[wyldterv]

Hello.

After considerable thought and probably a complete lapse of sanity my Sig Other and I 'adopted' a wild Mustang May 22, 2004 at the Lynden, WA BLM adoption. He's an approx. 3 yr old gelding and YES I knew in advance I was getting into a LOT of work!

I have found a person who has had successful mustang experience about 2 hrs from me who is giving me assistance with the initial genteling/ground training phase, and while I've never trained a wild mustang, I have trained domestic horses from the ground up.

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has had successful training sessions with wild horses in the past and/or are currently working with wild mustangs. I am always interested in learning more ways to do things and you never know when someone else may have come up with a simple solution you never thought of!

So thank you in advance if there's anyone out there who might be of assistance. Private replies unless you feel this thread will be beneficial for others.

[Blistering Winds]

Mustang training is just like training a young horse.

Good solid, NO MISTAKE ground work, and they usually come along faster than you think.

BUT, the issue with mustangs, they are a LOT like Mules. If you teach them something, whether GOOD or BAD, they HOLD YOU TO IT. Takes almost FOREVER to fix a problem, once established.

I've Re-wired several mustangs after idiot "mustang" trainers broke them. Be sure you visit regularly, ASK questions, and if you see them doing ANYTHING funny, ask right away, and then if it IS a bad thing, RUN LIKE THE DICKENS with your horse before he becomes ruined.

Another thing, Mustangs tend to be one or two people favorites. They have certain people they prefer and will BOND with them faster and act better with them. Usually, when I work with a mustang and his owner, we work together. I have the owner do a lot of roundpen work. Trying to make sure the horse bonds with the owner and NOT me.

Stick with Naturaly Type horsemanship. The rough, bronc out methods can ruin a mustang.

Don't let the mustang get away with anything (or a horse for that matter). They WILL take that inch and make it a mile before you know it.

Ask to see some of his mustangs before shipping your horse off.

One technique I have found "POPULAR" down here is head-feet Tying. There are various ways. They tie the head to a railroad tie, and hobble their feet as well. Breaks them GOOD according to these people and they claim it is "GENTLE". Course, I've obtained 2 mustangs into my re-wiring program and BOTH came from that guy, and BOTH had scars around their pasturns EXACTLY the same. HMMMM. Don't sound "NICE" to me. Then he had the nerve to say I was abusing the mustang I had in my possession after I said something bad about him. So it wasn't nice after that for a while, but from what I hear, he isn't getting as much "business" as he use to. Oh, and BOTH were deathly afraid of a western saddle. YOu put that saddle up on a fence, and they'd FLY out. Grew wings and everything!!!!

Anyways, be careful with "mustang" trainers. I know there are others like him out there. A mustang won't be broke in 30 days. In 30 days you'll be lucky to CATCH the horse, let alone lead him. But depends on the horse, but don't ask for miracles. TIME, Patience, and TIME wins out over brute force.

[MiniHorseGrl]

i wasnt born when we got our mustang (he was wild) but i have noticed differences between them and our other horses. if they dont trust you, good luck doing anything! lol, my sister can do anything on koda, but i get on him, and have a lot of problems because he doesnt trust me completely yet (mainly because i dont trust HIM) hes blind in one eye, so that doesnt help..but even though, but he still was able to learn to trust..
i think that the most important part with a mustang, is trusting them, so they will trust you

[QTRgirl]

Don't know anything about training them, but I think it's wonderful that you are taking the time to do such a nice thing.

[Dawn]

I have a mustang, but my experience was slightly different. She was born in the round up pens and had been with people for a year before I got her. However, she had had nothing done with her and had been in a stall for the entire year. It took me 2 weeks to touch her, once I had touched her, I could do pretty much anything with her. Clipped on a lead and she lead perfectly. They are very one person horses. Get him to trust you, then work with him trusting other people. Dont' bombard him with a bunch of different people at once.

[Dawn]

Oh, if you have any specific questions, you can pm me.

[wyldterv]

I should clarify...

Currently Poncho is on my property and the trainer I've asked to assist me is driving out to my place (2 hrs each way) BUT HOPEFULLY, if trailer loading through the shoot works out this weekend, Poncho will be traveling to the trainers place so that we can get DAILY sessions instead of weekly, and yes he has a proper mustang pen set up. He gets asked by the BLM to assist with problem horses from time to time and to haul horses, so has regular mustang interactions and also has a mentor who is someone who has done Gentling seminars for the BLM.

I will be driving the 2 hrs each way, 7 days a week to be present for ALL training sessions once we move Poncho, as I want to be in on every step of this process myself. The entire goal is to do the majority of the work myself, but in the sincere wish to do things correctly the FIRST time, I'm working with someone who's results I have been able to see first hand. So far I've been pleased with what I see.

We are using "natural" horsemanship methods and right now just taking alot of time, letting Poncho make up his mind he can trust me enough to allow me to touch him. He will touch me voluntarily, and my Sig Other, but will not allow us to initiate contact yet unless it's with a partner stick, although today, he actually backed his butt up to my hand (he was on one side of the stall door and I was on the other, and he could come and go as he pleased) and did allow me to scratch the base of his tail for about 15 seconds before he realized the pleasant scratching was coming from the HUMAN, YIKES! and out the door he went, snorting into the paddock. Two steps forward 5 steps back .

I have a breed of dog you MUST train correctly the FIRST time because they learn the good and the bad the first time, so I'll just keep in mind that the Mustang is alot like the Belgians, not alot of wiggle room for human error if you want a really neat, useful animal in the long run!

Boy oh boy do I look forward to my Arabian next Spring, LOL, will seem like a piece of CAKE when I get done with Project Poncho (well OK done enough I can take on a SECOND project anyway!).

Thanks for the insights and thoughts!

[Dawn]

This is just my opinion, take it for what it is.

I would not trailer him out there. Consider his first trailering experience he's had. It was long and scary. His second would be being forced into a trailer (again) then left by the person that is trying to gain his trust.

Also I don't know what your feeding arrangements are right now, but the person that the food comes from is very important to a mustang. You are his provider, and he knows it. Otherwise, you're merely an equal or lesser herd member.

[wyldterv]

Good points and worth thinking about! Thanks! This is what I am looking for, ideas, thoughts, discussion.

[Lupita]

Just a thought, but 4 hours a day in a trailer every day for training... yikes! don't you think you could do a lot of the work on your own (especially if you've trained horses from the ground up..) and maybe only see the trainer 2x week?? I commend you for adopting a mustang! I have adopted a burro myself... they are a LOT easier to gentle and train however... and I've adopted 2 children... so I'm all for adoption!

A reassuring note... I was at a team penning event and there was an 8(?) year old girl on a BLM mustang just riding anywhere she told him to go... he was just the sweetest thing... I think some people have a strange misconception that mustangs are "too wild and crazy"... but they just need patience and love like the rest of us and then they will do great things