Has anyone adopted a wild mustang ?

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Hi I have just started looking into adopting a wild mustang .I would like to hear of any experiences any of you may have had .Thanks

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), June 04, 2001

Answers

We bought one that had been off the range for 2 yrs. She was spooky, but we thought we could train her. We took her directly from the seller to a professional trainer, so that my 10 yr old wasnt the first to ride her. After a couple of weeks (and hundreds more dollars) the trainer told us that she would never be safe for children to ride, and he would be leary of having adults ride her. She didn't trust humans at all and said she is really a danger. After much debate, we had the trainer take her to the auction, so that she would never come on our property to endager my family. She was sold for meat, I am sure, but I could not risk selling her to a family and be responsible for a death or injury. So.....our experience is stay with quarter horses!

Blessings Maylene

-- Maylene (zedanka@aol.com), June 05, 2001.


Patty: We have two, one a gelding and one a mare. The gelding was about two years old and the mare was a 4 month old filly when we got them from the BLM, through the prison in Canon City, CO. We had both of them broke there, and they did a terrific job. The filly we brought home and kept for two years before we took her back to be trained, and she is more like a dog than a horse. She is totally bomb proof, so affectionate and smart! The gelding is a little spookier still, but pretty gentle, when you consider he spent the first two years or so of his life running wild.

The mare just had a little one a mule this spring, and is a really good mother. If you want more info on the requirements, etc. feel free to email me. They are really tough horses. Jan

-- Jan in Co (Janice12@aol.com), June 05, 2001.


First of all, they're hardly 'mustangs' anymore. Doubt if any of that blood is left in them! I lived in a town where the feral horses and burros are held until adoption. We'd chuckle about the 16 hand 'mustangs!' The original mustangs were no more than 14 hands. Thru the years, many folks have turned their horses out to the wild ones to get rid of them. All that outside blood has changed these critters into just wild horses. I think folks have held onto the name 'cause the mustang has romance connected to it and a piece of history.

I've had horses, mules, donkeys. I bred my Mammoth donkey to my large broodmare band for the mules I raised and sold, and also bred him to outside horses. I also rode the Mammoth on the trail, alone and with groups. I still do. I've adopted the feral burros and friends have adopted the feral horses. I do my own training and rode and drove the burros. My friends did the training on their horses.

Donkeys and burros are the same. In my neck of the woods, 'burro' refers to the feral donkeys. Confused?!! -G-

Except for the horror of capture (not a pretty sight), you're dealing with critters that have not been ruined by someone elses hands. You can mold them into whatever you wish. If you unknowingly teach a bad habit, it's difficult and sometimes impossible to reverse, but this is also true with the domestic horse. Having worked with many species of domestic and exotic critters, I find they work easy for me. I'm an animalholic and they know it.

I don't know if you've had/have equine, but if you are a patient person, don't compare your kid's growth with others, don't have a deadline, you will be successful. If you'd like to e-mail, I'll be happy to give you some help.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), June 05, 2001.


I do have experience .I am training a stallion right now .I am willing to put the time in .I plan on bringing it home and having it in a box stall for awhile until it can trust .I also understand this will not be a fast project .I just didnt know anyone who adopted one .Thanks for all answers good and bad.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), June 05, 2001.

We adopted a burro from the BLM, not a Mustang, but he has been a real doll, very much like a pesky dog. Extremely affectionate and sweet. Age probably has something to do with it...he was under a year.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), June 05, 2001.


Hi Patty,,,I would like to point out that a horse that has known only freedom and little contact with "people" needs time to get adjusted to it's new surroundings and the people it will live with. I don't recommend buying it and sending straight to a trainer,,,that would just add to it's fear and confusion. Letting the new wild horse learn to trust is very important. Just talking to it for days and weeks, offering a treat,,(carrot or apple)or oats and hay from your hand is a whole new experience for the wild horse. (one person mentioned there are no Mustangs) but regardless,,it is wild and we think of them as mustangs.))) Let odd things happen around your new horse,,like a little towel or piece of plastic flap in the wind close by. Odd noises like lawn mowers a short ways away,,,just getting used to sights and sounds of living with people...without it having to be touched right away. If you have other horses it could get used to them gradually also without being bullied right away..(pecking order) Gradually it will let you touch and pet it,, rub it's neck,,perhaps introduce it to brushing which most animals like. Just a few suggestions,,,love those horses..my big love,,,I raised horses when I lived in WV,,learned a lot from them and they from me...,,and let us know when if (or when) you get your new mustang,,, Take care....

-- Patsy, MT (cozyhollow-gal@care2.com), June 05, 2001.

my mare is from that program. We spent a long time getting to know each other and learning to trust each other. Wild things will always have a streak of the wild in them but that does not have to be a bad thing. Sassy is my guard dog and companion and she runs the perameter of my goat pen and keeps coyotes out. She is able to jump fence over 5 feet tall from a stand still but choses not to unless she really needs to. She comes to the door and waits for me if she "finds" herself loose unexpectedly.

Take your time with your "mustang" and it will be just fine. Rush it and someone will get hurt, either horse or human or both.

-- diane (gardiacaprine@yahoo.com), June 05, 2001.


My husband and I own a half mustang half quarterhorse gelding who is not only beautiful but very affectionate. His mom is a wild mustang and his dad is a champion cutting horse. If you don't have experience with horses the wild horses can be overwhelming. Like any wild animal they need lots of patience. If you have the time to spend with them they can be excellent riding horses because they don't tire out or get winded like most pleasure horses. They are used to walking or running long distances to graze. Using the mares to breed with domestic stock is an excellent idea or taking a colt and breaking him over a long period of time can be rewarding. Too many people think they can adopt these horses and instantly train them to be a pleasure horse. I don't think it's fair to buy a horse and then sell them for dog food because they won't do what is expected of them. If you don't have experience with horses my advice is don't do this. You can usually by an older horse for a reasonable amount of money and have a safe riding horse for children and other inexperienced adults.

-- Vickie Allen in OK (ouvickie@hotmail.com), June 05, 2001.

We did the mustangs when I was quite young. My advice is to have them go through as few hands as possible before you get them home.

The nice thing about the wild horse is that they don't have people problems yet.The wild horse will appreciate the food, care and attention they get in captivity. While some things will be strange and spooky to them; they may never be mentally prepared for fair or show ring, they are AWESOME mountain and trail horses. They have excellent instincts and know how to use their body to move.

Last winter my daughter and I adopted a feral foxtrotter from a band of horses running in the Olympic Mountains. She was born out there and we call her our Olympic Brumbie. It took a week to get close to her, but my daughter finally got her taking carrots and just stood there and brushed her for hours. Rose had her "hooking on" before we slipped a rope halter on her. We used Parelli and Brannaman training methods and she is a fun and trusting horse. I ride about 5 miles at a time on her.

The neat thing with her is the trust that we are building. She is trusting me with all this new stuff and things that used to be a threat to her, dogs and gunshots, schoolbuses and scooters, I am learning to trust her mountain skills and instincts. I think if we can actually get her to fair this year I will be able to trust her to be a good endurance horse for my daughter.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), June 05, 2001.


I boarded a Mustang mare and her colt for a while. She was VERY dangerous. Would charge and strike out at you with her front feet. The colt was very nice, however.

-- Lynne (Lynnie70@cybermesa.com), June 06, 2001.


Lynne, a mustang mare with a colt has one job, protect the colt. I can not imagine that you were anything but a threat to her if she didn't know you before she had her colt.

-- diane (gardiacaprine@yahoo.com), June 06, 2001.

And many domestic mares can be just as protective of their colts. It's a natural instinct.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), June 07, 2001.

I have some questions as I don't live anywhere near where there would be wild horses. From reading this post, I'm assuming the BLM has a program concerning them. Are they rounding them up and the adopting them out? If so, why are they rounding them up? Are they causing some sort of harm? I'm asking because I really don't know. My first thought is to leave them wild and free. But I'm guessing there has to be some reason why they're not. What is it?

-- Denise (jhammock@cinci.rr.com), June 07, 2001.

Hi there, Y'all should try out WWW.BLM.GOV and then just follow the dots. Under various headings, they have lots of info about where to get what kinds of info & have VERY specific requirements about how thier horses are to be treated. As a new prospective owner, you are required to make them happy about how you will treat the horse you get, so there's no more of this slaughter house stuff. If you check out the internet adoption page, they have pictures of the actual animals available now & that changes from time to time. BLM is very user friendly & they are eager to spread the word about their horses. After all, they want them to have new homes, too. Give it a try.

-- K-K-K-Katie (yarnspinnerkt@hotmail.com), June 07, 2001.

Patty, Just a story that might make fun reading. Many years ago, back before Vietnam, I was Staff Sergeant stationed at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. There were just thousands of miles of open range. The land was used to fire missles over. No one was allowed to go out there unless they had a clearance, need to know, a reason for being there, etc. A herd of wild horses had it all to themselves. We had a riding club there called the Organ Mountain Riding Club and we had plenty of space to ride. Anyhow, one day a sergeant that I knew was in a pick-up doing some work "way out there." He saw a young horse tangled up in barbed wire. He got it free, put in his pick-up and brought it in to the stables where we kept our horses. I had to leave and go do something else and never saw the young horse but once and it was cut up a little by the barbed wire. Someone told me later that the sergeant had been severely disciplined for horse thieft, stealing state property. (I don't know if this is true or if someone was stretching the truth.) I did learn that the wild horses were considered state property and they didn't want anyone touching them. I was also told that in the older days, back before the US Army took the land away from some of the ranches, to make it a military base, that, every year the ranchers would ride out, find the wild horses, and shoot the scrub males and turn loose a good looking stallion so that the wild ones would be nice horses, not just scrubs. Again, I don't know if this story is true or not. It's just a story I heard. Hope someone enjoys this story. I enjoyed bringing up the memories. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 08, 2001.


More on the BLM web sites:

The first Internet adoption was conducted in May 1998. Eleven online auctions have been held since. And 315 horses and burros have been adopted online, a fraction of the overall population. But 600,000 visitors have been to the Internet adoption site at www. adoptahorse.blm.gov, and about 1,800 visitors a day come to the bureau's general adoption site at www.wildhorseand burro.blm.gov. It is in promoting the wild horses program that the Web has succeeded.

The same article out of the NYT, 6/13/01, said the horses had to be with you for one year before you get title (authority to resell).

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), June 13, 2001.


Hi,

I own 2 mustangs currently. I adopted them both from the Windom, MN adoption. 1 - 2 year old stud and 1 - 4 year old stud. I had the 2 year old gentled and broke to ride in 30 days had him in a parade the third time I got on him (the first two times I hadn't ridden him more than 10 minutes each time) and then winter hit and I didn't get around to the 4 year old until spring once I started messing with him (he was a pistol to gentle!) he was broke in 30 days. Then I sent them out to get broke to drive as a team and I have taken them on trail rides, in parades, shows and had 5 year old know nothing kids ride them and I haven't even had them a year yet. Plus they are still both studs. They are Oregon horses.

My mother has had over two dozen mustangs (she did training and rehabing, now I do) and she only had one that turned out bad, a blue roan out of Nevada (most of the worst stock seems to come from Nevada) that would just spontaneously buck for no reason although I think that I could have cured that knowing what I know now. Oh, well. Other than that we have found that mustangs tend to be quieter, safer and more sensible horses that domestics if trained properly and not spoiled or ruined.

About the shooting mustang studs and ranchers turning out better studs in there place it is fact! In 1972 right before the Wild Horse and Burro Act was passed ranchers in Wyoming shot 12 mustang studs and turned out 12 registered Morgan studs a practice that has happened many times before! Who do you think managed the horses before the government? Ranchers. Also you will find that all the states have "types" of horses. Wyoming is noted for its quarter, Morgan & saddlebred styles mainly because it is rancher "types" that are still in control in the BLM and do a lot of selective breeding among the herds also the saddlebred style comes from the U.S. army turning lose old army mounts, Oregon has lots of saddlebred (again from the army), native styles "native" meaning horses that have been genetically blood typed to go back to the Spanish stock and also look the part (although they are very very few) and old homesteader stock (stock that was turned lose in the great depression.) Nevada tends to have the worst stock because they can't selectively breed like the other states can. Mostly because the Wild Horse and Burro groups are based out of there and raise a big stink about selective breeding (meaning adopting out the non-colored, undesirable conformation and bad temperament horses and turning the best lose so they can breed and enhance the herds for the future) they tend to have quite a bit of bucking stock in there herds, although we have adopted some really good horses out of Nevada. You will find out the types the more you look at the stock and look and what states they are from also calling up the BLM office in that state and ask them where there heard stock originated from. They will tell you and that will give you an idea on stock type in that state. Also the BLM seems to be into anti-marketing any adoption in the spring, at a famous place or that they publicity the most they seem to bring in the worst stock (meaning ugly, old, non-colored, ill- tempered, deformed, ect...) I don't know why they just do. I tend to prefer Wyoming horses personally.

If you are a first time horse owner DON'T buy a mustang. They take a lot more effort then domestics because of the gentling stage and you will most likely get scared of them. However you will find that all the fire, flash, spirit, aggression ect... will only happen in the gentling/halter breaking stage. You MUST UNDERSTAND that these horses have not had any good contact with humans. For heavens sake how would you feel if you had no contact with people then were taken from your home, forcibly run into a shoot, given many shots, had your legs tied up so you can barley move, have a "freeze brand" applied to your neck and then run into a acre size pen with about thirty others you don't know. You would be a little confused and wary about everything wouldn't you. Well this is what happens to EVERY mustang not even taking into thought the personal experiences of those mustangs after they get run into there pen (like were they are taken from there, how they are treated by the other horses, how the people that work at the facility treat them, ect..). But because of this they are quite literally "wild horses" so getting to become someone they trust is the hardest part once you have them trusting you from there they are basically just like any other horse domestic or not.

Mustang: a small, tough, half-wild horse of the U.S. plains. I think the Spanish translation for it is: stray horse. So, if you just look at the definition of mustang not even the translation (because my Spanish is really rusty) it is not a wild horse of Spanish stock decent it is just the Spanish word for wild horse which is basically anything running free and not privately owned. Just like burro is the Spanish word for donkey. So snickering at the 16H mustangs is just like snickering at the mammoth burros that come through the BLM. Mustang is just a word not a description of a breed. It was never ment to be like breeds where they say Morgan and a picture of a Morgan horse pops into your head and most/all horses in that breed will conform to that picture in some way. There are so many "types" of mustangs its amazing. If you look you can find mustangs every where from your neighbors backyard, to dressage, jumping, endurance, western pleasure, gaming, reining, cutting, roping, parades, marine horses, police horses, I could go on and on.... I had a big black 15.1H (she looked much bigger though because she always carried her head real high and proud lots of people though she was a stud :-) ) mare that I lent out to a lady to teach English jumping to 5-10 year old children, she was a Morgan style (Wyoming horse). A another that was 15.2 H golden palomino mare she was so quarter horse style every one just looked at her and said "That ain't no mustang! That's some ranchers stock that got lose!" She went in the Ronald McDonald parade in Chicago within a month of when she was broke out carrying a stranger (Wyoming horse). You must also remember that these horses are more diverse than any other "breed". Each horse is an individual so applying traits to them like you put traits on breeds like the quarter horse, big hip, is stupid. So just because you or someone else had one spooky or really aggressive mustang doesn't mean they all are. They are individuals just like you and me. Also we have quite a few mustangs given to us because people couldn't handle them and in every case it was how they were handling them not the horse. We even had a lady that trained Arabians for a living call us up to ask if we would take the horse for free because she couldn't do anything with it and she didn't want to send her to the slaughter house. Got the horse home and gentled her down and she would just stand there and start dripping sweat trying to figure out how to please you, damn good horse, never should have sold her keep trying to buy her back the guy won't sell her "to good of a horse to sell" he says. Oh well can't keep them all.

Also, for what it is worth I own quarter horses too and we have had Arabians, Apps, Paints, Morgans ect... I just personally find the mustangs to be more "honest" horses.

Feel free to e-mail me if you are still interested in mustangs. I know this reply is late.

Just my 2 cents Mt Storm

-- Montana Storm (storm@rconnect.com), August 25, 2001.


Thanks , looks like we may have to wait til next year the to do list hasn't gotten done ! I enjoyed hearing your experiences.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), August 25, 2001.

I have just adopted a wild mustang mare yrling in july, she mellowed so fast I can do just about any thing with her but, I can;t get her to pick up her hooves she raelly needs to get them trimmed any advice?

-- Yvetta S Black (VettsVet@aol.com), September 09, 2001.

I realize this comes a little late, but if you're still interested in adopting any Mustangs I have many stories to tell. My husband and I, over the last three years have adopted ten BLM Mustangs. I personally wouldn't trade them for anything!! We have one stud, two geldings, and the rest are mares. We have had four foals. Our stud is a 16 hand palimono who my husband was riding 12 days after we got him home!! He has since taken him the the BLM horse & burro show in Henderson, TX, where he won a belt buckle in the green broke category. His daughter, who is 11, won 11 ribbons out of 12 events at the same show with her strawberry roan gelding. He was mean & nasty when we first brought him home, but he is a baby doll now. He has been in several local shows now. We have one (the other gelding, who was a stud when we got him) that we haven't been able to gain the trust of. I don't think we ever will. Overall I love this "breed" of horse. All they need is a little TLC. People can get hurt or killed on any breed of horse. Don't knock the mustang just because it's not a prestigious or preferred "brand".

To answer the question about why not leave them in the wild. The mustang herds grow at a rate of 18% a year, which leaves many without adequate food or water, especially in years like last year when there were so many fires out West. The mustangs out there numbered somewhere around 40,000 and you read for yourself there's been less than 400 adopted over the internet in the last three years. Many of them die of starvation alone so don't you think the more humane thing to do would be to take one home and feed and love it?!!

I would welcome any comments or if anyone would just like to swap stories just e-mail me.

-- Lisa (jadrob@1starnet.com), January 05, 2002.


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