You Can Do It

My journey into Mustang ownership was preceded by many evenings of conversation with a neighbor who rode and trained horses at the national level. Before she succumbed to dementia she guided me to understand that the relationship, the creation of a partnership was paramount in gentling and training. She took those 'non dominance' parts from her time with Ray Hunt, Pat P, Tom Dorrance and others along with Xenophon and knitted them together into a fabric I could understand. Her approach became the basis for my day-to-day interaction with my two domestic horses. As the mustangs landed in my possession they each got to introduce themselves to me at their own speed. I sat with them feeding hay allowing them to approach at will. I sat in the shelter with them during storms all the while giving them the choice whether to be in my presence. When we got the BLM tag off was their choice. When I touched them was their choice. When I introduced the brush the was no pressure if it was unwanted. Haltering was easy because they had been prepared for days for having strings and ropes around every part of their body. It was impossible not to have a 'dominance moment' as I introduced the lead line. The first tug of resistance brought out the flight reaction in both. Immediate release and praise for how brave they were (and a few treats) changed that natural reaction to withdraw into an acceptance of my leadership. Both Whiskey and Kali got to introduced to the domestic herd around the 30 day mark which coincides with the quarantine I imposed. Both mustangs exhibited the clacking motion asking the older domestics to understand their youth. When I finally swung that gate open there was only a brief chase because the mustangs were so much more agile and quicker than the domestics. Now the older geldings frequently watch over the youngsters asleep on the ground.