Wild Mustang Adoption-Pros/Cons, and opinions of others who've adopted

[mominoz]

I know a girl who was a 'self taught ' rider turned trainer who after many years of riding, and training her own horses, got some mustangs. She trained them. She started a riding lesson program and got some certification.The thing that made us say "What are they thinking"? was they bred the mustang mares. Then they let a client in to "pet the foal". The mare bit the face of the client. Client is suing for their family farm, which they wanted to keep forever. Farm is for Sale. The girls mother owner was never one to take advice.
Bad decisions are bad decisions. Common sense isn't always common.

Horses , they find have some "instant, remember forever memories" usually pertaining to life, death, safety, food, water. Horses are also a very trainable , flexible animal. They can be trained to overcome fears..... but things can resurface.
A mare raised in the wild- is probably more protective than a domestic mare. Horses have differing personalities, energy levels, fear or dominance , passivity, etc.

Common sense.... horses loose in a pasture can be dangerous.... a mare with a baby can be dangerous.....

Mistakes with 1000 lb animals can be deadly or expensive.......

 

[Kansaseq]

Here's a nice webpage of a family that has adopted several mustangs over the years. It talks about their successes and failures, with lots of cool photos. Sorry if someone has already posted this link.

http://www.mustangs4us.com/Sparky Section/sparky.htm

 

[High Roost Ranch]

Thanks again everyone for your input. I am still giving this immense thought. I know there are horror stories, but I believe they are USUALLY caused by human error or complacency when someone forgets the true core of what they are dealing with, a horse bred/raised in the wild by wild or feral peers and parents. In actuality, any given horse at any given moment can tweak off for a reason only known to them. I'm not foolish believing this is going to be a cake walk. I don't want it TO be easy. And if I do decide to take this on it's because I feel and others who know me have reflected likewise that it would be a good challenge, something I have common sense and horse sense to accomplish. And as I think I already mentioned, one of my first horses as a kid was a yearling stud from a neglected, basically feral herd of horses. I clearly remember how dangerous he was when he first come out of the trailer, the second trailer to be exact because he damaged the first trailer to the extent it couldn't be used. That horse had never had a human hand on him until they caught him up in a catch pen and literally manhandled him into the trailer, further terrifying him. He turned out to be a good horse, one that my siblings and I all learned on, and friends/family would ride, then went to a family with 3 more kids.

I will say that I trust a stallion more than I do an aged mare. And I have no intentions of breeding a filly should I get one. The stud if I got one I would consider using over my "domestic" mares.

To the one who knew the girl who let the client walk into a stall with a mare and new foal, that's just beyond stupid. Even the most gentle mare is going to defend her foal. When I was my teens, I was checking our arab mare (we'd had her for years, she was broke as broke can be) who was getting close to her foaling date. She was out basically standing half asleep snoozing in the sun, when I went to check her. She was accepting her scritches and my talking to her as usual, and didn't give any indication to what she was going to do when I ran my hand down the top of her back as I leaned over to check her udder while maintaining body contact and myself in a safe position. In an instant, I felt her tense and quickly tried to escape what was coming, but she was quicker and turned her head and grabbed me on the back, latching on hard enough to jerk me around and toss me. I had a massive bruise just off my spine and teeth marks that lasted a long time. And that was the LAST horse I would have ever expected to have done something like that. So we don't always have control or know exactly how a situation is going to play out. I feel if you choose to work with horses, wild or domestic, you have to be ready for the unexpected.

Someone mentioned culling them for dog food. I don't agree. Just because they aren't registered, pedigreed horses does not make them worthless or only worthy of ingredients in a dog food bag. I assure you, I have seen many, many registered horses that do not have the capability or conformation that the mustang has. Nor do they have the bone and hoof needed to keep them sound. Look around at all the teacup feet on these 16+ h horses, and the issues they have with lameness and stress. And I've been acquainted with more than a few registered, bred to the hilt horses who were a danger to even themselves because they failed the sanity/self preservation aspect of not doing something stupid as in cut off the nose to spite the face kind of mentality. So while I agree there is a state of need for domestic horses, that doesn't discount the value of the wild mustang. And I consider them a combination of wild and feral. And as far as taking away a chance for a domestic horse to be saved, I have spent the last 8 yrs accepting and rehoming "domestic" horses that were tossed aside. From thoroughbreds off the track to most recently a feral mule that wandered onto our ranch from the state land this year. The only way to catch him once he made it into our pastures with our horses was to run them all into a catch pen, sort my horses off, and then rope him. He went from trying to climb the rails of the corral to get away from people to being halter broke, leading, picking up his feet, standing tied, coming when approached instead of turning tail, and calmly walking into a trailer when I found him a new home with a nice couple. I guess that's what prompted my desire to take on a mustang. I've had somewhat similar situations in the past. I like to think I have more experience and common sense now instead of just dare that I had as kid. I just don't feel that because these horses didn't come out of a show barn under a top trainer's name that they don't deserve the same respect and chance that any other horse should have, if they are healthy and sound.

I think patience, understanding, and being able to read a horse's body language goes a long way. Being able to think like a horse helps too I believe. Get things from their perspective and not just ours.

 

[High Roost Ranch]

Quote:
Great link, thanks for sharing!

 

[jmhappycowboy]

Quote:
Julie, congrats. You said it all and then some. I think that if you do get the Mustangs that your going to do very well with them. You have the horse sense, and the know how to deal with them and you are most definately not like a lot of people who get the Mustangs. And I do know this for a fact, many many people who adopt the wild horses do it strictly from the point of being able to say that they have a Wild Mustang and don't know the first thing about a horse period. THESE are the people that most of the time you hear the horror stories from, they've been hurt, they're this and they're that. Now i'm not saying a Person who knows what they are doing can't be hurt because it does happen but, not nearly as likely to be hurt as an amateur.

I've got my fingers crossed for you and hope you get the ones you want.

James

 

[ShrekDawg]

Quote:
they adopt them out cause their running out of room and the wild and theyre not ALLOWED to kill them! however you're entitled to your own opinion and thats fine, dont get me wrong, i love animals and am all about humane treatment and whatnot but theyve gotta do what theyve gotta do, they have to have at least some population control as they do with some other animals, they cant just run rampant, theyve gotta control em somehow and thyere not allowed to shoot them, its better than being shot by a rancher or something but like i said, you're entitled to your own opinion and thats fine. now that being said, yes its true that some of them are very wild and could never be tamed but then there are also the ones who CAN be tamed and go on to make great horses, depends on the individual as with any animal/anything but i think it could be very rewarding
and with your horse experiance im sure you would do just fine and make a very nice home for these much deserving animal(s) plus its very rewarding so I think you should go for it high roost ranch! good luck!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Quote:
Julie, congrats. You said it all and then some. I think that if you do get the Mustangs that your going to do very well with them. You have the horse sense, and the know how to deal with them and you are most definately not like a lot of people who get the Mustangs. And I do know this for a fact, many many people who adopt the wild horses do it strictly from the point of being able to say that they have a Wild Mustang and don't know the first thing about a horse period. THESE are the people that most of the time you hear the horror stories from, they've been hurt, they're this and they're that. Now i'm not saying a Person who knows what they are doing can't be hurt because it does happen but, not nearly as likely to be hurt as an amateur.

I've got my fingers crossed for you and hope you get the ones you want.

James

Agreed, well said, both of you! I think you should go for it! good luck!

 

[High Roost Ranch]

I am going for it, at least trying to. I have my bids in on two and so far so good. But that will change I'm certain. I just know that I need to be someplace with high speed internet come auction close so I can get the last minute bids in and be fast about it. I think I'll have to take my laptop into town where I have more than one bar of signal strength if this is going to work on winning a bid. I still haven't figured out if bidding is by proxy or not. Strategy, strategy, strategy. And a whole lotta luck!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Quote:
oh, well when does the auction close? yeah i think you should go into town, so you can be super speedy about sniping the horse(s) at the last second with your last minute bids... lol

good luck!

 

[chickenzoo]

I'm glad I don't know of that auction.... tooooooo tempting, hehe.