A Brumby

Two weekends ago, a herd of horses came trotting down the road. Most of them are saddle horses belonging to a neighbor. They got the jump on him and found his gate open! And like good saddle horses, they went through it. Those 7 were simply interested in taking a tour of our place and ended up in an empty pasture at a neighboring ranch, about 4 miles away. But among those were two brumbies- also known as Mustangs, or BLM (Bureau of Land Management) horses. One of them is nowhere to be found, the other, well he’s found his way into our mare herd, and that’s not exactly where he belongs. No one is entirely sure where they came from. There are several places around here that run BLM horses, so we’re making phone calls.

I knew he was in our pasture, but hadn’t seen him yet. Yesterday, the hired man found him, so I went to the pasture to verify that yes, it was indeed the brumby.

Here’s the intruder:

He’s definitely colored pretty. A bay roan is always lovely to look at.

Now some of you are wondering, “Why can’t he just stay in your herd?” Or, “Why don’t you want a wild horse in your herd”? I know you are. So here’s the answer:

Our kids, and nieces, have horses out there, and we’d rather not have to try to explain to them, again, how one of their horses is crippled or dead because a wild horse got in there and agitated the herd. Further, we actively cull our own herd to make sure there aren’t any horses around that are non-disposed to be near people naturally. There are enough natural deaths, and other injuries our horses can come up with on their own without having something new and “wild” in there with them to upset the general balance of the herd. Zach’s daughter has some of the worst luck with horses. Two years ago she lost 2 of them to natural causes and a foal to a hyena mare. If you’d like an explanation of a “hyena” mare just ask in the comments section and you shall receive. I aim to please, after all.

When we were out looking at the horse herd, they weren’t peacefully grazing away- they were worried about keeping this horse out of their personal space, and as such the brumby and our horses were having a “discussion” as to where he fits in. He is, after all just a horse, and only wants to be part of a “herd”. He didn’t seem too bothered by us being around, so we’ll try to get him in and corralled and get him back where he belongs. In the meantime, I can take advantage of the opportunity to photograph such a rugged looking subject!

I slacked this week in the blogging department because, well, I had ranching to do, but lucky for y’all it’s a snow day here! So I’m going to get everything done that I need to get done inside, and that means that I’ll have plenty of time to say what I need to say and show what I’ve got stored up.

Happy Friday and Happy Trails!

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