With an eye toward dressage, i’m shopping for new additions to my herd. We have lost two cattle and five old sheep this past year. So to keep things ‘level’ i could add three more horses. All of these are geldings in this particular online auction…
And i’d have to travel to Colorado to pick him/them up.
I’ll tell you MY favorites if you tell me yours 
here’s the link rollup through the pics and you can click-on a vid of each one.
https://wildhorsesonline.blm.gov/Animals
I’m partial to no. 8440 
oh my gosh, yes on 8440~!!! and 8403, 8405, 8438, 8465 and omg…a. palomino…i’m such a sucker for them 8462
8456 is worth a closer look.
8506 mostly suckered me in with his face 
oh fun window shopping!
I like 8474, 8509 and 8456
8456=big and seems very sweet. And catty. I WILL put him on my list! i’ll bet he wouldn’t cause any trouble in the herd. He seems to need a leader.
8506! what a chonk!!! If he’s interested in becoming a riding horse he’d be awesome. I see trouble on the hoof with that guy…he’d be one of those tuff nuts to crack ones i think! But worth it. he’s only 8 too!
8474= yeah. dreamy. like a surfer dude. i heard through the grapevine that a prominent sanctuary is going to bid on this guy. I don’t want to run up the price on them. but he’s alll-mustang with those long locks isn’t he! And what a butt!!!
8509=long back/short legs. If he lost some weight he’d look better. LOVE his coloring. And he didn’t stay stallion long enough to get that big nose and huge cheeks yet. But did grow a nice wide stance. Built tough. He could stand to a tornado i’ll bet.
8456…yeah, CanteringCarrot brought him to my attention too. Put him on-the-list. He’s nice. I’ll bet he would be pretty easy to gentle and train. He seems very sweet 
The people who watch this herd named him: Tonto
I also love 8456.
I like this one and he is taller. 8479 looks like a nice mover with uphill tendency.
His range name (by the people who watch/photograph and document them) was Aramis. He was born 2019. Sire: Dartanyan Dam: CeCe. i like him a lot too. he was one of the ones i favorited on first pass.
8442
I liked this one, too.
But I also only got that far down the list, so I haven’t seen the later ones yet. And I didn’t click on every horse.
I’m sorting for young horses only, as I think that gives you the best chance of having a decent riding horse in a shorter amount of time. The hay hasn’t been free for TOO long.
8429 looks to have lovely movement.
8450 - what a cute chunky dude. I’d worry that his neck might make it hard for him to find contact, but looks like a usin’-type horse.
8432–nice hock action, flashy…I wanted to put him into my ‘favorites’ but he looked base-narrow in the hind…or maybe just close hocked? Do you see it or is it just me?
BLM actually captured more mustangs than are up in this auction. Mares are MIA, as are the youngsters. Maybe they are not finished putting them up on the site. I’m HOPING they’ll get some mares in there.
But, there is a decent selection already. Good news is everyone seems to go for the paints and appys and roans. So the bays and sorrels/chestnuts/browns are pretty available. I always search on them first and leave the colorfuls to the massive audience for them. Some really nice bays go without much competition for them. My strategy is to bid once, bid high, and not look again until it’s all over. There will always be another auction.
This group of horses will be available for pickup in Colorado. So i may have a road trip in my future? fwiw, BLM has approved my application for up to 8 horses…4 adoption and 4 sale authority.
I was just perusing these guys this morning.
8501 and 8502 were my top picks from those still young enough to have a chance at a long career as a riding horse. Boring colors, yes, but I was looking for way of going and build only.
That said, there are a ton of aged geldings who would look lovely just eating someone’s grass. You could have an entire herd of older grey geldings. I was surprised at how FAT some of these horses are (no, not just chunky, but overweight), but I guess that’s what happens when they are hanging out in holding for a year+.
I’d have to look closer but almost every horse I’ve owned has been base-narrow. Purely coincidental, and not really an issue. Just brushing boots on the hinds if needed for work.
i have one, a Missouri Foxtrotter, that i adopted when he was 3. He was close then. When he grew up and grew wide, he got even closer. So close that his hip>hoof is a wedge. he clicks when he walks. I broke him to ride, he actually is my favorite riding horse…so into me and so responsive. The problem is, i feel guilty riding! I keep thinking i’m breaking him down. So i only ride him about once or twice a month and then, not for very long. Just long enough to keep him trained.
My only experience w/base narrow is above.
My two are pretty close behind as well. I did have to boot up the first year of learning to canter, but since then it hasn’t been an issue. To some degree it can be postural/muscular tightness, which can be worked out with proper lateral work and suppling.
8501 is definitely my #1 pick, watching again. Yeah he’s got a big head and a shortish neck, and I never purposefully want to buy greys (though I frequently end up with them), but he moves very freely through his body and almost floats. I was actually looking to see if they had any <2yos, because it’s on my bucket list, but my facilities are not set up just yet. 
Are they all geldings?
I like these boys:
https://wildhorsesonline.blm.gov/animals/18376197
https://wildhorsesonline.blm.gov/animals/16375853
https://wildhorsesonline.blm.gov/animals/17376194
This guy is a little too long for my liking and there’s something weird about his hind end (all of the Sand Wash Basin horses, actually), but his face and neck are so cute: https://wildhorsesonline.blm.gov/animals/14268430
Absolutely.
I wouldn’t discount a horse I otherwise liked because of it.
My yearling is rather close hocked at the moment, but I’m about to just hide him behind the barn and not look at him for another year or 2 anyway 
Wanted to add that physio, proper riding, and accessing the hoof trim can go a long way too.
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