Branded Bonanza Idaho is Off to the Races!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 7 years, you know that Mustang Mania had evolved to one of the premier TIP Challenges in the country. Growing tenfold each year and with record numbers of return competitors, Mustang Mania not only produced amazing horses and burros, but also better horsemen and women. In 2023 alone, this event was responsible for nearly 250 successful adoptions!

One of the many things that made this event such a success over the years was the dedication of its hosts, Matt and Stacie Zimmerman, to the individual success of each horse and trainer pairing. They both personally saw to helping trainers overcome their challenges and better their horsemanship throughout the competition, resulting in a truly profound experience for both animal and competitor. Along with that, their attention to detail and going above and beyond to ensure that every single competitor had FUN while in their care, led to a flawlessly executed event that brought in the crowds and created community.

And 2024 is shaping up to be no different.

Just before Christmas, our team had a call to make – to resurrect Mustang Mania in 2024 or revisit the idea in 2025 and potentially lose some of the momentum Matt and Stacie had worked so hard to develop over the last 7 years. Well, we jumped. With TIP Challenges a thing of the past and with Matt and Stacie coming on board as part of the Forever Branded family, we decided a name change was an order.

And thus, Branded Bonanza was born.

As a collective, when we formed Forever Branded, we knew we wanted to keep some semblance of the mustang and burro events of old but really shift the focus and dial in on the community aspect. This was such a large part of what Matt and Stacie built in Mustang Mania, it only made sense to build on their model and start our journey back in Idaho for 2024.

If you want flash and fancy out of your wild horse training events, Branded Bonanza ain’t for you. Our main goal is to ensure the long-term success of the adopted horses and burros in their new domestic lives. We welcome the first timers, the beginner horsemen and women, and seasoned trainers alike. Come one, come all. That’s the great thing about wild horses and burros – they level the playing field. And, as always, the community that Matt and Stacie built is there with bells on just waiting to help each competitor through the tough days and celebrate their wins.

Branded Bonanza Idaho applications opened on February 2, 2024, and closed March 5, 2024. On March 8-9, 96 animals left the Boise Corrals for their new lives. You read that right – in just over 30 days, almost 100 animals were adopted for this event. Can you imagine the impact we could’ve made with a little more time?!

These horses and burros have been in training for just a few weeks as of this writing and we encourage you to follow along with their progress and help us celebrate these dedicated competitors in their journey (we have a lot of newbies!). If you haven’t already, please join the Branded Bonanza Idaho Facebook group and share your support for these amazing people and animals.

If you happen to be in the Nampa, ID area in late June, we invite you to join us for Branded Bonanza Idaho on June 28-30, 2024, at the Ford Idaho Center. Many of the horses and burros you see in training will be available for reassignment at the event if you’re in the market (and let’s face it…who isn’t?!).

This event is a BIG lift for a fairly new organization, and we will need your support to make it come together. If you would like to help us bring Branded Bonanza to life, please visit our support page for details on how to donate. You may also reach out to us via email.

Official event details can be found on Facebook or on our website.