All dressed up...

Siesta and I decided it was time to try on a few of the items in the tack room.  We started with the cute little itty-bitty red pony bareback pad...

...and she thought that was just too darn funny.  "You call that a saddle?  Ha, ha, ha!"

So we moved on to the cute little itty-bitty black pony saddle...

...which was still pretty funny.  Maybe we need some accessories?

Yes, a bridle, that's what she wanted.  A snaffle bit and reins, just like a real horse.  All she needs now is a rider!  I stood on a mounting box and scooted her up next to me, then laid my right leg over her back and rubbed it back and forth.  I put some weight on it, too, and she just looked at me like, "Well get on already!"  Believe me, I was tempted, but she's got some learnin' to do first.  Back on the ground, I asked her to give to the bit, left and right and back up.  She did that with no problem, so I'll spend some time this weekend ground-driving her to teach her to balance herself in a frame and practice Whoa and Go.  She's going to be such a breeze to get going under saddle.  Whoever adopts this little sweetheart is going to have an awesome partner!  

I really wish I had taken video of me tacking Siesta up.  She just stood there, ground tied, and let me do whatever I wanted.  I went appropriately slow, I was in no hurry, and let her look at and sniff everything, but, sheesh, most horses at least snort or pull back a couple of times.  Nothing like that from Siesta; it was just green lights all the way.  Cinching up was no big deal, walking and trotting under saddle was nothing, and accepting the bit was pure bliss.  What fun!  Did I mention Siesta is available for adoption?  What are you waiting for???  Get your paperwork into the BLM as fast as you can, 'cause whoever gets this little doll is going to be one lucky cowpoke.

Viedos of Siesta

I've taken some time this week to create short videos of me working with Siesta.  I have a YouTube channel, which is called gentlemustangs.  You can watch me haltering Siesta, tying her and grooming, and playing with her in the roundpen.

Siesta had her first trim yesterday.  My farrier, Beth, is wonderful beyond words, and she did an amazing job with Siesta.  She stood like a perfect angel and was very relaxed.  Beth commented that Siesta's legs were very loose and easy to work with, with no tension at all.  Videos of each hoof being trimmed are posted on the YouTube channel as well.

Enjoy!

Two Months

Siesta has been with me for exactly two months today.  Time really does go quickly, especially when I'm having so much fun.  It's been a blast, watching Siesta develop into a trusting, respectful, willing partner.  She is such a cool horse, a real beauty, a fast learner, and a lovey-dovey sweetheart too.

Interested adopters need to fill out and submit an application to the Bureau of Land Management.  Go here for the form.  Please mail it directly to the BLM at 28910 Hwy 20 West, Hines, OR 97738.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Siesta, mustangs in general, or the adoption process.  I'd love to hear from you!

Just a Horse

When does a wild mustang become just a horse?  I'm not really sure.  It wasn't at any of the moments that made me cry: when I first touched her, when I first brushed her, when I took her number tag off, when I snapped the rope on, when I slipped the old halter off and slipped the new one on, when I lead her out of her pen, when I let her play in the arena for the first time, when she came in the barn and ate a flake of hay from the feeder.  It wasn't at any of those moments.  Maybe it was when I tied her and groomed her and she just stood there and soaked it up.  Maybe it was when I put a saddle pad on her back and walked her around.  Maybe it was when I bounced the big blue ball beside her and she didn't flinch.  Maybe it was a combination of all of those moments, coupled with a lot of tender loving care, that made Siesta just a horse.  I don't know, but that's what she is now.  Just a young horse in training that has a good, solid mind, beauty, and lots of athletic potential, plus all of the traits that mustangs are famous for.  What more could you want?

Knock, Knock

Who's there?

Siesta.

Siesta Who?

Siesta wants to come live in your barn!

Siesta's First Ride

So, I hopped on Siesta bareback today, just to see what she would do...

April Fools!

Relaxing in the Paddock

Green grass is so yummy.  After being in corrals for 15 months, or nearly half of her life, Siesta got to nibble on some grass today.  She could only reach a little bit under the fence, but she wasn't complaining.  She got to sniff a tree, too.  Not many tall trees where she comes from!

 

This was Siesta's first time out of the arena.  The fence is about 4'8" high, and the gate in the third picture below is 4'.  She never challenged them at all, and it doesn't seem like she's going to have any fence issues.  Pretty good, huh?

Fun in the Big Pen

Siesta got her first taste of free play time yesterday.  Her gentling pen is in a corner of a mostly-covered arena, and that's where she's spent her time for the last month.  She's been led from her pen to the round pen, which is under cover in the middle of the arena, but that's as far as she's gone.  She's doing so well with her training that I felt like it was time to let her a loose for a while.  I put her web halter on and opened the gate, and Siesta seemed to know what I was up to before I did it.  She made her cute little mustang-snorty sound then calmly stepped out.  There were three piles of River's poop right there, so sniffing them gave her something interesting to do.  For seven minutes she walked around with her nose on the ground sniffing every inch of everything.  She drank from puddles.  She tasted the footing (and spit it out).  She took in the view.  And then she decided to crank it up a few notches and cut loose with some really Western rodeo moves.  Her canter and gallop are awesome!  She had fun running into a corner then spinning out of it and charging in the other direction.  Her trot is fun to watch too; there is lots of knee and hock action.  After two whole minutes of hard play she decided to go back to walking, sniffing, and puddle drinking.

I was very impressed.  Had any of our other horses been cooped up for five weeks, they would have blown off way more steam.  I cleaned Siesta's pen and a couple of other stalls while Siesta cooled herself down.  When I came in with an armload of straw for her bed, she followed me in and munched on it a bit.  Next thing I knew she was standing in her favorite corner with her head down and her eyes closed.  Having fun is so much work!

Star Power

Earlier this week, my friend and mustang mentor Tracey Westbury, came to visit Siesta.  Tracey has multiple talents, including training mustangs, writing with style, and creating beautiful photography.  Her favorite subject is, of course, mustangs.  While she was here, Tracey took lots of great photos of Siesta.  We traded places for a while; she played with Siesta and I played with her camera.  What a treat!

Tracey made Siesta the star of her blog today.  You can check it out here.  Thanks Tracey!

River's Day Out

River, the big beautiful bay from McCullough Peaks HMA in Wyoming, and the supermodel at the top of the blog, got to go ponying out on the trail today.  The sun was out for the first time in a million years, and it was warm, so naturally we hit the trails.  I don't mean to imply that we only ride when the sun is shining, because, believe me, we ride in all kinds of weather, all year 'round.  But it sure does feel good to be horseback in the woods when the sun is pouring it's warmth down and making the earth all steamy and luscious.

This was River's second time being ponied, and each time has been behind a different horse, with different horses bringing up the rear as well.  She did great on both rides, with no spooky silliness, and we threw everything at her that we could.  We crossed the creek, went through huge mud bogs, up and down slippery clay slopes, across fat logs, through thick brush, across bridges, under the high-tensile power lines, and even past the scary horse-eating culvert and she never even blinked.  The only thing that got her attention was a pair of deer behind us as we were heading back to the trailer.  She let out a couple of big, loud snorts, which spooked the saddle horses, but it was nothing very eventful.

Next time we go out we'll saddle River and ride her.  She does great in the arena, so we don't anticipate any problems.  We happened to bump into her previous owner today, who was riding with a group of his pals.  He was happy to see River and said that she looks great.  Which of course she does!