Those who've adopted saddle-broke BLM mustangs and board, how did you have that conversation with your barn?

[eightpondfarm]

Kinda hard to camouflage that brand though. (unless s/he’s white/gray, varnish appy, pinto w/white left side of neck.). I have a couple of them where the brand is invisible. Most of the others it’s quite predominant.

I don’t know about the prison program Mustangs, but i’m guessing they are good with confinement/handling. What i do NOT see with my Mustangs, *that i do see with my domestics, is wanton destructiveness. My Mustangs do not bang on walls with their hooves, nor do they chew up the stall walls. I’d go so far as to say they are quite a bit more accepting of their environment.

You will continue to see folks deride your horse as ‘feral’ and ‘grade’. Ya just gotta let them. It’s kinda like racism…you can’t fix that in people. Just ride your horse and be proud of him and forget the haters.

[outerbanks77]

I don’t know the workings of the prison programs, but since you said “adopt” instead of “purchase” the main consideration may be finding a boarding stable that meets any adoption requirements for your first year (for an ungentled mustang, that’s a 6 ft fence, and for gentled horses, IIRC it is a 5 ft panel fence). Make sure you really understand the requirements before you go looking for boarding. If you are purchasing and receiving title, then you can decided on the appropriate accommodations yourself.

We had a young mustang at my barn for about a year. It was a bit of a brat, but that was more the owner’s doing than because of the horse’s origins.

[Equkelly]

Most people will not care. I’m in Colorado so mustangs are really common in this area so I’ve seen enough to know they’re all very different and not one size fits all. Some people will just have an experience with one and assume they’re all the same.

I know a barn owner near me that boarded a mustang for a few months and the horse was a bit of a pasture bully (nothing dirty, just a very assertive gelding that bit another boarders horse the first and only time they tried turning them out together.) But now this owner will never accept another mustang because of that one incident… which IMO was not even a big deal. But this same barn owner also things all TB’s are crazy, all Arabs are crazy, and all Quarter horses and paints are saints. She just goes off of the small number of horses she’s seen in her life and makes generalizations.

Experienced horse people that know what they’re talking about probably won’t care about a mustang. If bring it up but not as in a “full disclosure type attitude”. Just be matter-of-fact about it. There’s no need to hide it but there’s no need to tip toe around it either.

[MLOaks]

I don’t think I would worry at all. Let 'em talk.

For the barn owner, it’s simple. You’re bringing a green, started, Mustang to board at their facility. Just think about this horse as a greenie and you’ll be fine. The horse will need to be handled daily by you, if possible. It would be better to not keep the horse locked up in a stall or require the facility to catch and move the horse from stall to pasture, if possible. At this stage, one knucklehead, or thoughtless act can set your horse back in training. Just like any greenie, try to do the handling yourself, or under your supervision. If you need help, find a trainer to help you sooner than later. This horse has spent much more of their life without humans than with them. Be there as much as possible to help continue to transition the horse into becoming a good citizen.

[Spudsmyguy]

My mustang mare was as neat as a pin in her stall. She would poop as far away from her food as possible and if she had access to a paddock, would make a special trip out there just to do her business no matter the weather. Thus the saying - don’t s__t where you eat. If out in the pasture, and I’ve noticed this with my domestic breds, that they had a designated pooping area and would head there to do so, except for the slob of the group who didn’t care.

Just an aside on the mustang stigma -I had a friend who took her mustang to one of those colt starting competitions - two days to saddle break an unstarted baby sort of thing. Well, the clinician (and I use that term very loosely) she was assigned to was totally incompetent - he had no clue what he was doing and wasted so much time that by the time it was time to start the little trail course, he had only sat on her once. She was fine with the mounting but with the loudspeakers and the crowds, she lost it and ran and bucked to the end of the arena where she stopped. The guy splatted against the wall and of course wasn’t wearing a helmet, was knocked unconscious and had 3 broken ribs and a concussion. Had to call the aid car and take off to the hospital. The next year, their posters advertising the event said “No mustangs” as if that made a difference. She was an unstarted baby with an idiot trainer. Any horse would have done the same thing as this one, She had a few words for the organizers about the vetting of competitors.

[MLOaks]

Spudsmyguy, that is ridiculous. I hope your friend stuck with her Mustang and she’s better now.

[Ruth0552]

I think it be helpful to be open with the barn manager/owner that you are buying a horse sight unseen who is said to be x, y and z, but might arrive to not be quite what is stated. The fact that it is a mustang is less concerning. There area a lot of breeding farms that basically toss their young stock out to grow up for a few years before starting them and I don’t think it’d be all that much different that buying a started youngster from there.

That being said, if you run into a BO that flips their lid at the word mustang, that might not be a place you want to board at. So it actually might be a good barometer of sanity and experience and where you and your horse will feel most comfortable.

[WildLittleWren]

OP, having had mustangs for several years now, and for three of those years I boarded, I can somewhat answer your question. If the mustang is already saddle broke, it is typically already “fence broke” (i.e., does not need 6’ fencing to keep them in), and should be relatively easy to handle. If the horse is green, or still slightly squirrely on the ground, just be up front…the horse is green, like any other horse.

I brought in several BARELY TIP trained mustangs to the facility I boarded at over those three years. We did have some turnout issues with two of them, they were NOT accepting of new horses coming and going, so I ended up renting a back pasture that was just for my horses, so I could control who was turned out with whom. Other than that, I was honest about their training ( or in this case, lack of training ) and I was the only one to handle the horse. This was a self care barn, so it worked out well for all. One problem is multiple people handling a green mustang, or any green horse for that matter. It is imperative to be consistent in your handling and training of them, like any domestic horse, no matter who is handling them.

I have never run across any bias towards them, although I have had to correct a lot of misinformation. A lot of people found it really neat to discuss my mustangs, and a lot of the boarders asked if they could watch my training sessions with them (in the round pen, barnyard, etc). They thoroughly enjoyed it, and said they learned a lot in the process.

I think the only instance you would have trouble in is if you are adopting straight from the BLM, unhandled. In that case you would need to find a facility with the proper set up…6’ fences, with a shelter. In that case you could find a local TIP trainer near you that has the proper facilities.

However, since you are planning on adopting an already saddle broke mustang, it shouldn’t be much different than a domestic horse. Good luck OP! Mustangs are wonderful horses. I have only run across one that didn’t settle into domesticated life well (and she was older…in the pens until she was 9 and was still unhandled). They have taught me more than any domestic horse I have ever owned, and have seriously improved my skills. They can make truly amazing partners.