By Blake Jackson
Maria Hayes of Frosty Oak Stables in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania, has adopted and gentled wild mustangs for the past six years. She currently has seven mustangs at her farm and has adopted 25 over the years. Once gentled, the horses are kept on the farm and used for lessons and education or sold to qualified families.
Hayes explained that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages Western herds intensively, as wild horse populations can increase exponentially. This can lead to pressure on natural resources, negatively impacting farmland and livestock and encroaching on human-populated areas.
The BLM chooses Herd Management areas that are overpopulated based on specific control levels, or areas that have horses showing signs of distress or illness. Hayes said her mustang Spencer, who she purchased for $125, has already shown great progress and promise.
She said the horses are a blank slate since many have had zero human interaction. With patience and persistence, they can become resilient and steady companions.
At the Bloomsburg Fair, Hayes and her assistant James showed the crowd how the horses could be led and could trot on command. A few lucky audience members also had a chance to stroke their muzzles and manes.
Hayes said one of the first challenges with an adopted mustang is removing their tag. Briar took 30 days before letting Hayes remove her tag, but Spencer allowed her to remove it the same night she bought him.
The BLM has guidelines that must be met before adoption. Hayes explained that you can adopt up to four mustangs a year and you must have adequate fencing. She said little horses will scale a 6-foot-high fence, so they have special mustang pens that are 20 feet by 24 feet.
Hayes said each horse views humans differently. She starts by spending time just sitting with them, maybe holding some hay. She then progresses to scratching them with a hand, curry comb or a long flag or pole which can be used as an extension of the hand.
Later, she will work with them on picking up their legs by slowly touching the legs and working on the command “up” which is necessary for instances where they need to look at their feet.
Hayes said patience is key. “We never use force. If one needs a year-and-a-half to come around we wait a year-and-a-half. We don’t lasso our horses and we don’t tie them up.”
She continued, “We use the word gentling because that’s what we’re doing, trying to let them know human interaction is OK.”
Hayes stressed the most important thing when working with a wild horse is patience. “You can’t keep at it and at it. You must step back and let them think about what happened,” she said. “If you ask them to do something they’re not used to, then step away and let them think about it.”
Hayes said many times you’ll see the horse blow their nose out or lick and chew with their lips, which usually means they’re thinking about what just happened and processing it.
Hayes’ goal is to fill her lesson program with more mustangs, because they are easy keepers.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-patrick-jennings
Categories: Pennsylvania, Livestock