why mustangs?

i always knew there were people who bred horses to look and be a ceratin way. but when i learned recently that there are people who dispose of the horses that don't come out the way they want i was horrified. i had no idea. they take them to auction and they usually end up bought by 'kill buyers' real cheap, who then take them to either canada or mexico where they are then bought by foreigners who slaughter them for meat that they eat. (shit if people in america ate horses, we woudn't be able to grow the wild ones fast enough would we?)

mustangs are deep, and carry many secrets from long ago in their hearts and souls...

when people say there are "too many (even domestic) horses in this country" it's a myth. even in hard times most folks are reluctant to let them go often even feeding their animals before themselves. so, that leaves us with horses that were once wild that have now been captured who also need homes.  the folks that breed for color or perfect confirmation or whatever they deem necessary in a good horse, obviously fail to see that mustangs, no matter whether they have four or none of the genetic markers indicating good iberian or spanish bloodlines, are the cream of the crop, and that they stand the tests of mother nature year after year and pass with flying colors. in the wild they go without fancy barns, quality hay, and all of the other things us humans think they need to survive, carry on and buck-up (no pun intended) when the  going gets real tough. they don't need blankets or shoes or us trying to tell them how and why to live either but after capture they do need homes. maybe some of the folks who produce throwaway horses should take a second look at the mustangs. but then again, do we want them to have them to have them in the first place? all of these are great reasons for getting one but to me, the best reason is one you can't put into words. it has to do with their sensitivity and they way they keen into your or said more better, your very soul. they will test you, study you and wonder about you in a way i've yet to see any other animal do. they will make you work hard for trust and give it back tenfold. the will reveal their broken hearts if they have one, and will wear it on not only their sleeve, but yours as well. but...it's something that lives between all of this that makes them different and if you don't feel it at first, you will eventually and if you never do, well then it wasn't meant for you to have. notice i said "have". it's a gift and not all can handle it. lots of people give up with mustangs "oh he's taking to long gentle" or, "he just won't settle down and let me do anything". DUH!!! he's a WILD HORSE!!! my reply would be "your not giving him enough time to get to know you...slow down, don't hurry" and, "stop trying to DO STUFF!". my first mustang HoonaH, died of a broken heart. after two years of sporadic but almost constant colic and a $10,000 surgery at davis that proved nothing, he died. my mentor at kickin' back ranch willis lamm told me "he holds in his emotions...that's why he's sick". he was right. this horse would stand on a little hill at the ranch with me, look east and tears would roll down his face and his bottom lip would tremble. all the rest of his time he was holding it in and trying to make me happy. he had been horribly neglected and abused before i got him and was also one of those mustangs that (there are many)  never should have been caught in the first place. they just can't be happy with humans. HoonaH would do everything i asked of him but stay alive and when he died it tore me up real bad. more than any human loved one even. did i have the courage to start again? yes. was it worth it? hell yes. do i miss him? everyday...

where is braveheart? where is pableu's daddy?

when we were camping at ramhorn springs where we first saw pableu and his band, we saw the band stallion many times. it was obvious after a while who he was, what his role was and how well he did his job. pableu is his youngest son, and crazyquilt, a name i gave her because of her many colored mane, tail and coat, his mother. unbeknownst to us at the time, there was a special woman who also knew him and his large family and she had grown to admire and respect him. when the band was captured and taken to the corrals, he was too. and, when this woman was "called" by him to come get him, did go to get him, he disappeared. the harder she pressed trying to find him, the farthur he got. no one knows where he went, how he went, or if he even existed at all. she's in limbo and no one's talking. or...no one's making any sense, or, no one's being honest. this gallant and brave guy was old. but not to old to do his job, win mares, stare you in the eye or move and start over with one who loved him. he had a home with someone who heard his call and she was trying to answer. the more i heard about this the more it bothered me. i told my friend cate that i would go nuts wondering what happened to him so...i asked pableu. he hung his little head and didn't answer. i wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his fur. he smelled like gingerbread...

 a noble braveheart, pableus dad and band leader

homecoming...

i stood in front of the corral we built for pableu while waiting for gary to deliver him and felt like crying. i couldn't help thinking about that fine little guy i saw earnestly trotting along with his band that brilliant august day amid the tall, green grass and flowers as wild and handsome as he was. those nagging feelings and memories never leave. so...again i made the decision to stay on the good side, the positive end of it all. otherwise our little guy was gonna feel it and not like it and have a hard time here. and so the story goes on...he came home and we were very happy to have him. he could settle in now, meet his uncles and have a great life as part of our family. our other horses were really curious and excited to see who was coming and i had spent some time wondering which horse was going to take to him, which one may not and so on and they really suprised me. they all treat him well, disciplining him when they think they should but all in all, they like him, and the one that i thought would be aloof at best, joaquin, loves him. from the moment we unloaded him joaquin was right there making sure he was okay and monitoring the other horses interactions with him. he's still diligent and protective of him and when pableu made it be known one day by busting through the tape to be with them in their corral that he was ready to be with the big boys, joaquin was ever ready to make sure he was ok. we built his corral right up next to theirs so he could visit and interact with them. after the first week, i introduced him to them one at time, by letting them each out of their corrals to visit and run around the property and get used to each other. one day he'd be out with smoke, another day with echo, like that until they all had a turn with him. now, we either let them out together or i put him in their corral with them until grain time in the late afternoon. he loves this and it makes a huge difference.  because he was sick and  a bit complacent it was easy to gentle him to touch, so everyday he gets scritches all over his body (sometimes even when he's laying down) and a good brushing later in the day. he's so soft and tender still and it thrills me to be able to be with one so young and sweet! i commemted to my friend karen who has had appys that he's so mello sometimes i wonder if he feels ok. she told me not to worry...that appys were like that and that it was part of the pleasure of having one. i've been in the house long enough. time to go outside and see what squirts doing...

from the start joaquin takes a very special interest in him

settling in and happy in his new digs

pableu comes home and  his uncles see him for the first time

oh yea and let's not forget...

if it hadn't been for cate and her super-loving attention to the horses they may not have made it. rosebud and pableu looked so frail and lost at times and she would be out there past midnite in the snow! just sitting up with them. on the good days pableu and rosebud would groom and play and try to make the best of their foreign home. it was sad taking him away from the last of his family, but i knew he'd see them again and play in the sun with his little sister. and to my little sister cate, love you girl, your awesome...

oh those scritches feel soooo good!

sleepy, sick little ones comfort each other

pause for a word...

i could have chosen to be really mad at someone for sending us home with sick horses but why would i want to do that? what purpose would it serve? i have strong opinions about the whole wild horse and burro wipe-out which is what i think it is, but it was my choice to take this horse and i was ready to accept all of the consequences no matter what. i never want my opioions to hurt anyone, make life more difficult or cause a drift between myself and someone who has opinions that differ than mine. i'd rather work from common ground and and go from there. the folks who work at the corrals whom i consider friends, don't want me to have a sick horse or want any of them to be sick either so why broadcast ugliness when it only makes more ugly? when you go about adopting a horse, after it has picked you, you have to be ready for all that that experiance is going to bring you, teach you, give you. and, just like the horse your partnering with, you have to be strong of heart and soul because it's probably going to be a journey that will rock your world  and teach you lessons that you thought you already learned and some that you will be humbly thankful for. are you ready?

grant walkie - a horse-friendly and gentle wrangler at the litchfield corrals

strangles...

pableu went to cate and gary's because our place for him wasn't quite ready and they were all sick with strangles. we didn't know anything about it and i was desperate to find out all i could. looked online, talked to vets, talked to other folks whose horses had had it but none of the stuff they said about how to treat it was the same or sounded good. neither of us wanted to give them drugs so cate gave them fortifying things: vitamins, herbs and whatever made sense and felt right. it was scarry. when someone that you love is really sick you feel compelled to try anything to get them better because that's what people tell ya to do, but what i was getting was that for these little guys, that would do more more harm than good. their systems didn't need anymore shocks. they had already been thru the trauma of capture, separation, weaning, and a bad diet. the hay and water they were getting alone was a huge improvement over the alfalfa (dumb, dumb, dumb) they had been getting once a day! once home they ate and drank like they were starving. they all presented with different symptoms and we learned a lot about strangles and what it does. pableu got a huge abcess under his neck that burst open in a matter of days all over his grain dish one morning and he was fine after that. a week and a half later and to our delight, he came home.

the abcess bursts and drains while he is eating

a sick and sore boy

the calling...

all of my horses picked me. it wasn't any different with pableu. from the first moment we spotted him, he started creeping into my mind. there was something 'special' about him the same way there was something individually 'special' about our other four mustangs. so, when cate and gary went back to twin peaks a few times right after we had all gone together and would come back with news of pableu's band, he would go to the back of my mind behind all of the other million things i was dealing with at the time and begin to make his way forward. when this happens you can feel them calling you. you see them, dream them, think you can feel and smell them and it gets more intense as time goes by. cate had this happen with a grulla mare and her filly from the same band and when we found out that they had all been captured in the gather a few weeks later, she went to the wild horse corrals at litchfield and saw them there. she gave me a picture of pableu and his mama and it broke my heart. after seeing him so fancy-free, so happy, living the way all horses should and then seeing him at the corrals was awful. i knew he wouldn't have trouble finding a home because of his colors but this bothered me even more thinking that some jack-ass would get him only because of that. so...it started. knowing full well that we couldn't afford another horse, his callings became louder and louder so i went with it and let it happen. in choosing not to fight it (knew better than that!) a dear freind offered to sponsor him. so the day before thanksgiving, on a biting-cold day, we drove to litchfield and picked up pableu, sage, the mare that wanted cate, and rosebud her filly. they told us at the corrals that some of the babies were sick but that ours looked okay so off we went. both cate and gary and i just wanted to get the hell out of there. if they were sick their chances of getting better and having a good life would be better with us and we knew it deep down. our ride home was slow but exciting and i felt like i was able to really breathe again. little rosebud...what a fighter. she turned out to be so sick! and as time passed, they all were. but with lots and lots of love, good medicine and doctoring from cate, they all got better, and i learned again, to trust what i know.

pableu and his mama 'crazyquilt' at the litchfield corrals

bittersweetness...

i knew this trip would be hard and that it may be the last time we saw any horses in this area. the blm was saying that they had to be removed because there were too many. we found that this was not true and some days we were hard pressed to find or  even see any horses. the terrain was thriving, there was lots of water, and any devestation that we did see, had been done by sheep and grazing units. YUK!!! wildflowers were everywhere, and all i kept thinking was how heavenly a place it was for our wild four-leggeds, (the sweet) and how heartbreaking it would be when they were all gone (the bitter).

it began with a camping trip to twin peaks...

the band at spanish springs

we knew the wild ones we not going to be there much longer. so a week before the blm's gather started in twin peaks, we went on a camping trip to ramhorn springs inside the twin peaks HMA. it was elvon and i, with our good friends cate and gary scott. the weather was great and after we got settled in, we drove out about a mile down the road to a place called spanish springs and there we saw our first band. they were healthy, shiny, and magnificent. and there in the midst of this beautiful family, was a tiny, blanket-butted, little appaloosa colt, looking cute as could be. the whole time we were there we saw them many times and got to see him with his mama and papa living the way all horses should in a strikingly healthy habitat.



pableu and his band heading across the mules ear to get a drink...his mama is the colorful appy next to him