I’m going to do a little myth busting here, based on my experience. Not just mine, I know. I also appreciate if your experience has been different, this isn’t about right or wrong.
These four young Mustang mares are the most recent kiddos to join our program here at Wild Horse Outreach & Advocacy . Two are facility born, two were gathered as babies.
None were the type to just crawl into your pocket in the pens, but several of them – not the dun – would at least come up for a look and a sniff.
The 2yo dun would look inconvenienced and walk off when approached. The dun roan would look from a few feet away. Both the dun roan and the pinto will back up to the gate for butt scratches. The other 2 come up to the fence now to check you out and may sniff a hand
So you’d think they’d be super easy to gentle, right? Well, not necessarily.
They’re a little bit like cats. They’re habituated to people. What they’re not used to is having anything asked of them or being alone with a human and expected to pay attention to them.
For people-habituated yet otherwise untrained Mustangs, humans are a welcome distraction that might bring food or provide entertainment, on the horse’s terms. They’re not worried about our presence, so much so that if they’re upset and we’re in the way, we might just get flattened, not out of aggression, more in a collateral damage “I don’t actually care that you’re standing there” sort of way.
That’s these guys, to varying degrees. Am I expecting them all to turn out well and become attentive, well adjusted, willing partners for their future humans? I absolutely am.
Is it easier to gentle one that’s a little leary of people still? In my opinion it is. They tend to want to keep an eye on us and be more likely to yield to pressure rather than bulldoze through it.
We’re getting some important work done with these mares, and they’re not only learning a whole new set of skills, objects and rules, they’re also learning that two-way communication with humans is possible. And that it requires that both parties, speak AND listen, and pay attention to one another.
Feel free to share your experience with gentling more and less people-habituated wildies in comments.
Rowdy’s Ropes rope tack and Tay Martin ‘s support for the win yesterday. She worked the other kids while I did haltering, body control and touch practice sessions with these ladies.
Also, there’s still time to participate in our naming “fun-raiser” for them. See Tuesday’s post for details! We’ll draw names from your suggestions over the weekend 
