I got a Baby MUSTANG! ~ Choosing the new horse and bringing it home!

Well it looks like the day has finally arrived that we are going to go pick up a new Mustang. I stayed up pretty late last night getting the shelter ready, putting down some mats, we've got some fresh shavings. I am as prepared as I'm gonna be so we are going to hit the road. While I'm driving this morning I'm gonna take you guys back in time to yesterday when I did check out the horses that would be available. This is a special event that is put on by the BLM and a few of the Mustang non-profits in Colorado. There are 27 horses that I'm going to be choosing from and I'm going to show you guys all of them. All of these horses will be picked up tomorrow by trainers and then brought back to this same facility the end of March where they'll be adopted out as gentled horses. Since I have so many permanent residents already this will be the perfect way for me to help another horse and not have to keep it long term. Right off the bat I already see two that I'm interested in. There's not any information on the pens yet so I'm not sure about which horses are actually going to be available for me to choose. I will be getting a I believe there's supposed to be around 20 of those available for us to pick and then the rest will be two and three year olds. When they were advertising this program I thought this would be the perfect way to get a new buddy for Frisco. He has helped me domesticate lots of Mustangs and it is one of his favorite jobs. I don't think it'll surprise anyone who my favorites in this pen are. I like these two little red girls. The horse with the bald face is very flashy but she looks to be a little bit more fractious than these two. It is important to remember though that even though these horses have been in holding this might be the first time that they're actually spending any time in close proximity to one another. These three must be some of the older horses. This black one is very striking and he looks to be the biggest one out of all of the horses here today. Tomorrow is the actual event day. I thought they were having a preview today but there is nobody else here for except the brand inspector so I am going to zip through these horses very quickly. Tomorrow the foster trainers are going to have an hour to look through the horses and I always love to have as much time as possible to make a decision like this. I'm trying really hard not to get attached to any of the horses yet because we do have to draw for our positions. It would be amazing if I got to draw first. That would mean I have pick of all the horses and could take whichever one I want of the yearlings and younger. I think this is one of those situations where you hope for the best but prepare for the worst. This pen looks like another group of older horses. They are again significantly bigger than the first two groups. This really dark seal brown bay horse caught my eye but I think she might be too big and is maybe a two-year-old. Overall I think these horses were a bit bigger than I was anticipating. I was thinking that they'd be closer to the size that Scarlet was when I bought her at the auction but I always forget that Scarlet was only two to three months old and I think they made sure that all of these horses were at least six months. If you guys missed my video from last weekend they did a regular adoption with some of the older horses from the Colorado HMAs. It's a little bit sad but I think I saw some of these horses mamas at the last event. You guys know I love a little brown pony but this palomino was beautiful. I believe she is a sooty palomino and she has the most spectacular dapples. I don't really have a preference as to whether I get a filly or a gelding. I did notice that there are far more fillies available though. One of the horses that I'm 99% sure I saw his mother last weekend is this cute little red roan. He looks identical to the one that I almost adopted. Super cute. He is very short and kind of aloof in the pen. I think he would be a really good project for me so he is one that I'm definitely putting on my list. While the bay in this pen is not as outgoing as these two I think on the scale of normal mustang reactiveness he is a little bit less than average. They had a similar event to this one last spring that I attended and I could tell right away that the horses in this pen were from the little bookcliffs range. Overall it seems that they tend to be a bit more mellow than some other HMAs and I'm guessing all three of these little ones are from there. They would have been gathered when they were weanling so I bet when I go home I can find pictures of them online. If I'm lucky enough to get the first jaw I am definitely taking this one home. Really any of the three in this pen I would love to work on for a few months and get them better prepared for a new home. I have attended a lot of mustang adoptions in the past and typically it's pretty easy for me to find horses that have some major flaws that I can point out to you guys but overall this bunch of babies is really really nice. I'm not sure how regularly they've had hoof care done if they've had any at all. These horses have only been in holding for a year. Some of the younger horses would have been born in holding so they have never been out on the range. This yellow one is pretty big and she might actually be closer to two years old. Compared to horses that are bred domestically wild horses really can have their babies anytime the weather is relatively nice which in this area is a good chunk of the year. For this event I think all of the horses are coming off either the Sandwash Basin or the Little Book Cliffs range. I believe most of the gray horses are from the Sandwash Basin. Both HMAs have non-profits that keep track of these horses out on the range so most of the horses that I'm looking at should have a range name and they should know at least their dam and probably their sire as well. I decided to go in this blind. I didn't want to be swayed one way or another. My initial run through tonight I'm just going to pick out some horses that I think are going to work for me and then later on this evening I'll go home and see what I can drum up on the internet. I believe the last pen and also this pen must be older horses because they are really big. The black horse in here with the stripe down his face I think he might be on the younger side or it could be that he's just smaller than these other two. I don't know what it is about him but I really kind of like him so I'm gonna remember him for tomorrow. Because I have no idea where I'm gonna fall in the draw I want to make sure I look at all of the horses very thoroughly. If I end up having to pick in the last couple of horses and there's only a few left I want to make sure I make the best decision for the setup that I have now and the time I'll have available over the next four months. None of these horses look as wild as Scarlet did when I bought her but I'm going to try my hardest to pick a horse that is a little bit less reactive. The pen that I have set up is a little bit out in the open. The horse will be able to see very far and sometimes mustangs really find that unsettling especially if they've ever been out on the range and had to be wary of predators. This last pen looks like it probably has some of the youngest horses of the selection. Right off the bat this sooty palomino caught my eye. It almost looks like she's wearing eyeliner. This dun with the big stripe on his face and kind of scaredy eyes is probably the smallest of the bunch. This pen is probably one of the ones that all of them were born in holding so they've never been out on the range. A lot of people assume that horses born in holding are going to be easier to gentle than those born out on the range and I actually think that that is the opposite. Horses out on the range have experienced a lot more of the world and some of these horses have never been anywhere else in their life. The holding facility that these horses came from is pretty restricted because it is at the prison so there's not a lot of humans coming and going. I really liked this little kind of roaning gray one that was playing hide and seek behind the other horses. I think this one would be super fun for me. I know that Frisco would love a little horse like this but it might not be easy for me to docile one this fractious down. On the other hand this sooty palomino looks to be a little bit braver and seems to be in charge of this whole little group. Since this is technically not an advertised preview time I'm probably going to have to skedaddle out of here pretty quickly. I want to have a vague idea of the ones that are on the top of my list so I'm going to pick out a few tonight that really caught my eye and should work. I really like the looks of this sooty palomino. She seems to be a little bit more brave than the other ones. Her color is really cool. This one might take a little bit longer to gentle than the other ones but the little scaredy cat is going on my list as well. I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to see exactly how old this one is but I like this little black with a stripe. I'm almost certain this pen is all older horses and really none of them seem to be what I'm looking for this time around. Out of all of the pens this one has got to be my favorite so all three of these are going on my list. This dark bay is another one I'm going to have to wait to see the age on but I'm putting her on my list just in case. This gelding with the bald face that looks like he's in a growth spurt right now is also on my list. I can't leave here without a few plain janes on my list so I'm putting this sorrel with the chrome on as well as this red-headed girl with the fabulous forelock. I'm also really drawn to this little sorrel with the star and rounding out my list for this evening is going to be this bay horse that does have a bit of a belly on her. I was able to scratch two of the horses tonight right as I was getting my scratches in it looks like they're shutting down for the night so I am going to have to leave. I've got a lot of research to do but tomorrow I should be more prepared. Last night I was able to do a lot of research on the horses. I found out almost all of them have range names and got a little bit more information on their sire and dam. I have a feeling that there are going to be some people here today that are after a very specific horse. Maybe they own a relative or saw them on the range so I think that might sway some people in one direction. I'm just going to go back through all of the horses and make sure all the ones I picked last night are on the available horses for me to choose. It looks like this little bald face gray has calmed down a little bit even though I know you guys would love to see me with something that is a little bit more colorful. I can't ignore how good-minded these two little red girls are. They seem pretty calm, confident, and curious even if they are a little bit stressed right now. It looks like a few of the ones I picked out last night are not going to be available for me even though this bay is quite a bit bigger than the rest of them. She is only a yearling so I'm going to keep her on my list. I've got about an hour for the draw so I'm going to go back through and see which horses should be in my top 10. I was able to find baby pictures of all three of these horses last night. This red roan does belong to the mare I saw last weekend. This sooty palomino, her mama was at the event last weekend as well. This pen overall is definitely the most outgoing so I know they're going to get snapped up right away but that is not going to deter me from putting them on my list. At this point I have no idea how it's going to shake out when we get our numbers. What are you doing? Oh yeah. I really much prefer to get two horses when I'm getting babies but for this event I am only allowed to take one. After less than 24 hours in their new temporary setup it looks like some of these horses are getting a little bit frisky and roughhousing around. This black one with the stripe is a yearling so he is going on my list. He seems a little bit like a practical jokester and I think he would be super fun to have around. He would definitely give Stewie a run for his money I'm thinking. I'm having a little bit of a hard time deciding which horses in this last pen are going to be higher up on my list. While I didn't think too much of this girl last night, I do think that she deserves to be on my list even if she has a crazy color. She looks to be a rose gray pinto. I think a lot of people call them a ghost roan because they eventually gray out and you can't tell that they're a pinto. This little smaller sooty palomino has been a little bit sassy to all of the other horses and I think it's making her a little bit less desirable. I also remember her mother from last weekend. They look practically the same. This is another one that if I turned Stewie out with her she would get some manners pretty darn quickly. She reminds me a lot of Scarlett when she was a baby. While Scarlett was terrified of me, she was not scared of the other horses and was very aggressive around Frisco Bill. Eventually I had to turn her out with Stewie and he made her realize that she was not as big and tough as she thought she was. I'm guessing that this little palomino girl is going to need some reprimanding from other horses instead of people as well. Right now I have 11 horses on my list and I'm hoping I'm not going to need to choose any more favorites than that. There is no way of telling how it's going to shake out with all of the numbers and I have been hearing a lot of people interested in horses that I really just don't care to take home. I was a little bit bummed to find out this little sorrel with the bald face was a two-year-old so I would not get to pick him if I wanted. I also tried to find out who these two girls were on the range but I did not end up figuring out who they were. They're both supposed to be from the Little Bookcliffs range. The one that has the white socks and the bald face looks so much like that Pinto from last weekend. I asked someone who knew a lot about the horses on the range if it could possibly be one of his babies and they assured me that he never sired any foals. I have seen crazy things happen in the domestic horse world and surprise babies happen all of the time. They do keep a very close eye on all of the horses on the range so it's kind of interesting that there are a few that they know nothing about. Since I do make videos on my horses, there are a few that would definitely be more flashy. They'll make better thumbnails, probably get more views, but I do have stars along a few that me personally would really like to have and most of them are just plain brown horses. These are my top picks. We've got the Little Red Roan as the first pick and then I would really love to have this Big Sooty Palomino followed by one of these Red Headed Girls. They really are a tie. I would take either one of them. So they are tied three and four on my list. Next I am picking this Handsome Bay Gelding and then I wouldn't mind having the Black Horse with the stripe that seems a little bit on the mischievous side. I do really like this small sorrel with the little star on her forehead. The Big Bay Horse with the belly on her is also one on my list. I love this Dark Bay but with her being a little bit more fractious she's lower on my list. This Sassy Sooty Palomino and then the Ghost Pinto are also on my list. Right now I have a little bit over half of the horses available on my list. While I'm confident I could train any horse that's here today there are just a few that would work better in my situation. As we grow closer to the draw I am getting more and more nervous about my picks. I want to go back through and see if I need to make any last minute changes. Out of the corner of my eye I see that Little Sooty Palomino really pushing the other horses around in her pen. I really kind of want this Smart Sassy Girl just because I think she would be more fun for me. I know that Frisco would find her shenanigans unpleasant though so she's going to stay pretty far down on my list. I am now out of time so whether I like it or not I have to go draw my number. One thing that's really nice about this foster program is the non-profits are giving all of the adopters a check for $400 today to help with expenses. I'll link all of their information below so you can check them out. The draw was a little bit confusing. We drew a first number to see where we were going to draw from our pot of available horses. They had a little bit of a mix-up so I got 14th and then I had to redraw and ended up getting 16th. There are only 18 weanlings and yearlings available so I'm going to be drawing second to last. As everyone started picking their favorites my list was dwindling more and more. By the time my draw comes around I'm only going to have three babies to choose from and I'm hoping at least one of them is on my list. By the time my turn rolled around the three left were the small sorrel with the star, the plain sorrel, and then the sassy palomino. In the end I just went with the one that was highest up on my list. I know a lot of you guys are going to be annoyed that I'm getting another plain brown horse. For this horse I was prioritizing trainability and I just really love the mind on this little girl. It was really interesting to see everybody pick their favorite horses. The pick right before mine got this sorrel girl with the blaze and the socks. I would have had a really difficult time picking between these two girls so I'm a little bit happy that I ended up with the plain one. Everybody is completing their paperwork and then we will be loading up the horses today. This girl does seem to be pretty cerebral. She's just looking at everything going on around here taking it in not being too reactive to it. I think it's definitely going to be in her benefit if she can actually see some of the other horses load up on the trailers first. I really do not like hauling one single horse in a trailer at a time. This girl is going to have to go in loose so she's going to have the whole trailer to run around in. The guy that they had working the pens and separating out all of this mustangs was doing a phenomenal job. However, I would love it if some of these horses got separated off first so there's less chance of this girl accidentally hurting herself. It's important to remember that these are wild horses so the way that they're handled is through the least amount of contact possible. They have no training. You can't just put a halter on them and lead them onto a trailer. Every adoption event is going to be different but it looks like today they just have a simple chute set up. Typically they'll have something where they can tactfully remove the net collars and possibly put on a halter. I had a nice chat with the kiddos that are taking home the sorrel with all the chrome. This event was really special because everybody was super excited to get one of these mustangs. While I do think the makeovers have their place, I kind of like this foster program a little bit better. When these horses come back in March, Jed told they will be auctioned off for adoption. The BLM will get the $125 adoption fee and then the trainer is going to get everything after that. I don't train horses for the public anymore so this will be a good opportunity for someone to get a really nice gentled mustang from me. After watching a bunch of horses load up, I couldn't wait any longer. As I waited for my turn, I got the trailer as ready as I could. I spread some hay all over the floor so it was easier for her to see getting on and in no time it was my turn to load. There's not too much you can do to make this as smooth as possible but when you wait until the end there's less people standing around to scare the horses. This girl was super sensible and hopped right in the trailer. There's really no sense standing around so after one last check we were ready to head home. Look at you. Look at you. You're so smart. It's all right little girl. After making the drive home very conservatively, we made it back to the ranch and the horses were very excited to see the new horse. I'm so excited to share this little girl's journey with you. In addition to my regular videos, I will be posting an update video every Sunday at 11 a.m. with this girl's training progress. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss any future videos. Thank you so much for watching and stay tuned for the next video.