazy at times) and would be best suited to trail riding. She is a little shy but warms up to people after some time and is very sweet. While not particularly tall, Pixel is big barreled with a wide back.
Pixel and Mercy have been adopted together by a loving family with 3 girls in Valdosta Georiga that enjoy pleasure riding! MWHR is so happy that these sweet mares have found such a wonderful home!
Mercy
Mercy is a 6 year old petite mustang mare that stands about 14 hands. She was captured as a yearling from the Adobe Town HMA in WY and came to MWHR at the beginning of 2016 after being abandoned in a field by her previous owner. Mercy is very sweet and calm with no spook. She was been under saddle for a little over 60 days at MWHR and walk/trot/canters with just a halter (no bit). She has been ridden English but could go any direction with additional training. She is best suited as a trail / pleasure horse since she does not enjoy ring work.
Pixel and Mercy have been adopted together by a loving family with 3 girls in Valdosta Georiga that enjoy pleasure riding! MWHR is so happy that these sweet mares have found such a wonderful home!
Sweetie Pie
Sweetie Pie is a 19 year old brown and white paint mustang mare that was captured as a yearling in Salt Wells Creek, WY. She came to MWHR several years ago with another mustang, Spark Plug. Sweetie and Sparky were trained by MWHR founder, David Hesse, and served as our ambassadors for many years. We are happy to say that Sweetie Pie has finally been adopted into her forever home by Karen McClure and now lives with former MWHR burro, Poncho, along with another horse and pony on a beautiful farm in Milton, GA. We are sad to see Sweetie Pie go but so happy for her to have found such a wonderful family.
Shelby
Shelby (formerly know as Guinness) is an 8 year old Grulla mustang mare that was captured in Cedar Mountain, UT and came to MWHR at the beginning of August because her owner could no longer financially afford to keep her. She was with us only about a week before our friends, Kelly & Lee Bates of Cooper Sandy Farm, came to see her and offered to foster and help with her training. Well, fostering didn’t last long as Lee and Shelby quickly became “attached” at the hip. It’s rare that we are able to find the perfect match so quickly but this is one of those truly wonderful moments. We look forward to getting regular updates on Lee and Shelby’s adventures together.
Beauty
Beauty is a 15-year-old registered paint mare who stands at 14.2-hands tall. She has been gentled, loves attention and is one of our school and outreach horses. Beauty is extremely affectionate and is always happy to see and nuzzle visitors who come to the barn (especially if they come armed with treats). Beauty has been adopted to her forever home as a companion horse.
Spirit
Spirit was born in Utah in 1999. He was captured during a Bureau of Land Management mustang round-up the following year. We don’t have a complete record of his movements, but along the way he landed in our rescue a number of years ago, was trained by our founder, and was successfully adopted. Then in 2015 he was badly injured in an accident, and his owner was unable to care for him. So he was returned to our rescue for rehab. It took more than 2 months of daily care to heal the gaping wound just below his right wither, but ultimately he healed very nicely with just a small scar remaining. He was adopted by a wonderful young lady, and is very happy running in her herd on 30 acres in Dallas, Georgia. She plans to use him in her future hippotherapy practice.
Sunny
Sunny, a mediums sized pony mare (approximately 13 hands) 15 years old, has found her forever home!
Buck
Buck is a bay mustang gelding, born in 2008 and captured when he was one year old in Wyoming during a round-up. We do not know the details of his story between his capture in 2009 and his arrival at MWHR. Buck was found abandoned in a pasture in Cedartown, GA in an extremely emaciated condition in April. The Department of Agriculture contacted Chris of the Mustang Rescue Network who reached out to MWHR to see if we could help. MWHR was able to take him in and he arrived at our Batesville location in Canton on April 25th 2014. Though originally wary around the MWHR volunteers he is an extremely gentle and sweet horse.
With the coordinated efforts of many of our volunteers, three daily feedings, lots of love, and multiple vet visits to help Buck regain his strength his progress has been nothing short of miraculous. Buck has overcome equine lice, a bout of colic, and intestinal parasites to transform into the happy and healthy mustang he is today.
From a skittish mustang who would not allow any of the MWHR volunteers to come within arms reach of him Buck has become the first horse to greet volunteers when they arrive at the barn! We are currently training him to trailer load. You can see more pictures of Buck’s original condition when he arrived at the rescue in the album below.
Buck’s Original Condition:
Shawnee
Shawnee is a buckskin mustang mare, born in 2001 and captured in Nevada. She came to the rescue after her previous owners were killed by a natural disaster and has been a wonderful addition to our herd ever since. She is very well broken for a mustang and is one of the Mustang and Wild Horse Rescue’s ambassadors. Shawnee was adopted in April 2015.
Poncho (formerly Fred) & Barney
Poncho and Barney arrived at the Mustang and Wild Horse Rescue’s in December 2013 as part of MWHR’s participation in the Platero Project. MWHR was asked to participate in The Platero Project, a joint venture between the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In this project MWHR would be given a wild burro (or in this case a pair of burros) to gentle and find a home for.
At the time of their arrival in December Poncho was extremely shy and skittish around the MWHR volunteers and was also considerably underweight. While living at the Batesville barn he made progress in leaps and bounds. After becoming accustomed to the daily presence of the MWHR volunteers he allowed himself to be handled and petted and began the process of halter training. After a yummy course of beet mash and lots of oats Fred put on weight and regained a healthy weight.
Poncho was adopted in November 2014 to a new home in Milton GA. Shortly afterwards Barney was adopted to his own forever home!
Flicka
Flicka is a 13-year-old mustang mare. She was captured in a round-up in Nevada when she was 3 years old. Flicka came to the rescue in February 2012 extremely underweight and spent quite some time regaining her strength. In July 2013, she allowed herself to be haltered and she has begun to accept a saddle. Her greatest fear is dragonflies! Flicka has been adopted although she is still being boarded at the rescue to continue her training!
Mustang and Wild Horse Rescue of GA 
