News and Events

The SMF sponsors Nicola Ravensford and her Spanish Mustang "Black Sand" (SMR #3703) in their first year of endurance competition in the United Kingdom.
From Nicola Ravenfsord—Wow what a year! Sandy and I took on our first season of Endurance with no previous experience of the sport so we definitely both represented the novice category! We started the season with a hiccup at The March Hares in our own county of Gloucestershire. We only completed 14km of the course having got really lost on the forest tracks! Human error of course and Sandy was so embarrassed by her humans faulty navigation system! Thankfully from then on we clocked up lots of successful completions. Cirencester, Tresham and Bluebell.

Our next challenge, was Man vs Horse. Sandy managed to complete 40km of Welsh mountain with the most tough and varied terrain I have ever seen. We rode this for charity and raised just over $100 for The Spanish Mustang Foundation. After a short break we were back at the EGB rides and rode at Barbury Castle and were part of the Offa's Dyke inter regional team where we helped the group gain a 3rd overall. The Clent Hills was our final outing for 2014 and was very challenging, especially for a barefoot horse. Sandy won many hearts with her striking good looks and those beautiful amber eyes but not least was her ability to vet sound and remain very polite no matter how tough the going got. Go Spanish Mustangs Go!

At the end of the season I was awarded The Pandora Trophy for the best rider in their first season from local EGB group Offa's Dyke which was a wonderful surprise and fabulous end to our novice debut! Sandy & I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to The Spanish Mustang Foundation who very kindly sponsored our first competitive year and made it possible for us to keep doing what we love and showing off our wonderful Spanish Mustang. We have had an absolute blast this year and are heading out to ride some greater distances in 2015.

Rescue—Train—Re-home

We have noticed a need to implement a program to rescue unwanted Spanish Mustangs, to save them from disappearing or worse, slaughter. Already so rare, losing just a few has significant repercussions. Not only that but it is our job to help those mistreated horses see that humans can be a source of good things and that they are capable of being significant participants of the equine world. We hope to match each individual horse with an appropriate owner to create a happy and successful partnership.

To learn more about this program, please see Rescue—Train—Re-home Program.

Youth Clinics—SOAR

Our Youth Clinics have been so successful we are expanding! SOAR—Summer Of Awareness Riding is our new program with Emmi Adler joining Robin Doughman working with Spanish Mustang horses. SOAR is designed to educate participants in the practices of ground training, riding, and general knowledge of horses in a fun, confidence building environment.

SOAR Camp is located 20 miles South of Santa Fe on Hwy 41, just North of Galisteo. Sessions for the 2014 SOAR Camp are filled.

"Return of the Horse" Screenings

RETURN OF THE HORSE (2012, Runtime 61 minutes, Spanish Mustang Foundation) premiered to a sold out crowd in Santa Fe on August 27th at CCA and proceeded to win Best Animal Full Length Documentary at the Montana Cine International Film Festival. Its next stop is at the prestigious Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, where it will close the museum’s exhibit A Song for the Horse Nation. Screenings are scheduled for January 6-7, 2013.

If you would like to see the film or to host a screening in your area please email us at: info@spanishmustangfoundation.org.

For more information about this film, click here.

Youth Clinics

The Spanish Mustang Foundation, along with trainer Robin Doughman, continue to provide youth clinics over the spring and summer months. The focus of these clinics is to educate students about the Spanish Mustang's role in history as well as the joys of horsemanship.

The clinics start on the first Saturday of May and continue through the first Saturday of September.

More information regarding previous youth clinics can be found here. For more information regarding upcoming clinics, please contact Connie Doughman at conniedoughman@aol.com.

Mustangs & Mindfulness: Horsemanship Clinics with Robin Doughman

Horse training is not just about horsemanship. It’s about a way of life.

Over the last thirty years and more I have been working with horses. I’ve explored the methods of other horsemen and their words and techniques have penetrated and broadened my own relationship with horses. I don’t mind standing in the shade of these inspiring people: Buck Brannaman, Emmett Brislawn, Leslie Desmond, Bill Dorrance, Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Pat Parelli, and others. The practice of mindfulness is paying close attention to the present experience, intention and purpose and the awareness and clear comprehension that arises from it. When I work with mustangs my experience is often spiritual. I can compare my connection to Spanish Mustangs to Buddhist Vipassana meditation practices.

Click here to read more about Robin Doughman's Mustangs & Mindfulness Leadership Training Course.

We will be holding clinics with Robin Doughman, for more information about Robin’s clinics please contact us.

Spanish Mustangs & Equine Positional Release

The Spanish Mustang Foundation and Zarna Carter held an Equine Positional Release Clinic May 9-10 at the Little Cayuse Ranch in New Mexico. A number of trainers attended the clinic: Jack Craddock, Ben McVey, Sandy Bosben and long time Spanish Mustang trainer and advocate, Robin Doughman. Doug Lanham, president of The Spanish Mustang Foundation, was in attendance with his wife Julia.

The aim of the Spanish Mustang Foundation (SMF) holding the EPR clinic was two-fold. First, to conduct an educational program focusing on non-force equine body work which has helpful applications to behavior, training and re-education of the Spanish Mustang. Secondly, to promote public understanding of the Spanish Mustang, highlighting their unique nature and physiology.

As the SMF continues in it's efforts to understand the nuances of this particular breed, the clinic was a successful endeavor in many ways. It enabled both trainers and equestrians to explore the relationship between the nature of these horses and their behavior and specifically the link between health and behavior. There were multiple examples of foot pain, shoulder and back pain and their affects on behavior in the herd and with people.

David Mann Art Exhibition & Auction

The Spanish Mustang Foundation and Altermann Galleries and Auctioneers embarked on another art exhibition and auction to assist in the preservation of the Spanish mustang, which is on the critical list of rare breeds of horses. The two day event was an occasion to demonstrate the connection between the Spanish Mustang and the 400th anniversary of the founding of Santa Fe.

The compelling painting, "Restless Mustangs," by David Mann was purchased for $5150 by Dr. And Mrs. Max B. Chennault at the silent auction at Doug and Julia Lanham’s ranch, Caballada Mestenada, on July 31, 2010 with all proceeds assigned to the foundation.

Mann does extensive research and includes his detailed discoveries in his paintings. He journeyed to the Little Cayuse Ranch owned by Donna Mitchell, Jim Sloan, and Sierra Perkins near Cedarvale, NM to study the horses. He came away with an enthusiasm for the horse that shines through his paintings and reflects the ancestral bloodline still present in the horses he scrutinized. The expression of what he observed portrays the horses so well that one recognizes individual horses as well as the character these ponies have held over the centuries.

We are already underway in our endeavors with Altermann Galleries for next year’s auction. Award winning western artist, Kim Mackey, will be coming to the Little Cayuse Ranch in early October to photograph the horses in preparation for a painting he will donate for the preservation of the Spanish Mustang.

We take this opportunity to offer our thanks, deep gratitude, and appreciation to Tony and Richard Altermann and David Mann.