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Introduction
First let me say, Mustangs are not mutts. They are not just feral horses as I have read many times. They are wonderful animals that have developed in different ways than those horses bred by man for man. They are horses bred by horses for the herd. They have survived hardships that lesser animals would not have lived through. The resulting animal is strong and intelligent. Am I speaking as an expert? No. I am speaking as an admirer and as a friend. My Shunka Wakan is smart. Sometimes I think he is smarter than I am. He is brave and he is forgiving. He is smaller than my relatives’ domestics. My Shunka is a short, stocky horse with strong straight legs. His neck is supple as a snake. His hearing is sharp. He is a challenge and a joy. I am having the time of my life. Because I am a novice horse owner I have had to do a lot of research. As with all research, it yielded mixed results. I have been amazed and delighted by some of the things I have learned and saddened by others. I intend to focus on the amazing and the delightful but I may touch now and then on the others. Please bear with me when I do. Let me begin by telling how I arrived at this point in my life, the point where I could adopt a mustang. I have been fortunate. I have had, during my life, many of my dreams come true. In each instance my husband and I worked hard to make the dream come true. Oh, so you didn’t do it yourself, you think, you had a husband to make it happen for you. No, I had a husband who supported hanging on to the dream and helped in every way he could. A husband like that is in fact a dream come true, but that is another story. This story is about two dreams that came true at the same time. The first dream was to have my own horse. I began to dream that dream when I was about four or five years old and carried it through over fifty years of living. The second dream was to adopt a Mustang. I am not sure how long I harbored that dream. I do know that I began to hope it might come true when we moved back to Illinois after living in the Los Angeles area of Southern California for nearly fifteen years. In Illinois near where we were living they had a yearly adoption. I wanted to go and adopt in the worst way but I just wasn’t ready. The stars had not aligned just right. Other dreams came first and each carried a lot of work with it. The first was to buy a farm so we could grow our own food. We bought the farm in 1988 and for the next ten to twelve years I worked very hard on it, raising chickens and multiple gardens, canning and freezing fruits and vegetables, helping with grandchildren, writing novels, and learning computer graphics and web building. My husband was downsized and began a new career as a computer consultant. Then my mother became ill. I spent the next months trying to take care of her and the farm while my husband traveled. When that was no longer possible I visited her in the nursing home, took care of her home, and so on. When she died there was more things to take care of and another dream was coming true. We were building a new, old house on our farm. We researched everything and did our own contracting. Then my husband’s family began to sicken and die. First he lost a sister and then his father. Those years had been hard, filled with work and worry but we had learned a lot. We had learned how to learn what we needed to know to do new things. We had learned that you regret what you did not do at the end of your life more than what you have done. Then my granddaughter bought a horse. She wanted me to come see it and go for a ride with her. I had not been on a horse in years and years but I went. I rode with her and her boyfriend on one of his horses. I enjoyed the afternoon but she rode better than I did and that was a bug that gnawed at me for days. I started looking for places to ride but all the local places were expensive. Then I looked around for someone who gave lessons. I found a woman who would give me lessons for a less money than it would cost me just to go on a short trail ride so I signed on. I went once a week and rode on her enormous gaited horse in the arena then out on a trail through her woods. I enjoyed the riding but the horse stumbled a lot and shied often. I was never thrown but after several weeks of never knowing whether the horse was going to fall down or stand on his head, he shied by suddenly stopping dead no matter what speed he was going when he got scared, I began to lose my confidence and my motivation. Besides, it was fall and by the time I got to the stable after work it was nearly dark. I came out of the lessons richer though. I could saddle a horse properly. I could lift his feet. I had learned the one rein stop and several other things. I had read her copy of Monty Roberts’ book, “The Man Who Listens to Horses.” I had begun to watch Pat Parelli and Clinton Anderson along with Monty Roberts on the RFD TV Channel. I began to see that a person like me could train a horse. Young girls and white haired men and women were doing it. I could too. Maybe. I wanted to. I was sure of that. Then in December on a cold, snowy day when I had a book signing they had the first Wild Horse Adoption in Ewing, IL. I think it was the first one anyway. It was the first one we read about in our local newspaper. My husband and I planned on going in the afternoon after the signing. We did start out for Ewing but the closer we got the slicker the roads became so we decided to go home and try again in February. In February we went and looked at all the horses. I talked to people. Can someone who’s never owned a horse handle a mustang? I asked. The answer was yes. Get a yearling was their advice. One man told me to sit outside his pen and talk to him. It didn’t matter what I said. I could tell him he was ugly and useless if I wanted but if I sat there and talked to him sooner or later he would come up and investigate me. Then I would be able to touch him in a little while. The BLM worker I asked told me to start with a yearling. I heard about Internet adoptions. I got pamphlets that told my husband and I what we had to have before we could adopt. I went home to dream. We decided to do it. My husband said he didn’t want me to die without having had my dream come true. Dreams, I told him, a double dream, a dream of owning a horse and of adopting a mustang. My husband and I searched the Internet for information about mustangs and the people who had adopted them. We found a site that told about building the required pen. We checked prices on materials and then we designed our stall and pen. I wanted a round pen. We could have a 30’ one and still be within BLM requirements. We needed a 12’ X 12’ stall. We could build one in the north end of the barn where we had once housed chickens. Our pasture fence was old and too short so we searched for fencing and settled on white tape electric added to the refurbished woven wire. We had $1000 to spend so we had to make every penny count. We could afford wooden fence and it would last if we painted it. We researched paint and learned that horse fence is painted with asphalt paint to preserve the fencing and because horses don’t like the taste. My husband drew design after design for the stall and round pen. Finally we settled on a 12’ X 12’ stall with an additional section of fence that would contain a gate where the trailer could unload our adoptee directly into the stall. Connected to the stall and gate area would be a 30’ round pen for his training. There would be a gate between the round pen and the stall area so that when we took him into the round pen and shut the gate our adoptee would know it was time to work. My husband built most of it with our son-in-law and grandson’s help. He built it 6’ high because the plan had now grown to adopting a second mustang the next year so that my husband and I would both have one. My husband’s might be older so we had better have it the height to control an adult horse. I helped paint the fence. Such a fence it was. My husband had counter sunk every bolt so the horse could not get cut or scraped on them. The posts were sunk deep, deep into the ground so that the fence would remain solid. The stall portion had smooth steel rods for the horse to put his head between to eat out of the manger on the outside of the stall. That way if we ever had to be away someone else could feed him without having to go into the stall. The water tank was also placed so that it could be filled without going in. We had latches on the outside gates so that they could be locked. We wanted no chance of a child going in with the wild horse and maybe getting hurt. We had grandchildren who visited and our next-door neighbor had grandchildren who visited frequently. We were going to adopt in late spring but the pen was nearly done and we had been looking at the yearlings being offered for adoption on the Internet. I picked out a little brown horse from the horses that had been halter trained by the people at Mantle Ranch. We decided to go ahead and put in our application. We were approved. I was so excited. We went back to the horses on the net over and over. We looked at all the rest at Mantle Ranch. I still liked the little brown horse, but now I liked a filly that had a bit of draft horse in her, and I liked the little horse they said followed them around like a puppy, and I liked the black filly with the white blaze and the four white socks whose price was going through the roof. My little man, that little voice we have in the back of our minds that most of us fail to listen to till its too late, told me “Get a white horse!” That was it, “Get a white horse!” but there were no white horses. In the meantime my husband liked a horse with a white blaze and white feet that looked brown but the page said was a gray. I looked up gray horses and learned that they are not born gray. Gray horses are born dark, in this case chestnut, and turn gray over time. In the end they turn white. The last day to bid came. Someone else was bidding on my little brown horse. They raised the bid by $50 all at once. There were only about two minutes left till the bidding closed. We bid on the horse L. T. liked. The auction closed. We had the gray horse that looked chestnut. We had already named him. Our small dog, Dawg, had passed away and L. T. didn’t want another. This would be our dog. We named him Shunka Wakan. The way I understand it, Shunka Wakan means Spirit Horse. The short of his name, Shunka, can also mean dog in the Lakota language. We had to wait till April 23 to pick him up. We finished the stall and, with our vet’s help, found a hauler.
Part I MY JOURNAL
Note: The following journal was written as any journal with no thought of publication. I have chosen to do very little editing. What you will read is just the way I wrote it on the date at the beginning of the entry.
April 23, 2004I was so nervous about going to get Shunka that I had to practice my Tai Chi meditation breathing to try and relax as L. T. drove me to Ewing. Fifty plus years I had waited for this day, the day I got a horse. A good 25 or 30 of those years ago I had first thought of adopting a mustang. Now it was happening, my dreams were coming true, and I had feet like ice blocks. I was 59 years old, coming up on 60 very fast. Sixty-year-old women should not get first horses. Sixty-year-old women are old. Inside I am not sixty. My grandson says I act like a kid but a look in any mirror shows a sixty-year-old face. What was I thinking? I knew from experience that when dreams come true they are reality and reality means work. Would my so often achy body stand the exercise? We drove up to the Bureau of Land Management holding area about 8:30 a.m. The first thing I saw was a large white truck selling funnel cakes. I love funnel cake but hardly ever eat one. We looked at the horse pens. There were no signs on them saying yearling males, yearling females, mare- two years old or stallion – 6 years old as there had been in February when we first came to look at the mustangs. “I’m going in there and ask,” I said to L.T. and pointed at the small white building where I knew the office was. Inside that office I met a BLM worker who found out that our colt was just being sorted. She found #7222 in short order and had him put in a small pen so I could see him. At that point I could still refuse to take him. Of course I didn’t. He had four straight legs and a nice shaped back. I would have probably said ok if he had been buck teethed, cross-eyed and sway backed. Our hauler was there waiting. We had to wait though for them to get the loading chute ready. While we waited we got to meet Steve Mantle of Mantle Ranch where Shunka had lived for three months and where he was tamed and halter broke. Steve Mantle went into the pen and showed us Shunka would still accept his petting. A good sign I thought. Finally home in his new corral, Shunka was at first standoffish then curious.
Shunka Wakan just after unloading into our pen April 23.
L. T. and I sat outside the stall and talked to him then I sat inside the stall and let him come and sniff at me. Later I went out and approached him. He let me pet his face and neck. First day and I was petting him.
Saturday, April 24, 2004My allergies were up big time from a whole day in the barn. We had more sitting and petting sessions. Then they called me to go to work. L. T. sat with him while I was gone. It was a night of rain and thunderstorms, but Shunka did not spook. So far a pickup truck, cars on the road in front of the neighbor’s house, helicopters both far away and near, and a string trimmer up by the house have all, at best, gotten him to shy a few steps then look around, curious as to what it is.
Sunday, April 25, 2004I introduced the brush. I let him smell it and touched it to him. He didn’t flinch just smelled it. I brushed him nose to shoulder on both sides. Lots of gray hair came out. He began to want to nip us. I think he is trying to groom us. I push his nose gently away and say no. I petted him a lot and sat in the round pen with him. He sniffed me up my leg, my arm and started sniffing my face. I flinched and scared him away. He came back after a time and sniffed my other side, leg only. I did not flinch. We quit on a good note.
Monday, April 26, 2004I groomed more then tried to get him to work in the round pen. I could not get him to “go out” but he got me to pet him. Not good – he’s training me well. I admit I was upset. Instead of shying and racing or even walking around as he should when I “pushed” him with a gesture he just stood next to the fence and looked ahead. As if he shuts you out when he is scared. He is a good colt. His is practically bomb proof but that seems to work against training. I decided to get a “flag”(lunge whip.)
Tuesday, April 27, 2004I went to work. L. T. took care of Shunka. He began teaching him ‘No Bite.’ If he bites he runs into L. T.’s flat palm. I was sick but did go to Rural King and get whips in two lengths, a lunge whip and a stock whip. Started grain.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004Shunka and I had a pet and a session in the round pen. I finally got him to move by using a plastic grocery bag on the end of the stock whip. I was only semi-successful. Fed him and cleaned the stall. Later tried grooming him but he wanted hay more than groomed. He is a good eater.
Thursday, April 29, 2004Jimmy is here to visit. We did chores including feeding Shunka. During our visit with Shunka we observed him licking Kitty Kat, our yellow tiger striped barn cat, and nibbling his ears. Kitty Kat took this till I guess the nibbles became uncomfortable then Kitty Kat got up and walked away. Later Kitty Kat got into the manger with Shunka’s hay. I gave Shunka another bit of exercise this morning. Today he ran right away when he saw the “flag.” (White plastic bag on end of stock whip) He ran better than yesterday but he stumbled some and hit the fence some during the gallop. So far he walks, trots and gallops. No cantering. No loping. I could not keep him turned today. I could turn him and he turned correctly, outward, but he would only do a quarter of a lap then turn back and go even faster. That and biting are his only bad spots so far. He has a sore on his right hip. It is nearly healed so it is old. The scabs are coming off. I can and did halter him again today. He doesn’t like the rope halter but did yield to pressure just fine. We did the two finger drop two times. Nothing scares him yet, not even the big tractor.
Friday, April 30, 2004I went to work. L. T. and Jimmy worked on the fence. Shunka still isn’t spooky. I wanted to work him when I got home but thunderstorms came through and he was bothered by the sound of the rain on the barn’s metal roof. He stayed out in the storm. He was soaking wet when I got home so I couldn’t even groom him. He’s eating pelleted food now. He loves it and all food. Kitty Kat still lives next door and they’re still o.k.
Saturday, May 1, 2004I groomed Shunka some then later put his halter on and took it off.
Sunday, May 2, 2004Lovely, cool spring day. Yesterday I felt intimidated by Shunka. His nipping is getting on my nerves, chipping at my confidence. Today he was much better about that after yesterday’s lesson. Confidence or no confidence my adoption of the hand up where he hit it if he tried to bite seems to have helped. I groomed him from head to hips with the hard brush. Got great wads of hair out and the dried mud off him. He then, after the brushing, lay down and rolled. Then he came back to be brushed again. Tomorrow I am going to brush and fly spray him (or maybe rub the spray on.) This afternoon I haltered him. Scratching his withers softened him to the idea of me haltering him. I let him wear the rope halter a couple hours then clipped on a lead rope. He grabbed the rope in his mouth but I was able to get him to go where I wanted a time or two. Then I settled for a couple of attempts. I quit then. He’s doing fine and we have all summer.
Monday, May 3, 2004I groomed Shunka all over with the brush and then the currycomb today. I did the brush with little trouble but he did try and nip me when I was doing the off side. He is very touchy on the lower jaw near his mouth on his right side, the off side. After I got done I put on the rope halter. It was like some one hit a switch. He stood very quietly while I currycombed him all over. There was one interesting event while I was brushing him. I let him look at the brush before I began and he wanted to nibble it. This time I decided to let him. I kept the bristles toward him and let him mouth it all he wanted. Just as I thought he lost interest fast. The bristles hurt his mouth would be my guess. Later, about two this afternoon, I went in and fastened the lead to his halter. He stood still for that and followed me to the round pen. We did a bit of slow, tentative (It was me that was tentative.) walking around. I was leading him close as twice when on a long lead he tried to run up on me. We did better than yesterday. I pulled down on the halter with two fingers and he gave to the pressure. I pet him after every success. According to some of the trainers I pet him way too much but he loves it and comes willingly to me. After the lesson was finished I thought how I could keep him back from me without having to press him back with two hands as I’ve been doing. I can use the stick. I can swing it back and forth. If he gets too close he will run into it. I won’t be forcing the issue; he will. It’s a Clinton Anderson thing. Shunka has a really long upper lip he uses it like fingers.
Monday, May 17, 2004Have not written about Shunka in a while as Jimmy was here with us and we were kept very busy. Shunka and my relationship deteriorated for a while. He became pushy and I got scared. There is no other word for it. I was scared, pit of the stomach sick scared. It made me stop and think this whole thing through. I learned something. I am too much of a live and let live person. I do not like to push back when pushed. I would rather walk away. With Shunka I can’t do that and keep him. I will have to be forceful. I can be forceful, but dislike it so much that I pick and choose my fights very carefully. This is one I am going to choose. I have ordered a training stick from Clinton Anderson. This is supposed to allow me to keep Shunka off me, four feet away to be exact. I hope it works. We haven’t been together a month. Right now he is about three feet from me but he is in the stall. I am outside it. He has a straight nose that ends in a long upper lip. He uses that lip in much the same way an elephant uses its trunk. His face is that of a chestnut with a white blaze. He has a heavy forelock, which is nearly kinky. The hair is dark brushed with red. His ears are medium length and come to a point. His neck is nicely curved and topped with a shock of red and black mane. He has what can only be called a thin beard down his lower jaw. The hairs of it are 3” long in places. On the underside of his neck he has even longer hairs, some 6” or so. His chest is low and rounded out like a soft pillow. He has four nice straight legs. The front legs end in short white socks, the hind with longer white socks. All four legs are lightly feathered just above the hoof. His hooves are small and hard, his tail not long but lush and multi-colored: black, white and red. He is a horse with little fear. This hinders fear-based training. His is a pragmatic soul. He stumbled and fell to his knees while playing with his ball. Instead of jumping up all upset, he paused then went ahead and lay down. He rolled, got up, and tried again. Bad situation? Make the best of it is my Shunka. All I did today was pet and visit.
Thursday, May 20, 2004Shunka stood to be touched all over his back from poll to dock (tail), down all four legs and between his legs with the Handy Stick. He backed up from the rope being wiggled back and forth, sometimes vigorously. He came to me when asked but required a bit of off side pulling. I tried to back him all the way into the round pen but only got half way. I led him the rest of the way. Tomorrow we will try again. I had a bit of trouble keeping him out of the stall while I cleaned it. I tied the gates to the round pen closed with a piece of yellow nylon rope. I did the quick release knot but before I could even get started mucking out the stall he had pulled the knot around to where he could have released it and got out. I called L. T. He came and retied it but with a knot I could hardly get loose when I wanted in the round pen. I went to our vet with a list of questions and Shunka’s BLM folder. Were his shots up to date? Yes till next April. How soon would he need wormed? Every three months or June 31. Are the black walnut trees in the pasture a danger? Not much of a danger. Just cut back the low branches. How about Poke Plants? Keep them out of the pasture. How do I know when his hooves need trimming? They will look long, chip or begin to crack. Finally how much hay is too much? There were two or three people standing around the office and each seemed to have a different opinion. The vet and his wife seemed in favor of feed on demand. One man thought half a bale a day. I came home still puzzled and worried about how much food was too much.
Saturday, May 22, 2004 We will have had Shunka one month tomorrow. His is doing wonderfully well for having been here only a month. Yesterday after work I went out and played with him. We tried circling with the Handy Stick on his withers. He did fairly well but did not move faster than a walk. He is lazy, no doubt about that, and stubborn. He thinks he should decide when he moves and I think I should so we are working on that. Of course I am awkward with the Handy Stick and he is confused by some of my signals. But in the end I caused him to walk around me, to back up, and to come forward when I asked. Then we began to work with the spray bottle filled with water. This is how Clinton Anderson says to desensitize him so that we can spray him with fly spray. At first he ran away from it but I just let him run, around and around me. I kept spraying. Finally when he settled down a little I stopped. We backed up a few more times and I quit for the evening. Oh yes, I also ran the Handy Stick all over him from poll to tail; I ran my hands over him and lifted his tail with my hand. I got him to flex laterally from one side. All in all it was a good session but I came away feeling I was not doing something right with the spray bottle so I turned on some of the Clinton Anderson tapes later and watched while I got strawberries ready for the freezer. I was right. I wasn’t doing the spray right. I needed to hold the rope up close to the horse’s head and high so he couldn’t bite me and so I couldn’t be put in kicking range. This morning I went out armed with another sprayer full of water. The one I used yesterday clicked when you sprayed. This one did not. I took Shunka into the round pen and tried to back him up. He would not move. O.K. I tried to lead him forward. Nope, he dug his heels in and resisted. OK. It is clear I need to be able to yield his hindquarters so I can make him move. So after watching the tapes last night and carefully watching where Clinton Anderson held the rope, where he positioned his body and where he tapped on the horse I began to try and make him yield his hindquarters. Our first efforts were not too good, I had to tap and tap on his butt. Finally he moved over. I rewarded him by rubbing his forehead with the Handy Stick. I went to the other side, don’t want a one sided horse. We worked a bit and the he stepped over. I rewarded tries, even the tiny ones. We practiced that a bit and I rubbed him all over with the Handy Stick. Then I rubbed him all over with my hand. Amazingly, he stood and took it like it happened every day. In the process of my handling this morning I found two or three more white spots on his body. They are quarter to half dollar sized and scattered here and there under his belly, under his mane and on his legs. He does have one large one on one leg just above the sock. After the yielding practice he moved out on the lead much better. Then we began the spraying with water. I held the rope up close to his head and high as in yielding and started spraying. He moved away. I kept spraying. He moved away. I followed him each time and just kept spraying. I kept spraying till he barely moved when I sprayed. I moved to his off side. He stood quietly while I sprayed. I was shocked. Then I praised him and rubbed him and went back to the touchy side. He did better. He stood not stock-still but better so I left it at that. This evening we will have another session. I brushed him till he started to push on me on the off side. Then I had L. T. hand me the stick and gave him another short lesson in yielding just to let him know I was still the boss. I led him over to the gate and out then removed the halter and lead rope. I rubbed him and told him he was a good horse. L. T. went and got the string trimmer then and began trimming around the pen Shunka was in. He said to watch the fun that Shunka would be out of there like a rocket. I sat on a bucket in front of the manger and watched and talked to Shunka the whole time. He quit eating and went to look once or twice. He turned away from me once and looked but mostly he just kept his eyes on me while one ear was on me and one on the noise which, by the way, sounded in the barn like a huge, huge bumble bee. Only when L. T. got around to the water tank did he go out and then it was to eat the grass that L. T. had cut. He was within 8-10 feet of the string trimmer and not spooked at all. Amazing.
Monday, May 24, 2004Yesterday, Sunday, May 23, we tried to round pen Shunka. It was not all together successful. He walked, not trotted, paced, or cantered around the pen. I had to keep spanking him with the string on my Handy Stick to get that much movement out of him. I finally gave up after trying and trying to turn him back to circle clockwise. He had circled counterclockwise for several minutes. Our final result on this was Horse 1 Human 0. He simply turned his back and sulked when I tried to turn him. We also practiced yielding his hindquarters, forequarters, backing and leading. He did very well in all but forequarters. He is catching on especially well to moving his hindquarters when I tap on his hip. He backs up, lackluster, but it is backup. He leads 50% of the time without leaning back on the halter. I can rub him all over with the Handy Stick. I can rub him all over with my hands. I can flip the string over his back. I have not tried to flip the rope over his back with any rhythm though I did throw it over his neck once just to get it out of my way while doing something else. He is a good horse but lazy with a capital L. He wants to eat and not have to do any work for the food. Wouldn’t we all like that? He only became pushy once. That was when I was trying to get him to yield his forequarters. We have been able to desensitize him to the spray bottle so I can now spray him with fly spray. He is getting more white and whitish spots. I saw a bigger and not round spot on him last evening. He did show fear or worry one time yesterday. It was when L.T. was moving some brush out of the pasture area where Shunka will soon live. He spooked just a tiny bit and kept looking at the big pile of brush going by on the wheelbarrow with some worry.
Monday, May 24, 2004 Afternoon SessionI worked with Shunka in the morning doing yields, backups, and more yields plus desensitizing him to the fly spray but decided to only pet him and run my hands over him in the afternoon session because Pat Parelli in his book suggested that every time you approach your horse it should not be to work him. I went down and put his halter and lead rope on in the stall. I proceeded to rub him all over on his “off” side, his right side. This worked just fine. However I did not have room enough to rub him on his other side without putting myself in a position where he could push against me and run me into the fence. I decided to lead him out into the round pen. It was hot and sunny and he did not want to go. I pulled him off balance and moved him out. I had my back to him and was leading him slowly with a wary eye on what he was doing. Suddenly he tried to run over me. I did not have time to think. I reacted by hitting him with the rope and I guess spinning out of his path. I guess I spun out of the way because the next instant he was past me and had swung around facing me. I was angry and terrified but knew I could not let him know he scared me. I made him back up with more vigor than I ever had. Then I made him come forward, back and forward. I then led him back into the stall without petting him and took the halter and lead rope off and put it on and off again. I then acted as though I was completely calm and left the stall. He was scared I think as he had only reluctantly followed me back into the stall.
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