GREAT ESCAPE MUSTANG SANCTUARY: DEER TRAIL; COLORADO JUNE-OCTOBER 2013 (2)

Summer has now passed and it was a story-board of the high desert prairie with temps near 100 on a daily basis. HOT DRY with all physical hard work. Not the stuff that tourism is made of. And not for the faint of heart. Our days begin around 6:30 (that is my day, I am the morning shift) and I feed Pasque Flower and Dulcena, Regal G, Hudson, Spirit, Shania, Ayashe, Dexie and some of mine (who are not on the range - Silhouette, Escalante and Rui). The hay is in big square bales, and is distributed by wheel barrow to individual feeders, which have been topic of many discussions in regard to convenience, functionality and friendliness. Discussions develop around each activity, whether it has to do with machinery or with animals. After breakfast riding and training. 4 saddle horses (some overweight, some barn sour, some a little lazy, some aloof and most yearning for attention and relating...are kept conditioned and advancing depending on their age and stage of training. 2 youngsters are being trained in hand. The obligatory and healing ride on the range is to check and fill the water tanks, visit and observe the herd and herd dynamics and possibly try to envision a chance to bring a horse in or release a horse out. RIDING IS BREATHING AND LIFE....we take our time, even if it is 100 degrees...

GREAT ESCAPE MUSTANG SANCTUARY: DEER TRAIL COLORADO - June 2013 through October 2013

Last year I had hoped to train a yearling for the Ft. Worth Mustang Makeover but circumstances cancelled the project. Then in June came the HIGH PARK FIRE and I was glad not having a young mustang to take care of that was geared to compete in autumn. Nonetheless the fire had its effects on my home and neighborhood and led me to consider and contemplate my future in the Strawbale House, In Red Feather Lakes, with MUSTANG ECO TOURS and with the mustang issue at large.

With shortage of hay and a burned landscape the thought of mobility and flexibility gained momentum and I decided to rent the strawbale house and take the MUSTANG ECO TOUR on the road yet again. This time not to the BLACK HILLS WILD HORSE SANCTUARY but to a small 1000 acre upstart sanctuary in DEER TRAIL, south of Denver.

What attracted me was the OBJECTIVE of this particular PROJECT:
Similar to the Black Hills the sanctuary was to provide for horses that had been through a roundup.
Similar they were to be guaranteed a life of peace and space. And there was the goal of training and adoption. Similar also was the scenario of a man's wild horse dream now realized and continued and carried by a woman, that loved that man for his dream.

The particularity of this sanctuary: IT WAS A LOCAL COLORADO SANCTUARY FOR A LOCAL COLORADO HERD with LOCAL COLORADOANS engaging and caring. I could not think of anything that would make more sense, acknowledging that I CONSIDER THE MUSTANG NATURE'S RENEWABLE RESOURCE HORSE (provided, raised, educated and delivered at no charge) (we all know where the charges are - and that they are NOT with the horses on the range)

THIS IS THE SAND WASH BASIN HERD - and over 12 Sand Wash Basin horses call it home. There are currently over 410 mustangs on the 160 000 acres of HMA west of Maybell Colorado and over 60 foals were born in 2013. The death rate averages 7% and in cooperation with the HSUS and other volunteer organizations in the area the attempt is made to manage the herd with fertility control rather than roundups.

Whether or not we seek dialogue with the BLM or are pro PZP native, the care of the horses in the local arena (even though this is a federal institution) is close to my heart.

It is now over 3 months ago that I came to this facility owned and founded by Michelle Sander, who has dedicated the ranch to her late father, whose dream it was to have a sanctuary for wild horses. It is a beautiful near 1000 acre facility at the very northeast corner of the Black Forest in Eastern Colorado. Currently 27 horses call it their home.  A set-back is the rather remote location of the Ranch and the fact that it is not home to the owner/operator. Since 3 months I have fed and cared for the horses in the corrals and also watched over those on the range. Together with 2 young Californians (Giulia and Nicholas) and several highly appreciated visitor volunteers, we have ridden and trained, cared for and treated, cleaned the range and removed 1000s of feet of barbed wire, and consecutive t-posts from Cross fences, experimented with feeding and rotation and dealt with weather, wildlife and not so wild life.

Here are a couple of pics:

2013 - February: BLOG out of fashion

Blogs seem to have lost some of their immediacy and attraction. But when Facebook fails blogs come in handy again. So for the start of 2013 a small update.

ERICH PROELL (docu film in austria) and his 3 mustangs

 The austrian Television aired a 3 part series on the american Mustang by Film maker Erich Proell, who  adopted 3 mustangs after the Wyoming White Mountain Roundup in 2011 and consequently exported them after the adoption year to Austria

My mustangs (Coppersmith and Aragon here) continue to flourish and learn

I have continued to train and condition my 7 horses, even though there is no plan to undertake any expedition, since I will be headed to the Black Hills Wild Horse sanctuary again in the summer.

The Abenteuerreiter Guenter Wamser and Sonja Endlweber are still continuing their ride on their mustangs after 5 years not in ALASKA

The Mustang Heritage Foundation has introduced the Mustang Million and set an adoption goal of 1000 mustangs for 2013.