Mustangs 4 Us
Sparky Spring 2001

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Information about BLM adoptions is offered as a service, to help mustangs find homes and to promote public appreciation of wild horses and burros.

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VIDEOS OF INTEREST TO MUSTANG & BURRO ADOPTERS:


Kitty Lauman:
From Wild to Willing:
Using the Bamboo Pole to Gentle Mustangs
More from Lauman Training available now!

DVD or VHS
(2-DVD or 2-VHS set) almost 3 hours of instruction!

$39.95 plus $5 shipping/handling = $44.95 total

BUY 2 DVD Set:

Can't Order Online?
No Problem!

Just email us and we'll tell you how to mail order


Lesley Neuman:
The First Touch
Gentling Your Mustang
$45.00

Lesley works with 3 wild horses at a BLM adoption, and very clearly explains what is happening, what she is doing, & what she sees in each horse as it progresses. Study this video and you can learn "pressure and release" gentling techniques to gentle your own new mustang!

Format:


Help for Burro adopters!
Crystal Ward
Donkey Training

All the basics of gentling, handling, and training. A MUST for new burro adopters! Good for domestic donkeys, too!

FORMAT

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Download, Print & Share this Petition for a U.S Postage Stamp to Save Mustangs
 

 

 

 

It's May 18, 2001: 1 Month since we got Sparky - This is a whole new horse!


Sparky at Palomino Valley before he came home


Sparky in May, 2001

Sparky is a whole new guy. He's healthy, he's running and kicking up his heels, and to a certain extent, we're having to start over with training. He just was too sick to notice much at first.

Now he's much more flighty, and occasionally challenges my leadership - but not Michael's. He is tame, though - he does trust us to some extent. Whenever something is scary, he will always go stand next to me or Michael. And he LOVES his medicine. I don't even need to halter him to give it to him.

May 24 & 25 - Sparky Joins the "Herd"

We decided Sparky was ready to have some social life, so we put him in with Silver and Ruby.

It's funny - for years now I have had it written here that it was a very mellow introduction. But looking at this video I now see how very nervous and stressed Sparky was. Note all the clacking, the tail tucked between the legs, etc. But, as you will see, it didn't take too long for him to be grazing next to the big horses in peace:
 

June, 2001


At the Reno National Wild Horse & Burro Show, Bryan Neubert demonstrated gentling & training techniques. One thing he stressed was "letting the horse get into trouble so he can figure out how to get out of trouble."

So when we got home we were all inspired, and we took Sparky down to the round pen. We threw ropes at him, threw ropes over him, under him, around him, wrapped ropes around his middle, around his legs, etc.

And Sparky stood there patiently, sighing occasionally, like he was saying, "Are you quite through yet?" 

NOTE: At this time, we thought that the reason Sparky didn't move was that he was just so very mellow and we had done such a very good job of gentling him. A year later, after starting to learn from Jerry Tindell, we learned that there were other reasons: His world was still so upside down from all the trauma he'd been through - being captured, losing his mother, losing his herd, being sick, etc. - that he had more or less just shut down. We had to get him moving and reacting again in order to help him work through all those issues and get back on track to being a normal, healthy horse.


July 4, 2001

4th of July - it's been a hot, hot week. Today is down into the 80's, much better although muggy. We took the horses down to the lower pasture to give them a change of scenery and hopefully some relief from flies.

 As these photos show, Sparky is making easy progress in becoming a sweet, very tame former wild horse.

I LOVE Sparky! He's such a good little buddy! Michael teases and calls him a "Mama's Boy" -he may be, but then, Ruby is certainly a Daddy's girl!

Follow Sparky's Progress: Sparky 2001 - Adoption | Gentling Sparky | Sparky Settles In | Sparky is Sick | Sparky Spring 2001 | Sparky - Summer 2001 | Sparky In School | Sparky in School, pt 2 | Sparky's First Rides | Saddle Training 2 | Sparky 2006 | Sparky 2007 | Sparky2008

Our Horses: BENNY | Ruby - BLM Wild Mustang Filly | SILVER - half-draft | SPARKY - Mustang Colt | Dawn & Bert Burros | Eleanor Mule | Max | Piney the Pine Nut Pony | Mustang Videos | Adventures | Lewis & Clark 

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