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

[Tinted]

Quote:
I 100% agree.

Quote:
Bad training could result in that with any breed of horse, have several horse friends with poorly trained domestic horses that could kill you in a min over silly stuff. A good trained horse is a good trained horse, no matter what the breed.

This mare was very well trained. As I said I had been riding her for about an hour with no issues, until that moment. To me that is not training but a raw instinct that overtakes this flight V. fight animal.

Quote:
A wise old horseman once told me that I could never trust a stud, and I have followed that rule since.
Breeding HIM!???!?!?

There is no market for any type of horse right now. Why do people insist on making more of them? I board at a small horse rescue barn and see every day the repercussions of breeding unwanted (AKA a BLM mustang on his way to cull) horses. They don’t sell. No one wants them, even when they do have papers. I hate to be this frank but honestly I am glad you did not get the stud simply because I see what the unwanted horses go through daily, nothing against anyone personally.
Quote:
I would not say that either filly has wonderful conformation IMO; they are mustangs not a breed famous for great conformation and there is NOTHING wrong with that. A horse is a horse is a horse is a horse, I am glad you love them though. They are cute!


Just in case someone wants to see, this is a horse with good Conformation:

Dutch Warm blood Stallion “IDOCUS”

Also placing a child near a wild horse….I am not even going there…

 

[chickenzoo]

Quote:
I 100% agree.

Quote:
Bad training could result in that with any breed of horse, have several horse friends with poorly trained domestic horses that could kill you in a min over silly stuff. A good trained horse is a good trained horse, no matter what the breed.

This mare was very well trained. As I said I had been riding her for about an hour with no issues, until that moment. To me that is not training but a raw instinct that overtakes this flight V. fight animal.

Quote:
A wise old horseman once told me that I could never trust a stud, and I have followed that rule since.
Breeding HIM!???!?!?

There is no market for any type of horse right now. Why do people insist on making more of them? I board at a small horse rescue barn and see every day the repercussions of breeding unwanted (AKA a BLM mustang on his way to cull) horses. They don’t sell. No one wants them, even when they do have papers. I hate to be this frank but honestly I am glad you did not get the stud simply because I see what the unwanted horses go through daily, nothing against anyone personally.
Quote:
I would not say that either filly has wonderful conformation IMO; they are mustangs not a breed famous for great conformation and there is NOTHING wrong with that. A horse is a horse is a horse is a horse, I am glad you love them though. They are cute!


Just in case someone wants to see, this is a horse with good Conformation:

Dutch Warm blood Stallion “IDOCUS”
http://www.dutchwarmbloodhorses.com/Idocus_conformation.jpg



Also placing a child near a wild horse….I am not even going there…

Well I guess everyone has different tastes - I personally think Warmbloods aren't pretty.....I don't like their heads..... but that's just me. And too me a fully broke horse will listen to you even if it's afraid - so IMO it wasn't a fully broke horse. I see all the show jumpers and dressage horses that just make it through a coarse in an arena w/o blowing a gasket, and to take them on a trail ride would be death - although they win many ribbons they are not fully broke, no matter how well they place.

 

[Tinted]

Quote:
Honestly if you think a well broke horse wont spook you have not been around many horses. The horse is a flight or fight animal, no amount of training or love will change that. If push comes to shove (AKAhe is sacred stiff) a horse will follow his instincts over his training 99% of the time. You will never fully eliminate instinct from a prey animal (heck any animal!), it’s not possible or practical. I own a 4 year old Anglo-Arab, I train for Dressage. He also hits the trails like a star and can anywhere and anywhere. Believe it or not, English bred show horses can be pleasure horses too; and many are.

I have seen some whack-job nut cases in many breeds, and my entire point about the Mustangs is that when you acquire or work with Mustangs the intensity and volume of said nut cases increases sharply. Not only do you deal with head shy, bolters, bucker, rearers, biters, kickers, and utter crazies but you deal with them on a much more instinctive level. It’s not an acquired trait or vice with Mustangs…it’s bred in. It’s a survival technique, they are built and programmed to survive.

As for conformation:
Conformation is not about taste, it is about a mathematical process in which each part of the horse is scored both visually and as I said mathematically in how well they match up and how well the animal represents the standard. Conformation is like a puzzle, each piece has to fit together perfectly. It does not matter if you like warm bloods or not, I used a WB as they are one of the better bred horses out there and it’s easy to find a good picture of a nice stud. Call me lazy.


Here is Smiley Starlight AQH Stud, Nice confo:

If your an arabian person check out Royal Colours 2006 World champ colt:

Tennessee Walker with nice (flat not big lick) confo:

Its all in the eyes of the beholder, I think the fugly rescues we get in are amazing horses and lovely to boot but thats me. Conformation is not beauty or skill (though it can be a factor in both), but conformation is all about breeding. Thats all I am saying.


ETA: Sorry for jacking the thread!!! OT: How are they doing??!?! Do you have them home yet?


If anyone on here is really attracted to conformation here is a nice site (TB related) to get the basics down:
http://www.horsegears.com/photos.html

 

[chickenzoo]

I know many English show horses that excel at many things and are very well trained, but there are a lot of them out there that if you took these so called well trained horses out of an arena they would kill you on the trail. I have trained many of horses, rode English & Western, use to do conformation judging in 4H also , are around horses all the time, have 3 full size( one I'm currently breaking) and 5 minis and a mini jack who I am training to also pull carts. A horse will spook if scared, no question, the difference is what a well trained horse and one not as well trained will do. You said the Mustang you were on kept going no matter what...... that was an untrained horse IMO, not that it was just a Mustang. I have been out on my Mustang on the trails with other people, going full out and had a deer jump right out in front of us. Did she spook - heck yes, I almost peed my pants too, but did she listen to me and slam on the breaks, yes she did, even though the other horses freaked and took off she didn't follow, she listened. I took my Quarb into a 4th of July parade, did he spook, yes, when kids started pelting him in the butt with candy, he spooked in place, sucked in his butt and kept going and listened to me. He could have pitched a fit, especially with all the floats, gun fire, popper etc going off, but did he - no, because he is trained not too. That is all I'm saying. You were judging the Mustang because of her will to flight, all horses have this, Mustangs maybe slightly more, but it is not bred out of any type of horse, and with good consistent training any horse can overcome those instincts.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Quote:
I agree, if the horse is really well trained it will not spook as much or at least will listen to you, its all in the training and it really depends on how well YOU train them, (that goes for any animal) so that horse obviously was not trained as well as you hought, maybe it was partly because it was a mustang and/or maybe because it was you riding it and not its owner but still a well trained horse will, or should, listen to you, to anyone for that matter so clearly that horse was not that well trained because it should have listened to you. so sorry Tinted, but I agree with chickenzoo, that horse was not trained that well, sorry but its the truth...

also dont say shes never been around horses, soory but IMHO it kinda looks like you guys are fighting, IMHO, your being a bit rude, and high roost didnt say they had great confo, she said they had some of the best confo OUT OF ALL THE OTHER HORSES AVAILABLE, sure maybe kinda bad confo compared to other horses like the ones you posted but its the best out of whats available, yes theyre cute and pretty but your method of approach/way of saying things/approach or whatever is kinda a bit rude, so i think you guys should lighten up a bit, who cares that much about the confo, sure its important but i think the horses are very pretty and im glad high roost got them, sorry but just my opinion...

but anywho, that horse wasnt trained that great and also congrats high roost on getting those horses!

 

[booker81]

Quote:
Just for the sake of derailing a topic (because I'm good like that), having been around studs since I was a child (breeding farm), I have to respectfully disagree. Of course, we held our studs to a extremely high standard, as we did expos, and we did "pony rides" on them for people - not many folks get to see true 18hh+ horses, let alone get on top of something that big. (If any folks hit the Stallion expos in Lansing and Novi in the late 80's or early 90's you would have seen us.)

When we imported him at 14, when I was also 14, I decided it would be fun to train him to ride. Alone...forgot to inform my parents. Came in with dirty jeans, and they didn't look askance.

Any of these boys, I trusted more than most horses. As a young teen, I was allowed to handle them in the breeding shed as well, because we needed an extra hand, and they were trained to only mount on command. Not once did any of these studs ever even think of acting like "wild stallions".

Oh, they also had fantastic conformation.

Deighton Commodore - one of the top Shire stallions in England, possibly the world. He won the biggest Shire show in the world 3 years in a row, which was done only once before - by his sire. After we imported him, his get won the Best Stallion, Gelding and Mare - swept the show. This has never been done.

Breyer collectors who are my age might remember Breyerfest 1992 with Grayingham Lucky Lad. Again, one of our boys, and if you met him, you'd know he was trustworthy:

And for fun - a not so well conformed boy, but he was popular for his size, color and temperament. We managed to fit 6 kids on his back at an expo. He was a sweetie - Fox Valley Maestro:

Of course, this breed is bred to be safe, quiet and trustworthy. If they weren't, you'd have a full ton or more of horsemeat. (SHIRES - all of these boys are Shires, not Clydesdales, though the top one had some full blood Shire geldings on the Budweiser hitch that magically became Clydes).

I supposed derail complete

 

[chickenzoo]

Beautiful horses! Congrats on your new Mustangs. How do they transport them to you? Where do you go to get them?

And as far as being stuck on confirmation....It strikes a nerve with me when people talk down about these horses.. I think the Mustangs she bought are just fine. They have survived many years on their own and have not been forced to be molded into a certain shape and ruined by man. They are bred to do what horses are intended to do, have good feet that does not require shoes or corrective trimming that we have bred into domestic horses, have large eyes and nostrils to view the world around them on a good sized head with large ear, have good teeth and jaw. They are hardy and can survive on very little and low quality forage etc... Many breeds we have bred have small jaws and feet on huge bodies because it" looks pretty " even though those horses suffer because of it. We pamper our domestic horses to the point of ruin. If we turned all those horses loose together we would wind up back here, survival of the strongest, a Mustang. I personally would put my money on a Mustang any day.

 

[Tinted]

Quote:
I never talked down about them; I simply stated that the conformation was not great; if someone does not like the truth IMO than that is their problem. I am being formal, not “Aww, they are so cute and cuddly” as everyone else is. OP asked for opinions about the breed, and I am providing an honest opinion that simply does not mesh with everyone else’s and many are taking offence.

For a mustang they may have GREAT conformation, but compared to horses with honestly great conformation they do not have it. Yes, they are cute. I never said they were "bad" horses I said that in my experience the Mustang as a breed are nut cases. Anyone who thinks you can breed out raw instinct from any horse has not been around many as I stated before. If something truly and honestly scared the heck out of a horse, not just spooked it, not just startled it, but truly and honestly scared it (as has been the neglected element in this discussion) no amount of training is going to override instinct. I am not talking about a deer, or a parade, I am talking about honest “they think they are in mortal danger” fear, as this mare exhibited. She thought she was going to die, that dog was going to leap across the fields and attack her. That is a survival instinct, run from all danger.

And contrary to your belief some breeders actually do breed for excellent conformation and not show trends. We have Morgan’s that get fat off of air; mustangs are not the only hardy breed. It seems to me that you are offended that I called the breed out for less than great conformation and a high level of crazies. This is my experience and my observations. Sorry, if they happen to offend you to the point of defensive behavior.

ETA: Booker81 the Shires are AMAZING. I have drool pooling around my feet. I have always loved the drafts, and attend BF yearly. What lovely horses.

You see I don’t work around "nice, puppy dog" studs; I work around the BYB dead ringers for the gelding buss studs who never learned any manners. One second they will be cute and nice and the next they can be spinning and kicking. I should have noted that they are NOT well behaved stallions and not stallions for long I might add. Helllooooo gelding buss!

 

[chickenzoo]

Quote:
I never talked down about them; I simply stated that the conformation was not great; if someone does not like the truth IMO than that is their problem. I am being formal, not “Aww, they are so cute and cuddly” as everyone else is. OP asked for opinions about the breed, and I am providing an honest opinion that simply does not mesh with everyone else’s and many are taking offence.

For a mustang they may have GREAT conformation, but compared to horses with honestly great conformation they do not have it. Yes, they are cute. I never said they were "bad" horses I said that in my experience the Mustang as a breed are nut cases. Anyone who thinks you can breed out raw instinct from any horse has not been around many as I stated before. If something truly and honestly scared the heck out of a horse, not just spooked it, not just startled it, but truly and honestly scared it (as has been the neglected element in this discussion) no amount of training is going to override instinct. I am not talking about a deer, or a parade, I am talking about honest “they think they are in mortal danger” fear, as this mare exhibited. She thought she was going to die, that dog was going to leap across the fields and attack her. That is a survival instinct, run from all danger.

And contrary to your belief some breeders actually do breed for excellent conformation and not show trends. We have Morgan’s that get fat off of air; mustangs are not the only hardy breed. It seems to me that you are offended that I called the breed out for less than great conformation and a high level of crazies. This is my experience and my observations. Sorry, if they happen to offend you to the point of defensive behavior.

ETA: Booker81 the Shires are AMAZING. I have drool pooling around my feet. I have always loved the drafts, and attend BF yearly. What lovely horses.

You see I don’t work around "nice, puppy dog" studs; I work around the BYB dead ringers for the gelding buss studs who never learned any manners. One second they will be cute and nice and the next they can be spinning and kicking. I should have noted that they are NOT well behaved stallions and not stallions for long I might add. Helllooooo gelding buss!

Anyone who thinks you can breed out raw instinct from any horse has not been around many as I stated before. - UH where do you think your horse originally came from - a cloud?

And I have been around a lot of trainers and many many horses that are well trained - English & Western, have respect for many.


You can state your mind with out putting something down, I haven't been mean at all, just stating MO in a nice way. You don't have to like Mustangs, I'm glad you don't, as you are not the type of horse person for them. And I'll say it again, a well trained horse is a well trained horse, Mustang, Warmblood, Arab etc.... My horse may spook in fear for it's life, but is trained to listen to my commands. I have truly gotten attacked by dogs while riding - guess what, my horse listened, and it was my Mustang. Dog hanging from her tail - she listened to me, then with a swift double kick she took care of said dog as if it was just part of her natural way of going. I have2 Quarbs and a Mustang, both listen equally. Only difference is that my Mustang has better sense for danger and direction and better endurance. You gave only one real reference to the Mustangs temperament by claiming they are nutcases because you rode one poorly trained horse. The horse would have been poorly trained no matter the breed if a dog 1/2 mile away scared it. I will agree to disagree with you, no hard feelings.

 

[Tinted]

Quote:
No hard feelings, but I stongly disagree with many of your points...most of them actually. Sorry agian for jacking your thread OP.