WLM Sprinter 2014 | Page 15

WLM

examine the horses ahead of time. Rather,
they were able to look at photos and video
clips online to help make their decision.
Tom adopted his horse for $150, and set to
work training him. He competed in the 2010
Extreme Mustang Makeover event, and it
paid off – while he didn’t win first place,
his third place position earned him $10,000!
“That got us through the winter,” Tom said.
In 2011, Tom and Arianne sold their Idaho
property and relocated to Torrington. “We
moved onto the property and had to build
everything,” Tom recalled. “We lived in a
teepee tent while we were building!” They
participated in the 2011 makeover event in
Fort Worth, Texas, but fortune was not on
their side that year. “We made it to the finals,
but we drew a bad cow,” Tom said. “But
we were sitting okay for the time being, and
we kept building on our new place.”
In 2012, the couple both competed in the
events – Tom on a horse named El Gato,
and Arianne on a horse named Harney.
Arianne nearly won the competition,
earning the Reserve Champion title in
the Idols Division (nonprofessional). Tom
made the finals on El Gato in the Legends
division (professional), ending up in sixth
place. Together, the couple won a little over
$16,000 in prize money.
The Extreme Mustang Makeover
competition morphed into the Mustang
Million event in 2013. The Mustang Heritage
Foundation explains the transition and
purpose of the program:

Since the inaugural event in 2007,
Extreme Mustang Makeovers have

gained national
attention. These
exciting competitions
feature horse trainers
transforming wild,
untouched mustangs
into willing and trusting
equine partners who
are then offered to the
public for adoption.
The Mustang Heritage
Foundation, creator
© Jean McClun of the Extreme
Mustang Makeover,
partnered with the
Bureau of Land Management’s Wild
Horse and Burro Program to present
an unparalleled level of wild horse
training competition in 2013, Mustang
Million.
Tom and Arianne got to pick their horses,
and they selected Burns, Oregon as their
adoption location. The couple sensed that
Oregon would give them the better bidding
ability, and they were right; Tom brought
home Merv, and Arianne brought home
Albert, named for the Albert Desert in
Oregon.
On April 29, 2013, Tom put his first halter
on Merv. “We had 140 days until Fort
Worth,” Tom said. “I wanted to jump in
early and I’m glad I did!” Merv was a
wild horse, and the process of horse and
rider becoming familiar with each other
took a while. By the sixth day Tom was
riding him. “Once we got him going, he
might have had a bad moment or two, but
never had a bad day,” Tom said. Together,
Merv and Tom spent the summer dragging
irrigation pipe and haying. They spent
much time in the arena, schooling Merv
with cows, roping, practicing trail courses,
turnarounds, stops and lead changes. “I had
to put lots of hours and miles on him, but
he was really coming along,” Tom said.
In the summer of 2013, Tom took Merv
to a schooling show at the Scottsbluff
Saddle Club. They won the junior reigning
competition, and took second in the trail
competition. “The horse did a nice job,”
Tom said. “I was impressed with how he
handled everything.” Tom also entered

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Merv in Mustang Days at the Wyoming
State Fair in August, where they won in all
four of their divisions and Tom earned a
saddle.
In September 2013, Tom, Arianne, Merv
and Albert traveled to Fort Worth for the
Mustang Million. One obstacle stood in their
way – 2012 winner Bobby Kerr of Hico,
Texas. “I knew Bobby would be really
bringing it,” Tom said. “Bobby is extremely
creative. Being in Texas, Bobby is promoted
very well – up in Wyoming, there isn’t as
much promotion.”
The Mustang Million freestyle competition
is a combination of many requirements
– music, artistic expression (30% of
score), horsemanship (30% of score), and
compulsory pattern (40% of score). The
compulsory patterns are always ran the
morning before the finals, and consist of ten
maneuvers in 90 seconds, with everyone
running the same pattern. Merv nailed
his routines, and Tom came into the finals
leading Bobby by 23.5 points. He knew that
Bobby would really bring his creativity into
the freestyle competition, and Tom & Merv
were prepared. Their routine, performed to
“If You’re Gonna Play in Texas, (You Gotta
Have a Fiddle in the Band)” by Alabama,
included Merv standing on a teeter totter
with Tom standing in the saddle; Merv
spinning in circles; changing leads in a
straight line; and hooking a cow. “’T