We Ride Sport and Trail Magazine February 2018 | Page 19

In 2014, Gary Peterson lost his life to Ataxia. Leaving behind a desire in his son to live life courageously, like his father.

To honor Gary Peterson, Trent Peterson, along with his 3 adopted mustangs riding north along the PCT, a 2,659-mile-long trail stretching from Mexico to Canada, in the summer 2017. Trent rides to raise awareness and money for the ataxia foundation which funds research projects to one day stop the hereditary disease. To complete this ride, Trent will use Mustangs

adopted, gentled and trained by himself. In doing so, he hopes to

raise awareness for the challenges our wild horses face both

in the wild and in holding facilities.

In order to live courageously and honor the life and

opportunities that Ataxia took from Gary, Trent turns

to the mountains and the mustangs. He will go

back to when life wasn’t as plush and so

domesticated; when life didn’t exist in the

borders of a fence line but ran wild

across the harsh, unforgiving West. He

rides to give hope to those who need

some, to give a voice to those who

have none and to educate along

the way. He rides for Gary, he rides

for the Mustangs, and he rides for

the wild in us all.