Gentling, reimagined.
Your mustang doesn't need a sanctuary.They need a different approach.
Wild to Empowered is a 12-week live mentorship program for mustang owners who care about doing this right — and are ready for a clear, systematic path forward that works with their horse's nature, not against it.
Free to join. Upgrade whenever you are ready for the full program.
Next cohort starts the week of Oct 26
Only 6 spots
$1,500, or three payments of $500. Early-bird perks through Oct 18.
Open Oct 13 to Oct 23
Learn more →Try our horse personality profile!
Add your horses, their background information and fill out a horse personality profile to help you understand ow your horse learns best
Learn more →Why this program exists
Owners who love their horse and are stuck
MacKenzie Whitsell runs Wild Ride Mustang Sanctuary. Every week, she hears from mustang owners who are stuck — people who genuinely love their horse and want to do right by them, but don't know what step to take next. Some tried pressure-based methods that didn't feel right. Others gave the horse space and time, hoping patience alone would bridge the gap. Neither approach gave them traction.
“Underneath that flighty exterior is a mustang who is ready to learn. They're just waiting for someone who meets them where they're at — and takes the time to understand how to motivate them in a way that feels safe and accessible.”
Together with Jessica Gonzalez of Empowered Equines, MacKenzie built The Mustang Collective to offer something different: a live mentorship experience grounded in how mustangs actually think, learn, and form trust — with direct professional support every step of the way.
I adopted my first mustang thinking she was trained. I had twenty videos to prove it. Eight days later, a completely wild horse stepped off the trailer into my yard — and I couldn't get near her.
Six months later, I got a halter on her. She reverted back to wild within the week. I mentally wrote her off: this horse needs a sanctuary.
Today, Soji is one of the first horses to walk up to visitors at Wild Ride. Little kids work with her. We're starting her under saddle. She was never a difficult horse. I just didn't yet have what I needed to meet her where she was.
That's why we built this program.
— MacKenzie Whitsell, founder of Wild Ride Mustang Sanctuary
Finding the middle ground
Both ends of the spectrum can leave you stuck
Most mustang training advice falls somewhere on a spectrum. We've worked with horses at every point on it, and what we've found is that sustainable progress lives in the middle: understanding the horse's emotional state and motivators, and building a systematic bridge from there.
Too much pressure
Roping, backing into corners, approach-and-retreat escalation, or any method that uses discomfort to override the horse's instinct to flee.
Can produce short-term results, but often creates a horse that complies without trusting — and can shut down or escalate unpredictably.
Too little structure
Walking on eggshells, moving slowly and hoping familiarity builds comfort, or repeatedly attempting touch without understanding the horse's emotional state.
Often stalls out — because a wild horse that survived without humans has no reason to choose connection without something meaningful to build toward.
The Mustang Collective approach
Systematic, food-reward-based training that builds engagement first — giving the horse a reason to participate — then layers in skills methodically, with a mentor tracking your progress and course-correcting in real time. Gentle and effective. Faster than you'd expect.
What makes this different
A plan built around your horse
We start by understanding your mustang — their history, temperament, and where things have stalled. Then we build a training roadmap specific to them.
Direct feedback on your work
Post training videos and get professional eyes on your technique. Real, specific input — not generic advice from a comment section.
Weekly live mentorship
Group sessions and individual calls mean you're never stuck guessing. When something isn't working, you find out why and what to try next.
Community that gets it
Learn alongside other mustang owners navigating the same terrain — people who understand that this horse is different, and worth the effort.
How it works
How the program is structured
Live group session
6:30–8:30pm — classroom-style learning with discussion, case studies from the cohort, and space to bring your questions to the group.
Individual hot seat call
Your 30 minutes, your horse, your specific situation. Other members may join to observe, but the focus is entirely on you and where you are in your training.
Video review & homework
Post your training sessions in the classroom portal and receive feedback on what you're doing well, what to adjust, and exactly what to work on next.
Classroom resources & community
How-to videos, your custom training plan, discussion boards, and a group of people who genuinely understand what you're working through.
Holistic Pre-Training Assessment
A full intake consultation and written report covering your horse's health, environment, diet, and history — so the training plan we build is set up to succeed from day one. A $250 value, complimentary with enrollment.
This might be for you if…
- ✓Your mustang's progress has stalled and you're not sure why
- ✓You've tried being patient, but patience alone hasn't moved things forward
- ✓Pressure-based methods didn't feel right, but you're not sure what to do instead
- ✓You want a clear next step, not just more information to sort through
- ✓You're ready to put in the work with real support and accountability
- ✓You want someone who can actually see what's happening and respond to it
See it in action
Free video resources
Want to see what this approach actually looks like before you commit? We've put together free video resources covering a range of situations — find the one that matches where you are right now.
Starting over with a horse you've had a while
Had your mustang for some time but feel stuck? This playlist walks through how to reset the foundation and build real progress from where you are now.
Watch on YouTube →PlaylistFull gentling overview — a difficult case, start to finish
A complete beginning-to-end look at our gentling process with a challenging mustang. The best way to understand the full arc of what's possible.
Watch on YouTube →PlaylistMaking progress, but stuck on specific hurdles
Your horse is moving forward but haltering, aggression, or other specific issues keep stalling things. This playlist addresses those common sticking points directly.
Watch on YouTube →Playlist · In progressProtected contact with a trauma history
Working through protected contact with a mustang who has a trauma history. An ongoing series showing the real, unedited process of building trust with a horse who's been through a lot.
Watch on YouTube →More playlists and videos at @wildridect on YouTube.
Your mentors
MacKenzie Whitsell
Wild Ride Mustang Sanctuary
MacKenzie founded Wild Ride Mustang Sanctuary in 2020 and has since worked with a wide range of mustangs — from fresh adopter horses to trauma cases, kill pen rescues, and horses other trainers had given up on. She teaches kids, teens, and adults to gentle wild horses, and runs an annual 7-day intensive covering first touch through trailer loading — entirely force-free, positive reinforcement throughout.
Her specialty is building engagement: helping a horse feel safe enough to try, and constructing a training sequence that builds confidence at every step. The Mustang Collective brings that same approach online — so that anyone, anywhere, can have access to what she wished she'd had when Soji stepped off that trailer.
Jessica Gonzalez
Empowered Equines
A published author, equine educator, and horse welfare advocate whose work reaches trainers, students, and organizations around the world. Her textbook and workbook on progressive horse care and training are used in college programs and animal welfare organizations internationally — and she's brought that same body of knowledge to clinics, seminars, and speaking engagements at major industry events.
A lifelong horsewoman who grew up working at rescues and therapeutic riding programs, Jessica now runs her own farm in Maine where she continues to take in rescue equines. Her approach is rooted in equine neuroscience and the belief that better understanding of how horses think and feel leads to more ethical, effective, and lasting partnerships.
Start free, no card needed
A free account lets you see how we work before you commit to anything.
- ✓The Charisma case study, following a newly arrived wild mare from day one
- ✓The R+ Braindump podcast
- ✓The Foundation challenge, with feedback from a coach
- ✓A profile, personality profile and care log for each of your horses
Sign up free
Create an account in a minute. No card needed.
Add your horse
Tell us about your mustang so everything fits them.
Start with Charisma
Watch the free case study and try the Foundation challenge.
Two ways to work with us
Every horse and owner is different
We offer two genuine paths — one for owners who want to develop the skills themselves, and one for those who need professional hands-on training. Either way, the outcome is a horse that genuinely enjoys domestic life, trained with the same ethical, force-free approach.
Board & train at Wild Ride
- ✓Your mustang comes to us and is trained by MacKenzie at Wild Ride Sanctuary
- ✓Ethical, force-free, positive reinforcement throughout
- ✓A horse that genuinely enjoys people — not just compliant, but engaged
- ✓Local owners are encouraged to participate as much as they'd like
- ✓Timeline and commitment determined by the individual horse
Wild to Empowered
- ✓You do the training — guided step by step by MacKenzie and Jessica
- ✓Custom training plan built around your specific horse
- ✓Weekly group sessions, individual calls, and video feedback
- ✓Your horse stays home, in their familiar environment
- ✓Holistic Pre-Training Assessment included ($250 value)
- ✓You walk away with a skill set that serves every horse you'll ever own
Keep learning at your own pace
Free membership
The Charisma case study, the podcast, the Foundation challenge, and a space for each of your horses.
Auditor
Access to all course content, including recordings and PDFs, at your own pace.
Graduate Program
For graduates of our 12-week intensive who want to keep coaching, group calls, and homework going — every month.
Enrollment and payment happen on the Wild Ride site. Sign up for your free account with the same email you enroll with, and we will switch your account to the full membership.
Also available as a standalone
Holistic Pre-Training Assessment
Not sure where to start? Start here.
Before any training plan can work, the conditions for learning have to be right. A horse in pain, with unmet social needs, or an incomplete diet is operating in survival mode — and no methodology can fully compensate for that. This assessment looks at the whole picture and gives you a concrete set of actions you can take right now, even before a single formal training session begins.
What's included
- ✓Detailed intake questionnaire — environment (friends, freedom, forage), diet, health history, known trauma or triggers, and current training status
- ✓One-hour Zoom consultation with MacKenzie and Jessica — teasing apart what's a training problem and what's a health or environment problem is one of the hardest things to do alone
- ✓Written assessment report with specific recommendations across health red flags (pain, ulcers, anxiety), environment, diet, and supplementation
- ✓Immediate care protocols — practical guidance for deworming, hoof care, and other welfare needs for horses you can't yet get close to, so you're not choosing between their care and their trust
- ✓Vet conversation starters — including honest guidance on when anxiety support may meaningfully accelerate training progress
Inside the portal
Everything in one place
Live mentorship
Live group classes and individual sessions with experienced mustang trainers.
A full course library
Video courses on behavioral science, groundwork, leading, hoof handling, cooperative care, counter conditioning, enrichment and riding.
Recordings and podcast
Every group class is recorded with notes, and the R+ Braindump podcast digs into the questions mustang owners ask most.
Homework with real feedback
Share short videos of your horse, get scored on a clear rubric, and hear exactly what to do next.
Challenges and badges
Work through the Foundation challenge and beyond, and earn a badge for each level you pass with your horse.
Your horse's own space
A profile, personality profile and care log for each horse, plus a training plan built around them.