Mustangs 4 Us

Home   l   Mustang/Wild Horse History   l   Mustang Heritage   l   Adopt a Mustang! (Wild Horse, not the Car!) l    Wild Horse & Burro Watching   l   Gentling and Training Wild Horses   l   Burros   l   Mustang Mules   l   Our "Wild " Herd   l   Wild Horse & Burro Herd Areas/ Where the Wild Things Are   l    Mustang * Horse Colors   l   Helpful Videos   l   Events   l   Links   l   "Free to Good Home" I "Working With Wild Horses" Book Sale

 

What do YOU want to see happen with Wild Horses & Burros?
Tell President Obama!

Main Sections in this website:

For information about
the BLM Wild Horse & Burro
Program, please call
(866) 4MUSTANGS
or Click HERE

Mustang T-Shirt

$19.95
Style & Size

 


BUY THE BOOK!

Working with Wild Horses
Second (Improved) Edition
A Handbook of
Gentling and Training Tips
By Nancy Kerson
Support independent publishing: Buy this book on Lulu.
Paperback $22 or
Downloadable E-Book $7.50
 

This website is owned and created by Nancy Kerson, a private citizen - I am not the BLM or any other branch of government!

Information about BLM adoptions is offered as a service, to help mustangs find homes and to promote public appreciation of wild horses and burros.

Please direct adoption questions to the BLM, not to me.

And I sure as heck am not a Mustang car dealership!

I have NO horses or burros for sale and am not interested in buying or listing or otherwise promoting your sale animals!

This website:
Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
All Rights Reserved.
I am happy to share, but please give me a credit when you "borrow" things off my website! Thanks! Just say, "author, Nancy Kerson www.mustangs4us.com "

VIDEOS OF INTEREST TO MUSTANG & BURRO ADOPTERS:


Kitty Lauman:
From Wild to Willing: Using the Bamboo Pole to Gentle Mustangs
More from Lauman Training available now!

DVD or VHS
(2-DVD or 2-VHS set) almost 3 hours of instruction!

$39.95 plus $5 shipping/handling = $44.95 total

BUY 2 DVD Set:

Can't Order Online?
No Problem!

Just email us and we'll tell you how to mail order


Lesley Neuman:
The First Touch
Gentling Your Mustang
$45.00

Lesley works with 3 wild horses at a BLM adoption, and very clearly explains what is happening, what she is doing, & what she sees in each horse as it progresses. Study this video and you can learn "pressure and release" gentling techniques to gentle your own new mustang!

Format:


Help for Burro adopters!
Crystal Ward
Donkey Training

All the basics of gentling, handling, and training. A MUST for new burro adopters! Good for domestic donkeys, too!

FORMAT

Can't do Paypal?
No Problem!
Just Call TOLL FREE
1-877-345-6748
(1-877-FILMS4U)
____________________

 

OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN
WILD HORSE GENTLING:

Feeding at either extreme (too much or too little) is dangerous, even life-threatening to your horse.

EVALUATING HORSE CONDITION

USING HENNEKE SCALE STANDARDS

Body Score

Ribs

 

Spine

Pelvis and
Tail Head

Withers, Shoulder & Neck bones

1 (emaciated)

Look how prominent the spine, pelvis and ribs are. This horse has already used up its own muscle tissue over the rump, just trying to survive.

very prominent

very prominent

very prominent

very noticeable

Note: Horses in this dire state of malnutrition require specialized care in rehabilitation. They are prone to developing ulcers and colic, and their survival is not guaranteed just because feed improves. Such animals may also have an underlying medical problem (such as cancer) that is contributing to their extremely poor condition. The paint above was euthanized by Animal Control, as being beyond help.
 

Ribs

 

Spine

 

Pelvis and
Tail Head

Withers, Shoulder & Neck bones

2 (very thin)

prominent

prominent

prominent

noticeable

3 (thin)


 

very noticeable

tops of vertebrae
very noticeable

pelvic bones
noticeable; tail
head prominent

faintly noticeable

4 (light)

(Same horse as #2 above, after a month of good care)

faintly
noticeable

slight ridge
along back

pelvic bones
covered; can feel
fat at tail head

not obviously thin

5 (moderate/ideal)

not visible
but easily felt

back is flat; no
crease or ridge

pelvic bones well
covered; spongy
fat at tail head

rounded withers;
shoulder & neck blend into body

6 (moderately fleshy)

spongy fat over
ribs; can feel individual ribs

may have slight
crease down back

pelvic bones well covered; soft fat
around tail head

some fat deposits
on withers, neck, & behind shoulders

Mustangs are notoriously "easy keepers." Having been naturally selected over many generations to thrive on sparse desert grazing, they "blow up like blimps" on good quality hay, green pastures, and (gasp!) grain supplements. Owning a mature mustang means taking on "the Battle of the Bulge."

7 (fleshy)

ohioline.osu.edu

obvious filling
between ribs; can feel ribs

may have crease
down back

pelvic bones well
covered; soft fat
around tail head

fat deposits on
withers, neck, &
behind shoulders

8 (fat)

 

hard to feel ribs

crease down back

very soft fat at
tail head; fat on
inner thighs

fat fills withers area
& behind shoulders;
thickened neck

9 (obese)

www.sciencedaily.com
Photo George Clerk

photo: www.vet.utk.edu

A horse in this condition is just as at-risk for early death as an emaciated one.

dimpled fat over ribs

obvious crease down back
 

bulging fat at tail head & inner thigh; flank filled with fat

bulging fat on withers, neck, & behind shoulders

copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Nancy Kerson, all rights reserved - I'm happy to share, just need to be asked and have credit given where due.

Disclaimer: Horses are inherently dangerous. Use the information contained within this website at your own risk.