On Friday, April 17th, 2009, we picked up our new Curly Mustang mare and her filly, Copper's D Golden Red and Golden Red's Nevada's Blossom from the BLM Paul's Valley, Oklahoma's location. Our good friends, Dr. Mitch Wilkinson and wife, Cheryl, picked up their handsome black, Curly Mustang, stud colt with a striking white star and together we drove our new friends back to the Lone Star State through wind, rain and bustling traffic.
The first few weeks were touch and go for all of us as the Mustangs had picked up shipping fever and Round worms in the holding pens. All of the horses responded well to the medications and feeding time was the highlight of our days. We spent a lot of time with the girls just getting to know them. Mitch shared with us his experiences growing up with and taming horses so we felt privileged the try the natural ways of communicating with our beautiful Curly Mustangs. For example, sitting quietly with them while reading a book, sleeping in their corrals with them under the stars, letting our girls get to know our smells, sharing apples an other treats and most importantly taking our time to develop and build the foundation of our relationship, trust.
It was great advice. The girls are doing really well and we ride Nevada Blossom on trails several days a week. She is a beautiful sorrel, smooth coated Curly. Now that it's summer, the sunlight shining on her coat glistens and is sparkles like copper. She has been training for less than 90 days and already is riding with a western saddle and bridle. She did really well on her first barefoot trim a few weeks ago. Bathing and grooming is one of her favorite activities. She has a wonderful, curious, personality and comes up to greet you with a soft nuzzle.
Copper D's Golden Red is a gorgeous Red Dun with a lovely dorsal stripe. She has zebra stripe markings on her legs and is a very Curly Mustang with a beautiful curly mane and ears. We had a small set back when our Golden Red delivered a premature foal, Tomahawk. We did not know she was pregnant and the previous months events affected her ability to stay healthy through the pregnancy. Golden Red is slowly getting back into great health. She, too, did wonderful with her first barefoot trim and enjoys her baths. She is very comfortable in a saddle. We are taking riding slow with her so that we do not compromise her recovery but working in the round pen shows she is regaining her strength quickly.
We encourage others to open their hearts and their homes to our nation's Mustangs. These horses have an equine intelligence that can only be found when survival is a top priority for living. They have wonderful strong hooves, well built bodies and personalities that once you gain their trust you will have a partner for life.
