The Story of Lacy: An Appalachian Brumby Mare

Gathered from West Virginia mine land as a 4 year old pregnant mare in 2021 after her herdmate was grossly injured by locals trying to remove the herd, we have spent 5 years trying with various trainers at a slow speed to get this pretty little horse to the point of being a riding partner. I’ve felt for some years that the day would never come, and her last trainer has poured WELL OVER HALF A YEAR into this mare.

We were right, and she will not be happy riding horse, BUT SHE CAN BE A HAPPY PARTNER!

From Alison Mattis at Echo Ridge Horsemanship in PA, Lacy’s trainer:

“Some of you may have noticed that over the past couple of weeks, my posts about Lacy haven’t included tack or talk about boot-camp.

As difficult of a decision as it was to make, we’ve made the decision to stop pushing Lacy to become a riding horse.

There comes a point in training, where you’ve exhausted your toolbox, have enlisted help from bigger & better toolboxes, have stepped back and looked at the big picture … to realize that you need to do what’s best for the horse. And thankfully, Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, INC is always on board with doing what’s best for their horses.

Lacy is truly a horse that thrives on relationship and partnership, clear communication and trust, and being a fair, kind, and firm leader. I believe that’s why I got as far as I did with her (in terms of riding) – because over the past 200+ days, we’ve developed a relationship. The thing with Lacy is that she tries, she tries her little heart out for someone that she trusts. So when we were getting close to riding, every bone, muscle, and brain cell in her body was telling her to flee.. yet she stayed with me.

But there comes a point that sometimes, you realize that you’re doing more harm than good. Lacy was beginning to get very stressed – and she was living in that state of stress, not the normal “ok this is stressful for a bit (as training is), but I’m going to come through on the other side and come out stronger.”

So together, Heart of Phoenix and I have decided to step back, help Lacy get her confidence back, and showcase what she’s really good at – in-hand and liberty work. And I’m here to tell you that in the weeks that I’ve stopped “bootcamp” with Lacy, she’s made a complete 180. She’s back to her normal self and is looking forward to working with me again … rather than just tolerating it and making it through.

That being said! I AM going to be competing with Lacy in August at the Appalachian Trainer Face Off! It’ll just look a little bit different – everything will be done either in-hand or at liberty.

And Lacy is still looking for her forever home and will be available for adoption in August. Her ideal adopter would be someone who has been looking for an in-hand horse, someone who can’t ride anymore, or someone who doesn’t want to ride anymore. Her adopter should have horse experience, of course, as Lacy still has her quirks – but she has a lot of life and love to give someone who understands her. I fully believe that with the right person, Lacy could absolutely go on to have a very successful in-hand and/or liberty show career, if her adopter would like to do something like that!

So – even though my goals with Lacy have changed, my love & care for her has not. I’m still just as excited to bring her to Winfield, WV in August and show just how talented this mare is. Make sure you get your applications in for this beautiful girl, I’d love for you all to meet her