I'll Be Taking a Break........Literally

Well, here it is in a nutshell.  Sunday, while at a playday with my horse Sassy, I pulled too hard on her Bitless Bridle and brought her to her knees.  That is not a testament to my strength by no means, it is only a testament to the most sensitive part on the horse...it's nose...  I didn't realize I was putting that much pressure on her but I was trying to get into the arena to do the barrels and back her up and turn her to head that direction.  A combination of the noseband and her losing her balance caused her to fall on me.  She landed on my leg and was getting ready to roll over on me when a cowboy in the group gave her a swift kick in the butt to make her roll over the other way and get on her feet.  So *thankfully* I only suffered a broken ankle.  It hurt soooooo bad.  It's my first broken bone ever!  So I will most likely be in a cast for at least six weeks.  If anything exciting happens I'll let you know.  But for now.....foot elevated, ice, painkillers, and staring longingly out my window to the barn while waiting patiently for spring! 

See the bruise by my toes?  The EMT guys kept asking how I felt there and I didn't understand until I remember that I got stepped on by Marty a few days earlier, so I told them 'Ah that's an old bruise, today I hurt in my ankle!"  I'm either getting to be a real tough cooking or just slowly falling apart bit by bit!  LOL!

Marty's First Ride

Today was a wonderful training day!  Marty is now a year and 8 months old.  A horse should not be ridden until he is a least 2 and then not a whole lot until he is 3.  Today me and my tiny young friend put a bit in Marty's mouth and let him play with it while we trained him to wear a saddle.  Marty (as usual) let us do anything we wanted to him.

Then as a special event, I asked my tiny friend to sit on Marty to see what he did. Marty has never had anyone sit on him yet.  See video below.

Now, I've got things I can work with Marty on throughout the winter.  Marty loves his playmate Harley.

And I love my Marty.

2012 Kuna Night Light Parade

Saturday, December 8, 2012 was Marty the 'Magnificent' Mustang's very first parade ever.  We put Christmas Lights on his halter and Bells on his legs and paraded him through the Kuna Idaho Night Light Parade.  When I first took Marty to the 'staging' area, he was freaking out just a little.  By that, I mean he was whinnying to the other horses and prancing around a bit as he was tied up to the trailer.  Soon I had his Christmas Light Halter on him and the bells on his ankles and by that time he was conditioned to everything around him.  Some kids rode by on bikes and Marty flinched a little so I asked them to come by a few more times to get him used to it.  Then the marching band came by all in uniform with their instruments.  One girl had a slide trombone and Marty flinched a little at that. I asked her to play a few bars so Marty would know what that was all about.  She did.  And from that point on, every time Marty heard the marching band, he looked for his 'girlfriend'.  Soon we were in line for the parade.  Marty jumped a little and I didn't know why.  But when I looked behind us I saw that there were five Texas Longhorn bulls with female riders on them and rings in their noses and cowboys leading them.  They had lights and bells on their horns and Marty was a bit disturbed by them.  I walked him over to the bulls, he sniffed the rings in their noses, and all was fine.

I was amazed at how well Marty did in the parade.  Kids were everywhere!  Noise was everywhere!  But Marty did everything like a pro!  Good ol' Marty anyway.

Winter is upon us here in Idaho.  And all I can think of is next summer when I have my first ride on my 2 year old Mustang Marty.  Stay tuned, my friends!

                                                           Marty and Joy

                                                    Harley, Kim, Marty and Joy (with horse hat)

                             Marty and Harley telling secrets

My Best Boy Marty

Well Well Well....Where have I been? Sorry if anyone is chomping at the bit waiting for updates on Marty, but it's been a crazy end of summer/fall season.  My husband retired this fall and I've been busier then ever with all my horses.  I sold Patches (my 20 year old Quarter Horse), gave Bocephus (my 18 year old Mustang) to my niece, however we are still boarding him here for her, and may consider leasing Honey to a friends Granddaughter here in the near future.  That would leave us with Sassy, Bo and Marty for the winter.  Today is December 1, 2012 and it was a mild 50 degree gray day which is expected here in Idaho around this time of year.  I still work Marty regularly and have ponied him like crazy, and have taken him to events and nothing seems to faze him.  Today was a beautiful day.  I lead him down our driveway and through our plowed field and then groomed him and fed him some oats.  I don't think my 24 year old mustang Honey would have walked through that plowed field with me without putting up a fuss!  But Marty didn't even flinch.  He respected me and followed me wherever I chose to go.  He's the best.  Then as a reward, I gave him a bucket of oats and I had a glass of wine and we took in the beautiful Idaho mountains.  So all in all, we are both doing well and having a great time!  Thanks for reading!

Marty's last Month

Well folks, it's been a month since I last posted about Smarty Marty, sorry about that.  It's been a crazy month.  After the fair, my Austrian guest stayed for the whole month of September (which seemed like one week we had so much fun) and we were busy doing all kinds of things.  She just left today so I spent the afternoon trying to get caught up on some things that have taken the back burner during the month of September.  But it's important that you know how much Sabine has helped with Marty's progress.  After the fair, we just sort of soaked it all in after winning Grand Champion Mustang Trail Challenge.  Then we continued working with Marty.  There was only one thing Marty was still fussy about and that was the dreaded fly spray.  It wasn't so much what came out of it....it was the sound the fly spray made.  So Sabine spent many hours just spraying Marty with water (and he loves water). So it wasn't long before the fly spray was no longer a big deal for Marty.

Also, Marty had some special visitors this month.  Four little girls came and met him!  They spent a lot of time grooming him and loving on him.  He loved every minute they spent with him and I think the girls had a lot of fun too!

They all got to groom Marty and he just shined when they were done.

One twin in particular, really showed a look of love in the picture below.  It's one of my favorites.

Then after they got done spoiling Marty.  The sister sets each took a ride on my 24 year old Mustang, Honey!  

I think everyone had a great day!

So other than trying to squeeze so much in this last month, we did get to go on a few trailrides and I ponied Marty on Sassy and Honey.  He's doing very well.  

Western Idaho Fair 2012

Well, gang........What can I say?   Here is the 2012 Idaho State Fair 'Mustang Trail' Grand Champion!  He also placed Second in the Halter Show.  

It's been a busy few weeks preparing Marty for his 'Debut' at the Fair, but now I can say it was all worth it!  

My friend Sabine from Austria arrived late Monday night.  She worked with Marty Tuesday through Thursday, and then showed him on Friday!  Marty stood perfect all day long at the fair and waited for his 2 events to come up: Halter Show and Mustang Trail Challenge.  Both Sabine and I have already realized that there is not too much that gets Marty excited but I was really pleased he did so well during the events.  And Sabine was fabulous as his handler.  I don't think we could have placed first in Trail Challenge if I would have showed him.  At the last minute we found out the Challenge included some side-stepping which Marty has not even been trained to do yet.  However, Sabine knew what to do to get him to side step and he did wonderful!  And then I found out later, she had a few tricks up her sleeve to impress the judges even more.  Sabine was supposed to lead Marty up to a roping calf statue and touch it.  Well after Sabine touched it, she also had Marty touch it with his nose too!   Great move Sabine!  

Marty and Sabine

So it was a very very exciting evening for us both!  We will float on this win for quite some time I'm sure!

                                                Sabine, Marty, Joy

So this ends the Fair portion of Marty the Mustang!  It'll take a lot to top this!  But I will still post the training progress and events that we do from this point on!  Thanks for staying with us!  

Two Weeks Until Fair!

Okay friends, we have just a few weeks until we enter Marty the Mustang into the Western Idaho Fair!  I'm so excited about it.  I have entered him in Halter, Showmanship, and the Mustang Trail Challenge.  All will be held on Friday August 24.  I'm taking the whole week off to prepare us for it.  My friend from Austria will be here visiting so she will probably do the showing because she's had more experience showing horses then I have.  

I worked with a girl yesterday who is also entering mustang yearlings into the fair.  She's done it before and she showed me a few things that Marty would need to do.  Some of it's pretty easy, other things we'll have to keep working on.

But the best thing this week was I finally got him to understand the 'forward cue' and can make him circle on a lead.  Well, what I understood about it from yesterday's training was I am not aggressive enough when teaching a horse to 'go forward'.  That's why Bocephus walks all over me whenever I try.  But I had the trainer do it for me and then I did it afterward.  NOW Marty knows what's going on and today when I tried it by myself, we did it!  I still need to get his head turned into me and some slack in the rope.  But at least I got to the point where he's not striking or rearing.  Good Marty.  

So now, instead of him just 'following' me into the trailer which he does so well, I'm asking him to go into the trailer with the 'go forward' cue.  That's not as easy, but he's starting to get it.  Next step will be to get him to stand quietly before I ask him to get out.  He wants to turn around real fast and hurry out while I'm still standing in the trailer.  

And, what's so cool about training my yearling Marty is that my 'Chi' (energy) is working on Bo too!  I haven't had to use the stud chain on Bo to lead him for a few weeks now.  Both of us feel good about that.  And Bo is behaving on the ground like he's never behaved before.  I think he watches what I do with Marty in the round pen and then learns by osmosis.  I have to tie him to the 'patience pole' when I lead Marty into the Round pen because Bo will still try to eat him.  

Bo stays tied the whole time we're in the round pen and does just as well as Marty. Good Bocephus.

Last few nights Bo and Marty have both been good so they get lots of grooming and attention afterward.  Today, because it was so hot, we all got baths!

Marty does fine with the hose on him, but he still freaks when I spray the fly spray on him.  What's up with that?

So lets compare.  This is Day One (June 16, 2012) the first day I got Marty.  I hadn't even touched him yet.

Below is Day 52 after his first bath.

Oh Yeah, I see the difference, can you?  At least the white on his legs are clean now.  And he's starting to lose his 'pasture belly' just a little and best of all, he seems much more relaxed!

I love Marty the Mustang!

What Color Is Marty?

Here's a good pic with his color in the sunlight.  But if you look at some of the evening photos he looks much darker (he's kind of like a mood ring).  But his mane is very bright almost white and his tail his a bit darker with red hair intermingled.  I've been calling him a Sorrel Chestnut w/flaxen. What color would YOU say he is?

Sorry about the Delay....

Hello All!  Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but I've had a rough week, workwise, horsewise, husbandwise, all in all!
Anyway,  let's see if I can update you with all that's been happening lately.


Marty is an alien.  No question about it.  Sometimes I think he is the answer to any spiritual question anyone has had.   He's got it!  All the answers to the universe.  No kidding.


But aside from that.  I've been able to do so much with him.
Oh wait, I must interject.
A BLM employee, who treated Marty's eye infection when he was first captured, came by on Sunday last week to help me with a few things.  I was having trouble making Marty do circles and also backing up.  She got him on the right track.    While she was backing him up, I happened to mention that sometimes when he gets frustrated he 'strikes' with his hoof.  JUST as I mentioned that to her, Marty reared up and ripped her shirt off! Yes, you read correctly...Reared up, hoof came down and tore her spaghetti strapped pink shirt right off of her!!  And, as expected from a horse trainer, she  just kept scolding and scolding with the whip not even worried about her shirt being torn!  Once I realized his hooves had not touched her skin and she was okay, I felt better, but it was still pretty scary! She was a 'Fencepost'.  No anger, no emotions, just discipline.  After she left, I made sure Marty understood the backing up process over and over again.  

A few days later I decided to put Marty in the corral and then add the two mares, Honey and Sassy.  They got real possessive and tried to corner him in the barn and he cut his eye trying to escape (hit it on the barn wall).  He also got a cut on his hip.  I should have waited and put the 3 of them out in the pasture first then herded them into the corral at night.  They are all fine now.  Just the first night was rough.

A few days later, I put Bocephus in the corral with Marty.  Bocephus, if you remember, is my troublesome 18 year old mustang bred, cut-proud gelding.  I was so surprised at how good he did in the corral with Marty.  They did so well.  My mistake was putting Bo's 23 year old Mustang Mama Honey and his 13 year old Auntie Sassy in the corral with them!  It turned into quite a wreck!  All 3 of them 'herded' Marty in the barn and cornered him and beat the crapola out of him!  Oh I felt bad! I tried to get in the middle of Bo and Marty and the next thing I knew I was lying flat on the ground in the corral with Marty's hooves flying over me! No worries. I'm fine.  Stupid!  But fine.  But Marty once again got beat up pretty good.  He was so scared he ran through the corral fence and tore the post out and knocked out a few boards.  That's when I knew he was scared for his life!  I finally got all 3 horses out and was able to tend to Marty.  He put his little yearling head on my shoulder and sighed a big sigh of relief after it was all over.  My poor sweet Marty.  He's fine though. He actually wanted out with the herd right after that.  (Guess he's got a few things he wants to 'say' to Bo.  We'll wait till he gets a little bigger before we do THAT again!).


Anyway, I think I will have to keep Bocephus separate until Marty gets bigger.  The mares are okay with him now but when Bo gets in the picture, the dynamics are way different. It was funny because Honey seemed to actually 'push' Bo into Marty!  What's up with that?  Seriously, if anyone does any 'horsewatching' please comment on what you think happened here!  I'd love to know!



So other than those few fiascoes, Marty gets caught, groomed and loaded into the horse trailer every night.  Then he gets his oats and corn husks (He LOVES those corn husks!).  That is all going well.  Tonight, I closed the horse trailer up and let him sit there for about 30 minutes.  He didn't move a muscle and was totally quiet!  Good ol' Marty anyway!  


I also ponied him on Honey for 1.5 hours in the desert!  He did perfect, if I do say so myself!  He really is a sweetie!
I love Marty.

What's Up with All These Cowlicks?

Check out all these cowlicks on Marty.  What in the world?.....

This is Crazy!

Now I'm no Horse Whisperer by ANY means, but I do believe Marty is a....shhhh.....**human whisperer** I had the greatest week with him.  He no longer has to stay in his round pen, even at night.  He has gone out to graze with the other horses on my weekends when I can keep an eye on him.  But when I'm working, he stays in his own little pasture. I lead him all over the property and he is so good with his 'Whoa" and backing up after his stops!  One day, I was showing off in front of my friends and I led him right to the horse trailer, opened the door and put him in!  He hadn't even been anywhere NEAR that trailer before this!  He followed me right in and didn't even hesitate.  Then stood there in the first slot!  Then I backed him out and did it two more times!!  He  has never even been loaded yet, except for his trips from Nevada to Boise to here.  Maybe he's used to it now.  But he did not follow the rope....he followed me.  So last night I practiced some more with his 'forward' cue.  He's doing real well with that, but I'm still having a little difficulty knowing what I should be doing.  No worries.  There is enough on Google.com to get me going, I'm sure! 


Last night I didn't have the gate shut and he ran out of the pasture and down our lane!  I called to him like a Dog.  He didn't hear a word I said!  I thought "Oh no, there goes my perfect mustang!"  There is a lot of barbed wire fencing in our neighbors pasture.  Instead of running to our corral with my 4 horses, He ran hightailing it to the neighbors horses.  Well, he worked himself into a little 'aisleway' in the pasture and I was able to just go halter him up and bring him home.  Whew!  I really was worried.  


Anyway, here's a few more pics.  I'm going to find out what I have to do to take him to the County Fair this year!  That will give him some acclimating to peoples and things, won't it!?


On and today we are celebrating our one month anniversary.  I love Marty!

                                                               Marty and Honey

Marty and Bocephus

Marty Hiding from Me

Sweet Baby

Marty with Honey

Marty and Me in the Trailer!

Are you Listening to Me?

Just Checking....Is anyone 'subscribing' to this blog or checking it every now and then? If not, then maybe I'll stop blogging.  But if this is interesting to anyone, please let me know and I will continue..  Just wondering......

Old Mustang/New Mustang

A couple of nights ago, I put my 23 year old Palomino Paint Mustang Honey in with Marty just to see how they did together.  Marty immediately wanted to suckle and Honey did this cute little....I can't make the noise...but it was like "eeeehhhhh" in horse talk.  But all in all Honey took good care of Marty and Marty loved Honey.

                                     Marty..................Honey


When I put Honey back into her corral with Bocephus (her 18 year old baby) and the other 2 mares, the mares acted fine, but Bo sniffed her up and down and got a woody and really made Honey mad!!  Honey had to kick him good to keep Bo from mounting her. Bo's crazy, there's no doubt about it!  But Honey can handle him!

Bo  Honey  Sassy Patches

Marty Needs a Trim

Tonight our farrier came out to shoe and trim our other four horses. I noticed that Marty has a flat piece of hoof over his back foot so I can't clean that "V" the way it should be.  When I asked our farrier to take a look at him, he didn't feel comfortable and Marty finally pulled back on the 'patience pole' while he tried to get near him. 

This made me realize that Marty is not comfortable with EVERY human, just me.  Although this makes my head big, I realize it is not good.  Now I will need to socialize him with everyone that comes out from now on.    I told the farrier that he will be ready in 8 weeks when he comes out again!

A Free Horse Again....Kind of....

Well, here we are 3 weeks into owning my mustang and he is already out on pasture.  He is so worried about eating, this was one of the rare times he put his head up.  


We also tied him up to a post.  He wound around it and then unwound himself about 25 times.  He did not pull on the rope once.

But as you can see, he is STILL eating.  I'm going to tie him up a little shorter tonight.


I've groomed his mane finally!  It looks beautiful but haven't got to his tail yet!  He is so very willing for me to do anything with him!


But don't think it's all fun and games.  Oh No!  I tried to make him do circles with the lead rope on him and he did just want I have trained my 18 year old mustang Bo to do (but didn't want to).....He CHARGED AT ME!  I am definitely doing something really wrong with this lesson and I will not do it again until a professional shows me the ropes...literally!


Later tonight.........


I tied him up to the post again.  The only time he acted up was when his halter came loose and he had the side of it in his mouth.  I thought he was chewing on the lead rope but he was trying to get the 'fake halter bit' out of his mouth!  He was so funny!  He stood perfectly still while I took his halter off, rearranged it, put it back on him, and then clicked him to the lead rope again.  I went and drank a glass of wine and watched him and he didn't do one thing!  Each time he pulled he moved right back into the post.  Here's a picture of him trying to 'mindmeld' with the post.  He stood this way for 5 minutes unmoving.

I couldn't stand to see him so sad that he couldn't move the post so I went and groomed him completely!  Head to toe.  I even picked all four of his little feet and held on to them before he wanted to put them down! IS IT ME OR IS IT MARTY!!!!!???????    Who Knows, but I sure am happy with him!

                                                                           Does my butt look big with this horse?

2 Weeks into Marty

Sorry for the delay in posts....I've had company from out of town, my husband retired, and I am on a 10 day vacation myself.  My goal is to have Marty out of the Round Pen and into a section of pasture by the time I go back to work on Tuesday July 10!


So here's where I'm at with Marty as of today.  I've been working with him twice a day for about 20-30 minutes.  It's been very hot outside so that's enough for both of us.  But a few days ago our session was going so well we were 2 hours into training.  Finally Marty threw his head down and shook it a few times and pawed once.  He's been so good, I figured this was his way of throwing a 'temper tantrum' so we stopped.  I really haven't had one bad day with him yet.


I will post some more pics of Marty in the next few days. 


I can lead Marty around now better than any of the other 4 horses I've had for 20 years.  He Whoa's before I can get the word out.  I can touch him all over and I've picked up his front feet.  He's not showing any aggression but his ears are still back 40% of the time.  But when he's happy, he's really happy!  I can now walk into the round pen and catch him and put his lead on.  I've stopped lunging him at this point because I think I need to get him out of the round pen soon.  We can always go back in if we need to.    I can remove his halter and put it back on him with one arm over his head.  I've pulled his tail toward his head.  My friend Shelby, came by last week and showed me how important it was to get to his side (right in the middle) without him blocking me.  That's what my 18 year old Gelding Bo does all the time.  Marty was blocking me quite a bit too.  But finally today I was able to get to both sides (in the middle) without him blocking me.  The trick was to move fast before he knew what was happening.  Now I can do it slow or fast and can walk behind him or in front of him and stop at his middle sides and he just stands there.  He's soooo smart.  He catches on soooo quickly.  That's why I want to do everything right so he doesn't learn any bad habits.  


My next goal is to have the lead rope in my hand and make him do circles.  I don't want him to follow me.  I want him to follow the rope.  But when I point the rope to the right Marty just faces me.  So I took the whip and tapped his shoulder but nothing happened.  When I tapped his hip then he finally took a step to the right where I was tugging the rope.  All the while I was trying not to move my feet.  If this is the correct way to do this, I have a feeling it might take a little while because he seems content just staring at me.  I'm remembering to take the pressure off  the minute he moves his feet.  


As soon as I can be assured our fence is hot (it comes and goes, you know how that is...) I am going to start trying to lead him outside the round pen in the pasture section and show him what a hotwired fence is.  If he does well with that, then I can let the other horses in the section next to him and they can start getting to know him.  


I also plan to tie him to a post for a few sessions to start training him to stand and not pull.  But he seems to have learned that pulling doesn't get him anywhere so he barely does it anymore. 


It was so cool to discover that I could hold on to him when he did pull away.  He's still strong, but nothing like my 16 hand mustang Bocephus.  I tried so hard to hold onto Bo's rope one time I actually 'bit the dust'..... literally.  I had quite a vertical 'gravel trail' going down my face after that incident.  I am learning so much with Marty, that once he gets out of that round pen, I think Bocephus will be visiting it a lot more......

This is Bo.  How many of you own a horse you are more comfortable with in the saddle then on the ground?  

My Gentle Mustang

I now own a 'gentled' mustang according to a BLM reliable source.  I  was pretty happy when my friend from BLM came to check my progress and she said I was doing good!  My confidence has been much better since then and tonight I did quite well with Marty.  I can now catch him easily, lunge him and have him turn to me, get in his space (middle of him on each side) without too much fuss from him.  And he is leading at an angle quite well.  The most steps he's taken in one direction is about 6.  And when he pulls (which is so very seldom), he moves right back into me as soon as he sees he didn't get away.  I could tell he was getting tired tonight so I found a good note to end with and called it a night.  I'm actually beginning to think I'm gonna be able to do this!  I will be working on these moves for awhile but I'll let you know when I get to the next major breakthrough!

AND They Said it Couldn't Be Done.....

I did it!  I did it!  I put a lunge line on Marty and I was able to work him in the round pen!!  It was a 50 footer rope and I got tangled up a lot but at least I held onto it when he acted up (if you could even call it acting up).  And before I knew it he was circling and stopping and reacting to the pulls and pushes like he was a pro! NOW my friends....NOW starts the work.  Hours and hours of repetitiveness lunging and lunging this way and that way, inside turns, outside turns, but this is where I wanted to be and thanks to my friends all ignoring me, I DID IT ALL MYSELF!!!  Is there some kind of conspiracy going on here..........Whatever you guys are planning, it's working, but seriously would someone PLEASE stop by to make sure I'm not making any serious mistakes........

Putting the Rope On

Okay, this is not as dramatic as it sounds, but since I've had Marty in the round pen, he has slowly been breaking and/or chewing off the lead rope on his halter that the BLM folks attached to him in the chute.  Since I have not got to the point of where I will grab that lead rope as yet, it hasn't bothered me.  His rope is now about 2" from his halter now so I thought I might be able to get close enough to him to remove that latch and put a fresh lead rope on him.  And I was right.  There was nothing to it.  I really need to do the head turn to the hip with the lead rope in my hand but I'm scared to try it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not nervous around Marty, I just don't want to fail and have him pull away from me and get away once I have that rope in my hand.  That is my biggest problem with my 18 year old gelding Bo and that's why Bo gets away from me all the time.  I want to be able to do this step right so if anyone can stop by to help me to make sure it is done correctly, I would greatly appreciate it!  


In the meantime, however, I was able to stand by him without holding his lead and use the buggy whip to pet him all over.  Tonight was the first time I did this.  I can tell he is definitely warming up to me but his ears are still back a good majority of the time.  But yet, he's coming to me and allowing me to pet him and everything so it's a little confusing as to what he's feeling.  I covered his front section pretty much with the buggy whip, legs and all.  Boy did he stomp when it touched his leg but he recovered quickly and then it didn't bother him.  He is definitely shy on his left side.  I actually stand on his right side while I'm petting his left side just to get him used to it.  Without being able to use the rope just yet, I can't get over to his left side and pet him.
All in all it was a great night.  And we ended on a good note.
Oh, and I took the rope off of him because that has turned out to be pretty easy to latch on and off of him now.
Sorry, no pics tonight, my photographer went fishing....

Should I Rename Marty?

Some folks I know are not thinking that Marty is a good name for my mustang.  I kind of HAD to take that name because he was called Martha and that just wouldn't do.  Now I know I have every right to name my horse anything I want so I am going to keep Marty and if I can't come up with a better name by August 1, 2012 then Marty stays his name.  My first thought was to name him Benny just because I like that name.  Other names that have come up were Jagger (he's got the moves like Jagger...) or Redford because he's blonde and red like Robert Redford (oh and handsome too).  If you have any suggestions now is the time to let me know.   I think in 30 days I will know for sure if Marty fits him or if he should have a more suitable name.

Lastest Update 6-26-12
Marty (2)
Jagger (4)
Thunder (2)

Learning to Blog

Okay, I see I'm doing something wrong already on this blog!  So Sorry!  I guess the idea of blogging is to title different subjects which will then automatically POST the date on the date you enter them!  I was using my Mustang Marty Blog as a 'journal' and just adding the dates.  Duh!!  So I'll try to start doing it correctly from now on!  Thanks for bearing with me!

My First Mustang/Horse Experience

This is me in the Fall of 1991 in a little town called Huston Idaho, outside of Boise.  This is me with Honey, my very first horse ever, a mustang (and I have never owned,or really ridden a horse in my entire life).  By the way, I am 29 years old in this picture and Honey is 2.

Honey was picked up as a wild horse in the spring of 1991 near Burns Oregon and entered into the Idaho Canyon County Fair as a raffle horse by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and the American Mustang Foundation.   This meant she was caught in the spring of 1991, trained during the summer (a few months, and then entered into the fair in August).   I was leaving the fair with my boyfriend at the time and I looked over at the horse and I realized that I was in love.  And not really with my boyfriend.....
I bought about 10 raffle tickets for this beautiful palomino paint and I said to my boyfriend, "I'm gonna get that horse, and when I get that horse I'm gonna name her Honey".  I bought the tickets from a man named Calvin .  I didn't remember him at the time.  I only had eyes for Honey.
2 months later, they had the drawing near Eagle Idaho. I didn't know what a horse playday was, so I was pretty anxious to win my mustang and go home, however my boyfriend and I had to wait all day until the play day was over before I could win my mustang and take her home.  I spent most of the day petting her and telling her everything was going to be okay once I got her home.  There were two young boys there at the corral telling me THEY were going to win this horse but I just ignored them.  Later I found out they were Calvin's sons, Adam and Brian.  They were about 6 and 8 years old.  I don't remember seeing Calvin there.  I only had eyes for Honey.
So finally the raffle name was picked and Honey was going to go to a 14 year old Boy.  I got on the back of my boyfriends Harley and cried all the way home.  I couldn't believe how upset I was.  Then, my boyfriend said, "Why don't you contact the American Mustang Foundation? Maybe the kid that won that horse doesn't have the facilities to keep her and they'll have to draw another name."  EUREKA!!  That was it!  The kid wouldn't be able to keep the horse and THEN I'd win my mustang Honey.  Nice thought, isn't it?
So I called the President of the Mustang Foundation, a wonderful man by the name of Larry Leach (god rest his soul).  Mr. Leach told me that the kid did not have the facilities to keep the horse but he really wanted it.  So I offered this....How about me and the kid SHARE the horse. I have the pasture for her and he can help with the expenses and come ride her in the countryside whenever he wants!!  Mr. Leach gave my offer to the boys mother (who was the mother of 6 by the way and on welfare).  The mother agreed and we worked it out where Honey could come and stay on the pasture by my house and the kid could come and ride him whenever he wanted!  Yay!  I have my mustang Honey!
The kid came out a time or two to ride him but couldn't make her go and all she did was eat pasture, so he finally bored with her and decided I could have her.  YAY!  I now OWN my first horse, my first Mustang, a two year old green broke palomino paint!  She came 6 months trained with her tack and saddle.  I rode her all over the place and we had a great time.
Then the boyfriend and I split up. He rode east on his Harley, and I rode west on my Mustang.  I managed to find a little place to rent with pasture in Kuna Idaho and this is where Honey and I lived.
I joined the American Mustang Foundation which was a group that organized rides and events with the mustangs.  I was the secretary for the foundation for awhile.  I met a lot of great people.  I remember for the first time meeting a gentleman by the name of Calvin   He said we met a few times before but I didn't remember..  He was a good ol' boy.  Had a Horse Trailer, and he was available to take me and Honey to any events I wanted to go. Life was great!!
Then friend Calvin and I decided to start looking for property to buy.  We decided we would like to get about 5 acres and put a couple of manufactured homes on it and share a barn and arena for our 2 mustang horses.  By the time we found the land we wanted, only one home was necessary (wink wink).  And we were married shortly after.  That was in 1994.  Honey was 5 years at that time and I had just bred her to a smaller black mustang named "Black" out of Sand Hollow, Idaho.  Owner:  Wendy Chamberlain.  Calvin had a mustang horse named Hobbs.  Here is a picture of her and him riding in a parade.

This is Calvin and Hobbs in the Mustang Parade in Melba Idaho in 1992(?) or thereabouts.  Calvin had tried for 7 years to get Hobbs bred and she finally took in 1993.  Honey was also pregnant in 1993.  Both of our mustangs were going to have babies.  It was an exciting time for us both!
But then........Tragedy............
We rented pasture for our two mustangs in downtown Kuna while we were working on our 10 acres we bought.  One day, Calvin was tying Honey up to get trimmed by the farrier when Honey reared back and caught Calvin's fingers in her rope.  He thought he had a bad rope burn but it turned out that the rope had shredded his fingers  right down to the bone!  We rushed him to the hospital and they doctored Calvin up.  The next day we were told the unfortunate news that Hobbs was killed by a train in Kuna!  Apparently, with all the fuss about getting Calvin to the Emergency Room, and the ferrier there and showing his own way out, the gate did not get locked properly and 3 horses that were boarded there were loose and standing on the railroad tracks as a train was coming!  Hobbs, Honey, and Calvins Brothers Horse Buster.
Fortunately for me, Honey loved people.  So when a few middle school girls saw the horses on the tracks, they whistled and called for the horses to come to them.  Honey ran right to them.  But Hobbs stayed put.  She was killed instantly, baby and all.  It was soooo sad.  Calvin came home and told me about it and all I could do was curl up in the kitchen and cry and cry and cry.  There was poor Calvin with his hand all bandaged up from yesterday's ordeal and now the cops were telling him he had to get his horse off the railroad tracks.  I was beside myself.  Buster took a beating but he is still alive today.  And of course, Honey is no worse for the wear.  The next day was Friday the 13th so Calvin and I both called in sick to work that day since we couldn't bear anymore bad luck.  As a sidenote, a few weeks prior to this our rabbit was killed by a couple of country labs, our mama kitty was run over and was paralyzed so we had to put her down, a runt kitten died although I kept it in bed with me all night feeding it milk with an eye dropper.  Two of our dogs were shot and killed by the mean neighbor because they 'stepped' on his property.   I won't mention any names....WINCHESTER! So the finger thing and losing Hobbs was about all we could take at that time.  And all of this happened within a 3 week period!  Good Lord!  We have never had a tragedy since then, but Boy Howdy, I should say we had our fill that month in August 1993.  I wouldn't wish a month like that on ANYONE, not even my worst arch enemy!  You know who your are....
So, by the time we moved into our new home on 10 acres we only had a pregnant Honey horse.  Calvin needed something to ride so we bought a 3 year old paint horse at the auction and named Her Patches.  When Honey's colt was born, I was there tapping his little hooves before he was even out of his mama!  I was going to do some 'imprint training' and have the perfect horse!  We named our black little colt Bocephus which means 'little one " in Cherokee.  Here is the final result.

I like to show this picture, because it shows the size of his head!  He is a 16 hand 18 year old mustang (domesticated) now and what a handful he is.  While I was busy doing all that imprint training, I turned him into a spoiled dog and now I cannot control him on the ground at all.  I ride him and love him but I don't ever get off of him or he will go home without me.  Mainly because he has never been weaned from his mother who is 23 now (Honey).  What was I thinking.....? I even sent him to ground training last year.  The trainer (the illustrious Shannon Allison) found no problem with him.  That's when I realized it was strictly a herd sourness trait and nothing more.  However, that doesn't make it any easier when you are knocked down through the corral gate if you take his mother or any of this 'mares' out the gate!  We are learning to adapt however.  We tie him up INSIDE the corral when moving horses around and it is much safer for all!
I ended up giving Bocephus to our niece as a graduation present this year, but he is still boarded here.  She loves him and rides him bareback and double bareback all over to hell and back and has no problem.  He gets loose from her on the ground still, but she is learning the tricks to keeping everyone safe.  Seriously, only a strong strong strong man can keep this horses head in place!  That's my dear friend Raine in the picture by the way.  She usually doesn't get that close to Bo.  See the fear in her eyes?  Just kidding Raine!
So Bocephus became Calvins Hunting Horse in his early years.  Always pawing, always anxious, always concerned about whatever mare was with him and worrying about those that weren't....that's Bocephus.  As Calvin aged, controlling Bo on the ground became harder....So after last year's hunt, Calvin says he will never take Bo again.  Too much work!
Back to Patches, the horse we bought for Calvin after Hobbs passed on.....Patches is 20 now and she is about the best kids and old ladies horse ever.  I am trying to sell her to an 8 year old girl who is just learning to ride.  I couldn't imagine a better horse for a child to learn on.  We'll see how that goes.
13 years ago we bred Patches so I could have another "baby".  Along came Sassy.  Who really wasn't sassy at all.  Her full name is Sassafras.  Here she is.

Just your everyday basic quarter horse paint.  She is 13 now and is exactly like her mother.  Just as gentle and sweet as can be.  Calvin says he will only take Sassy hunting now because she was a perfect angel last year!
So as much as I love ALL my 4 horses, I only want what's best for them.  As I age (I will be 50 this year) and my horses age, I realize I won't always be as "strong"? as I am now so I really want to train my own baby and make it the 'perfect' horse.  I don't think I had enough experience when Bo and Sassy were born, but I think I'm ready for it now!
So that's my horse history in a nutshell.  I now have Marty the Mustang who I just adopted yesterday (my yearling) and for some odd reason, I feel like after 20 years of having horses I am finally ready to make the perfect horse!  Stay with me and I will share my learnings with you.  It should be an exciting ride!

Marty the Mustang

Ahem, hello.  My first real blog I intend to keep up on.  The Chestnut with the flaxen mane (second to the last horse) is my new mustang I just adopted from Boise Idaho Wild Horse Corrals.  A herd of about 200 mustang yearlings came from Ely, Nevada and they have been corralled since August of 2011.  My new mustang was originally named Martha because the BLM folks (Bureau of Land Management) thought she was a mare.  She was pretty furry at the time and by the time they got her in a chute and trimmed her feet and gave her shots, they soon realized she was a colt so she was gelded too.  However the BLM folks kept calling her Martha due to her beautiful long eyelashes.  I couldn't sway too far from that name so I gave her the boy name of Marty (with a "Y").  Now Marty is home with me on my 10 acres sitting in a round pen acting as perfect as can be!  They haltered him and put a rope on him and 2 young girls came and delivered him directly to my round pen!  This involved maneuvering their horse trailer through a rocky pasture and removing panels from the round pen to make a makeshift "chute" to turn him in.  I was pretty impressed with these two girls!  Thanks Ruby and Shelby!

So, yesterday, I was so beside myself with excitement, I spent as much time as I could just sitting in the round pen with Marty and talking to him and chasing him a little around the pen.  I was able to get his rope a few times but he freaked and I lost it each time I had it.  I found out today from Shelby when she e-mailed me as to what to do to get started.....she said never ever let him get away from you or he will learn that habit.  Dang it!  Did I mess up with him already!  Good Lord!

June 18, 2012
Yesterday I didn't even try to grab the rope but I also got a John Lyons book (for my kindle) and took my tablet out in the corral and read Chapter 1 out loud to Marty.  I think we have the gist of it.  John Lyons says this ground training takes 5 days.  As much as I'd love to get him out of that corral and leading good, I will take a lot more days then that to do this project.  Plus I work  four 10 hour days so I will be getting most of the training in on my 3 days off.  It was 98 degrees yesterday but we did do a bit of Chapter 1 which is lunging the horse to the right and left and moving toward their head at a diagonal to get them to turn inside the round pen (toward you).  John Lyons says to make your horse do this 2000 times before you move to the next step.  Between today and yesterday, he's done it 8 times.  We're on a roll!  Maybe he'll be 3 years old by the time we get to Chapter 2!
Just got a message from a trainer at Hidden Valley Paints Ranch (where my dear friend Sabrina lives).  I will shower and get in my fastest car and head over there to see her in action!

Need you even ask......?  In case you can't see it, the bumper sticker says "My other Mustang is a Horse".


Well I just got back from Sabrinas and met the two mustangs yearlings that were picked up on the same day I got Marty.  I was totally taken by surprise when I saw them; they looked groomed, shaved, and were as friendly as ever.  I petted them both all over and then got pissed off because I can't even TOUCH my mustang yet.  I really don't want to hurry things but WHAT UP MAN!?  As I was leaving Sabrina's, the trainer of the mustangs took it's halter off as I watched it follow her around like a puppy!!  %^&$@$*!!
So this trainer will be coming to my place tomorrow after work to see what we can do to at least be able to TOUCH Marty!  I sat next to his hay while he ate tonight but I still couldn't touch him.  I understand that he needs to trust me and I'm not going to be impatient.  But Come ON......Really?  What's it gonna take?!

June 19, 2012 (Day 4)

The 'Mustang Whisperer' was supposed to come and help me touch my horse tonight after work, but she couldn't make it.  A little bummed, I poured a glass of wine and sat next to Marty's feed bowl (outside the round pen) and decided if he wanted any supper, he was gonna have to let me pet him.  I sat out there for four hours.   He did a little stomping  and his ears were back. He was really hungry!  He left me several times and hung out at the other side of the pen.   When I did try to force my hand to him, he tried to bite me a few times but I couldn't tell if it was out of anger or just hoping there would be some food in that hand!  He watched the neighbor man irrigating for a long time.  The neighbor came over and started petting him!!!  What the?!  I said, "Neighbor, I haven't even got that far yet!".  My neighbor quietly said, "I think he likes soft voices".  What was he insinuating anyway?  So after the neighbor left, and Marty watched him for 30 some minutes pining for him till he was out of sight, he came over again to see if there was any food in this bowl.  I decided I would be quiet for a change and in about 5 minutes, he let me touch his nose....ever so briefly......As soon as he allowed that, I put a handful of hay in his bin and let him eat.  Then he tried to eat more but I made him touch me first before he could.  In a matter of minutes, he was resting his little nose on my hand for as long as I wanted.  In no time I was scratching his cheeks, forehead, rubbing his ears (real hard I might add --- he seemed to love it!)  After every successful 'rub' he would run to the other side of the arena looking for the neighbor guy.... As if he had to 'tell him all about it'.  But he still had to come back to me to eat.  I wonder sometime if horses truly are more in tune to a certain gender....  Anyway, at the end of the evening I was actually stroking his neck like I do any horse!  It was truly amazing.  It would have been great to have someone help me tonight, but I can't think of a more rewarding feeling then me accomplishing it on my own!   Man I feel good!  Now if Marty will only get over his crush on the neighbor, things will be great!

All I could think about at this point was "Man I can't wait to start grooming that mane!"