Mustang Sally Takes First Northwest Makeover Win

Yamhill, Oregon cowboy, Laird McCabe, comes from behind

While her name, somewhat predictably, was Mustang Sally, perhaps it should have been Pegasus as the smallish brown mare virtually flew over jumps with rider Laird McCabe of Yamhill, Ore., aboard, impressing the judges to take the first Northwest Extreme Mustang Makeover win March 21 and a champion's check for $3,000.

"Mustang Sally" trained by Laird McCabe of Yamhill, OR flew over the jumps with ease at the Northwest  Extreme Mustang Makeover. ©Cyndie Planck

Even the lyrics of the famous song almost fit the five-year-old mare gathered from the Jackie's Butte herd management area.

"Mustang Sally now baby
Oh Lord guess you better
Slow your Mustang down hu-oh yeah

You been runnin all over town now
Oh I guess I have to put your flat feet
On the ground
Hu! what I said now"

Slowing down was not in the cards for Mustang Sally, though, as McCabe took her through her required paces, showing great variations in speed through both right and left circles and then guiding the mare to ground-churning stops. But it was the jumps that got the standing room only crowd on its feet as the little mare easily cleared three-foot jumps with room to spare.

McCabe played the field right as he came into the finals held at the Northwest Horse Fair in Albany, Ore., with just enough scores to get the mare into the final round. Early leaders Matt Zimmerman and Corrine Elser had already gotten the best from their horses in early go-rounds, with Zimmerman falling to sixth place in the finals, while Esler took fourth. It was McCabe's easy handling of Sally that won the judges and the crowd, as well, as the mare showed she had a lot left to give. Judge Ed Mayfield gave the pair a nine for both technical and artistic  merit, while judge Denny Jones got the crowd cheering with 10's for both categories.

"This was a fantastic finish to the event," said Kali Sublett, Mustang Heritage Foundation (MHF) event coordinator. "Sally and Laird were the last horses to compete and they did an

"Mustang Sally" and trainer, Laird McCabe, take their final bows to the standing room ownly crowd at the first  Northwest Extreme Mustang Makeover. ©Cyndie Planck

incredible job showing the crowd what great horses these mustangs can be."

Twenty eight of the Pacific Northwest's best horsemen and women competed in the event after having 90 days to gentle a wild horse they picked up in Hines, OR, December 5 and 6 to compete for a total of $7,500 in prize money.

The four and five year old mustangs, gathered in Oregon, were judged March 19 and 20 on conditioning, groundwork, and a "Horse Course" that requires maneuvers and includes obstacles found in trail and recreational riding situations. The top 10 competed in the finals March 21 with all horses placed for adoption immediately following the competition.

The high-adopting horse, ironically, did not qualify for the top 10 finals, but trainer Jani Mari Sigray-Cochran of Rogue River, Ore., had already earned a reputation as a good trainer having earlier competed in Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Race aboard a mustang. Her mustang, Cayuse, a brown gelding, was adopted for $5,000 by Mary Kulish of Eugene. Mustang Sally was adopted for $2,000 by Don Miller of Jefferson, Ore., while Rudy, a very stout black gelding who placed second in the competition with Dave Weeding aboard, was adopted for $3,500. A total of 28 horses were adopted for an average of $1,142.86.

"It's really not unusual for the high adopting mustang to be one from the 'field,'" said Sublett. "The people who come to adopt spend a lot of time in the barn area looking over the horses and talking to trainers and have already decided which horse they are interested in before the competition."

The purpose of the competition is to showcase the beauty, versatility, and trainability of these rugged horses that roam freely on public lands throughout the West, where they are protected by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under Federal law. The BLM periodically removes excess animals from the range to ensure herd health and protect rangeland resources. Thousands of removed animals are made available each year to the public for adoption.

 Top 10 Finalists at the First Northwest Extreme Mustang Makeover

Placing	Trainer's Name	City and State	Mustang's Name	Adoption Fee
1.	Laird McCabe	Yamhill, OR	Mustang Sally	$2,000.
2.	Dave Weeding	Pompeys Pillar, MT	Rudy	$3,500.
3.	Dave Bosen	Swan Lake, ID	Meg	$850.
4.	Corinne Elser	Burns, OR	Wild Horse Annie	$400.
5.	Kyle Churchill	Mill Creek, WA	Bella	$2,700.
6.	Matt Zimmerman	Adrian, OR	Dynamites Destiny	$1,500.
7.	Jasmine Ison	Seal Rock, OR	Weston	$2,000.
8.	Jackie Sigloh	Woodburn, OR	Kahlua	$725.
9.	Keith Danielson	Hooper, WA	Hooper Hannah	$175.
10.	Kevin Sink	McMinnville, OR	Safeara Warrior Princess	$1,650.

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