The Mustang Discovery Ride began on the beaches of Delaware. From left are Hannah Catalino on Rosette, videographer Jacqueline Taylor on Phinneas and Lisanne Fear on Chileno. Credit DSC Photography
On a balmy day in late September, two girls mounted their mustangs in Delaware. It was the start of a 12-month, 5,000-mile ride across America, dubbed The Mustang Discovery Ride©. At various stops they’ll attend events set up to promote the Mustang. A film crew will document their hoofprints along the way.
While attending the Art of the Cowgirl Festival in Montana, Lisa Diersen - founder and director of Equus Film Fest – heard about two mustang trainers who were looking for help putting together a grand American adventure.
Hannah Catalino and Lisanne Fear, wanted to ride their mustangs across the United States, with a goal of getting 5,000 mustangs adopted. They’d already formed a nonprofit, but sponsorship, planning and implementation had become an overwhelming task. Diersen knew she could help, but she wanted to turn it into something bigger.
What if she had a team tag along to film the entire trip? A documentary film would continue to promote the cause even after the ride had ended.
Ever since they met - seven years ago at an Extreme Mustang Makeover in Idaho - 26-year-old Hannah and 28-year-old Lisanne had talked about doing something together.
“When Covid interrupted our lives, we thought it was a good time to do an American adventure,” Hannah said. “Initially, I was thinking we would do a north to south ride, like the Pacific Crest trail or the Continental Divide Trail. But I have Sickle Cell Trait – a disorder where I can’t be at extreme elevations, and these trails were two high. I told Lisanne to do it without me, but she said no. Then we found the American Discovery Trail, which runs east to west with flexibility to go off route if needed.”
The American Discovery Trail looked good to Lisanne. In fact, the pair are now pushing Congress to pass the National Discovery Trail Act - Bill H.R. 4878, making the ADT the first East to West National Trail.
“We knew from the start we wanted to ride for the mustangs,” she said. “I thought, 5,000 miles, with 5,000 mustangs adopted from holding pens, was a big goal, but even if we don’t reach 5,000 mustangs, every mustang that finds a home is a good thing.”
The pair will promote mustangs from the Trainer Incentive Program [TIP], part of the Mustang Heritage Foundation. Both girls train for the program, which is now their title sponsor.
In the program, trainers train the horses to lead, tie and load on a trailer, and then they are adopted at a base rate of $125, Lisanne said.
Hannah added more.
“We wanted to showcase and stress that you don’t have to adopt a totally wild mustang,” she said.
Diersen said the pair will end their ride just north of San Francisco, in wine country. Small documentaries will be made as they go.
“Many of our amazing Equus Film makers are on board from all over the country, and they will be joining us in different states,” Diersen said. “We’re going to be doing a coffee table book when it is over, with all the photographers who are joining us along the way.”
Diersen tasked director Julianne Neal with putting the footage together for the full documentary.
“[The filmmakers] are sending me all their footage and I will be the overall director for the whole thing,” said Neal. “Each [filmmaker] has their own style, so my dilemma will be to blend it all into one film but still preserve their individual styles.”
Neal said she loves storytelling.
“I am just getting to know the girls,” she said. “They each have their own story and so do each of the horses they’re bringing along. It’ll be about finding the little side stories, with the goal of adopting out these mustangs and finding the right homes for them. I am inspired!”
On September 26, the girls left behind the beach at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. The journey began with four American Mustangs and a curious wild-born molly Mulestang – set to cover 12 states in 12 months.
Hannah, who is from Whitehall, Montana, shared that the pair is traveling with their dogs, Phrya and Kayuh.
“It has not only been exciting, but also humbling to see it take on its own life,” she said. “Now it feels like we are just riding it out. It’s something bigger than we ever dreamed of, and I feel grateful and excited.”
Lisanne echoed those sentiments, then shared how it felt to close the door and leave her home in Pineville, Wyoming.
“It was hard to say goodbye to a job I loved, and my cats. I am such a homebody, so thinking about not going home for a year is terrifying but it’s also so exciting to be riding with my horses day in and day out. I am putting faith and trust into how it will go.”
A list of sponsors will provide food along the way. The girls will camp, but there are sponsors who have stepped forward to provide stalls for the horses, fresh showers and a place to crash, too.
“The longest trail ride I’ve done was 10 miles,” Hannah said. “This is pushing me out of my comfort zone and I’m kind of excited about that.”
Lisanne has never ridden for weeks on end, but she’s taken many long rides in the mountains and on the ranch where she grew up. She’s bringing along her horse Phineas for the videographer to ride.
“The mustangs are on the forefront but there’s also a level of personal discovery,” Hannah said. “It’s not just about the American Discovery trail. It’s also an American Discovery for us. Doing something like this that’s out of the box is good, and it’s shedding light on this lesser-known area of equestrian travel.”
Lisanne spoke of educating the public about American Mustangs.
“Everyone who is an American taxpayer owns these horses,” she said. “But they don’t know what the Mustangs are up against.”
Diersen laughed when she explained a virtual ride you can take.
“When we first started talking about this Mustang Discovery Ride, we spoke to a [Christina Hike] who runs the Endurance Horse Podcast in Wisconsin,” she said. “She started Warhorse Endurance Challenges when Covid hit. These are virtual rides. Those who sign up ride their horse at home and then log their miles online. They’ve created a 5000-mile mustang discovery trail ride online and already have 108 riders signed up. Riders pay a fee to participate. The girls get a $5 donation per rider from them. Everyone who does this ride will get their name on a plaque - one plaque will go to the Mustang Heritage Foundation and a second one will go the American Discovery Trail office in DC.”
The full schedule of stops and events is listed on the Equus Film Festival Page at www.equusfilmfestival.net.
“The reality is that the BLM has captured the horses and now they are standing in holding pens - more mustangs than you can imagine,” Diersen said. “The Mustang Heritage Foundation gets these horses out of holding pens. We are doing what we can do to get their stories out and to get those horses adopted to good homes and not on meat trucks.”
Follow the journey on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mustangdiscovery. Sign up for a virtual ride at www.warhorseendurance.com. Learn more at www.mustangdiscovery.com