Twisters touch...

For all you Twister fans, here is a picture of one of his first touches. You can see he is relaxed and attentive. He came up to me and I was so happy that someone had a camera to capture it! He is very willing to work, which makes him fun (even though he is tough!)

Mustang News!

If you haven't heard about the Napa Mustang Days event, check out their website by clicking here --> napamustangdays

There will be a select number of tamed wild horses for adoption (as well as lots of wild ones from the BLM). You can those available horses by clicking here --> halter trained mustangs

Come out and celebrate the American mustang September 16-18 with us!

Day 10

There is an average of about 5 hours a day of working the mustangs. That totals to about 50 hours as of today. It is the most rewarding feeling to have made progress and I am happy to report that all three mustangs have made a lot of progress!

Cinnamon is as sweet as the day is long. He is kind and a little shy but seems to be working through the new experiences that we bring every day. He can be touched all over by hand and with the pole. I have begun to ask him to lift his feet, which he has obliged every time.  He is ok with a saddlepad and flymask rubbing all over his body. Now the work is going to focus on getting him through the desensitizing to the many objects and situations he will encounter in his life.

Talitha had a but of a rough week. Overnight, she came down with a serious case of hives. Her entire body was swollen including her face. This was alarming since swelling in the face can lead to inhibited breathing. Fortunately, we were able to borrow some antihistamines from a neighbor horse so we could get it under control right away. The vet came out as soon as possible (5 hours later) and gave us our own prescription for the antihistamines plus some banamine. Overnight the swelling mostly disappeared and she was back to normal. We have been lightly working her, trying not to stress her out any more than she already is. Since there are so many factors that contribute to a hives breakout, it is impossible for us to know exactly why it happened. You can see below how her little face was so swollen, poor thing!

Twister has become incredibly interested in people and the distance between us is slowly decreasing. He is attentive when in the pen and has been taking baby steps towards me. Anthony spent some time in the pen using the pole to rub him and when he would pause, Twister would lean forward as if to say "more please". After a little while longer, Twister took a sniff of his hand. I think it will only be a few more days before he is going to figure out how nice people can be. 

Day 6!

6 full days of work have gone by and each mustang has developed at their own pace. It is amazing to watch the way Talitha, Cinnamon, and Twister have changed. 

The obvious rock star has been Cinnamon. His curious and willing attitude has allowed us to introduce the fly mask, grooming tools, saddle pad, and even the saddle. He looooves to be scratched in his mane and will tilt his head sideways for you to rub. He has even let me pick up his hoofs to begin introducing him to hoof picking. What an awesome guy!  

Twister has been taking things a little slower, which is just fine for all of us. No one wants to feel rushed, especially when you are taming a wild mustang. Although he has not gained interest in touching us, he has accepted the pole to rub him all over his entire body. He becomes comfortable with us in the pen after a little bit and will walk (on his own) about half of the length of the pen towards us. Ever hear that saying "slow but steady"? That's Twister!

Talitha is the youngest at only 17 months. She is also the only female, which makes her the most finnicky! Some days she is quite interested. Others, she would just assume walk away from us. One trick we have been using is petting the horse next to her pen. She seems to realize he is getting all the attention and it might be a good thing. She has also been interested in objects like saddle pads and grooming tools. She especially enjoyed sniffing Anthony's head! 

 

2 days of progress

After 2 days of working 6 hours each, you can see that we made some really nice progress!

Cinnamon is incredibly curious. He is friendly and kind, letting me pet him since early this morning. He loves to get his ears scratched. I really enjoyed working with him today. This is one very nice mustang that is going to make someone really happy! He is easy to work with and that makes training fun. Today he sniffed a fly mask and got brushed, tomorrow we will introduce a few more exciting items.

 

Twister is a little bit different. Since he was older when he was caught, he stayed a stallion longer and you can really see the difference in his body compared to Cinnamon. He has those stallion jowls! For this reason, he is a little tougher to work with. Still, he has already made a lot of progress, being touched all over with the stick. If his attitude is any indicator of what he will be like, I could easily describe him to his future owner... boss! Even though he doesn't want a whole lot to do with people, he is confident and steadfast. I think this will translate into being an awesome trail horse once he has bonded to his forever owner.

 Here is my boyfriend Anthony working Twister. You can see he is beginning to be interested...from a distance of course!

 This is the closest Twister got to contact today. I think it is pretty darn good considering he is a tougher mustang to work with.

Sweet little Talitha really loved Anthony. She was not feeling so great because she was de-wormed at the corrals and had quite an infestation to get rid of. Despite the tummy ache, she was still willing to be worked with today and that says a lot about her willing personality. 

My new best friend!

Twister, Talitha, and Cinnamon

Here are the lucky 3:

(Carter Reservoir) Cinnamon

3 year old sorrel gelding

 

(Twin Peaks) Talitha

17 month old bay mare

(Twin Peaks) Twister 

4 year old dun gelding

Litchfield means...

New horses!!! Woke up at 5am and headed out to Litchfield to pick out some TIP projects. It is a good thing that there were only 3 open mustang paddocks at the barn otherwise, the 4 horse trailer might have been full. It is always fun to pick out horses and today was no different.