|
||||||||||||||||
The Mirror Effect Book!
Give your body
the nutrition it needs to meet the demands you place on it. click here
to learn more!
All sizes
|
Midwest Mustang ChallengeMidWest Mustang ChallengeThe New Year saw the dawn of new relationships as 60 wild Nevada Mustangs were delivered into the hands of their 60 selected trainers January 9 in Ewing, Illinois. Trainers are working with their wild mustangs for 100 days culminating in a competition at the MidWest Horse Fair in Madison, Wisconsin, April 18-20. Following the competition the trained Mustangs will be available for adoption through public bid on Sunday, April 20 at the MidWest Horse Fair, one of the most prestigious horse events in the country. The Midwest Mustang Challenge sponsored by the Mustang Heritage Foundation in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management was created to highlight the beauty, versatility and trainability of the Mustang. On January 10th, Karina, picked up her Mustang(s),
(make that 2!) and traveled less than ten miles
before unloading the girls in Bonnie, Illinois. “Maggie and Lucy worked beautifully. Maggie was initially very guarded but Lucy was gregarious and curious. Les and Tracy were so hospitable and their facility was perfect. With their help I was able to give Maggie and Lucy the start they needed.” Within 24 hours Karina had both Mustangs gentled and in 48, both girls couldn’t be called wild anymore. Maggie stood quietly to have her hooves trimmed and both she and Lucy had already been under saddle without incident. Each had lessons outside where they encountered cars, trucks and even a train! Trailer loading was a cinch as both girls walked in and out of the trailer without incident and accepted the dividers closed between them. “It was important to me that the girls be relaxed and that they know the basics of contact with humans and traveling. My strategy was to both minimize their fear of humans and to teach them what they needed to know to make the long trip home safely.” After loading the girls it was on to Kentucky where Maggie and Lucy enjoyed meeting Steve Moberly of Saddles and Sheets Horse Inn www.saddlesandsheets.com . Bedded deep in straw, so happy were they that Karina elected to stay two days! The girls frolicked in Steve’s immaculate pastures and enjoyed meeting some of Kentucky’s blue blood horses! Then it was on to New York and finally, home to Maine! Maggie was the first to taste the snow, but Lucy was the first to roll in it! They introduced themselves to the gang at Lakeview and were warmly welcomed home by John and Annette, Bill, Tanya and Sidney, Kirk, Doug, Dave, Richard and many others! They’re celebrities! Check back regularly as we update their progress! March 30th 2008 UPDATE: NAME: LUCY WHY LUCY? Lucy is extremely lovable and engaging. She is also very curious. With her shock of wild mane and lively personality, it seemed only fitting that she be named Lucy after Lucille Ball of I LOVE LUCY. PERSONALITY PROFILE: Sex: Mare Age: 2 ½ Type: ALPHA Temperament: Very sweet, curious, engaging and courageous. Lucy willingly leaves the herd and when riding with others, loves to lead! She is engaged with the rider, is not spooky and enjoys learning new things. She is alert and ambitious. Favorite Treat: Carrots, Alfalfa cubes, Hay Stretcher pellets. Training: Lucy will stand to be haltered, bridled, saddled and mounted. She will stand for the farrier and for the vet and she will load and unload. Lucy rides both western and English with a bosal or a snaffle. She can ride bareback and bridleless or with a cordeo and has experience in both the arena and on the trail. Lucy knows dressage to Training Level 4. She is also an excellent trail horse and is very forward moving. She is not spooky and she is sure footed. She is also trained to harness and will pull a load or a carriage. Lucy is from the Twin Peaks herd (CA-242). The Twin Peaks herd management area is located 25 miles northeast of Susanville, CA in both the Lassen county in California and the Washoe county of Nevada. The area encompasses 798,000 acres! Lucy came from a herd of 450-760 head of horses. The Twin Peaks horses are known for their strong genetic bonds to the original Spanish horses and their size, beauty, nice temperaments and unmistakable conformational similarities. The herd, while close to its original Spanish roots, has also been influenced by the Morgan, Saddlebred and Iberian breeds. LUCY’S FIRST 30 DAYS Pick up at the facility was uneventful except for my observations of Lucy which were that she was an independent horse, yet a cohesive unit of her holding pen herd. When the BLM officials cut Lucy from her herd she both wanted to communicate peaceably with them yet stay attached with her herd. She was the most athletic of the horses in the pen and also the most communicative. She energetically charged down the alley and raced around the small enclosure but when it came time to load; she did so without complication and stood quietly in the trailer, even though we had another horse loaded with her (Maggie). Why 2 horses? Mustang horses are born in the most natural state for horses. Wild. Born wild, they learn valuable social and environmental skills. While it is necessary for these horses to be managed to prevent disease and starvation, being captured isn’t easy for them. They are removed from their native wild environment and often separated from family members. Once housed in holding pens they are subject to competing for food and maintaining themselves in condensed pastures that are much smaller than what they experienced running free. For this challenge, the MidWest Mustang Challenge, Lucy originated from Nevada and was transported by the BLM to Ewing, Illinois. This meant that in order for me to train Lucy, she would be subject first to capture, then to transport from Nevada to Illinois. This is quite a change for a horse that is feral! Couple that with the fact that I would need to transport Lucy from Illinois to Maine then to Madison, Wisconsin within 100 days and that is a lot of traveling and climate fluctuation. This endeavor was a lot to ask of any horse! In addition, it would be necessary to train Lucy in those 100 days. Knowing these were the facts, it only made sense to provide as much support as necessary to minimize the stress and fear to the horse. Before accepting the challenge I inquired about the possibility of being able to bring home a second horse in addition to the challenge horse. Preferably, a horse acquainted with my challenge horse. Even better, a horse from its own herd. Travel of any distance can be stressful to the lone horse. If I had been told a second horse was not an option, I planned to bring one of our own horses to provide the equine companionship that horses crave. As I planned to find a stable or boarding the facility as near to the holding facility as possible to off-load and begin gentling, in the very least, my own domestic horse would be able to convey good tidings and the calm that I wanted modeled to the mustang. However, the Mustang Heritage Foundation and the BLM were happy to accommodate my request. Not only did they provide a second horse, they made sure this horse (Maggie) was from Lucy’s herd and captured very near the date of Lucy’s capture! Loading both horses, I requested that the horses not be haltered. The experience of being trapped in the stocks and having humans reach for their heads can be traumatic for the horses. This is not because they are mishandled, but rather, because they are used to being pushed and sorted by humans at the holding facility. They quickly learn that fleeing from a human results in being left alone. They become conditioned to associating humans with the flight response and looking for the nearest hole to duck in to since most of the time when they are sorted they are treated quickly, then released once more. Maggie and Lucy were no exception, so getting into the trailer, they quietly settled in. There was none of the squealing or fighting that you might expect from horses who are strangers to one another. And they didn’t have to stay in the trailer very long. Through the help of one of the Mustang Challenge competitors I learned of a horse hotel located less than ten miles from the holding facility. I called and was enthusiastically granted permission to use this facility as our staging ground for gentling not one, but TWO mustangs! It has always been my philosophy that trailering horses long distance requires attention to detail. Because horses can colic easily, it is important to keep them well fed and hydrated. This can be challenging when traveling with domestic horses much less a wild horse. Choosing to gentle the mustangs before returning to Maine was designed to preserve the horse’s well being by eliminating their stress. Teaching them everything they needed to know about being handled and trailered safely insured our safe passage over the 1400 miles back to Maine. If anything happened, I wanted them to be able to load and unload without complication. At Les and Tracy Marlins, I let Maggie and Lucy choose to come off the trailer. They seemed surprised to be unloaded so quickly, but wasted no time in exploring Tracy’s indoor. Lucy was eager to explore and fearless but Maggie was more excitable. She nosed every nook and cranny looking for an escape with Lucy hot on her heels. Lucy hid behind Maggie at first, but this was due in part because of her age, not her personality and because Maggie, at a year older, customarily took up the role of protecting Lucy. Tracey’s facility offered the perfect location for taming Maggie and Lucy. With spacious stalls attached to an indoor arena, the girls and I settled in to get acquainted. Working the girls, Maggie was extremely evasive. Later, when I was more able to get near her, she was guarded and defensive. We quickly worked through this and in a matter of just a few hours they were gentled and had halters on. That evening I trimmed both of their hooves and groomed the mud from the holding facility off of them. They were also introduced to treats for the first time and it was hard to tell which of the girls liked alfalfa cubes better. The next morning I took both of the horses out of the facility for a walk down the road where Lucy enjoyed visiting with the neighbors ponies and Maggie was exhilarated to find that there were no holding pen fences to contend with! Both girls were introduced to traffic and a train which whistled by the facility every half hour or so. True to their breed, they learned rapidly and couldn’t wait to meet the next challenge. During our stay at the Marlin’s horse hotel we were visited by the BLM official who shared in my enthusiasm for the mustang breed. I showed off a bit by putting both of the girls under saddle. The next morning we loaded up and headed for home. The first day we traveled to Kentucky and stayed over for 2 nights where Lucy and Maggie had the opportunity to frolic in the pastures of Lexington, Kentucky at the beautiful Moberly farm (www.saddlesandsheets.com) Lucy and Maggie arrived home safely and both adjusted quickly to their new life on the farm. Lucy’s first thirty days included two appearances. One at Hill-n-Dale farm in Warren, Maine where she embraced the 4-Her’s and another here at Lakeview Equestrian Center where she strutted her stuff, performing bareback and bridleless! Lucy and I worked on ground work and riding on our trails. She impressed me with how carefully she was able to navigate over the ice! LUCY’S SECOND 30 DAYS The weather in Maine has been a real challenge. The worst winter in twenty years, we’ve had a constant three feet of snow on the ground! In addition to the deep snow and repetitive blizzards, the temperature has rarely been above 20 degrees. Most often it’s been zero or below. OK, here’s the scoop on staying warm in Maine’s winter. Equissentials Winter Artics! They work! But twenty plus mile per hour winds and bitter wind chills beyond the comfort of the horse drove us to seek the help of our friends at Isaac Royal Farm (www.isaacroyalfarm.com) who have an exciting Grand Prix program and a keen appreciation for dressage! Lucy spent her second 30 days learning dressage under the expert tutelage of Carol Rose and Sandra Beaulieu in the indoor arena. Lucy accomplished a lot in her 30 days at Isaac Royal and now performs at Training Level 4! LUCY’S THIRD 30 DAYS What else would be fitting for Lucy to learn? With a solid foundation, Lucy is now able to be caught, will stand for vet or farrier, can be groomed, knows how to whoa and back, load in and out of a trailer, will stand tied and can be caught, saddled and ridden without complication. She doesn’t have a spooky bone in her and her temperament is exceptional! Lucy loves to work and she loves our time together. A very forward moving horse, my challenge has been to keep her busy enough to satisfy her curiosity. There is nothing that she had tackled with courage, heart and all manner of try! So the last thirty days is being devoted to carriage training. Lucy is working “in leather” as the teamsters say, and she’s again proving herself to be insatiable in her love for working and trying new things without a hitch. WHY IS LUCY SO WOOLY? Like any trainer facing a major competition, my initial instinct was to blanket Lucy so that she would be slick and shiny for the competition. But I had to take several key facts in to consideration. 1. Lucy is (was) a wild mustang. She is used to regulating her own temperature. However, being from Nevada, and then being transported to Illinois and on to Maine, Lucy has had to adapt to a severe change in climate. Additionally, any time a horse is relocated there is a period of adjustment needed which factor several considerations from the horse’s point of view. As Lucy is a wild horse, maintaining a communication as close to her language was imperative. Blanketing, by and large, is not something a horse necessarily enjoys unless they are accustomed to it. As Maine’s winters are cold and long the only way to truly slick her off was to blanket her heavily. Blanketing a horse forces the horse to have their thermal temperatures to be artificially controlled. Maine’s winters, in particular, this winter, experience weather extremes that include 40-60 degree temperature fluctuations on a sometimes daily basis. Blanketing also subjects the horse to various environmental stressors such as bacterial infections, which are common in Maine’s moist climate. Stressing Lucy with blanketing on top of the stress she experienced as a normal part of her transition from wild in the holding facility to being a horse of our herd, was not practical or necessary. Domestic horses may acclimate to blanketing easier than a wild horse. Particularly if they are used to being turned out with a blanket. Because I wanted Lucy to have as much turn-out time as necessary, blanketing again was a deterrent of this process. Responsible turn-out in a blanket includes sometimes segregating the horse so that pasture mates do not chew on the blanket (several of our horses love to chew on another’s blanket!) and making sure that the blanket does not interfere with movement as straps can bind. We have an open herd environment so blanketing in our environment did not seem like a fail-safe practice. As I wanted Lucy to have the full experience of our social herd, where she was free to run, buck, eat and play, blanketing did not seem a necessary consideration. The overall deciding factor was that I would not know where Lucy would be adopted to. If the adopting party was not able to blanket, did not have a stall or adequate shelter and lived in a cold climate, I would be subjecting Lucy to a miserable transition in to her new owner’s home. I elected to keep Lucy in lots of hair which seemed to make more sense than the reason for vanity. Pictures of Lucy taken on 4/1/2008 Lucy getting into harness.
Lucy, Sidney and Karina  Lucy looking cute
Also Maggie the other Mustang that was brought
back was adopted today by Shawn and Michele Cole! |
|||||||||||||||
|
COPYRIGHT 2006-2008 The Mirror Effect, LLC. All Rights
Reserved. |
||||||||||||||||
