KINDRED (AP) - At first glance, 3-year-old Johnny Ringo seems to be the gentlest of a dozen horses on Tate Eck's ranch.

Keeping his docile brown eyes on his trainer, the small bay gelding patiently takes a metal bit into his mouth and then breaks into an easy canter, as if he'd been doing it all his life.

But Johnny is the least domesticated horse on Eck's small ranch at least, in technical terms. The wild mustang only has been in the state since June, and up until 2005 he was roaming free on the hills of Nevada.

Though the mustang already seems tame, Eck says more work to be done in the three weeks left before he competes with Johnny for a $12,500 prize as part of a television "Extreme Mustang Makeover" challenge.

"A young colt is like a kindergartner," Eck said. "Its mind is like a sponge, but without the proper trainer it turns to mush."

Eck, an equine science lecturer at North Dakota State University, is the only North Dakota trainer among the 199 trainers asked to participate. They each have had 100 days to break and train a wild mustang before they must bring it to Fort Worth, Texas in mid-September to strut their stuff. The Extreme Mustang Makeover will air Sept. 18-21 on "The Horse Show" on RFD-TV, which bills itself as "rural America's most important network."

The competition aims to increase awareness and adoptions of wild mustangs. There are about 30,000 wild horses in holding or on public land, and it's hard to find unbroken horses a home, said Kali Sublett, the challenge's event manager.

The booming population means horses will have to be euthanized if they aren't adopted, Eck said. He hopes the competition will increase interest in the mustang population. For him, nothing beats owning a horse.

"Once you get on a horse, it's like a drug," he said. "Nothing's better than a horse, and that's a fact."

Before Johnny Ringo, the 36-year-old had never trained or ridden a wild mustang, although he's been breaking horses for half his life. And though the mustang is willing to be ridden now, it was only weeks ago that he was bucking when a saddle was put on him.

The mustang is just over 4 feet tall, although he is nearly full grown. Eck playfully calls him "midget," and says he's the smallest horse he's ever rode.

At the end of the competition, all the horses will be auctioned, and their trainers will get 20 percent of the sale. Eck says he's going to cater Johnny Ringo to older women and children as a trail horse.

"He's so kind and quiet," he said. "He's going to be their buddy that they're going to love to death."