Hello
This page is all about ME!!!
I'm a formerly wild mustang from Warm Springs Oregon HMA. I was captured from the wild October 2018 and officially adopted June 2023.
My story is just starting so please keep coming back to enjoy updates to my story.
Ryder's Story
You are either a horse person or you are not a horse person.
I am a horse person.
And what exactly is a “horse person” anyways?
I'm sure everyone has their own perspective on this.
My husband could better describe what a non-horse person is. It's not that he doesn’t like horses, he just doesn’t share the same emotional relationship and communication with horses like I do. He loves and cares for our horses but he’s not out there brushing them and sharing stories on a snowy morning. He doesn’t participate in their training, and he certainly is not interested in riding them. He prefers to ride dirt bikes that don’t have independently thinking brains.
Horses are not for everyone, we know this. The horse though, to the person who loves them, is everything and the trust and relationship created with a horse brings a thrill well beyond a ride on a dirt bike. I can say this because I also enjoy riding dirt bikes.
My love for horses started at a very young age. I made it very well known that I would have horses of my own one day and I did everything possible a young girl could do to be near them. I took lessons, I mucked stalls for lessons, I befriended kids my age with horses, and I volunteered to help in exchange for lessons or just the chance to be around horses. My family moved a lot for my dad’s career so owning horses was never really an option. It wasn’t until my husband, Jared, and I moved to New Hampshire on our 100-acre farm that we were ready and able to own horses. (Stories about our horses Penny and Tango are on our website if you want to read more about them.)
Now take this better understanding of a “horse person” and multiply that by a million and that’s where you get the friends and families of Mustangs. A Mustang, in my opinion, is the top dog of horses. A wild, well-muscled, and independent horse. A horse that needs no intervention by man to survive. The true American Icon of the West.
Mustangs
They are born and raised in the wilds of the untamed territories of the western frontier. They survive in herds of tight family bands that travel miles of desert, forest land and sage brush to find food, shelter, and water. They survive extreme weather conditions without the needs of a barn, winter jacket or fly spray.
Mustangs are the unbridled version of the domestic horse with perspectives on their own existence that our barn dwelling bred horses could never even imagine. They are pure, honest, and genuine to their solid core.
I have watched so many movies and documentaries on the Mustangs. Every time I end up in tears. Either for the overwhelming sadness of their capture for a lifetime of captivity or the for the sheer pleasure of seeing them wild and free. It is an emotional experience to even the non-horse people out there. Knowing just how many of these wild horses are being rounded up and kept in holding facilities, I had set my mind that I would one day own a Mustang.
To own a Mustang is no easy task. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) has certain set requirements for adopters to have in place before you can even be considered for a Mustang. (https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/wildhorse_howtoadopt_doc2_0.pdf)
Minimum requirements to adopt a wild horse or burro.
1) Applicant must be at least 18 years old.
2) Adopted animal must remain in the United States until titled. (Eligibility occurs on its 1 year anniversary.)
3) Applicant has no convictions of inhumane treatment of animals or violation of the Wild Free – Roaming Horses & Burros Act.
4) Applicant must provide a facility with access to feed, water, and shelter. NOTE: Facility refers to enclosed area such as corral, barn, stall, etc. Approval is not based on pasture fence height, but the height of the enclosed area.
5) Basic facility requirements are: • Minimum of 400 sq. feet of corral space per animal, i.e. 20’ X 20’ • Suitable materials: pipe panels, wood post, planks (min. 1.5” thick), horse fence (V Mesh or 2” X 4” square) • 5’ High facility for yearling or gentled horse of any age • 6’ High facility for an ungentled horse two years or older • 4.5’ High facility for a burro of any age • Applicant is required to adhere to the shelter requirements for wild horses and burros based on the state or region in which the animal resides, unless otherwise stipulated by the authorized officer
6) Applicant must provide a stock or horse trailer with a rear swing gate and covered top. Provided the dividers are removed or folded back, three-horse slant trailers are acceptable. Drop-ramps are acceptable if there is an additional back gate to the trailer. Two-horse trailers approved on case-bycase basis. No one-horse trailers approved.
These requirements exist for good reason. Adopting an ungentled Mustang is a commitment to take on a large flight animal in extreme emotional distress. They can harm you, themselves and find any means to escape if under pressure. Many of these horses have been recently captured from the wild and have never been around humans before. They have never been fed by a human, touched, spoken to, haltered or lead by a person ever in their life.
The patience and time required to begin the journey of TRUST begins with EMPATHY.
To understand where they came from (Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, etc), their age, their sex, when they were captured and to see their attitude will give you a novel of information you will need to understand your Mustang. It's important to respect their trauma and help them to heal through compassion, patience, and time.
Ryder, the Mustang
I was not the one to “pick” our Mustang. He was selected by a horse trainer in Milton, NH; Chelsea Moreau. Chelsea is a TIP Trainer with the Mustang Heritage Foundation. (https://mustangheritagefoundation.org/tip/) On her trip to a public adoption event in New Hampshire to pick up a Mustang for a client, she decided she would select another horse to take home for her TIP Program. When she spotted Ryder, she immediately identified some personality traits that impressed her. He was quiet, fair, honest, and seemed confident despite an extremely long journey to get to New Hampshire. Ryder was large, had big bones and a very nice-looking Bay Horse. She told me she rushed to get in line to purchase him and noticed others were starting to take an interest in him as well.
His journey started on April 22, 2023, after being loaded on to Chelsea’s livestock trailer with another mustang mare. He was unloaded into his training stall and was given the time he needed to relax and feel safe in his new surroundings.
He was dirty, skinny, matted, and tired. Ryder had no idea what his future held for him, but he was in very good hands with Chelsea.
With Loss Comes New Life
April 7, 2023. While Ryder was simply nothing more than a number on a large feed lot with not even the notion of how his future would play out, I was mourning one of the hardest losses I have personally experienced. April 7, 2023, was the day I had to put my precious mare, Penny, to sleep. She had experienced a traumatic injury to her leg that had festered rapidly into a septic joint infection. By the time she even began to show symptoms that she was injured, it was too late. The grueling trip to the emergency equine hospital confirmed the severity of her infection. She was beyond a simple antibiotic treatment and would require an extremely invasive, painful, expensive treatment plan that would include opening her joint up several times for surgical cleaning and flushing the infection out. Suddenly I was faced with a treatment plan with no guarantee and, if successful, would likely cause long term damage to her joint. Penny was only 6 years old. Once a filly, now a mare with the biggest and brightest future. I would do anything and everything for her. She was my baby. My first horse. Penny was my entire world, and she shaped every single part of our lives here. We had just put her back into a training program to restart her under saddle and took our first trail ride of 2023 together just days before.
I was Lost. Empty. Depleted. Defeated. Angry. Sad. I was mourning alone, and no one could help take away any of my sadness.
The hours, days, weeks were just a dark overcast day, every day. My horse, Tango (Penny’s paddock mate and best friend) was grieving with me. She would pace the field and fence and visit the spot where she painstakingly had to say her last goodbyes. I cried, often. Writing this now has tears welling up on my eyes and a hard lump forming in my throat. The sadness of losing a dear friend and companion will never go away.
It took several different horses to try to find a suitable paddock mate for Tango. She absolutely could not be alone. I spent several nights in the barn with her to help ease her anxiety and to be as close to her as I could be. The fear of losing her become overwhelming. We finally found a gelding named Whiskey Sioux that she liked so she settled into her newfound relationship quickly and quietly.
I started watching movies on Netflix to keep my mind occupied before bed and one night I watched a documentary on the Mustang.
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Ryder on The Farm
Since Ryder has joined us at the farm, we have accomplished a lot of BIG goals. My husband finished my outdoor riding arena just before fall so we were able to start a lot of ground work on the new soft and level footing. Ryder was able to have his feet picked up, lead with a halter and be groomed before I brought him home. His very first foot trim was with me. I taught him to lift his foot up on the pedestal for rasping and trimming. He has been wearing his saddles, bridles and blankets and has adjusted to domestic life very well. As a matter of fact, I had planned to keep him in the lower paddock for weeks if not months before letting him out in the big field but within 2 weeks of his arrival he was already moved into the big horse barn and galloping around the field with the other horses.
Our big goal now is to start trail riding. The only thing in our way is the weather and time.
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