KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Anna Cook doesn’t have the typical 15-year-old pursuits. The home-schooled Keystone Heights sophomore has a very different goal she is looking to accomplish.

Cook has started a GoFundMe account, hoping to raise money for her goal of rescuing and training a wild mustang through the Mustang Heritage Foundation. She hopes to participate in either the Trainer Incentive Program or the Extreme Mustang Makeover.

“I started [riding horses] when I was about 5,” Cook said. “And then when I was about 12, I started getting more opportunities to ride and work with other people’s horses.”

Cook decided that she wanted to train wild mustangs because the Bureau of Land Management has set aside land it opens to wild mustangs. Every year, they have to pull a certain number of wild mustangs because only a certain amount is allowed to roam freely. Some mustangs have to be pulled and put into containment until they are taken by people who work with the Mustang Heritage Foundation. Eventually, the foundation helps these mustangs to get good homes.

The GoFundMe account Cook started hopes to raise funds to cover the expenses of traveling out of state to Graysville, Tenn., to work with her mentor, Grace Thompson.

“I’ll need money for the travel expenses. There’s fees for the mustang’s well-being,” said Cook. “While you’re training the mustang if any unexpected problems come up. Also, the money will go towards traveling fees for myself and for the horse. That can get expensive, especially when you have a horse trailer.”

According to Cook, the competitions are for selected adult and youth trainers who have about 120 days to gentle and train wild mustang. Currently there are 40,000 mustangs, many who are being held in overcrowded holding facilities, waiting for a home.

If everything goes according to plan, Cook will be getting to tame and train 1- or 2-year-old mustangs. They will be completely wild and won’t have been touched by a human. She will work to calm the animal and make herself and others trustworthy towards it. Cook will help it develop good “ground manners,” such as allowing itself it be touched and petted all over its body, as well as being led. Once those basics are mastered, she can begin training the mustang to be ridden with a saddle.

“It’s important to me to be able to enable her to do what she is passionate about,” said Elizabeth Cook, Anna’s mother. “I’m happy that she has the opportunity, and I want to do whatever I can to support that because this is definitely something that is close to her heart.”

Anna continues to work towards her passion. Her GoFundMe page can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-anna-train-a-wild-mustang-extreme-makeover.