Wild Mustang

[mtblackdog]

Grew up on family ranches. Worked cattle, packed, guided, hunted on horses my whole life. Went down to the Gore Range in Co one fall to guide and help a buddy out for 3rd season elk deer. He gave me his best horse for the week. A wild horse he got from New Mexico. Long story short it was the most incredible mountain horse I have ever been on even up to now. We hunted in ice, snow, rocks to 12,000 feet. That horse knew his every step and did it with such smoothness it is hard to explain. He rarely stumbled even in the roughest of rocks. Damn mountain goat. He would travel so fast in that stuff we would be 50 yards ahead of the rest of the group. I always attributed it to the fact that he was born an raised on the wild horse range in NM. I called my dad at the end of the hunt and said we needed to buy him. He was only 8 years old, we offered $12,000 and my buddy turned it down. He knew what he had. On a sad note, that winter the girl who oversaw the stock, fed him staight hot alfalfa and he coliced and died. My point being they are out there off those ranges but the rare ones are just that rare and worth every penny. That horse would have put me in country faster, safer and better than no other.

 

[BKehoe05]

I dig the analogy since we have a couple reiners. Its a funny juxtaposition with my BLM burros next to a couple $20-30,000 quarter horses.

I'd add:
2022 F350 king ranch off road package - well bred/trained quarter horse- Man they are nice to ride around in but I'm terrified of scratching it.

Out of curiosity are you the guy whose been on a few podcasts and does the burro races and hunts with his burro?

 

[burrohiker]

Yep same guy. Been on a few with Backcountry Rookies and Eastmans. Doing my best to get the word out about these guys.

Social media.Youtube under NMpackburros.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Mtblackdog - your comment on the mustang foundering on alalfa gave me pause. I've always fed grass hay and never worried about it. This year my hay yield was about 20% of normal and I had to buy alfalfa. I'm feeding about 2 flakes per horse every other feeding with timothy alternating with the alfalfa each day.

I'm also feeding one older mare a scoop of 50-50 sweet feed and senior feed. She shares that with a weanling in addition to the hay.

Have I got that about right?

 

[mtblackdog]

Mtblackdog - your comment on the mustang foundering on alalfa gave me pause. I've always fed grass hay and never worried about it. This year my hay yield was about 20% of normal and I had to buy alfalfa. I'm feeding about 2 flakes per horse every other feeding with timothy alternating with the alfalfa each day.

I'm also feeding one older mare a scoop of 50-50 sweet feed and senior feed. She shares that with a weanling in addition to the hay.

Have I got that about right?

Yeah you should be good. She just fed straight 2nd cut alfalfa for two days. All the horses made it through. But he was like I said born wild and didnt handle it at all.

 

[Pony Soldier]

Great! Thanks

 

[BKehoe05]

That’s really interesting that they colic on alfalfa. All of the federal holding facilities fees only alfalfa. My mustangs knock on wood have never had an issue with grass hay, alfalfa or any of the processed feeds. When we pick up freshies I would immediately put them on a 14% sweet feed (Purina Impact 14%). This gets freshies to learn to eat feed right away plus I can get dewormer into them with the feed. The only negative we have experienced is some horses will get amped up because of the sugars in the sweet feed. As soon as we see that change happen we drop them back to an extruded 14% but usually by that time the horses are used to being fed grain and are looking forward to it daily.

Our EMM horses also end up with a plethora of supplements as well to improve their body, feet and hair condition because of being limited to 100 days to get them ready to show.

The photos I attached are my daughter’s most recent two EMM youth show horses. These are yearlings and 2 year olds.

 

[BKehoe05]

Yep same guy. Been on a few with Backcountry Rookies and Eastmans. Doing my best to get the word out about these guys.

Social media.Youtube under NMpackburros.

View attachment 369623

I thought so! I recognize your white burro. I’m certainly interested in chatting with you if you are free.

 

[BKehoe05]

As far as y’all that have had issues with getting quality mustangs, it’s just like bringing new hunters into the sport. It’s much easier to teach a kid how to hunt then it is to teach an adult. You have a much longer time to teach them and they end up being better hunters at a younger age because they were started at a young age. Another good metaphor is you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. With regards to Mustangs, I frankly will not train a Mustang that is over the age of five and to be perfectly honest I don’t even like to train mustangs that are over the age of four. The younger you get them the easier it is to transition them to domestic life. I can tell you without a doubt that any of the horses we started at age 1 or 2 are pocket animals as opposed to the older ones.
What I have learned most from the Mustangs is the older horses will form a bond with one person and it is pretty much unbreakable. But it takes so much longer to get them to that point. The younger ones are more interested in being social.
The other thing to keep in mind is in the wild most of these mustang mares are breeding by age 2. The colts are starting to fight for breeding rights by 3. So you are dealing with teenagers who have the world already figured out in their minds.
My last thought on this topic, treat mustangs like you would people. The parallels are perfect, introverts versus extroverts. If you are an extrovert you are probably being social and can and will approach and talk to everyone. If you are an introvert, you are more than likely a wallflower. So from a personal standpoint which is more likely to be easier to be friends with at first? The extrovert of course. The extroverts usually want to please so they are easier to handle, gentle and train. The introverts are great horses as well, they just take so much more time and effort. All 3 of my current personal rides are introverts and they all have their quirks, but they are solid horses.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I don't know about colic but I remember a few decades ago in wildlife classes that feeding alfalfa to elk on the feeding grounds was a problem because it took differant gut bugs to process grass than alfalfa. Consequently they could starve to death with a belly full of alfalfa until their gut bugs evolved. That's one of the reasons I mix my horses feed alfalfa and grass or at least alternate it.

 

[rayporter]

a horse gut does not like changes. changes in diet cause many troubles. if you change you should slowly ramp up the amount of feed, especially if there is a change in protein or carbohydrates in the feed content.

 

[BKehoe05]

I don't know about colic but I remember a few decades ago in wildlife classes that feeding alfalfa to elk on the feeding grounds was a problem because it took differant gut bugs to process grass than alfalfa. Consequently they could starve to death with a belly full of alfalfa until their gut bugs evolved. That's one of the reasons I mix my horses feed alfalfa and grass or at least alternate it.

Elk are like deer. You aren’t supposed to feed deer grass hay either. They are unable to process it. However horses have the makeup to process all different kinds of hay/grass/alfalfa.

 

[Kylep0801]

I am a TIP trainer and EMM Competitor as I mentioned in a previous thread. But I am NOT a real horse trainer. Since September 2019 I’ve gentled 11 of my own mustangs and have kept 5 of them. Some were sold because they were good horses and bonded easily with just about anyone. 3 of the 5 I kept are because they wouldn’t be good horses for most others. Some of my mustangs are the most physically gifted horses I’ve ridden and roped off of. Others have draft influence and they make up for athleticism with drive, effort and personality.

The “whole ‘07 release of domestic horses” is a joke. Domestic horses have been let into the herds for generations but there was no lowering of the gate on Noah’s Ark and mass Exodus.

The issues with potential lameness is due to inbreeding no different than domestic papered horses.

As an owner of highly bred and finely built competitive rodeo horses AND an owner and proponent of multiple mustangs, I will say that my mustangs are by far my preferred saddle mount. Of the 11 I’ve gentled, only 1 had a hereditary defect and that possible future navicular. I turned around and traded her off for a good stud colt.

For those of you with car sense think of it like this:

- Lamborghini = Purebred quarterhorse/thoroughbred or any other high quality horse
- Mack Truck = Draft Breeds
- Old School Ford Raptor = homegrown ranch quarterhorses
- UTV = Mustang (it will do anything you have the guts to make it do, it may not do it the best, but they’ll get it done)
- Old Beat Up Pickup Truck = Dude Ranch Broke

The question is you have to decide which vehicle you want taking you up into the mountains.

The car bit there is one of the best analogies I've ever seen.

 

[BKehoe05]

The car bit there is one of the best analogies I've ever seen.

Thank you sir