Feral Horse Handling and Training Hosted by Mustang Valley

By Lei Rowan

FULTON– Over the weekend, Mustang Valley Sanctuary hosted a course teaching people how to touch, halter, and handle the feet of mustangs. Nelson Detweiler came to the sanctuary to demonstrate techniques with the horses rescued.

Mustang Valley is run and founded by Mary DeBonis, and currently is home to 31 horses. She is keen on allowing the horses to exist naturally and actually be horses. The sanctuary is accredited by the ASPCA, Eagala, Equus, Homes for Horses Coalition, as well as supported through volunteers and community donations.

Nelson Detweiler has worked with horses his entire life. He helped train young and old horses for years, then got into training as a hobby when his friends and friends of friends started asking him to train their horses. Detweiler has had this hobby for roughly 20 years.

During the feral horse course, Detweiler patiently worked with three mustangs: George Cloony, Lola Gracie, and Summer. Apollo came to watch on the side. Initially fearful of ropes and halters from being rounded up from the wild, Detweiler was determined to slowly show the horses that these items are neutral, and won’t be used against them anymore. DeBonis pulled in two easier mustangs, Summer and Sage. Detweiler decided to take on the two toughest horses at Mustang Valley: Lola and George.

Detweiler started working with each horse in a round pen with a lunge whip. He’d give a soft cluck and use a hand motion to subtly tell the horse that he’d like them to follow him. When he’d like the horse to stay standing, he’d gently toss the end of the whip over their back, careful to not hit the mustang hard. If they got used to the whip, Detweiler repeated the pattern with a lead rope, and then a rope halter. He started tossing the halter higher on their necks, until he could start petting them with both hands while jiggling the halter some. Once the horses got used to the halter moving by their face, Detweiler quickly slipped it over their nose. It was a gradual process to not spook the horses with a halter- an object they distrust from it being used to take them from their original home.

George Cloony and Lola were still worried by both the rope and halter at the end of the event, Detweiler was keen on not trying to force either object or rush the transition. Lola needed extra patience to work through the rope touching her at all. Detweiler remained calm throughout working with her, giving Lola breaks through the day and coming back to try again, aiming to reinforce that she doesn’t need to fear anymore without overwhelming her.

Detweilmer was more insistent with Summer. This sassy young mustang ignored cues purposefully per Detweilmer in an attempt to not have to listen. She had a habit of bolting away when he went to start working with the halter touching her instead of standing when asked. Detweimer didn’t give up, asking her to mildly work when she took off to instill the idea that he came up with the movement idea instead of her, before asking Summer to stand to try again. In this case, the “work” was just Detweiler giving the mustang a cue to move once they started to take off, and having them do one or two trot circles before coming back to rest.

“It’s better to work them as they leave 20 times than to try to hold them back. There can’t be any hesitation because that’s their reward” Nelson Detweilmer stated. His goal with Summer was to get her to understand and learn to work with what he asked, instead of ignoring to get out of it.

Detweiler slowly placed a halter on Summer after a lot of consistent work, and had sanctuary trainer Dan McCarthy come in the round pen and mimic his actions. Following Detweiler's guidance from the sideline, McCarthy haltered Summer three times during Sunday’s session. “We want them to be familiar with the pattern, not the person,” Detweiler told attendees.

DeBonis was very grateful for Detweilmer’s help, and everyone who was able to attend and learn. “This work is going to help so many rescued horses,” DeBonis commented. Mustang Valley will be continuing to host clinics through the fall. Brittani Mayer, winner of multiple Mustang Makeovers and Challenges, is coming November 1st-2nd. “We are looking forward to building a network of Mustang Trainers here in the North East and hope to kick off a trainer challenge in 2026,” DeBonis concluded.

For more information, visit https://mustangvalleysanctuary.com or contact mustangvalleysanctuary@gmail.com or (518) 827-7107. Sanctuary visits are by appointment only.