Mountaineering Mustangs! Throughout the month of January, we are featuring mustangs and mustang crosses.
Did you know that dressage riders who choose a mustang as their mounts are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the American Mustang & Burro Association, Inc. is a participating organization?
A Region 5 adult amateur and her curly mustang serendipitously met at an equine rescue and, together, were able to overcome their distrust and fear of each other’s species to create a soul bond!
By Jenn Davis
I’m Jenn Davis, a 53-year-old lady, who, for the majority of my life, was completely afraid of horses. I now own a curly mustang named Freya, who, due to her own life experiences, was very leery of humans in the beginning of her domesticated life. Through a shared wariness of each other’s species’, we learned to grow and trust, and together left our fears far behind. This is our story.
Freya, who is registered as Curly Serendipity WHR, is truly my serendipitous horse. She changed the way I view horses and helped me overcome one of my greatest fears.
When I was ten, I had a bad fall while riding a horse. It frightened me terribly, and I became very fearful of these majestic creatures. Forty years later, I continued to carry that fear. My daughter, Grace, was quickly becoming an equestrian enthusiast and wanted to help me get past the uncomfortable feelings I had about horses. We began volunteering at a horse rescue, where Freya and my journey began.
I didn’t want a horse, I wasn’t even looking for one. I was just overcoming my fear of feeding these giant animals. It had taken several months to even feel confident enough to go into a pasture. I slowly began to see that horses might not be as bad as I once thought, but I still kept my distance.
On a sunny September afternoon, Freya, a curly mustang, came to the rescue. She was quiet, shut down completely, and had a dull look in her eyes. She had a very curly, somewhat frizzy mane, and was growing in wavy hair on her withers. She glanced at me with apprehension – the same kind of apprehension I had toward horses. At that moment I felt a connection and, even though I was still afraid, I vowed I would become Freya’s friend.
It didn’t matter that she was a horse; to me, she was a being searching for security and kindness. So was I. For weeks I would come to see her and just stand near her. I felt her fear. I was afraid, too. But we started to get to know each other’s routines, and she began to walk up to me when I got to her paddock. Seeing my joy with her, my husband adopted her for me for my 50th birthday, and we subsequently purchased a house with a small barn so that I could be with her daily.
During this time, I began to research her story. I found out some of Freya’s history from a photographer who took pictures of her when she was still wild and running with her herd. Freya had been rounded up from Salt Wells, Wyoming, when she was around four years old, and she was in foal. Someone had adopted her for her curly baby, and she was then sold several times to be used as a broodmare, passing on the curly gene. There are less than 5000 curly horses in the world, so her offspring were desirable. Curly mustangs have curly manes and tails, and during the cold months their winter coat comes in very wavy.
Freya was never taught to be under saddle, certainly not trained in any way to become rideable, let alone a performance horse. She also seemed wary of people, possibly because she had been used solely for breeding once she was domesticated.
Some of her former homes tried to get her under saddle but Freya refused and was labeled “stubborn” and “hard to train.” At that time, I did not care; I hadn’t ridden a horse since I was ten, and was content to just have her around as a companion. Freya seemed to be more comfortable at our home, and routine made her less anxious. Regular grooming activities helped bring us closer, as did regular hand walks around our property.
It took Freya several years to trust us enough to let me and my family in emotionally. Consistency without pressure made all the difference. She started nickering and coming to the fence when we came out of the house. She started accepting the halter without stress. She would completely relax when she was being groomed. Once we broke through her stoic exterior, she became very bonded to us, particularly to me. That’s when I began to consider the possibility of riding her someday.
Through a lot of trial and error with different methods and trainers, we finally began our riding partnership. I learned basic riding on a lesson horse, and Freya learned that carrying a rider wasn’t scary through the work of our trainer, Emily Richards, and my daughter, Grace, who is a USDF Bronze and Silver Medalist.
As I gained confidence in the saddle, I began to ride Freya. I was just walking her, but for someone who had vowed to never get on a horse again, it was incredible. My fear started to subside.
Grace began teaching Freya the basics of dressage. She had also taught her Thoroughbred dressage, and had taken him to the US Dressage Finals. In the winter of 2024, after eight months of work, we decided to take Freya to her very first dressage schooling show. She ended up scoring a 70% and winning her class, and she seemed to enjoy this newfound activity. We were beyond excited for her to begin a serious showing career the following spring.
Tragically, she tore her lateral meniscus a mere few weeks later and had to be on stall rest for most of 2025. It felt like such a devastating blow. We had come so far and, in an instant, had to put her career on the back burner. It was yet another hurdle to jump over in this sweet mare’s journey to success.
For the next 12 months, under the care of our veterinary team, we slowly rehabbed Freya, still not giving up on our dream. There was a lot of hand walking, and visits to the vet for medication and examination of her progress. Slowly, she was able to walk and then trot without pain.
Recently Freya was cleared to finally begin riding again, and she has been excelling the last few weeks! As a family, we are beyond excited to watch Freya grow, especially as I continue learning to ride.
Goals for Freya this year include Grace riding her at Training Level, and – even more exciting – me and Freya competing at Intro. This will be my very first step into the dressage arena! I am beyond grateful we never gave up on this beautiful mare. I’m also thankful I never gave up on myself, and that I pushed my fears aside.
My long-term goal for Freya and I is to eventually earn my USDF Bronze Medal together. I admit that it is an ambitious goal, but we have time. Through this process we’ve learned not to rush things. Each ride we complete is a victory over fear.
My journey with Freya has shaped who I am as a horse woman and person. First, I now have a barn with four horses. I know how to feed and care for them with confidence, which brings me incredible pride, considering my past. As a person, I am extremely empathetic to other adult amateurs who want to get involved in dressage but are afraid to. I will always support those interested in dressage but who are nervous to get started – everyone deserves to enjoy their horse and this incredible sport!
I suppose that Freya and I were destined for each other: two beings shaped by fear, who learned to be brave by coming together in trust and love. When we finally make it down centerline, it will not only be as dance partners, but as aligned souls who moved past their fears to embrace joy and move as one.
