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Overcast Michael Kefer realizes dream of rescuing wild mustangs
As a child, Wantagh native Michael Kefer often dreamed about rescuing and training wild mustangs — and he’s been one of the few to actually make those ambitions come true.
Kefer, who goes by the nickname Cowboy, is the owner of Black Crow Mustangs, a horse rehabilitation farm in upstate New Paltz. Kefer had been building horse fences for farms upstate before he saw the opportunity to open his own horse farm two years ago.
“I’ve wanted to rescue wild mustangs ever since I was a kid,” Kefer said. “And as I got older, I just kept pushing it off and pushing it off.”
Kefer’s love of horses at a young age started here on Long Island. He grew up in Wantagh and attended Wantagh Elementary School and Wantagh Middle School.
His father had owned Mike’s Firehouse Pizza in Seaford for many years, so Kefer was connected to both Wantagh and Seaford.
As a youth, he loved riding his bike to Jones Beach along Merrick Road, and said that when he was growing up, bridge jumping was a big thing in the area.
“Every bridge that we crossed, we’d jump off real quick, then climb back up,” Kefer said, referring to the many small bridges that exist in Jones Beach State Park.
“That’s probably what spurred my interest in taming wild mustangs, because I’m still crazy apparently.”
Everything changed, however, when his parents sold the pizzeria in Seaford and moved the family upstate.
“We moved upstate right before I started high school,” Kefer said. “So that was rough — a bit of culture shock.”
The move upstate was obviously difficult for a Long Islander like Kefer, but his saving grace was that he had been riding horses on Long Island as well.
“I had been going to the Babylon Riding Academy since I was five,” Kefer said. “So when we moved upstate and my parents got the 100-acre horse farm, being around the horses made the transition easier.”
Kefer had made a living building horse fences, but when both Covid-19 and personal tragedy struck, he decided to pursue his dream.
“One of my good friends died of cancer,” Kefer said. “And another good friend was diagnosed with cancer, so I said to myself that if I didn’t do it now, I’d never do it.”
Kefer sold his fencing business and opened Black Crow Mustangs, starting his dream work of taming wild horses. Most of the horses come from Nevada and have never even seen humans before, he said.
“It’s like trying to tame a 1,000-pound deer on crack,” he joked.
Many of the horses he rescues are wild and waiting to go to the slaughterhouse. Some wild mustangs are tamed and sent to good homes, but others are not, according to Kefer.
That means there is a great deal of danger handling these horses, because they are large and powerful animals. But Kefer said he is patient and works to gain their trust over time with a variety of small exercises. Once they have been perfectly tamed, in a process that usually takes about six months, Kefer then sends them to loving homes, where they can live out good lives.
Kefer started this business in 2020, but it really took off when an unfortunate incident turned into Black Crow’s big break.
“I was riding my personal horse down the street in New Paltz,” Kefer said. “And he had an accident in the street, which I cleaned up right away. But people were, of course, complaining about the smell, and talking about it. But I tell you what — it brought attention to my business.”
Since that incident, Black Crow Mustangs has grown in popularity, with local newspapers upstate reporting it. Kefer has even been able to sell some apparel.
Since available land out West is decreasing for wild horses, Kefer said he feels he’s doing good work by saving the lives of these horses through his business.
Kefer said he’s too busy to visit his home area of Wantagh and Seaford, but he wishes he could.
“I still have family in Seaford,” he said. “And they’re very involved in the community. I wish had the time to come down more often.”
Whenever his Long Island family visits him, Kefer said he demands a bagel and some potato salad from Otto’s Deli in Wantagh. He said he also misses Jones Beach, despite having fully adjusted to life upstate.
