> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://barn-witch.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # To Move The Wind - URL: https://barn-witch.ghost.io/to-move-the-wind/ - Published: 2026-10-05T18:54:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-05T18:54:52.000Z - Author: Bethany Smith *\*Originally written on October 1st, 2026.* Yesterday I did something I've been agonizing over for a solid month. And while I'd love to tell you that everything is fine and resolved now, that's not exactly how I feel. I was honestly going to skip writing a post today- wait until everything felt more settled- but then I realized something: > I am always *waiting* to write. Waiting for it to be a "good time," or for such and such a circumstance to be "resolved" *so that I can write*. Well, today I say: "Enough of that!" I'm breaking that cycle and I'm writing in the middle of what feels like chaos. --- So, back to the story- I moved my beautiful horse Viento to a new barn yesterday. We moved him from a barn that is located forty minutes away from my house to a barn that is about fifteen minutes from my house. This seems like simple math, you'd think. However, a lot of factors went into this move that made it very challenging for everyone involved. You see, Viento is not your average beginner-friendly lesson horse. Granted, I realize now that I may have bitten off more than I could chew when I bought him. There is no point in worrying about that now, however. He is mine, now, and I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe and happy and healthy and *mine*. Viento is an American Mustang. He spent the first few years of his life running free in Nevada. He was originally gathered from the Snowstorm Mountains HMA by the BLM. Upon his initial adoption from the BLM he ended up in northeastern Ohio. By the time I entered the picture, however, he was located in Dayton, Ohio, which is about three and a half hours away from me. For months I had been scouring the internet looking for mustang trainers in Ohio who could teach me how to be a mustang trainer in my own right. While this may seem like an odd dream for someone with multiple Master's degrees in academic fields that have nothing to do with animal science, it made a kind of poetic sense that appealed to me. I had grown up watching the movies *Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron* and *The Silver Brumby* on a loop alongside my similarly horse-obsessed siblings. I had also worked as barn help in multiple barns for almost a year and a half and was desperately seeking a way to learn the ropes so I could climb the ladder and trade my pitchfork for a lunge whip. This is how I came to finally reach out to a trainer in Dayton whose advertisement I had stumbled upon on Instagram. She was offering free mustang training lessons with the purchase of one of her mustangs. At the time I did not expect to buy a horse, at all. Instead, I explained to her that I just wanted to learn and asked if she would be willing to teach me without my also buying the horse at the same time. She agreed, and I ended up taking lessons with her once a week, driving all the way down and all the way back just so I could finally learn how to train a mustang. The mustang I learned to train on, named Yeti at the time, was a gorgeous 16 hands tall cremello with a long flowing mane and beautiful blue eyes. I was smitten in seconds, as my dream horse growing up had fit this exact description. I worked with him weekly for a a while, the whole time dreaming about one day maybe taking him home with me. After a series of events led to the trainer seeking to sell Yeti, I convinced my husband that it would be a good idea to do a lease-to-own and purchase him that way. Meanwhile, we were also planning our destination elopement/wedding to Greece.... yes, my husband is a saint (Okay, actually he'd *hate* being called a saint... so, let's go with- Mega Man-style superhero). While we were in the process of paying off Yeti's lease-to-own agreement, it became clear that driving three and a half hours both ways to visit the horse I was leasing was not very sustainable. On a happy coincidence, we learned that one of the trainer's fellow mustang trainer friends had a farm closer to me, and she would be willing to move him there while we finished our payments. We ended up moving him there. Eventually, though, we did pay him off. Now, there is a lot to this story that I am purposefully leaving out for privacy's sake. Suffice it to say, I am a rather new (and chronically anxious) mustang-owner who ended up having to move her lightly-trained mustang to a new barn without much experience or outside help. Naturally, I was a nervous wreck throughout the entire process. It took maybe an hour and a half to two hours to get Yeti (now Viento) onto that trailer. While he's been trailered before, it was never a very routine experience for him as I don't own my own trailer and I was unable to borrow one to practice with. In my naivety, as I planned for moving day, I thought I'd be able to lure him on easily with food. Unfortunately, we had no such luck. Viento flat out refused to step into the trailer. Luckily, the owner of the new barn I moved him to had confidence, horse expertise, and patience- which we ended up needing every bit of to get him onboard. That was honestly the hardest part so far. Once we reached the new barn, Viento walked calmly into his new stall and started munching on the hay left for him. He handled the transition like a champion and I'm incredibly proud of him. I, however, cannot shake the feeling that I'm holding my breath waiting for the other horseshoe to fall. I think the feeling comes from knowing that I am inexperienced. It also comes from knowing that I could probably have benefited from buying a domestic horse before buying my mustang. While I cannot change the second thing, the first, I am realizing now, I 100% can. It will take time and effort and care, sure... but I can do it. Viento is not just a dream on the wind any longer, he is a real flesh-and-blood being who relies on me to feel safe and secure. > The least I can do is give him my all. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/12/9d/129df3fd-eb06-4563-9013-13a1ee7e979c/content/images/2026/10/Viento.JPEG) A wooly Viento in winter.