I want to make it clear that I believe it is
possible to give good homes, and/or make good useful riding animals out of this
program.
The two adopted-off-the-range mustangs that were in
my neck of the woods were very well trained.....but always had a tendency to be
spooky, reactive and even explosive under certain circumstances. The mare
i had that was out of a BLM range mare, by an Arab stallion was just a
delightful, sound, smooth and fun horse. I just believe the qualifications
for adopting these animals be much, much more stringent.
However, if I was seriously looking for an
endurance prospect.....and I had the choice of a yearling off-the-range mustang,
versus a well-bred Arab (regular worming and good nutrition); and looking at 2-3
years worming, feeding and care before even thinking of riding this
animal.....obviously, the Arab is a better bet.
Of course I am intruiged by the mustangs that have
been promoted and ridden endurance. However, the ones that have done well,
have come through some very, very experienced people.
very well put, karen. it is unfortunate what happens to lots of
adopted mustangs, even when taken by well intentioned(though ill prepared)
people. it does take an experienced hand to get these horses and do a
good job of gentling and training. i have worked with two adopted mustangs and
had great success, but i do lots of horse training and have the space and
facilities for it. the first one i got was captured when he was a five
year old stallion and i was told he came from utah, but i think that it was
actually nevada. anyway, the original adopters used him for
breeding for a couple of years, then gelded him and tried to "break"
him. he was sold at a regular horse auction some time later because the
owner said, "he was tired of getting bucked off!" the guy who bought him
at auction hired me to train the horse because he was afraid to get on
him. i started over with him, did 10 days of ground work, then
started riding him. he has never bucked with me. the gu y who
bought him at auction was still afraid of him, so i talked him into selling
the horse to me. well, long story-short, that was just
a little over two years ago, kathi and i have ridden him in countless pleasure
trail rides, five ctrs, four lds, and five fifty mile endurance rides.
in the nine aerc rides, he has finished top ten four times. we call
him gorgeous george. he is 14.3 hands, 1050 lbs. earlier i
mentioned that i think he came from nevada. i would like to take him
back there someday, maybe to redrock in the fall!
