The term “saddle sore” will soon take on a new meaning for 23-year-old Jake Harvath. He’s the horse trainer at Sage Creek Equestrian in Charleston. On Sept. 25, he will embark on a grand adventure he calls the Year of the Mustang.
“It’s an over 7,000-mile journey that will travel 30 states with me and my three [wild] horses completely ridden," he said. "It will be the longest continuous horseback journey ever done within the expanse of one year.”
Harvath is making the cross-country trek to educate Americans about mustangs.
The Bureau of Land Management manages and protects wild horses and burros on 27 million acres of public lands across 10 Western states.
But Harvath said the animals’ habitat is shrinking because of human overpopulation. As a result, the BLM has placed more than 50,000 mustangs in government holding pens all over the west.
Harvath is also passionate about training mustangs with the eventual goal of adoption.
“It's no different than them being in the pen with an animal like a deer or elk," he said. "They see you as a predator. You are starting from wild and you are going to something that has to trust you enough to ride and work with. The things I’ve overcome and had to learn in order to be successful with them has definitely changed me as a person.”
He and his three mustangs Bella, Denver and Eddie will travel on backcountry trails, the side of the highway and country roads. He has mapped out where to resupply and camp on public lands. He plans to take one to two days off a week.
Harvath said they will clear the Rocky Mountains before the snow flies and head south for the winter, eventually returning home to Heber.
He hopes the trip showcases the mustangs’ usefulness to the American public.
“One of my main goals is to spread awareness and get where we can raise a percentage to donate to the Save the Mustang fund that the Wild Horse and Burro Program has," he said. "The other goal would just be to educate people using my platforms on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.”
He said he gets a range of reactions when he tells people about his journey. His family, though initially shocked, has become his greatest support in helping him realize his dream.
“For years, I thought I was going to be making an outcast of myself," he said. "But it's been so inspiring and uplifting to see how many people come out wanting to support me–friends, family, complete strangers. Just how many people are becoming invested in this.”
Enough people, he hopes, to make a difference in the lives of America’s wild horses.
