Two mustangs have been honored with top industry awards – Bobby Kerr & Poncho won the PRCA’s Dress Act of the Year and Marsha Sapp & Cobra were named the U.S. Equestrian Federation Horse of the Year and Western Dressage World Champion.
Mustangs up for adoption
The Mustang Heritage Foundation is proud to have helped these mustangs find new homes and careers, and with over 43,813 mustangs in holding, placing mustangs in homes is more important than ever.
© 2017 by AWHPC
Bobby Kerr and his mustangs won the Dress Act of the Year at the PRCA’s annual awards banquet at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa’s Grand Ballroom on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
Kerr has been performing as part of the PRCA for four years with his highly trained horses and dog, showcasing the capabilities of mustangs. Kerr’s journey toward winning the Dress Act of the Year picked up steam in 2011, a few years before joining the PRCA, when he was voted Fan Favorite in the 2011 Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover and placed fourth on his horse Poncho and fifth on Lefty.
In 2013, Kerr placed second and third in the Mustang Million, and he and Poncho were guests on Good Morning America, promoting the NatGeo Wild mini-series Mustang Millionaire, where Kerr was a featured cast member.
In 2015, Kerr found himself nominated for the PRCA Specialty Act of the Year award, and was nominated again in 2016 when he was a specialty act at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER.
“The biggest thing is the trust and bond,” Kerr said. “Horses will do anything for me if I show them the right way.”
Marsha Sapp and her mustang Cobra won the 2017 U.S. Equestrian Federation Horse of the Year.
Mustang gelding Cobra has been beating the odds ever since he met a trainer willing to take a chance. Born in the wild in 2004 and gathered with his herd, Cobra was passed over three times for adoption, making him a "three strikes" mustang who would likely live out his life in a Bureau of Land Management facility.
His future changed when he was adopted by Marsha Hartford-Sapp for the 2010 Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover, a competition where trainers gentle and train mustangs in 100 days. After successfully competing in the Makeover, Marsha began training Cobra in dressage.
In 2013 they started competing in United States Dressage Federation (USDF) shows, and within six months they scored enough points for Marsha to earn USDF's Bronze and Silver Medals. Cobra was named U.S. Equestrian Federation Horse of the Year as well is the Western Dressage World Champion.
"Cobra came to us as part of the Extreme Mustang Makeover in 2010,” says Hartford-Sapp. "That year, trainers were allowed to select the horses they’d compete on. I saw a 15 second video clip of Cobra and then bid on him. He was six at the time and had never been touched by human hands.”
Cobra’s record in the traditional dressage arena is remarkable for any horse, and more so for one who was completely wild for the first six years of his life. Together, Marsha and Cobra competed at First, Second and Third level and obtained all the scores needed for Marsha to earn a United States Dressage Federation [USDF] Bronze Medal within a five-month period.
The Mustang Heritage Foundation is proud to have been involved in helping these mustangs find new homes and successful careers. With over 43,813 mustangs in holding the mission of placing mustangs into private care is now more important than ever.
2018 offers unique opportunities to become involved in the effort of bringing mustangs home through two scheduled Extreme Mustang Makeover events in Lexington, Kentucky and Fort Worth, Texas. Application deadlines to compete are coming up soon! To learn more go to extrememustangmakeover.com or mustangheritatefoundation.org
About the Mustang Heritage Foundation
The mission of the Mustang Heritage Foundation is to create and promote programs and activities that provide information and education about wild horses, elevate their image and desirability, provide opportunities to become involved in the wild horse experience and secure adequate numbers of caring homes for excess horses.
Working in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, the Mustang Heritage Foundation is passionate about the successful placement of mustangs into private care so future generations can enjoy this distinctive feature of our American heritage. The Mustang Heritage Foundation has placed over 9,400 mustangs into private care since 2007.