Well, if anyone has been looking, they will have noticed that I didn't get my mustang in August. Bad luck as usual. I will most likely wait until spring if not longer. Diesel is so expensive, not to mention the cost of another horse, and I just can't justify spending the money right now. So this blog probably won't be seeing any new entries anytime soon. I was and still am very bummed, but one day I will get my mustang! In the meantime I've been working on training Lyric, our National Show Horse gelding. I'm going to start a separate blog for that, as well as any other horse-related stuff.

Here's a picture of my partly completed mustang pen. It's 26X26 feet if I remember right, 6-7 feet tall depending on which section you look at, and will have a 2 sided, roofed shelter in the back lefthand corner. Don't mind that ugly broken gate in front of it, it's part of a fence we're in the process of tearing down. I am so proud of my mustang pen! I've done a large part of it myself. John has helped a lot of course, don't know what I'd do without him. He's going to be pretty much on his own when it comes to the roof, I have no idea how to do that. I haven't gotten much done today or yesterday, turns out my joints don't like hammering nails that much, and it's really hot out, and I need more rails prepared. John is notching out the ends of my rails with a chainsaw. They're supposed to be posts, so they're too thick to put a nail through as is. Leaving early tomorrow for the weekend, so there's some lost time there. Hopefully John can find some time somewhere to notch out some more rails so I can get back to work.

Here's a link to adoption requirements.

The purpose of this blog will be to document the gentling & training of a wild mustang. Words in red will be defined at the bottom of each post. Always feel free to comment and ask questions if you want to learn more or if you think I'm mistaken.

I am so excited! If all comes together as planned, I will be adopting my second mustang next month. I can't wait! I really hope the plans don't fall through.

Some history: My first mustang was Willow, who is a wonderful, sensitive, smart, willing, sweet mare. Her photo here shows her watching the neighbors rounding up cattle, just about a month ago. She came from the Frisco HMA in Utah. She was adopted as a weanling by someone else, and the person decided she couldn't afford to keep her, so gave her to my sister, who then gave her to me. She was my first horse, and what a great learning experience it was. She had already been halter broke when I got her, and for the first year or so the most I did with her was visit sporadically, since she was 1.5 hours from where I lived, boarding at my brother-in-law's stable. Then we did John Lyons style round pen exercises and went from there. When she was 4 I sent her to be ridden for 30 days and she did wonderfully! The trainer asked if I was sure she hadn't been ridden before. Well, I hadn't been on her back, but we'd done everything else we could to get ready for it. Problem was, she never got big enough for me, and with her conformation flaws, carrying a too-big rider would definitely not be good for her in the long run. So about a month ago I sold her to some really wonderful people who are training her, have her out on trail rides already, and give her lots of belly rubs and carrots. I couldn't have asked for a better home for her.

My plans: Ever since I knew Willow wasn't ever going to be the horse for me, I've wanted another mustang. I wasn't sure if I'd try to buy one already trained or not. The more I think about it the more I'd rather have one fresh from the wild, with nobody else's baggage, and start from scratch. I've never had a bond with another horse like I had with Willow and I think that came from learning together. I hope to put what she taught me to good use and make fewer mistakes this time around. I've been working on my mustang pen for quite some time, doing a bit here and there as time permits, and it's getting very close to being done. There is an adoption in Burns Oregon on August 26 that I hope to be at. I think I know which horse I want, from pictures, but I'll have to look around to be sure. The one I really want is a neat color so I wouldn't be surprised if someone else got him first. I have several plain colored ones that I like as well so I won't be totally heartbroken if I miss out on my guy.

Check out these links:
Pictures
Flyer

If you live within driving distance of Burns Oregon, feel free to post the flyer around.

I'll be posting soon with pictures of my half finished mustang pen, and info on adoption requirements.

Andrea