THE ONE-TIME RIDE ON THE BEACH

Uncountable times I have heard girls and women utter the words: ONCE TO RIDE A HORSE ON THE BEACH ---don't they know you loose 180 degrees of riding at the ocean? There seems to be a magnetic attraction to the combination of SURF and GALLOPP, because of the quality of footing, the muffled sounds of the hoofs, the spring in the step, the closeness to the element that give birth to the unicorn.
The Once-in-a-great-Ocean-horse, the horse of the sea, swept away and washed ashore . Seashells abound, you can find some mustangs on some coastlines...where horses once have been and will be again.

MustangEcoTours and the Strawbale House...

When I lay my head to rest I want to be able to say: "In my life I have done right by ONE DOG, ONE CAT, ONE MAN and SEVEN HORSES..." If that does not sound like a good goal, let me in on the ones you have set surrounding your passion of riding horses and nature. They say: The world is full of venues and venues want to be travelled. We are so owned by what we own and the need to maintain overtakes the opportunities to enjoy the path...

RIDING WITH THE STARS UNDER THE STARS....

The extreme mustang makeover is followed by the supreme mustang makeover and now
"RIDING WITH THE STARS..." it could take on any shape or form:
1) Farmous Movie star riders participate in mustang trips
2) Knowledgeable horsetrainers work with mustang owners
3) Professional mustang trainers get paired up with amateurs to present a horse.
4)....Please fill in your idea.
It could be a televised event or a joint venture of both private and government organizations.

EXTREME MUSTANG MAKEOVER

The Mustang Heritage Foundation had their first 3 day Mustang Makeover in Colorado. The 40 horses and their trainers had been working together for 90 days, after coming out of Canon City Holding. They were 4 year olds, rounded up from different Herd Management Areas of the Country over the last 4 years. Some of them had been in Holding for years, some only months.
They 40 contestants were split into two groups with individual coaches. They competed in Trail, Cattle work and general basic training. The 12 Finalists had a chance to perform a freestyle. The criteria were technique, horsemanship and Artistic expression.
On the 3rd day all horses were auctioned off and all of them found a buyer. (Often the trainer him/herself)
For more detail, visit the http://www.mustangheritagefoundation.org/
http://www.blm.gov/
How does this event compare to visiting a wild horse area like the sandwashbasin or the Little Bookcliffs and see the horses in the Wild. Well, first not everyone can attend either or both events and for city people it is easier to go to an arena event. Then we see the horses interacting with their trainers and other people and that is a special experience. We see how versatile they are, how beautiful, we can touch them and many a girls dream came true this weekend, when they took THEIR FIRST MUSTANG home.
It will not be easy for them. And there will be disappointments and frustration, but that should not discourage you to think about the great opportunity to make a mustang you partner and friend.

EMMETT BRISLAWN/ one of the last stockmen

Here we are in Oshoto, Wyoming, birthplace of the Spanish Mustang Registry. Emmett Brislawn, whose father Bob Brislawn, a close friend of Marguerite Henry and many wild horse advocates of the 50, was a surveyor for the railroad and realized the value of the little horses that roamed Utah, Oregon, Nevada during those early years. In addition to the BLM mustangs, there are also numerous Mustang registries in the country, private breeding enterprizes, that  specialize or concentrate on a particular geography, geno-type, conformation, or characteristic of horse. Neil UiBreaslain , also a son of Bob once said, that indeed it was a competition for recognition to be the most primitive type horse. One differentiates between Spanish Mustang, Sorraia, Wilbur Cruce, Kiger, Cerbat, Colonial, Sulphur Springs, Choctaw, just to name a few...like Ian Tyson says in his song: LA PRIMERA:

"and he became an outlaw and his blood was watered some, but the flame still burns into the new millennium"

JUNE - Month of the Shining Horses

Horses In Art article pg. one

There are many talented photographers, artists and writers, that make their work about mustangs available in form of books, seminars and workshops. The photos in this article are by my friend Lourie Zipf, who accompanied me on several visits to Oshoto and other mustang ranges. For enthusiasts of wildlife and nature experiences, these are great opportunities to experience, observe and put under scrutiny the laws of  sustainability ....

Horses In Art article pg. two

MUSTANG MUSTS - THE WAILING WALL

It is important to LAMENT, to mourn and suffer loss. For every horse that suffers in captivity, another endures the hardships of nature. The Wild is not kind. Once we interfere, we take on a responsibility, but even before we are accountable for the conditions under which our creatures exist. A law, a law of protection, if not enforced by the citizens, it empowers, will have no longterm consequences. The morality of water is to seek wet places, to fill in any depression not to avoid any precipice.

FORGED IN FIRE - Managed in the WILD

Revisit the idea of WILD HORSES in Captivity. It has been proposed to have Sanctuaries, in which castrated, sterilized and disassociated mustangs are kept to be viewed by tourists. Undoubtedly those horses will have an agreeable life, but they will bequite different from what the original thought of protecting them in the Wild intended.

Der Schimmelreiter - zum Himmel schreit er

MONEY TRAIL

People say there is a money trail. "Follow the MONEY TRAIL". And you will find answers. Is this like Haensel and Gretel, who would drop bread crumps on their way out into the wilderness, so that they would find their way back in case they got lost? OR is it actual money interest that conflicts with the life of the horses out on the range? Who pays for the horses and who is responsible for their well-being?

GOLDESEL STRECK DICH...

IF the Burros and Mustangs on the range would have these great Stud Piles made of Gold, we would be out there collecting and gathering. But they are indeed of Gold, we just haven't looked close enough.

HORSEFEATHERS....

Sometimes we are wandering about the landscape and we stumble upon a horsefeather. "Now how did that get here" we think, and what about the strange tracks on the ground. We try to put two and two together but we just don't have the skills of the old trackers anylonger who were able to determine, who was there, when and maybe for how long and why. We take for granted what we hear and rarely do we do our own research, and yet that is exactly what makes for a wise decision at the end of a trial.