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NEVADA STATE OFFICE NO. 2003-58

FOR RELEASE: July 9, 2003

CONTACT: Maxine Shane at 775-861-6586, or Phillip Guerrero at
702-498-6088

**World Champion to Attend Western States Wild Horse and Burro Expo in
Reno**

RENO \-- Four minutes. Five judges. Zero mistakes. One World
Championship. It may sound easy but the road to victory was laced with
potholes. So says the World Champion in Western Riding.

Matt and Pam Fournier are bringing their horse, Steen's Vaquero, to the
Western States Wild Horse and Burro Expo July 18-20 at the Reno
Livestock Events Center.

Steen's Vaquero, or Cowboy, is a six-year-old Kiger mustang stallion
from Bend, Oregon. Cowboy and Matt earned the World Championship in
Western Riding July 25, 2002, at the American Buckskin Registry
Association (ABRA) World Show competition in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

It had always been Pam's dream to take a wild horse and compete with
established domestic breeds. It had always been Matt's dream to win a
World Championship. Five years ago fate put them together and married
their dreams into one. Pam had to convince Matt to adopt and train a
wild horse for competition. It's a day Matt doesn't regret.

Both Pam and Matt have been in the horse training arena their entire
lives. Now they own a 20-acre ranch near Bend, where they train both
wild and domestic horses. Together they have adopted 25 wild horses and
burros.

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WORLD CHAMPION TO ATTEND WESTEN STATES WH&B EXPO IN RENO -- 2222

"The burros make great pets," Pam said. "They also make a great alarm
clock, especially when you are late on chores."

The Fourniers say most wild horses can be pretty challenging to gentle,
especially when they are over two years old, but the Kiger is one of the
toughest of all. "Cowboy still retains a lot of his wildness, which is,
incidentally one of the things we like most about him," Pam says.

"If we turned him loose, he would probably go back to his wild ways
immediately. He likes us and is a pretty happy horse but I don't think
he would even look back," Pam said.

The couple believes Cowboy may be the only wild mustang to ever win a
world championship.

"The bias in the breeds is pretty intimidating," Pam explained. "When we
first went to the world championships we purposely covered up Cowboy's
freeze brand with his mane. We were afraid the judges would avoid
placing Cowboy if they recognized that he was a mustang. We were
pleasantly surprised to find that in the ABRA this was not the case. It
wasn't long before everyone there knew about him and it really didn't
seem to matter."

"People in the audience would say things like, 'There's that grulla
horse again, I love that bloodline,' which was kind of amusing because
obviously no one knows the mustang's bloodline," Pam explained. "People
kept asking 'what is this horse?' When I would say he is a mustang, they
would say 'no way,' and we would just show them the freeze brand."

But Cowboy didn't always look so great. When he came off the Riddle Herd
Management Area in Oregon, Cowboy was a lean two-year-old colt with long
legs and a short mane. After the Fourniers put him to work, Cowboy began
to fill out with muscles.

"He has a long, thick, black tail, a beautiful mane, a pretty head and
big eyes," Pam said.

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WORLD CHAMPION TO ATTEND WESTEN STATES WH&B EXPO IN RENO -- 3333

Cowboy is a natural at Western Riding with a flat gait, keeping his feet
low to the ground, and he loves to change leads.

"In the pasture at our place he shows off the animation of a wild horse,
but at the show he's a great mover with a smooth, flat kneed lope," she
says. "Most mustangs are trotting machines. It's their natural tendency
and the most efficient and safest gait in the wild."

The Fourniers hope Cowboy's success will help the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) with mustang adoptions. Adopted in 1999, under a
competitive bid process, Cowboy was one of a handful of Kiger mustangs
available that day.

The BLM Nevada sponsors a wild horse and burro adoption in conjunction
with the Western States Wild Horse and Burro Expo July 20, in Reno. The
BLM Oregon will hold the next Kiger adoption October 23-25 this year in
Burns, Oregon.

Matt has trained hundreds of horses in his career as a horse trainer,
but none as tough to gentle as Cowboy.

"Cowboy was a very challenging horse to gentle," Pam recalls. "He would
put his head to the fence and kick like a mule. None of the usual wild
horse gentling techniques seemed to work. Matt put a ton of time into
training him."

But the Fourniers agree that all that time and effort has definitely
paid off.

"He's worth every second," Pam says. "It took months of work just to
touch him without scaring him out of his skin. Kicking was his defense
to stay alive in the wild and his way of dealing with things that scared
him."

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WORLD CHAMPION TO ATTEND WESTERN STATES WH&B EXPO IN RENO -- 4444

Now Pam says Cowboy is the safest trail horse they own and a real
gentleman of a stallion with an extremely kind, gentle and quiet
disposition.

"He used to be so froggy, now you could put your grandmother on him,"
she says. "We use Cowboy for everything." Matt and Pam believe that if
you don't give a stallion enough to do, they get bored which causes all
kinds of unwelcome behaviors.

The Fourniers have won 15 buckles with Cowboy.

"He rarely has an off day at a show and has been extremely successful in
the showring. As is true with most mustangs, Cowboy seems to be very
adaptable, taking everything in stride. He also really seems to enjoy
making public appearances and is quite a ham when he performs. He
particularly likes women, probably because they are gentler in their
approach to him." Pam explained. "We will continue to look for other
talented mustangs that we can compete on with the other breeds, but
Cowboy is a pretty special horse and a hard act to follow."

The couple believes adopting a wild horse is a great place for the
average horse enthusiasts to begin.

"Mustangs are very affordable, and if you need a horse trainer to help
with the process of gentling and training, you don't have so much money
in the horse to begin with that you can't afford professional help," Pam
says. "Most people are looking for a good trail riding horse and a
buddy. The mustang is the best trail riding horse in the world and with
a little time, effort and care the mustang can be a very dependable and
durable mount."

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EDITORS: To contact Matt and Pam Fournier, call 541-330-8722

BLM has digital photos available to support this story. Call the
"contact numbers" listed above for photos.

EDITOR'S NOTE: BLM Nevada offers wild horses and burros for adoption
July 20 at the Reno Livestock Events Center. For adoption information go
to
[www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov](http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/)
or call 1-866-4-MUSTANGS. BLM has prepared a series of news releases
geared to the adoption and the first Western States Wild Horse and Burro
Expo which is being run in conjunction with the wild horse adoption. The
celebration of the wild horse begins at 6 p.m. Friday, July 18. It is
free and open to the public. Go to
[www.wildhorseandburroexpo.com](http://www.wildhorseandburroexpo.com/)
for more information on the show and expo.