Happy Mustang, Aries, To The Heart of A Mustang. Challenge Painting#437

"Aries"5 by 7 inches Watercolor
by Linda L Martin Artist
SOLD
Prints are available
Fine Art America

I was so excited when Kathryn Barrett visited my Mustang A Day Challenge page on facebook a few weeks ago. It was through her contact that I was able to add this beautiful mustang to the Mustang A Day Challenge. I started following Kathryn’s video blog on the training of an older Mustang in 2011. She named this beautiful roan stallion, from Twin Peaks HMA in California, Aries.

 The most amazing thing about what she was doing with Aries is his Age. He was 12 at the time she began training him. This is something that is near and dear to my heart because so many people try to say that a wild horse over the age of 7 cannot be trained or made useful in captivity.

This in my opinion puts older wild horses who are considered excess in jeopardy.

Sometimes the older horses, such as Kathryn’s Aries, are removed from the range at an older age. Generally a horse like Aries would be gelded and shipped with other geldings to a contract facility in the mid-west where he would live out his life in thousands of acres of grassy pasture with plenty of forage and water. A gentle life where he would only be touched or even see humans once a year to trim feet and make sure the health of the animal was good.

But what happens when these contract facilities are filled to capacity? What happens when, like in 2012, fewer and fewer acres were available to lease by the Bureau of Land Management because the contractors were needing to use the pasture lands for a more rewarding economic ventures in order to sustain their families?

Aries’ and Kathryn’s story is an amazing journey of challenges and over coming. She highlights the possibilities and gives a realistic picture of what working with older mustangs is really all about. It is with great pleasure; and I have to admit it, I’m just thrilled to have the opportunity, to Paint and Share Aries’s portrait. The entire story of  Aries and Kathryn's 2 years is on-line in youtube.

To the Heart of a Mustang can be viewed starting with the pilot episode here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8nRgrgRGI8

See Kathryn's first interaction with Aries here:
Episode 2 is when she brought him to the farm for the first time:

You can also see images of Aries  and ask Kathryn question about her experience on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/heartofamustang
A special thank you to Marcie Lewis for the reference photography of Aries.

Happy Adoption:Mustang Sally, Twin Peaks HMA, Painting # 338

"Mustang Sally"
4 by 6 Inches  Watercolor
by LndaLMartinArtist
$35.00

Mustang Sally is living proof that sometimes you need to keep on looking to find your perfect adoption match. Adopting a mustang isn't just getting a horse, its a learning process that can teach you more about you.It can teach you patience and what the true meaning of trust is.

Here is the story of Mustang Sally in the words of her owner Cherlynn Raffone:

"I have an 2005 bay mustang mare, gathered from Twin Peaks HMA(California) as a yearling. She competed in the '08 Midwest Mustang Challenge and came in 5th out of 50.

From their she was adopted out to a man in NY on Long Island, where I currently reside. He had her for only a few months and sold her. She then went through 7 different owners all saying she was crazy and too much to handle. Well here we are a 1yr 1/2 later.

We have had our ups and downs, but now its just up up up. I love this horse so much! She gives me strength and faith. She is an amazing trail horse, rides english/western, works cows, does barrels and poles like its her job. She loves to jump. She is that great all around horse that everyone wants. I'm proud of her and what she stands for. I'm honored to say I own an American Mustang."


Blogger's Note:
Mustangs are easy to adopt, simply by meeting the requirements set down by the BLM. The most successful adoptions are the ones where the person adopting the horse asks questions and even takes instruction or advice from others who have successfully adopted and built relationships with their horses. 

Give yourself a head start in learning how to work with wild horses using natural horsemanship methods and networking with as many mustang owners as you can. This way you can  share you successes and learn from each other's mistakes. Don't expect that one class or session will get you there, because each wild horse is different, with different experiences in the wild, during  and after capture. Your job is to learn your horse, while he learns you and to build trust and understanding while you do it. It wont always be easy but the rewards are amazing especially the first time that wild horse comes to you  to let you touch him because its his idea.

Every day I hear testimony after testimony of how fun wild horses can be. They not only have skills of independent thinking and living in social units but they translate that fun into games with you that develops a bond like no other. 

Adopting a mustang also helps with the growing problem of too many wild horses that are no longer on the range. Once a horse has three strikes, meaning they have been offered for adoption 3 times they are then designated as a three strike horse and shipped to a Long Term Holding Facility(LTH) These facilities are also known as sanctuaries. In these sanctuaries as many as 5,000 wild horses run in freedom, with in the confines of a ranch.However, all the stallions are gelded and the herds are kept as same sex groups that do not reproduce.

The horses can be purchased in groups by approved individuals. Sometimes a trainer will offer to purchase a trailer load of these horses directly from the facility or simply buy one or two Sale Authority horses to bring home and invest time in. However, most are never seen by the public again  because they are warehoused on private property. Once a horse enters  LTH they become invisible, unless you know their registration number or their brand. They can be found via their brands. 
Please considerer adopting a wild horse and take the time to learn how to handle it, building  a relationship with them. In this way, one by one, we help protect the wild mustang horses that are in captivity, while we are also protecting wild horses in the wild..

If you would like more information on Adopting a wild horse please go to the BLM adoption page: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/adoption_program.html

If you live in the Mid-Atlantic States on the East coast of the US and are already a successful adopter or would like to network with other successful wild horse or burro adopters  feel free to message me here or join us on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MidAtlanticWildHorseProject

To have your horse painted for the Mustang A Day Challenge contact the artist at: llmartisticservices@yahoo.com

Adoption: "Maggie Moo"Twin Peaks HMA Challenge Painting #60



"Joined"
Maggie Moo and Michele

When Michele Cole emailed me the other night to commission a painting of her 4 year old Mustang. I asked her what pose she would like. She gave me free rein  and then said” Just a good picture of her that shows her strong loving and loyal personality.”

She also did some thing else that really helps me. She sent me lots of photos to draw from. Photos that showed the wonderful relationship that Michele and her Maggie Moo have.  Then  Michele gave me the only one real instruction. She likes Purples! My creative juices started flowing…and my imagination took over.

This is an awesome opportunity to paint that intimacy that mustangs are capable of when they "join up" and totally trust their person. For the uninitiated  the term "join up" means that a strong connection of trust is established between a horse and its handler. Its often based on respect of space and understanding the nature of horse behavior. When a horse is ready to come to the person on their own the bonding begins.



There has been a lot of debate as to whether Mustangs are more happy in the wild or more happy near a good food source and warm barn. I say mustangs are not stupid.  If given the choice in a non abusive situation they are going to choose the good food source and warm barn. It’s a plus if they have the freedom to come and go as they choose, except for  the occasional ride and quality time with their human

However you have to get them past their fear of a strange place,  past the adjustment time of their first confinement  and  step beyond archaic traditional force based training methods to get them there into patient and gentle degrees of trust. 

Generally speaking for a new Mustang Owner who has never trained a horse its always good to read as much as possible about how to successfully gentle a wild horse, go to clinics when ever possible,  and it is especially important to find a trainer that will work with you and your horse, that specializes in and knows the needs of the wild horses.

The majority of successful adoptions of wild horsse are because the new adoptive owner  received good instruction  and over sight on how to gentle their horse. The majority of  failed adoptions are because the new adoptive owner was in over their head and never sought out the help needed to learn  the finer points of working with a Mustang.

Michele received Maggie Moo for the adopton process when Maggie was 6 months old. Maggie Moo had been rounded up from the Twin Peaks round up in 2007. It is with great pleasure that I feature the two of them as the final painting for the miniseries “Happy Adoptions Part 1.  And Mustang A Day Challenge Painting #60

Part 2 will be in a few weeks. Please recommend horses for that one. We are looking for a total of 10 Happy Adopted Mustangs. We currently have 5.   There will also be several more opportunities to have your horse featured as well.  So dont hesitate to email me at contact@llmartin.com  Comissions help fund the project and also help a number of Mustang related Charities.