Photo of Vixen BarneyVixen Barney keeps a firm hold on the reins of Chance, a mustang she gentled and saddle broke for the Extreme Mustang Makeover, as she talks with a television reporter. On board are Barney's children, Jalyn and Destiny.

Local horse trainer Vixen Barney placed 25 in a field of 100 finalists at the National Heritage Foundation Extreme Mustang Makeover competition with her 3-year-old mustang, Chance.

The purpose of the competition was to demonstrate that wild mustangs, with proper training, can make excellent domestic horses. The day after the competition, all trainers were required to put their horses up for public auction, in which some of the horses sold for thousands of dollars.

In the contest, held in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 22 and 23, Barney and Chance placed 16th in conditioning and 14th in groundwork.

Barney, who runs Dun the Barney Way Horse Training, Leasing and Lessons facility in Enterprise, traveled to Fallon, Nevada, last June to enter the contest. Out of several hundred hopefuls, 100 horse trainers from around the country were chosen to compete; Vixen was one of just two chosen from Oregon. Each trainer was given a wild mustang, plucked fresh from the lands of the Bureau of Land Management, to work with for just 100 days before having to trailer the horse to Fort Worth to compete in the areas of conditioning, groundwork and riding a complex pattern.

“It was a huge honor just to be chosen and I was thrilled to finish in the top 25,” said Vixen, who with husband Ryan and children Jalyn and Destiny, made the drive to Fort Worth. “I wasn’t nervous, because there were so many amazing trainers there and I knew I was coming in from behind.”

The high level of competition showed in the panel of celebrity judges: J.D. Yates, a member of the Cowboy Hall of Fame who has his own TV show; Bob Moorehouse, one of the cowboys responsible for getting reining into the Olympics; Susie Jean, a legendary breeder of famous western pleasure horses; and 2007 Road to the Horse winner and nationally recognized trainer Chris Cox.

Competitors were equally qualified, and included top cowboys from the PCRA, and other title-holders in cutting, reining, and dressage.

Adding to the challenge was that Vixen competed with a back injury sustained in a fall while working with Chance.

Still not fully healed, the injury affected her ability to work with Chance in the final 30 days of the competition.

Despite the injury, she fell in love with the animal.

“I had shed many tears, especially the last week of our training time together, thinking that I had to say good-bye to this horse,” said Vixen.

“I didn’t even want to leave Wallowa County, thinking I wouldn’t be coming home with him.”

That all changed on auction day. Ryan’s brother offered to buy the horse for the Barneys, and Chance is now safe at home with Vixen and family, ready for more rides.