A Legacy in the Saddle: Three Riders, One Wild Beginning

Apr 21, 2026

For Joe and Jen Musicaro and their daughter Reagan, adopting a mustang wasn’t just about bringing home a horse, it was the beginning of a journey that would connect three riders through trust, training, and the remarkable potential of America’s wild horses.

Joe, a United States Navy combat veteran, did not grow up around horses. As a teenager in New York, he first encountered them while helping at therapeutic riding camps and farms on Long Island. Years later in 2017 while still serving on active duty in the Navy, Joe purchased his first farm and began developing his horsemanship skills.

Two years later he met Jen, a lifelong equestrian with more than 30 years of experience. Their shared passion for horses quickly brought them together, and Jen played a key role in helping Joe deepen his understanding of horsemanship, particularly when it came to starting young horses under saddle. In 2020, after ten years of military service, Joe made the decision to transition from the Navy and pursue a full-time career working with horses.

From left to right, Jen, Reagan and Joe Musicaro standing outside at the ranch. — Joe Musicaro looks on as Jen and Reagan Rose show off their buckles at the Maryland Mustang Mission show in 2025. They took home five buckles during their first three years working with mustangs.

Today, Joe and Jen own and operate Harmonia Equestrian in Suffolk, Virginia. Their partnership, both in life and in the arena, has always been closely intertwined. In fact, Joe proposed to Jen during a riding demonstration at the Kentucky Horse Park, a moment later featured in Sidelines Magazine, blending their shared love of horses with the beginning of their life together.

Their passion for training and developing young horses eventually led them to explore working with mustangs -- horses whose intelligence, resilience, and untapped potential offered a new kind of challenge and reward.

At Harmonia Equestrian, they specialize in starting young horses, gentling trauma cases, and developing horses to advanced levels of liberty and bridleless riding. Over the years, they focused on retraining former rodeo bucking horses, and even guided horses calmly through the bustle of Times Square for a Broadway movie premiere.

Curiosity Turned into Serious Consideration

“We thought these mustangs have got to be easier to train than these saddle broncs,” Joe said. “And then we started thinking… there’s no way a mustang will be easier because they’re wild!”

Curiosity ultimately won out. The couple made room, both physically and professionally, for something new. They rehomed several of their saddle broncs, keeping only those best suited for their trail and lesson program at Harmonia Equestrian, and shifted their focus toward mustangs.

“If we were going to try this, we wanted to do it right,” Joe said. “So, we signed up for a 100-Day TIP Challenge.”

Their first mustang, however, quickly showed them just how different the experience could be.

Despite weeks of effort and consultations with experienced mustang trainers, Joe realized the mare would not be ready for the challenge timeline. At about 60 days into the program, he had to make the difficult decision to withdraw her from the competition.

Rather than walk away, Joe asked if there was any way he could try again with another Mustang. With only about 40 days remaining, it seemed unlikely.

“Most people would have said ‘Wait until next year,’” Joe said. “But the challenge managers didn’t want our first mustang experience to end on a discouraging note. They agreed to give us another chance if we were willing to try.”

The couple then reached out to respected horsewoman Lindsay Partridge of Harmony Horsemanship in Canada, who encouraged them not to give up.

“She told us that every mustang is different,” Joe said. “She believed if we tried again, we’d have a very different experience.”

That encouragement, and the introduction to the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program changed everything. The next mustang they met would prove her right.

Woman on left and wild horse on right practicing Liberty tricks at sunset. — Jen Musicaro and Dove, a BLM wild mustang, practice Liberty tricks at Harmonia Equestrian in Suffolk, Virginia, in April 2026. Liberty work requires no physical connection between horse and handler -- no halter, no lead rope, no reins. For a once-wild mustang, rearing on cue with no restraints speaks to an extraordinary bond.

A Second Chance Named Turtle

Due to their time constraint, Joe and Jen drove from Virginia to Fall Creek Falls Equestrian Center in Pikeville, Tennessee to pick up their second mustang at a private adoption event -- a mare they named Turtle.

“From the very first day at pickup, Turtle was different,” Joe said. “She loaded sensibly. No chaos. No panic. It felt like a completely different world.”

They worked three times a day -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every interaction counted.

“The bond formed quickly, faster and deeper than anything I had experienced with a domestic horse,” Joe said. “Once the trust was there, she became a partner like I had never known.”

Forty days later, Turtle didn’t just show up, she won every class.

“Seeing the mind of a 40-day mustang -- a true clean slate -- changed everything for me,” Joe said. “No human trauma. No years of incorrect training to undo. Just a good mind, waiting for leadership and communication.”

That experience reshaped Joe and Jen’s understanding of horses, and they were hooked.

A woman on a horse jumping an obstacle during a bridleless cross-country competition. — Jen Musicaro and Dove during the 2024 Mustang Classic schooling bridleless cross country competition in Lexington, KY. “Schooling bridleless cross country” refers to a practice session where riders navigate arena cross-country obstacles, such as logs and brush jumps, typically up to 2' 3" without a bridle, often using only a neck rope. This highlights the mustang’s trust, training, and the rider's seat/leg communication, demonstrating their adaptability to English disciplines.

A Family Affair

Soon, Jen and their daughter Reagan wanted to try their hand at mustang competition.

“Training mustangs is more than a skill I learned; it’s a legacy passed down from my parents,” said Reagan Rose. “They showed me how to listen to a horse before asking it to listen to me. To then work as a team with a clear ‘herd’ leader and that leader is me. That consistency with clear guidelines creates comfort in the horse. It creates a trusting partner for the long run,” she said.

Jen found a particular connection in two mares she competed with in the Mustang Classic -- Dove and Pearl.

“The targeted goals and the way our training had to think outside the box from arena work to tricks, liberty, and freestyle performances, it was different than your normal starting a horse under saddle,” Jen said. “The journeys and bonds formed with both are incredible.”

After nine months of intense preparation and competition in venues including the Maryland Mustang Mission and Mustangs Classics in the Rolex Stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park, Dove and Pearl transitioned into a new role -- carrying beginner lesson students at Harmonia Equestrian.

“Both mares are now just five and six years old and pack around beginner kids like seasoned old pros,” Jen said. “I have the utmost respect for Dove and Pearl.”

From One Second Chance to National Stages

And from there, it went wild. Nineteen times wild, to be exact. What began as one second-chance adoption quickly evolved into national recognition.

In 2023, Joe was named Adult Champion of the Maryland Mustang Challenge, placing first in every class with a mustang he had owned for only one month and ten days. In 2024, he was invited to serve as a featured clinician at the Horse World Expo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, sharing his expertise as a feral horse specialist.

But competition has always been a family affair.

At the Expo, Jen and their daughter Reagan rode together, showcasing bareback and bridleless riding, which is a testament to the trust and communication they build with each mustang. Joe’s second mustang, Turtle, also took part in the performance, demonstrating liberty work and tricks alongside them.

In 2024, Jen and Reagan (just 14 years-old at the time) each earned titles at the Devils Garden Mustang Challenge -- Jen as Adult Champion and Reagan competing with a mare in foal. Jen also captured the Overall High Point Championship at the Maryland Mustang Mission Open Show.

Man in a red coat with a black top hat during a a nighttime theatrical show. — Joe Musicaro with Turtle performing in Theater Equus at the Horse World Expo in Harrisburg, PA. “Theater Equus” is a nighttime theatrical show featuring horses trick riding, and performing stunts, precision drills, and musical performances that showcase the athleticism, trust, and partnership between riders and their horses in a family-friendly entertainment setting.

For them, the wins matter but the partnership matters more.

“We adopted our first mustang in 2023, and that began our crazy adventure,” Jen said. “Now we’ve adopted 19. We have 40 horses total, and the mustangs have completely changed our program.”

Of the 19 mustangs the Musicaros have adopted, 14 came directly from Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro adoption events.

“Our experience adopting from the BLM has been wonderful,” Jen said. “Everyone in the mustang community, including the staff at BLM adoption events and shows, have been incredibly supportive and welcoming. At the Mustang Makeover events especially, the atmosphere is unlike any other shows we’ve attended. People don’t look at each other as competition. Instead, everyone genuinely wants to see each horse and trainer succeed.”

The journey of working with a wild horse is already a unique and rewarding experience, but Jen said that the people in the mustang community make it even more meaningful.

“Everyone is truly on the journey together, helping promote just how incredible these horses can be when they’re started with trust and good leadership,” she said. “The bond you build with a mustang is something truly special and unlike anything I’ve experienced with a domestic horse.”

Supporting Healthy Herds and Finding New Partners

The Musicaro’s story reflects the broader mission of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program, to protect and manage wild horses and burros on public lands while maintaining healthy rangelands for wildlife, livestock, and local communities.

Three images of three different horses at adoption events. — (Clockwise) Pearl, Xena, and Winter. These horses were adopted during the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse & Burro Adoption Event at Doswell, VA in June 2025.

Through the program, excess animals are humanely gathered from public lands where populations can exceed what the habitat can sustainably support. Those animals are then offered for adoption or purchase to qualified individuals and families who can provide good homes.

Each adoption or purchase plays a role in balancing herd health, preserving the long-term sustainability of public lands, and creating meaningful partnerships between people and America’s wild horses and burros.

For trainers like Joe and Jen, adoption is more than a competitive pathway, it’s a commitment.

“These horses are incredibly intelligent and adaptable,” Joe said. “When you give them consistency and leadership, they meet you halfway.”

Today, mustangs like Turtle, Dove, and Pearl are not only competitors, they're teachers, ambassadors, and trusted lesson horses helping introduce new riders to horsemanship.

And in that way, the journey from wild range to riding arena becomes something even bigger: a shared investment in the future of America’s public lands and the animals that call them home.

And for Jen, Joe, and Reagan Rose, they continue to train, compete, and integrate mustangs into their lesson and trail programs, proving that with patience, consistency, and clear leadership, a wild horse can become a willing partner.

And it all started with one second chance.