The stage was set in the Rolex Stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington with the theme of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Streamers, balloons, jumps set to 3-foot-3 with candy and Oompa Loompa decorations, a chocolate river tarp and a large, blueberry-colored exercise ball resembling Violet Beauregarde were spread around the arena. Dressed as Willy Wonka, upper-level eventer Elisa Wallace entered the arena riding her 5-year-old mustang bareback with only a rope halter and neck strap.
Wallace and Zephyr navigated the streamers, ballon-decorated bending poles and chocolate river tarp and jumped a bounce, skinny fences and a corner fence with zany decorations to match the theme. This freestyle performance, along with the previous two days of English-oriented competition, crowned them the winners of the inaugural Mustang Classic, September 13–15, 2024.
In addition to being an international eventer, Wallace began training mustangs 12 years ago and has had notable success in mustang competitions. These events often catered to Western disciplines, but then the Mustang Classic came into existence this year. With Wallace’s solid English-discipline foundation, she wanted to be a part of this new event.
“I have done a lot of the makeovers because it’s good to push myself to learn from different disciplines,” Wallace said. “It was nice to be like, ‘I know how to train one for this one,’ versus getting [the horses] to link how we train with what they’re looking for in Western training. But again, a well-trained horse is a well-trained horse.”
Finding Zephyr
For the Mustang Classic, Wallace was hoping to be able to bring home a nice-looking mustang following a BLM Internet adoption in early 2024, but she was outbid on the prospects who interested her. Her students, however, were successful in securing their mounts for the competition. When Wallace went to pick her students’ mustangs at a BLM satellite adoption in Mississippi, she came across Zephyr.
“I picked him out,” Wallace said. “Everybody’s like, ‘What do you look for?’ But it is the same thing, right? You want a horse that’s uphill—he’s actually going through a little bit of a growing spurt right now—and built straight through the legs. He seemed to have a higher-set neck.”
Zephyr originally came from the Twin Peaks herd management area in California before making his way home with Wallace in Reddick, Florida, in February. Wallace had a busy competition schedule that month, so Zephyr had a leisurely start to his training. “He’s a good-minded horse,” Wallace said. “It did take me a little bit longer to get on him. It took about three weeks. Normally I can get on [the mustangs] in three to four days, surprisingly.”
Training for the Mustang Classic
In the seven months leading up to the competition, Zephyr was slowly started under saddle. However, he quickly flourished into a sporthorse. Wallace competed him at Beginner Novice eventing horse trials and a few jumper shows. The gelding had taken his job as a riding horse in stride.
“A lot of [mustangs] are suitable for low-level eventing. They’re very athletic,” she said. “I have a very athletic one at home that hopefully will be going one star soon, so I always root for the underdog.”
Wallace pointed out that the training in the lead-up to a competition such as the Mustang Classic is a lot of work. However, she added that it’s also very beneficial to the trainer.
“[The mustangs are] a good distraction for me with upper-level eventing because it always keeps you with two feet on the ground and the goal is to always do your best but learn to be better,” she noted. “Every horse teaches me back.”
The Start of the Competition
The first day of competition at the Mustang Classic consisted of all combinations completing a dressage test—Training Level, Test 2. Wallace and Zephyr led the field of 56 combinations with a score of 72.155%. The next day, all combinations competed in their choice of either arena cross country or working equitation followed by all combinations competing in show jumping.
Wallace opted to compete Zephyr in arena cross country along with show jumping. The pair finished second in arena cross country with a score of 86.250% and ended up fourth in show jumping with a score of 73.542%.
The top-10 combinations with the highest-overall scores moved on to Sunday’s championship final, consisting of a three-and-a-half-minute freestyle judged on overall horsemanship and entertainment value. The freestyle score counted for 60% of the final score, while the dressage score counted for the remaining 40%. At the end of the competition, Wallace and Zephyr were victorious with the highest final score amongst the talented field.
Showcasing Zephyr’s Abilities
When preparing her freestyle for the competition, Wallace aimed to embrace a theme and match it with Zephyr’s playful personality. “He is so goofy,” she laughed. “[‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’] just really fit because he loves cookies and treats. It was really fun working with my husband to mix the music and keep changing it up.”
In addition to the fun theme, Wallace also wanted to showcase Zephyr’s talents. The mustang proved that he is quite the jumper as he and Wallace trained and competed in the lead-up to the Mustang Classic. “Zephyr’s a very good jumper, and he likes to jump,” she said. “He’s had a natural ability from day one of holding a line and jumping a corner. He’s a little bit of a freak that way.”
Wallace decided to include a corner jump in her freestyle, though it was a risk with the electric atmosphere of the Rolex Stadium. Zephyr was up for the task. “It was a fairly difficult corner, but he nailed it. That made me feel good.” she said. “I was really proud of him and probably the biggest thing was that, mentally, he was so relaxed about everything and with me. So, I couldn’t have asked him to be better this weekend.”
Looking toward the future, Zephyr has a prospective new home as a low-level eventer. “The goal has been to really get these horses out,” Wallace noted. “[Mustangs are] fantastic. They are really fun horses with really nice qualities.”
Watch the 2024 Mustang Classic in its entirety on EQUESTRIAN+ (equestrianplus.com). Subscribe and get the first month free with code MUSTANG.
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of Practical Horseman.
