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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I thought sure someone would have asked what a hyena mare is.??? This guy sure is a beauty. Will you let him breed at all, for the coloring?
peace n abundance,
CheyAnne
CheyAnne- We would not breed him for his color, and he’s gelded already. We’re in the business of breeding registered horses for their disposition first. Breeding for color is the farthest thing from our program. We do have a lot of dun horses, because one of our stallions is a Dun and he throws about 80% of them that way.
As to your question about hyena mares: a hyena mare would be a dry mare (open), or a mare that sloughed her foal, and steals a foal from another mare. Usually they do it right after the foal is born. It’s always a good idea to keep your dry mares away from those that are bred for this reason.
Thanks for commenting!
that is really good to know about all of this. I’m on my way to go check out more of your site.
peace
Beautiful pictures!!
*MeMoRy
very interesting on the “hyena” mare.
He is colored very unusually. I’ve seen lots of the bay roans and love them. But I’ve not seen the spots on them like his. Hope you’ll keep us up to date. I’d love to hear how the story ends. Hope he is claimed by whoever is responsible for him, and wasn’t one of those unfortunates that got dumped on the roadside. Its happening way too much these days.
and then I went back and looked at the pics again and ignore my “spots” comment. Apparently the really rough road we were driving on was messing with my perception. Obviouslyhe’s not spotted…just wooly from winter! Now that we’re parked I can see that.
he’s beautiful in his own way that’s for sure! Good luck getting him separated and back to where he belongs!
I think I’ve got his brother! If you look at my blog under Rooster, I’ve got a gelding that looks just like him. My guy came from somewhere in the southwest and has some interesting brands.