Deaf Mustang Wins Global Title for Grand Valley Horse Rescue

The December air in Mesa County bites at your exposed skin, but inside the training arena of Grand Valley Horse Rescue, the temperature is different. It’s warm here, charged with the quiet intensity of a 15-year-old mare who can’t hear the wind and an 8-year-old girl who doesn’t need to. Renata, a Little Book Cliffs mustang mare, stands still, her eyes fixed on Remy’s hands. There is no shouting, no clicking tongue. Just a subtle shift of the wrist, and Renata moves.

This is not exactly how the story was supposed to go. When Renata first arrived at the rescue on May 1, 2022, during the inaugural Western Slope Equine Assist Weekend, she was adopted by a family within a month. Three years later, that adoption fell apart. Training difficulties led to her return in July 2025. It was then, according to Western Slope Now (KREX), that staff discovered the mare was deaf.

The discovery changed everything. Trainers scrapped verbal cues and switched to hand signals. Renata, who had been difficult to train before, learned the new language quickly. She became more outgoing. More eager. And that matters because it opened a door for Remy, who enrolled in the facility’s horsemanship program just four months after Renata’s return.

Within six weeks of meeting, the pair completed their first agility course on Dec. 24, 2025. By the time the International Horse Agility Club’s Summer of Sports Junior Class concluded, they had won it.

The competition is global, not local. The club is based in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. Each month, they issue course layouts that rescue staff build on-site in Colorado. They practice throughout the month and submit a recorded video to YouTube for judging. It’s a long-distance partnership, but the bond between handler and horse is immediate and physical. Remy and Renata are now on track for the annual Zyta’s Legacy Award, which goes to entrants who compete in every monthly contest. Fewer than 7% of participants win it.

Colorado is home to four wild horse herd management areas, including the Little Book Cliffs where Renata originated. The rescue currently cares for three other mares from that herd, all between ages 14 and 16, undergoing saddle gentling. It’s slow work. Saddle gentling older mustangs requires significant time, patience, and funding.

That last part is the piece everyone skips past. Grand Valley Horse Rescue is currently facing severe financial difficulties. The organization requires public donations to remain operational and continue Renata’s training. Without them, the hand signals stop. The videos don’t get uploaded to YouTube in Gloucestershire. The award disappears into the 93% of participants who didn’t make it through the year.

Renata’s journey from a failed adoption to an international title is a triumph of adaptation, but it rests on a fragile foundation. The mare who couldn’t hear the world is now listening to her handler’s hands, and she’s winning. But the rescue that made it possible is running on fumes.

The arena lights dim as the day’s work ends. Renata stands in her stall, head low, ears swiveling toward a sound she can’t hear. Remy is gone, home for the night. The only thing left in the building is the mare, waiting for a hand signal that might not come if the bills don’t get paid.