Wonder is a 5 yo BLM mustang mare. She is 15.0 h tall. Wonder is a flash bay sabino (pinto)and was gathered from Stone Cabin HMA in Nevada in February of 2012. Wonder is not broke to ride although with training she should make a very nice riding horse. Be sure to bookmark this page, like us on Facebook and subscribe on YouTube to ensure you have the most up to date information about Wonder’s training progress!!

Update – Wonder was unfortunately returned to BLM corrals. We had her for over 100 days and were unable to find an adopter. She is a really nice mare. If you see her at the corrals and would like additional details feel free to email me.

Internet Adoption Update

This mare is on the current BLM internet adoption. Here are some additional details about her that my help you with your decision on whether or not she is the right horse for you:

She is a tall, narrower built horse but not thin or skinny. She may bulk up with training as she gains muscle but she is never going to be “bulldog” type. More of the body type you expect to see for the english / endurance / eventing types. Most of the people I had come out to see her wanted western THICK horses. Also, when prospective adopters would come out she would get worried and need to run three or four laps around her pen before facing up to halter.

I also disclosed to all prospective adopters that she is a big grinch in a stall, especially at feeding time. She will threaten and grinch and pin her ears and grate her teeth on the fence. She will kick the pipes if she feels she needs to. I think it is more show. In a group of horses she is very middle of the road and never saw alpha behavior in her in a group situation. Never had an issue tying her next to other horses.

The only other thing I would say is we saddled her a handful of times and she bucks really hard before settling down. So it left me in a position where i wanted to go easier on cinching but she wasn’t comfortable enough with it yet to where you could cinch her a bit, walk her a few steps, cinch her some more etc. She did have lots of cinch prep with a rope, and then soft bareback pad etc. but the saddle scared her. Seems it was the tighter cinch that she worried about though b/c she could walk around with just the saddle on and be OK. NOT a spook. Never tried anything bad, we never saw any aggression in her. I used her primarily to introduce my apprentice to body language etc b/c she forced strangers to have good body language to get her haltered but she wasnt dangerous.

She isn’t an airhead shes smart and tries. We nicknamed her “Squirelly” because when you go to halter her she acts like she’s never seen a human in her life for the first couple of min and then she faces up to be haltered and you can lead her around like a broke horse.

Of course, she’s been turned back out a long time so whoever adopts her should start over and see what SHE thinks about things but she isn’t crazy or dangerous and she’s gorgeous! I’m happy to answer specific questions about her or her behavior but please don’t ask me anything generic or that I cant answer like “Tell me about her” or “Would she make a good kids horse”

June 23, 2014

Vivian worked with Wonder on our brand new squeeze obstacle. She was great as usual!

June 22, 2014

Wonder got a bath and new photo shoot out on the obstacle course today! Doesn’t she look great! Be sure to check out her video.

May 28, 2014

Moved Wonder back into a training pen so she can get some reinforcement / daily handling and more work with the saddle. She’s awesome but so far along in her training that we’ve let her sit a bit to focus on the new guys. This awesome girl is still looking for an adopter! She’s polite, sweet and is looking for somebody to take her home and give her one on one attention!

May 6, 2014

Wonder was tied for a couple hours this evening then lunged. She is light on the lunge line, doesn’t pull away and goes both directions. This sweet mare is still looking for an adopter. Perhaps she’s the perfect match for you!

May 3, 2014

Wonder had a great day over the obstacle course. She hadn’t been through the pool noodles in a while so wasn’t sure about those but we worked on it for a few mintues and she rediscovered they weren’t going to hurt her! We went over the teeter bridge, regular bridges, mattress and tire without any trouble. Great day for her today!

April 21, 2014 

Worked with Wonder today on lunging both directions. She’s been moved to the smaller stall so we want to make sure she has a way to exercise herself. She is very good at sending out and going around both directions just not good at staying out for more than a lap or so without stopping and wanting to say hi! Not too bad and we’ll work on it periodically!! Also tied her for an hour or so which is pretty much a daily practice even when I don’t post about it!

April 19, 2014 

Wonder spent a couple hours tied at the tie rail. We then went for a walk around the property to see the baby goats and chickens. She is such an easy going mare! Today we started her in a 12×16′ stall to prep her to be able to go home to  12 x 24 or 12 x 12 when she finds an adopter!

April 17, 2014 

Took Wonder out for another walk all through the obstacle course. She was excellent as always!

April 16, 2014 

Today I saddled Wonder for the first time ever. The saddle stirrups bothered her quite a bit at first so we did lost of off and on, off and on from both sides until she no longer cared that she the saddle was on. From there I was able to cinch her up. She was perfect for the first 30 minutes or so cinched up. Not one buck. BUT I know sometimes they can “forget” they are saddled then try and buck it off. I left her in her pen a while longer and came back out to move her around. She “rediscovered” that she was saddled and bucked for a couple laps. She figured out she wasn’t being hurt and settled down. We’ll continue to work with her and the saddle over the next few training sessions. All and all everything went very well and we were able to end on a good note!

April 9, 2014 – Day 16

Wonder had some stranger training today. I caught her and walked her through a few obstacles and then she had some “strangers” take her through the obstacle course as well. She was very well behaved and didn’t give anybody any trouble!

April 8, 2014 – Day 15

Worked with Wonder today on leading and catching. She is very curious and most of the time will walk right up to me but then boogers /changes her mind at the last minute. So we are doing lots of just walking up to her and petting, approach and retreat. Once she is on the lead line she is easy to handle. We worked on picking up her front feet which she is getting better at each time we practice!

April 6, 2014 – Day 13

Excellent training session for Wonder this afternoon. She’s starting to walk up to me when I walk into her stall although she is still using her halter. Couldn’t be more tickled with the progress she makes on a daily basis! Leading out to the obstacle course was uneventful. She was an angel. Each obstacle she encountered she took in stride. She still had to figure them out but she never got worried or upset or tried to leave. Once she understood the goal was to get her feet on or over stuff it was like a light went on and everything went pretty smoothly after the first obstacle!

April 5, 2014 – Day 12
Training Day 

Today’s goal was to do some sacking out with Wonder. She can be a little jumpy when I’m working with her so I wanted to get her used to contact all over her body. The burlap sack was a non-issue ok great! Progressed to the saddle pad. AGAIN a non-issue. Awesome!! Got out my ring rope to prep her for the cinch by placing it around her barrel…that was A-OK. Bareback pad…no problem! Kept getting green lights from this mare today! Cinching was also a non-issue. Once cinched she didn’t bolt, buck or spook even one time! She’s making great progress!!

April 1, 2014 – Day 8
Training Day 7

More approach and retreat. Desensitization. I was able to rub her all the way back to her but on both sides and even curry her back on her right side without any issues. We worked on lots of stick and string desensitization. Finally I HAD to do something about the nasty matts in her mane. It took a long time but with the help of my glosser and some patience I was able to get everything de-tangled. Her hair is very fine so I will probably make some mane bags to put it up in.

April 1, 2014 – Day 7
Training Day 6

More approach and retreat today.  First with the stick and string, then with my hand, then with the burlap sack! Video shows a quick excerpt of our training session which went very smoothly.

March 30, 2014 – Day 5
Training Day 5
Worked on approach and retreat. Also started some grooming. Today Wonder came out of her stall for the first time and we worked on lunging and tying. Also measured her today with the height stick. She is a solid 15 hands! She was very good and we are very happy with how she is progressing!

March 29, 2014 – Day 4
Training Day 4
More desensitization for Wonder today. Repetition, repetition, repetition building her confidence.

March 28, 2014 – Day 3
Training Day 3
Worked a lot more with approach and retreat. Finally we made a breakthrough in trust and Wonder let me approach and touch her on the shoulder. I was able to get a line snapped on her and work a little on leading. End of the session I left her on a great note. I’ll let her wear a drag line for a little bit or at least until she is consistently ok with me walking up to her.

March 27, 2014 – Day 2
Training Day 2

Another good training day for Wonder. She readily makes eye contact so tonight we worked on approach and retreat / touch. By the end of our session I was able to touch her neck and shoulders on both sides with both a pretty pink pool noodle and my carrot stick. It took lots of approach and retreat with both objects to get there but we managed to do so without hardly any flight reactions which is great! She’s a big lip licker so it is kind of neat for me to be able to read her so easily. You can really tell when she is starting to get scared and then really tell when she relaxes!

March 26, 2014 – Day 1
Training Day 1

Training session in the evening for Wonder went better than expected! From the way she offloaded I thought she was a bit of a squirrel. Kinda all over the place and more animated than the other three. That turned out to not be the case at all! She’s alert, and curious but still afraid. She wants to watch me and tries really hard to find the right answer. She does LOTS of licking and chewing and would rather not run off if she doesn’t have too. We are going to have to spend the first three or four days minimum just building confidence. When I apply even a little bit of pressure Wonder would shake all over. She got much better just through approach and retreat and by the end of our evening session she had even taken steps towards me a couple times! She really showed me that I shouldn’t assume a horse is going to be a certain way 😀 This video was taken about half way through our training session.

March 26, 2014 – Day 1 – Arrival

Arrival day! So far Wonder is the most active of the four that just arrived.  We’ll know more about her temperament once she settles in and we will work with her later this evening! Here are some pictures of Wonder!!