Grace Thompson was not born into horses. She said yes to one wild Mustang before she knew what she was doing—and that decision became a life training wild horses around the world.

As a teenager with no horse experience, Grace convinced her parents to let her adopt her first Mustang. Since then, she has trained more than 200 wild horses, competed in Mustang Makeovers, won colt-starting championships, worked with wild Kaimanawa horses at liberty in New Zealand, and prepared Mustangs for Germany’s Mustang Makeover.

Grace and I discuss why she left behind her childhood dream of training dolphins and orcas, how saying yes to every opportunity accelerated her education, and what working with ten wild horses at liberty taught her about communication without force. She explains why Germany-bound Mustangs are allowed to become wild again before making the journey, how she keeps competition pressure from overriding a horse’s welfare, and why training hundreds of Mustangs has only deepened her respect for the individuality of every horse.

We also explore why liberty horsemanship may become an increasingly important part of Mustang training and how Grace is helping place trained Mustangs with programs supporting veterans.

The horse world does not belong only to those born into it. Grace’s story reveals what can happen when you say yes before you feel qualified, keep learning, and allow the horse—not ambition—to determine the pace.

ABOUT GRACE THOMPSON

Grace Thompson is a Mustang trainer, colt starter, and founder of GET Horsemanship Wild Horse Training Facility in eastern Tennessee. She trains Mustangs for owners and international programs and supports the use of horses in veteran mental health programs.

CONNECT WITH GRACE

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gethorsemanship/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gethorsemanship
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GETHorsemanshipp
Horses for Mental Health campaign: https://horsesformentalhealth.org/campaigns/grace-thompson-g-e-t-horsemanship/

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Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
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Bringing home a Mustang can begin as a dream and quietly become a crisis. When progress stalls and the owner no longer knows what to try, the horse may be sent away, passed on, or blamed.

Jana Leniger and Brittany Ference kept seeing the same pattern. People adopted Mustangs with good intentions, then found themselves isolated when the work became difficult. Sending the horse to a trainer could create progress, but it did not teach the owner how to understand the horse or continue the work once the horse came home.

Jana is the owner of Chasing a Dream Equine and a virtual riding coach who helps Mustang owners participate in their horses’ training. Brittany is the executive director of Great Escape Mustangs, a nonprofit supporting formerly wild horses through sanctuary, adoption, education, and continued support for owners. Together, they created the Wild Horse Partnership Program, a three-month virtual coaching and mentorship program designed to help Mustangs remain successfully partnered with their adopters.

Jana and Brittany explain why 90 minutes of consistent, guided work each week may create more lasting change than sending a horse away for 90 days. We discuss why inexperienced adopters sometimes progress faster than experienced horse people, how choosing a Mustang for its color rather than its character can create problems, and why customized guidance and accountability matter when fear and frustration take over.

This is not about blaming adopters for struggling or claiming every Mustang can remain in every home. It is about reaching people before frustration becomes surrender and recognizing that lasting change cannot happen if only the horse is expected to change.

ABOUT JANA LENIGER AND BRITTANY FERENCE

Jana Leniger is the owner of Chasing a Dream Equine and a virtual riding coach who helps owners build practical skills and stronger partnerships with their horses.

Brittany Ference is the executive director of Great Escape Mustangs, a nonprofit working to help formerly wild Mustangs thrive after leaving the range.

Together, they founded the Wild Horse Partnership Program to provide Mustang adopters with practical training, individualized guidance, and continued support.

CONNECT WITH JANA AND BRITTANY

Wild Horse Partnership Program: https://www.greatescapemustangs.org/wild-horse-partnership-program
Schedule a discovery call: https://calendly.com/greatescapemustangs/whpp-discovery-call

CONNECT WITH BRITTANY

Great Escape Mustangs: https://www.greatescapemustangs.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/great_escape_mustangs/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greatescapemustangs

CONNECT WITH JANA

Chasing a Dream Equine: https://janaoutwest.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingadreamequine/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChasingADreamEquine

CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANG

Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustang

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Most of us spend our lives trying to become more comfortable. After riding more than 15,000 miles through remote wilderness, Gillian Larson has found that discomfort can be one of the clearest ways back to feeling fully alive.

Gillian has completed four Mexico-to-Canada journeys on horseback, traveling the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and other long-distance routes with her equine partners. These rides have taken her through terrible weather, dangerous terrain, isolation, exhaustion, and moments of extraordinary beauty.

Yet after completing her first thru-ride, Gillian did not feel entirely successful. Her horses had finished sound, but she began questioning whether reaching the destination was enough. What mattered was not only whether they completed the trail, but how her horses felt when they arrived.

Gillian and I discuss how that realization changed her approach to wilderness horsemanship and her definition of accomplishment. We explore what discomfort gives us that an easy life cannot, why difficult moments make the good ones more meaningful, and how to move through the mental barriers that keep people from attempting something unfamiliar with their horses.

We also talk about modernizing traditional packing practices, preparing horses for the physical and emotional demands of backcountry travel, and making sure human ambition never comes at the expense of the animal carrying us.

This is not a celebration of suffering for its own sake or pushing horses to fulfill human goals. It is a case for choosing worthwhile difficulty, caring for the animals who make the journey possible, and measuring success by more than whether you reached the end.

ABOUT GILLIAN LARSON

Gillian Larson is a long-distance trail thru-rider and the founder of Gillian Larson Wilderness Horsemanship. She teaches riders how to prepare for backcountry equestrian travel while prioritizing the safety and well-being of their horses.

CONNECT WITH GILLIAN

Website: https://www.gillianlarson.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thru_rider/

CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANG

Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustang

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A feral horse no one could touch became a children’s lesson horse. The change did not begin with tighter control. It began when Avery Sullivan gave her more choice.

When a horse resists, refuses, or behaves unpredictably, our instinct is often to increase pressure and demand compliance. Liberty horsemanship trainer Avery Sullivan believes that response can create the very conflict we are trying to eliminate.

Through her work with Gamilah Unbridled, Avery has helped rehabilitate difficult rescue horses using liberty-based methods centered on communication, trust, and the horse’s freedom to respond. She is also a founding member of the Equine Liberty Organization, which works to place connection and horse welfare at the center of liberty horsemanship.

Avery and I discuss why greater control can produce greater resistance, what changes when a horse is allowed to make choices, and how liberty exposes the expectations and emotions we bring into the relationship. She shares the story of a feral horse no one could touch and the shift that allowed that horse to become a trusted partner for children.

We also examine what horses reveal about our need to force outcomes. When we stop treating resistance as defiance, we may discover that the horse is responding honestly to something we have been unwilling to see in ourselves.

This is not a case for abandoning boundaries or ignoring safety. It is a challenge to consider whether the behavior you are trying to correct is being strengthened by the pressure used to stop it, and what becomes possible when communication replaces control.

ABOUT AVERY SULLIVAN

Avery Sullivan is a liberty horsemanship trainer who works with Gamilah Unbridled to rehabilitate rescue horses and expand access to liberty education. She is also a founding member of the Equine Liberty Organization.

CONNECT WITH AVERY

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misfit_mares/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556411425094
Equine Liberty Organization: https://www.eloliberty.com/
Gamilah Unbridled: https://www.gamilahunbridled.com/

CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANG

Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
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Hailey was sitting with her children when a panic attack interrupted an otherwise quiet moment. As they rubbed her back and sang to comfort her, she knew she needed help understanding what was happening.

Hailey shares her experience of anxiety during an emotionally abusive relationship, how she sought medical help, and what she believes helped her find greater stability while preparing to leave.

We discuss the jump-rope exercise a doctor suggested, her experience with meditation, and the difficulty of making changes when your surroundings have not yet changed. The conversation also touches on parenting, childhood expectations, intuition, and finding moments of quiet in a life that rarely slows down.

Hailey describes practices she uses when overwhelmed, including humming, breathing, and paying attention to her surroundings. At the center is a personal question many listeners may recognize: how do you begin finding your footing when you are still in the middle of something hard?

This episode shares personal experiences and coaching perspectives, not established explanations for every symptom or a promise of recovery. It is not a substitute for qualified medical or mental health care.

CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANG

Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustang

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What happens when you have spent years helping others heal, then find yourself struggling with trauma you have not resolved?

For Ruby Fremon, that question became personal. During what she describes as a dark night of the soul, a connection with horses helped her face shame and emotions that had become difficult to bear.

Ruby shares what happened beside those horses and why their presence mattered when her experience helping others was not enough to carry her through her own pain. We discuss the difference between understanding your struggles and feeling safe enough to meet them, along with what horses taught her about trust, presence, and allowing her outward expression to match what she felt inside.

We also explore her approach to equine-assisted Somatic Experiencing®, how she pays attention to bodily sensations and the horses’ responses, and the place spiritual connection and ancestral reverence hold in her work.

At the heart of Ruby’s story is an uncomfortable truth: helping other people does not exempt us from needing help ourselves. Her experience with horses offers a way to consider healing beyond the pressure to have everything figured out.

ABOUT RUBY FREMON

Ruby Fremon is a coach and the author of Potent Leadership. Her work brings together coaching, Somatic Experiencing®, equine-assisted practices, and relational bodywork to support people navigating change.

CONNECT WITH RUBY

Website: https://rubyfremon.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruby.fremon/
Substack: https://rubyfremon.substack.com/

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Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
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What happens when the life you worked hard to build pulls you further away from yourself?

After 15 years in the corporate world, Baiba Wisse reached a point where continuing on the same path no longer felt possible. Burnout and pain became an invitation to question the life she was living and search for something more aligned with who she had become.

Baiba shares how somatic movement and inner work helped her reconnect with her body, intuition, and sense of purpose. We discuss why pain can reveal what is no longer working, how childhood experiences continue to shape our adult lives, and what it means to give ourselves what we did not receive when we were young.

We also explore how Baiba understands masculine and feminine energies, the difference between living according to outside expectations and listening to your inner wisdom, and why reconnecting with yourself may require loosening the world’s grip on who you believe you should be.

Pain is not automatically meaningful, and it does not always arrive with a clear lesson. But when the life we have built is no longer sustainable, it can become a doorway into an honest examination of what must change.

ABOUT BAIBA WISSE

Baiba Wisse is a somatic practitioner and host of the Life in Technicolor podcast. Her work uses movement, embodiment, and inner exploration to help people reconnect with themselves and pursue a more authentic sense of purpose.

CONNECT WITH BAIBA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveintechnicolor_/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiveInTechnicolorOfficial

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/034sss7E8ncD5RewpqkwZJ

CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANG

Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustang

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A photograph can show us a horse as we want them to appear. Katja Jensen wants to capture who they are when no one is asking them to perform.

Through KatjaCaptures, Katja enters the horses’ world and waits. Rather than pulling them into a manufactured pose, she observes their natural movement, relationships, and stillness. The result is equine photography that carries something of the horse’s presence beyond the moment the image was taken.

We discuss why images of horses can remain with us long after we have seen them and how observing a horse, even through a photograph, can change what we notice within ourselves. Katja shares how patience and attention shape her work, why the photographer’s presence matters, and what becomes visible when we stop trying to control the moment.

This conversation reaches beyond horse photography and art. It asks what horses might reveal when we become quiet enough to observe them, and whether entering their world can help us return to our own with greater awareness and peace.

ABOUT KATJA JENSEN

Katja Jensen is an equine photographer and the artist behind KatjaCaptures. Her work is centered on observing horses as they are and preserving the presence, movement, and character that emerge without forcing the moment.

CONNECT WITH KATJA

Website: https://www.katjajensen.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/katjascaptures
Collector’s Club: https://katjajensen.myflodesk.com/optin

CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANG

Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustang

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Some veterans can describe what happened to them and still struggle to feel safe, connected, or at home in their own lives. A horse does not ask them to explain. It responds to the person standing in front of it.

Kathleen Saucier and her husband experienced that difference themselves. What began with horses helping them navigate stress and life after military service eventually became Samson’s Strength Sustainable Veterans Project, a nonprofit connecting veterans with horses.

Kathleen shares what horses may offer veterans beyond conversation alone. We discuss how being with a horse can bring attention to tension, emotion, and the nervous system while creating opportunities to practice trust, awareness, boundaries, and emotional regulation in the present moment.

We also explore why the horse-human connection can matter for veterans searching for stability, purpose, and a sense of belonging after service.

This is not an argument that horses replace talk therapy or other mental health care. It is a case for recognizing that healing does not always begin with words and that horses can offer a different place from which to begin.

This episode was produced in collaboration with Podcastathon, an initiative bringing podcasters together to support nonprofit organizations. The Touch of a Mustang also participated in the Horses for Mental Health campaign as an ambassador supporting Samson’s Strength Sustainable Veterans Project.

ABOUT KATHLEEN SAUCIER

Kathleen Saucier is a case manager and co-founder of Samson’s Strength Sustainable Veterans Project, a nonprofit connecting veterans with horses.

CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN

Website: https://www.sssvp.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sssvp.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samsonsstrengthveteransproject/

CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANG

Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustang

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Two nonprofits can care about the same problem and still behave as if only one of them is allowed to solve it. When protecting an organization becomes more important than advancing its mission, the people, animals, and communities it exists to serve can lose.

Rob Harter has spent more than 30 years in nonprofit leadership and social impact work. He now helps nonprofit founders and leaders confront the pressures that can quietly undermine their work, including competition, limited funding, burnout, duplicated services, and the belief that they must carry everything themselves.

We discuss why passion may start a nonprofit but cannot sustain one without a plan and reliable processes. Rob explains how leaders can communicate their value without feeling as though they are begging for money, recognize when another organization is already meeting the need, and decide when collaboration or even a merger could serve the mission better.

Rob also shares how leaders can determine where their energy is most valuable, what needs to be delegated, and why transparency matters when an organization is struggling financially. His message is particularly relevant for people working in Mustang advocacy, horse rescue, equine-assisted services, and animal welfare, where resources are limited and the need is enormous.

The mission must remain bigger than one founder, one organization, or one way of doing the work. Sometimes the most responsible form of leadership is not building something of your own. It is joining forces with someone who can help the mission go further.

ABOUT ROB HARTER

Rob Harter is a nonprofit leadership coach and consultant specializing in fundraising, strategic development, and leadership development. He is also the host of The Nonprofit Leadership Podcast.

CONNECT WITH ROB

Podcast: The Nonprofit Leadership Podcast
Instagram: @nonprofitleadershippodcast
Facebook: Nonprofit Leadership Podcast
LinkedIn: Dr. Rob Harter
YouTube: @NonprofitLeadershipPodcast

CONNECT WITH THE TOUCH OF A MUSTANG

Website: https://thetouchofamustang.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetouchofamustang/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTouchofaMustang

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