A Young Student Enjoys Schooling With "Liberty."
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Training: For Your BLM Wild or Domestic Horses |
Our training philosophy is best described below with the quote from William Cavendish:
"A boy is a long time before he knows his alphabet, longer before he has learned to spell, and perhaps several years before he can read distinctly; and yet there are some people who, as soon as they get on a horse, entirely undressed and untaught, fancy that by beating and spurring they will make him a dressed horse in one morning only. I would fain ask such stupid people whether by beating a boy they would teach him to read without first showing him the alphabet? Sure, they would beat him to death, before they would make him read."
William Cavendish
What makes an adopted BLM wild horse special? It is the different mentality from any other breed that we enjoy working with. These animals don’t need us, other than our protection in Congress. They can and have survived on their own for several hundred years. Their numbers need to be controlled and by supporting the adoption program, we can help to insure that these pieces of living history will continue to have a place in our wild heritage as well as enjoying some as integral members of our own families.
If you do not have the experience or the facility to work with a wild horse, we can help by working with your animal for you. At our ranch we offer gentling/halter training, saddle training, sensory training, boarding, and lessons for you and your wild horse (domestic horses too!). We have over 10 years experience working with the wild horses and have dedicated ourselves to them. We refer to what we do as ‘training.’ We believe that we have not "broke" anything on these animals. When you work with a mustang, you don’t "break them," you come to an understanding with them. This "understanding" not only applies to the wild ones, but to our philosophy with all of the horses we come in contact with. "Training," not "breaking," our family passion. We work with the horse, having an understanding of their motivation, their keen ability of reading body language, and our desire for them to be a "partner." No sacking out with whips, plastic flags, and until the horse is both mentally and physically exhausted. Just simply working with the horse in a manner in which it can understand while having a goal with reward so the horse can be a partner.
What Are Those Marks On The Wild Horse's Neck?
The markings on the left side of an adopted BLM wild horses neck denote that it is a wild horse gathered from the BLM lands. The "brand," is actually a "freeze marking," and not a brand at all. A brand, such as a "hot brand," burns the skin and kills it, leaving a scar on the hide. A "hot brand" can actually be read from the inside of the animal's hide since it damages the skin. A "freeze marking," uses a branding iron with the appropriate characters for that horse and is first 
cooled in liquid nitrogen. The horses hair on the neck where the markings are to be applied is then clipped close to the skin. The "brand" (marking) is then applied on the skin for several seconds, longer for dark colored horses and shorter time period for lighter colored horses. The "brand" is only applied long enough to kill the pigmentation in the hair follicle so as to not damage the skin or kill the hair follicle. When the horses hair grows back, it grows back white and makes the characters easy to read.
The marking then can tell you what year the horse was born, and a registration number that can be traced by the BLM to know what adoption corral and herd area that horse came from and who the adopter was. In Abby's case to the right, the freeze marking would be read as follows: U (for U.S. Government); then, < over | |, which is "91" (the year she was foaled); followed by simlar characters which make the remainder of the registration number of "533169." So Abby's complete, registered, freeze marking with BLM would be: "91533169."
We feel that this is a special symbol on our wild horses and we have trained the manes to display their proud symbols of their wild American Heritage. These markings can be seen in many of our horses photographs throughout our website if you look closely as with Abby above.
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