For $125 you can get a wild horse from the Bureau of Land Management and try and train it. That’s what I did this spring. Bua’a (“friend” in Paiute) is a three-year-old mustang from the Beatys Butte wild herd of southeastern Oregon. Boo, as I call him, has a kind, curious eye but he doesn’t trust humans – so far, we’ve brought him mostly pain. No matter how you feel about them, mustangs are a powerful symbol of what it means to be American – and Western. To be “of” the open spaces and big sky country. To be survivors and roamers. Over the next 8 episodes, Boo and I will explore the complex human, cultural, economic and environmental issues that surround mustangs today – as we embark on our own journey of training and trust.
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Latest episodes
Showing 9 · updated from the feed
8. The Sundance: From deep history, a way forward
Dr. Yvette Running Horse Collin is a Lakota scientist who studies the history of Native Americans and horses. Through her research, she is challenging the dominant narrat
Dec 6 2023 28 min
7. Mustang: Mutt of the West
Mustang genes are like those of our country: mixed and mingled, influenced by wave after wave of immigration. Mainstream science tells us the modern-day mustang is descen
Nov 29 2023 23 min
6. Training horses, healing humans
Stefanie Skidmore runs Wild Horse Outreach and Advocacy, a nonprofit where she trains and rehomes troubled mustangs. She believes even the toughest mustangs can have prod
Nov 22 2023 27 min
5. The Cowboy and the Mustang
For some ranchers, mustangs are seen as trash horses that litter the range, taking much-needed grass from cattle and destroying expensive fencing and water infrastructure
Nov 15 2023 20 min
4. Native Mustang Management
Native American Nations across the West have long revered the horse as a cultural symbol as well as a weapon of resistance to conquest by European settlers. Today, thousa
Nov 8 2023 26 min
3. “Cruel and Unnecessary”
The BLM often uses helicopters to round up wild horses and get them off the open range. The images and videos are hard to watch: groups of horses racing through the sageb
Nov 1 2023 27 min
2: Feral Equids, Ecological “Crisis”
The Bureau of Land Management estimates that western ecosystems can support about 30,000 wild horses. The problem? There’s almost triple that. And that number rises by 10
Oct 25 2023 30 min
1: The Mustang/The Myth
For $125 the federal government will sell you a wild horse. So, that’s what Ashley Ahearn did – she bought a mustang from Oregon. What could go wrong? Wild horses have lo
Oct 25 2023 21 min
Trailer
For $125 the federal government will sell you a wild horse. When I met my mustang he was skinny and he was scared. The government says western ecosystems can support abou
Oct 9 2023 2 min
Chart trend
Position in the Nature chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#99#197JulAugSep
#53
all-time peak
60
days in the top 100 since Nov 2024
Chart positions
Where Mustang ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 30, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
Loved the storytelling ability, the information from several different sources and joining the journey with her personal mustang relationship. Only complaint, there weren’t more episodes, left me hungry for more!
JmKaylarhr17 · Apr 2025
This is one of the best podcasts of 2023. Ashley Ahearn is a gifted storyteller (full disclosure: Ashley is a former colleague of mine). “Mustang” is more than just a wonderful narrative; it is deeply reported, journalistically balanced, and the kind of story that could only be told this well by someone like Ashley — someone with a genuine heart for the mustangs at the center of this tale.
orygun dad · Dec 2023
My daughter wants to adopt a mustang for her senior project so when I heard about this podcast from another podcast, I wanted to listen right away. So far it’s very informative about the plight of wild horses and their environment.
I only wish I had heard about it later so I could binge the whole series 😁
Rebamommyto2 · Oct 2023
Beautiful podcast. Informational, captivating, and wonderfully done.
Sraff94 · Sep 2024
Last two episodes are more about indigenous peoples experience and generally the policies that have been created against them. The podcast moves strongly away from an analytical view wild horses and their ecological and cultural effect. They frame it that it’s following those issues but they only use indigenous sources (and literally one or two people) without contrasting it with independent views. I don’t say this to say it’s wrong, unfounded, or not worth listening to. Instead I point it out to let you as the listener know the latter half of the podcast is more focused on very commonly dug liberal scripts and less on what information the average American can use to develop an opinion on this important issue. I feel this because listening to the last part; all I could walk away with is American is bad or colonizers ruined everything. Ok? Besides feeling bad, what do you want me to do? It’s an emotional plea not actionable information.
Hfcvffhh · Jul 2024
The fact that this show doesn’t explicitly go into the negative effects of FERAL horses on the environment is ridiculous. The show is one-sided and actively avoids actually talking with ecologists and biologists about the ramifications of NOT managing feral horse populations.
steeliechromechaser · Jan 2024
We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.
Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Mustang, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
