Spanish Mustangs: learning curve

[SL S <stepnout@swva.net>]

Just a little review of a journey here:

Last year I was trying to figure out what to do about my mare's sore brisket
after trotting downhill...tried a variety of moves to get her to use her
rear end, with some success but not lots.  Hmmm...this is my second horse in
my entire life, folks, and the one I've ridden most, so be patient:  A
friend loaned me Deb Bennett's conformation books--gotta go buy those!  Then
I started looking at Spanish Mustangs from various places, slowly realizing
that most of these little horses are built front-end heavy.  Rears are
small, in general, based on the horses I've seen and the photos.  Then I
found an article in the latest Southwest Spanish Mustang Association
newsletter regarding "The Old-Time Western Horse in Art," as opposed to the
real horses in photos from the 1870s and turn of the century.  The photos
all show horses with small rear ends, making them front end heavy, as well
as low withers and short backs.  A few pix of better balanced horses note
out-crossing to achieve that effect.  My guess is nobody ever checked the
front end of these guys a few hours after those artsy scenes showing them
storming down a mountain!  So teaching Misty to use her rear end is of
limited use, simply because the rear end is anatomically weak.  It shows in
her canter, too, which she avoids if possible.  She's a very comfortable
trotting horse, lovely to experience, until going down much of a grade.
Either we walk, or I hop off and trot down beside her.  I've started wearing
Asics instead of Ariats as a result!  

Her half brother Roanie is somewhat better proportioned--his hip to butt
distance is an inch greater than Misty's, though Misty is an inch taller.
He has slightly more rear end angulation, too...but then his pedigree shows
mostly Spanish Barbs, few of the Choctaw-Cherokee strains.   I tried to buy
Roanie's sire, now gelded, who has an unusually powerful rear end, but at
the moment he bucks everybody off and makes a pest of himself in a herd
still trying to breed mares, alas.  Nice collected canter, though.  Maybe
his boy will do as well...if I can stand to wait another couple of years til
he grows up.  Meanwhile...focus on the features I love about the guys I
have:  people-loving personality, great feet, legs, and backs, easy keepers,
and phenomenally easy to condition.  

Sally  Spangler and Spanish Mustangs (Misty the grulla, Roanie the copper
buckskin roan) in Floyd, VA



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