What do YOU want to see happen with Wild Horses & Burros?
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For more information about the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program, please call (866) 4MUSTANGS or Click HERE
This website is owned and created by Nancy Kerson, a private citizen - I am not the givernment Information about BLM adoptions is offered as a service, to help mustangs find homes and to promote public appreciation of wild horses and burros. And I sure as heck am not a Mustang car dealership! I have NO horses or burros for sale and not interested in buying or listing your sale animals! |
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YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO IT ALONE
Don't be afraid (or too proud!) to ask for help!
The majority of wild horses and burros are adopted into "do-it-yourself" homes. Over the years, the BLM Adopt-A-Horse program has had many stellar successes of people who have gentled and trained their horse by themselves, sometimes starting with no prior horse experience. I hope this will always be an option. I'm one of those people, and the experience has been beyond rewarding to me, and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to learn horsemanship "from the ground up."
However, gentling and training a wild horse isn't for everybody, and some adoptions do fail, which is very bad for the horse and a real "downer" experience for the adopter. Others are technically successful, in that the adopter keeps the horse, but the horse never reaches its potential, remaining but a pasture ornament.
Although the majority of adopters can successfully earn the horse's trust to the extent that the animal is able to be handled, saddle training is something else.
Saddle training is not just a matter of getting on and hanging on - well, it can be, but to do it right, it is a very complex and important matter - a time when mistakes can have long-term consequences for both horse and rider. Unless you are already a trainer, or have access to a trainer who can coach you over a period of time - you really should consider getting your horse professionally trained.
Left: Kitty Lauman Right: Ray Ariss
The recent success of the Mustang Heritage Foundation's Extreme Mustang Makeover and the Mustang Challenge program is an object lesson in the value of professional training. In just 100 days, most of these trainers had the horses soft, connected, responsive and able to perform amazing things that one usually sees only after a few years, even with domestic horses. Contrary to many people's fears, these horses did not seem "pushed" or "rushed." They seemed relaxed with their trainer, comfortable with the tasks given them, and basically, well-trained!
Left: Jeremy Dunn Right: Evija Aunina
Wild horses are inexpensive, precisely because they lack training.
Add the right training and you have a very valuable horse that can compete with the best domestics. Since the goal is - or should be - to end up with a good, safe horse, there is a lot to be said for sending your horse out to a good trainer.
Left: Weldon Hawley Right: Tom King
Where to find one? My "How to Gentle A Wild Horse" page lists a number of good trainers. That's just a starting place. Chances are there is a good trainer right in your own neighborhood who would be willing to help you. The trainer does not have to be famous, just good! Natural horsemanship techniques work well with wild horses. The Vaquero tradition of the American West and Southwest is a Natural Horsemanship-based tradition. Many working cowboys know how to start a semi-wild green horse.
There are also many successful past adopters who would be happy to share what they know to help you get started. The links below are a good place to start looking for one.
Here are some more resources to help you locate the right trainer or volunteer mentor:
- Cindy Lawrence's Mustang Family Newsletter
This is a free, totally grass-roots weekly newsletter. Click here to subscribe - Extreme Mustang Makeover trainers
- (CA-BAA) California BLM Adopters Assistance
- Inter-Mountain Wild Horse and Burro Advisors (IWHBA)
- Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue - California - periodic gentling & training clinics
- LRTC / Wild Horse Mentors
(Wild Horse Mentors is a division of LRTC)
http://kbrhorse.net/whb/blmhorse.html
http://www.whmentors.org/index.html
Nation-wide mentoring group - Florida Wild Horse & Burro Association
- South Florida Mustang Club
- The Pacific Wild Horse Club
- North Carolina Wild Horse Club
P.O. Box 1134
Mocksville, NC 27028
Email: ncwildhorse@b...
Website: http://www.ncwildhorse.com - Wisconsin Mustang Club
- The Pacific Wild Horse Club
- California Donkey and Mule Association
- Back Country Horsemen
- EARS (Equus Assinus Recreational Society)
- Indiana Mustang and Burro Club
- Pacific Wild Horse Club produces an annul wild horse workshop
- South Florida Mustang Club holds many interesting and educational events to promote mustangs
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|  Jerry Tindell: Starting Over with Rachel the Troubled Mule $50.00 3 Hours |  Jerry Tindell: FUNDAMENTALS OF RIDING Horses & Mules $50.00 2 Hours, 44 Minutes |
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since October 24, 2007
