Agreed. As a kid, I would’ve died to own even the “ugliest” horse in the world, and that kid still lives on inside me. Love them all. I think his looks are endearing.
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Well, before barbed wire, horses and cattle would just graze on open range. Not too hard for some horses, whether riding or draft, to become part of a wild/feral herd.
Even after barbed wire, cattle guards, and other livestock containment devices, some horses get loose, maybe to live life on their own, maybe to be lured by a stallion or seek the company of other uncontained horses.
Honestly, they told me he looks normal now. Testosterone does weird things to animals… And amazingly enough, a lot of musculature changes when they get neutered (i think?)
Mustangs really are a soup of breeds aren’t they?!!. There is a type that they alll kinda merge into though.
for survivalThey are built for grazing, so their shoulders seem to have a more vertical set to them. They also have really thick bones in their legs…not just the long bones, but joints too. And short pasterns and short cannons. Their noses are short, but viewed from the side, their jaw to nose is quite wide. They all tend to morph into that same look. The various regions have a few unique oddities in their population…like
THe Sand Wash Basin horses (of which these two are not) have an oddly wide shoulder. Blueheron thinks their LS gap is misplaced. Personally, i don’t see that. But, we will see and investigate with pics once THEY arrive (jan 2023)
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Back in the day i do wonder how many exotic/expensive type studs or mares were let loose or escaped to breed into the herds. I’m thinking it was pretty much a closed system…working ranch type horses and light draft. Collected and gelded, trained and used as long as they could. Then let loose back, or eaten.
Yes. I hadn’t thought of that, being stuck in the wild vs. ranch mindset. But the wild herds WERE part of the ranch system, weren’t they? And of course you’d want to improve/maintain your stock quality.
I dimly recall that at various times some ranchers may have deliberately let better bred stallions loose into mustang herds to try to improve the horses that they would then later capture and “train” to be ranch horses. These included TBs and Morgans, I believe.
Then there’s the fact, as others noted above, that ranch horses, including drafts and various other types, could often just “release themselves” into the wild.
And I know that it was pretty common practice for ranchers to let many of their horses run loose during the winter, after many of the cattle had been either sent to market. The horses then had to make do as they could on their own before being rounded up in late spring and brought back into work.
So there are a lot of different breeds mixed into the “mustang.”
I have read, years ago, that drafts were turned loose in the herds back when they were rounded up for pet food. The draft blood added weight and they were sold by the pound. You can see a very high draft influence in a lot of them. And survival is the factor that determines the genetic selection. So you see a sturdy, smaller animal that is food efficient and hardy. Hot house flowers didn’t live long enough to multiply in large numbers. It is like the type slowly reverts back to the “real” wild horses that you see today.
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My friends love to bother me about the fact that I seem to prefer my horses and my men a little ugly 
When you’re a kid you take what you can get!
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that makes sense.
Unloading. Ink has not been outside of a corral or pen since he was captured. Poor guy. Kashmir just in a little paddock. They dove straight for the grass!!! (fescue is still green …even growing a little bit)
IMG_3210 2
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We call this pasture ‘the bull pen’. It’s heavily fortified lol. Earlier today i took a bale of alfalfa and spread flakes around. Where they are in this photo is in the alfalfa area. This is our smallest pasture. I just left them alone. Pretty much will do that for the next few days except for delivering alfalfa to them in the morning. Maybe i’ll do it twice a day…haven’t decided. To me they both look a little thin. But i’ll bet in 30 days, when they’re out of quarantine and i get to move them into the big pasture with the mustangs…i’ll bet just about anything that they will be reluctant to leave. But just they wait…they’re in for a wonderful surprise 
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Oh wow! Ink does look like a normal horse in your video. The transformation is astonishing.
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not even the tiniest bit scary is he! His demeanor is… small. He’s small on the inside. Kinda sad too. I wonder how long it will take him to be happy…
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He doesn’t look that weird when he came out of the trailer. I guess he just isn’t photogenic.
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i once neutered a 7 yr old intact dog, big bulky dog with a gigantic head. In about two years he looked like a totally different dog. All the macho and bulging muscles just drained right off of him. So I think gelding him, (Ink) plus him being in a pen for two or three years and not getting any exercise per se, just melted the muscles away.
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Poor guy 
. He’s lucky he’s landed with you though.
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I bet nibbling the green grass is making him happier and knowing he is safe.<3
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I think Ink is rather handsome.
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Yeah, Ink looks quite respectable now. In fact, dare I say, “dashing?”
I’m glad to see they both arrived safely.
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I’m curious, how will you move them? Did I miss part of the conversation about how much, if any, handling they have had? They are lovely and It’s wonderful you are giving them a home.
