Bonnie's Story
By Marlene Moss, Colorado Horse and Burro Adopter
I adopted Bonnie through the internet in November 2001. I was actually looking at a flashy buckskin gelding, but the bidding went too high and I kept going back to look at this mare, anyway. I decided she was the smarter horse for me to have and bid on her. Bonnie was halter trained so when I went to pick her up, I was pleased with how she responded to the person that had worked with her. She was nervous with new people, but not panicky, and loaded into the trailer pretty easily.
Within a couple days of getting her home, winter weather hit and her run was so full of snow she could barely move. I wasn’t ready to let her out with the other horses yet, so she had to deal with the fairly cramped space of the stall and a small portion of the run for a couple of days until we could get it cleared. This made her tense and she still wasn't too sure about me and my husband yet. She would turn her hindquarters to us and tense up like she was ready to kick if she had to. This scared me a lot, so my husband and I worked on teaching her to turn toward me when asked. We found she loved her forehead rubbed and getting treats. We could pet her head, neck and shoulders, but any further and she would just tremble, but, shewouldn't move. I also learned that not all mustangs like to be patted for praise; it is more like punishment to Bonnie. Rubbing was great, but patting just put such a hurt look in Bonnie’s eye. After a few weeks, we were able to let her out with the other horses and found she was very easy to catch; she loved the weather protection of her stall and her treats! When the snow melted enough I started taking her to the round pen. I always worked with her free to move. I wanted her to feel that if she was uncomfortable she could move away. Mostly she didn’t move away, but she was still wary andwe couldn't do much with her feet for a long time.
I had seen Bonnie run and buck in the pasture and I'd decided I was never going to be able ride her. She could move bigger and better than most rodeo broncs with lots of twisting and flinging of her long back and hind legs. She was a sweet horse, I really liked her conformation and since I ride endurance, I wanted to breed her to an arab. I wanted to see what the combination of solid legs, good mind, endurance and the arab athleticism and heart rate recovery could do on the trail. It didn't matter if I never rode her as long as she washappy and felt safe.
We started on ground training. I knew I would need her to accept strangers, like the vet, and she had to let us touch her all over before having her bred. We got her bred in July, 2002. By then she trusted most people and if we didn't touch her suddenly, we could handle her fairly well. She was still not good with her hind feet; I was very glad we lived on decomposed granite to help wear her feet. My husband does our farrier work and she would just sit on him every time he went after her hind legs.
I had several other horses in competition and other than “friendly time” twice a day, Bonnie got very little work. However, every time I’d take her to the round pen to work on things, she had forgotten nothing and just picked right back up where we started. I very slowly got to where we could saddle her. Girthing was a huge deal to her and still is, but it’s getting a lot better.
In January 2003, I decided it was time to get on her back. I’d been ground driving her (she was pretty lazy, so it was tough) and putting weight in the stirrups, hanging over her back from a bucket in the stall and bumping her with my legs; nothing really bugged her. My husband held the lead rope, my mom video taped and I got on. No response whatsoever! I swear she looked at me like “what took so long?” My husband tried to lead her around after I got off and on a few times, but she would barely move. I thought, OK, fine, she still has to figure out her balance.
I got busy and she got HUGE from her pregnancy so no more thoughts of riding for a while. She delivered a huge colt in June 2003; already too tall to have an easy time nursing. Bonnie is an independent horse, doesn’t worry too much about the others and didn’t care much for “monster boy” either. She’d leave him alone as much as possible; and now he is a very independent yearling.
Bonnie sprung back into shape about a month after weaning (happiest day of her life) and I thought it might be time to think about riding. We had moved, I didn’t have an arena, so I started back with ground driving; she still hadn’t forgotten a thing after 11 months. In January, 2004, I got on her back again; a year after the first time; and she was still nice and calm, and still wouldn’t move more than a few steps with my husband leading.
One day I went out to ride by myself; really just thinking I’d get on and off her back a couple times. But, I decided I was staying on until I could get her to move. Using my legs, which normally sets a green horse off, did nothing. Wiggling around trying to get her unbalanced did nothing. Nor did patting and then smacking on the shoulder or hip, or taking off my jacket and swinging it. Finally, I took off the pommel strap that I had in place in case she did act up. I bumped against her shoulder. Voila! She took a couple steps. She then started backing up, just trying to feel for her balance. I let her back up half way around the round pen before asking for forward again and we started getting it. She still showed no real interest in moving.
Asking for forward all the time is hard work. So, I asked my husband to lead us around the property. We have 40 acres in the mountains and the snow was deep so I figured it would be an easy landing if I went off. Bonnie was thrilled, this is what she’d been waiting for for 2 years! She really moved out and had a good time. I took her out myself and then a couple days later we trailered her to a local park for a short trail ride.
She was doing really well. I found she really wanted to trot down hills, probably a balance thing, but she was very competent so I wasn’t afraid while we worked on learning about brakes and steering. I cantered her up a hill and it was marvelous! She was round and balanced and very easy to sit; better than most highly trained horses I’ve seen. I took her to an endurance clinic with a 10-mile ride; her first ride with other horses. She was ready to go with the front-runners but I kept her back. This was in April and we’ve been conditioning fairly regularly since.
My husband and I trailered her to Santa Fe and Bonnie did her first 25-mile endurance ride. My husband rode her because his horse was lame. She trotted very steadily for most of the ride, averaged 8mph and came in 10th. She seemed completely recovered and ready to go again about 3 hours after the ride. She was used to our steep hills so even at a longer distance and on flat ground it wasn’t too much work for her.
Bonnie is really an amazing horse, brave, smart, balanced and just fun to be around. I would adopt another horse from the Ravendale herd management area in an instant. I know another endurance rider that has a mare from the same herd and she looks like Bonnie’s sister, with the same calm demeanor.
That’s Bonnie’s story so far. The endurance ride makes Bonnie eligible for the Mustang Performance Horse Registry. I have everything just about set up. It will be very interesting.
I will be looking to adopt another mustang soon. It really has been a great experience.
Top of page