Starting Under Saddle

Horses are intuitive and masters of their own will. It takes dedication and inventiveness to break a wild horse. For LAURYN ZEPEDA, a Mustang named Gringo was her “breaking” point. A self-taught rider, she grew up around horses on her family’s farm in Bolivia. At nineteen, she began training horses, entering trail obstacle competitions, and purchasing her first horse trailer a year later.  

Through the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, which manages, protects, and offers adoption of the excess Mustang population, Zepeda adopted Gringo in 2013.   

“I hit a wall with this horse; he was scared of everything,” she says. “That’s when the journey began. I decided to go with clicker training, and it was a major breakthrough.” 

Not common in the equine world, Zepeda learned clicker training through reading, online research, and YouTube tutorials. It involves positive reinforcement in tandem with a mechanical sound signaling the exact moment the animal performs the desired command. 

“It took a couple of months before we had real breakthroughs. My original goal wasn’t to teach tricks; it was to build his confidence,” she explains. “I started with targeting, encouraging him to voluntarily touch objects he found intimidating and rewarding him when he did. Because he was naturally fearful, this gave him the confidence to explore new things on his own instead of feeling pressured.”   

Gringo’s fears were replaced with tricks and games. He could bow, sit, smile, and eventually, stand on a pedestal while tossing hula hoops over his head. Zepeda included the liberty training method, where Gringo was essentially naked, no ropes or bridles, which she notes as a byproduct of their clicker training. 

When Zepeda was showing a newly trained Gringo at competitions, she would pass the time practicing their tricks. This captured attendees’ attention, leading to her own dedicated performances and a contract with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture to perform at the Got to Be NC Festival each May. Her stables and performances have only grown. 

In addition to Gringo, Zepeda has three Friesians. “One is an older stallion that I don’t perform with, and my two geldings are my performance horses,” she says. “Darik travels and performs alongside Gringo. Pancho is my newest addition. Although he hasn’t made his public performance debut yet, he’s participated in many photo shoots. One of his signature tricks is sitting in a chair, which makes him a favorite for princess-themed tea party sessions.” 

In early 2027, she will be opening her 40-acre farm called The Branch. What will essentially be her “office” is a new location for demonstrations, training clinics, photoshoots, performances, private events, and eventually, equine-assisted therapy. 

When Zepeda hosts homeschool and vacation Bible school groups, she incorporates her children’s book, A Little Appy Named Happy, into her performance. The book is inspired by and written for her children. 

“I went to school for graphic design and did all of the (book’s) illustrations on the computer. I wanted to capture stories or the likeness of our life here and give my kids something they can grow up with,” she says. 

She is currently working on her second book, Go Gringo Go, based on her and Gringo’s recent accomplishment – breaking the Guinness World Record for the most tricks performed by a horse in three minutes. 

Zepeda applied to break this very record years ago, but her application was rejected with no answer as to why. She didn’t let this deter her, reapplying last September. What followed included several months of training for both Zepeda and Gringo. She was required to send a list of tricks alongside video documentation to professionals who analyzed the footage. After initial approval, Zepeda had to break the record several times before Guinness sent an in-person witness. 

This March, when it came time to officially break the record, a celebration party was required with community individuals of high standing in attendance. The attempt was verified by two local timekeepers and a veterinarian. Zepeda and Gringo beat the record on the first attempt, performing thirty-eight tricks in 2 minutes and 47 seconds. 

“I was almost like, what did I get myself into? Now, it’s a great story. I felt like it wasn’t real when I originally applied for it. Then, there’s a date, and there’s things happening,” she says. “Something that was really interesting to me was that I was doing interviews two days after I broke the record. I would see news articles in Vietnam, the Philippines, France, and Russia.” 

Newfound international reach inspired her to make her social media profiles public, showcasing her alternative training methods and advocacy for animal welfare. To break the record, Gringo was not allowed to have ropes or bridles, and Zepeda was not allowed to touch him, either. Although liberty training was second-nature, solely relying on verbal or hand cues for tricks prompted her to dig deeper. 

“I really had to up my game; it took me a couple of months to do that, but I’m happy Guinness pushed me to do so,” she says. “In the long run, as far as exposure, it’s helped people see this horse was doing these things on his own free will, and now people can see the possibilities in positive reinforcement.” 

To view more of photographer Madeline Gray’s work, go to madelinegrayphoto.com.

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