Wild Spirits, Gentle Hearts: The Story of Two Mustang-Crazy Girls
September 24, 2021| | in category Uncategorized 1 comment

Wild Spirits, Gentle Hearts: The Story of Two Mustang-Crazy Girls

 

By Emily and Sarah Harris

Ever since we were younger, it was our dream to adopt a wild mustang. “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” was our favorite movie. We wrote books about wild horses and played games about them. We watched documentaries about the wild mustang stallion Cloud and watched the movies “Wild Horse, Wild Ride,” “Wild Horse Redemption,” and “500 Miles.” In 2016, we met the winner of the 2014 Youth Extreme Mustang Makeover, Kirsten Mew, at an event, and she shared encouraging words about training mustangs. Every year we would look at the Bureau of Land Management’s Mustang auctions, always hoping that one day… just maybe… we would bring one home.

This year our childhood dreams became reality.

 

Emily:

Throughout the beginning of this year, I kept saying, “I am going to get a mustang this year!” I talked about it often and made plans. Whenever I bought things for my horse and pony, I bought extra in preparation for a new horse. Besides my childhood dreams to have a mustang, I had another reason that fueled my desire. If anything happened to my horse Amazing Grace, then I wouldn’t have a horse. She is my only riding horse, and she is heading into her senior years. Even though she may have plenty of time left, I didn’t like the uncertainty of it all.  Anything could happen. I had experienced the loss of having to give my other riding horse, Stella, back to her previous owner because I realized that she wasn’t physically able to meet my jumping needs. That was heartbreaking for me.  It didn’t help that the day I took Stella back was also my birthday. I don’t even want to imagine how I would feel if something happened to Amazing Grace.

With this ever-looming possibility in mind, I felt more eager to get a Mustang. Even when I was recovering from my concussion, I talked about having one, which seemed pretty ironic at the time. Here I am, unable to ride because of a pretty bad concussion, and I am talking about training a wild horse, knowing that it’s because of a green horse that I am even in this situation. It seemed like a recipe for disaster, but I was determined. My search for a mustang began.

Once again, we began to look at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro online/internet auctions. There were several BLM internet auctions scheduled throughout the year. Each internet auction had pickup locations where you could choose to pick up the horse or burro that you had won during the auction. We waited until there was an online auction with a pickup location located in our state. Our chance had finally come!

All of the horses listed in the auction were unhandled and untrained. This meant that they had never been touched by human hands. Starting bids were $25. We scanned through the horses listed and looked at their descriptions, videos, pictures, and Herd Management Area locations. Wild horses and burros live on areas of public land known as Herd Management Areas (HMA). These are areas of land that the BLM manages. There are 177 Herd Management Areas across 10 states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico and the total amount of land that make up these 177 Herd Management Areas is 26.9 million acres.

In an effort to manage the wild horses and burros and maintain a natural, thriving, ecological balance of all species on the rangelands, the BLM removes a certain number of equines to place into private maintenance and care by interested individuals who are willing to adopt or purchase them. Unmanaged, wild horse and burro populations can double every four years, putting them at risk for starvation and thirst because of lack of food and water and at the risk of death. Increased herd populations also threaten the survival of other wildlife species because of competition for food and water resources and the damage to the land and habitat of other creatures.

I sent in my adoption application so that I could get approval to adopt or purchase. Application approval is based on one’s ability to provide humane treatment and care (including proper transportation, feeding, and handling) for a wild horse or burro. There are minimum facility requirements for the wild horse or burro’s living area (their pen, corral, stall, shelter, etc).

I was approved to get three horses based on the space that we had available for their corrals. A person may adopt no more than four wild horses or burros in a 12-month period, unless permission is given for more based on one’s ability to care for them.

When the online auction started, we had already picked out several favorite horses that we wanted to try to bid on. The auction lasted a week with bids being placed on the horses throughout that time. It was a total nail biter! On the last day of the auction, during the last hour, most of our favorites were picked. Every time we looked, one or more of our favorite horses’ prices shot up like a hot air balloon on the fourth of July! Time was ticking, and we had to make a decision fast.

Visit the BarnManager blog next week to read what happens on Emily and Sarah’s journey to adopting wild mustangs!

Find out more about the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Adoption and Sales Program on their website: https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/adoptions-and-sales.

Have questions about utilizing BarnManager or want to give it a try for yourself? Request a live demo here!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

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Eight Things You Should Know About Jumps at Your Barn
September 17, 2021| | in category Uncategorized No comments yet

Eight Things You Should Know About Jumps at Your Barn

We spoke with Pierre Jolicoeur, a former FEI-level course designer, three-time Olympic show jumping trainer, and founder of PJ Saddles and PJ Jumps to learn more about what types of jumps to have and what you need to make sure your barn is outfitted with correct, safe equipment for jumping.

 

  1. The type of jumps you need depends on the level of horses and riders using them as well as the type of riding they are doing. But no matter the discipline, the number one priority is safety. Find correct, well-made jumps, use breakaway cups, set courses properly, and you will be on your way to having fun and improving in the sport.

 

  1. Plan to have enough jump material for 10 jumps, including five oxers and five verticals. This doesn’t include any extra gymnastics you might want to set. That amount of jump material should give you enough to set a nice course of eight jumps and have reserves for when poles or standards break or need to be replaced, or when you want to build a double or triple combination.

 

  1. The length of poles needed is in direct proportion to the size of your riding ring. If you’re in an indoor ring or a smaller outdoor, ten-foot poles can be used. In a larger outdoor arena, 12-foot poles work nicely. If you’re lucky enough to have an expansive grass ring, you can try 14-foot poles but know that longer in length means heavier in weight!

 

  1. When setting a training course at home, design it first on paper and measure it to scale. For example, use graph paper where each square is set to a distance (i.e., one square equals one foot). Once you have measured your course out on paper, it will be easier to drop poles where the jumps should be in the ring, and you will know exactly where to put them. It is also a good idea to change your course at least once a week to keep challenging yourself and your horse, and so the footing does not get worn in the jump areas.

 

  1. Every training course set at home should be jumpable in both directions. This gives a lot of different options for training both horses and riders. You’ll need four poles per jump, whether it’s an oxer with two poles on each set of standards, or a vertical with two poles on the standards and a ground rail on each side.

 

  1. Pierre’s number one saying? “Horses hate surprises.” Make sure before you go to a competition that you have trained everything at home. Use your jump materials to simulate what you might encounter at upcoming shows. “Don’t do training at horse shows,” he says. “Know the facility you’re attending, the conditions, the course designer, the hunter judge; all of that gets you organized to win.”

 

  1. Make an investment in professionally-made jumps. “If you are spending money to buy and train a horse and compete at shows, you can’t be cheap on your training facility,” says Pierre. Jumps have too many details, and safety is too important, to make your own. Buy jump materials from people who know how to make them safely. If you’re on a budget, start with enough for six jumps, then buy six more the following year, for example. Soon enough, you will have a nice set of jumps that are high quality and will last longer.

 

  1. Speaking of lasting, Pierre shared a few tips for maintaining your jumps. Design your course so very few of the components touch the ground. Obviously, the bottoms of standards will be in the sand or on the grass; he recommends aluminum wings because they last forever and are much lighter than their wood counterparts, so they are also easier to move. When you are finished riding a course at the end of each day, go around to each jump and put the poles back in cups. Don’t leave them on the ground. “A couple of days on the damp ground, and you’ll need a new paint job!” he adds. If you’re going away for a significant amount of time, store them inside. Since jumps can be expensive and are a considerable investment, it pays to take care of them and save money in the long run.

 

With planning, consideration, and care, you can set a beautiful jumping course in order to have useful training at home and be prepared for success in the show ring!

 

Have questions about utilizing BarnManager or want to give it a try for yourself? Request a live demo here!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

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The BarnManager Q&A With: Stephanie Nell, groom for Olympic gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa
September 10, 2021| | in category BarnManager Q&A, Uncategorized No comments yet

The BarnManager Q&A With:

Stephanie Nell, groom for Olympic gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa


What are three things that are always in your ring bag?
Stephanie: I always have the safety vest, sugar cubes, and a towel!

What is the most helpful habit that you practice at the barn?
Stephanie: Routine – things don’t always go according to plan with this job, but it’s good to have some sort of consistency for the horses to keep them level headed (and for the people).

How do you foster a great team environment in your business?
Stephanie: Communication, all the way. Unfortunately, we aren’t all mind readers, so if we need something or have any concerns, we need to speak up. If we need to know something, ask!

What’s your best tip or hack for grooming and horse care? Where did you learn it?
Stephanie: A mixture spray of witch hazel and vinegar for irritated skin. At my first job, I took care of a chestnut mare with highly sensitive skin, so every now and then we would have a rash breakout. To suppress the rash, I would spray that mixture once or twice a day. I swear it’s magic in a bottle!

What is your favorite equestrian sport and why?
Stephanie: Show jumping through and through. I’m always in awe when I watch horses, especially the ones I care for, compete at the highest level of the sport. It makes me feel luckier to do what I do every time I’m on the side watching them go.

If you were a horse, what would you be and why?
Stephanie: I think I’d like to be a wild Icelandic pony. They live in a beautiful part of the world and are known to be tough and sturdy, yet kind and curious.

 

Have questions about utilizing BarnManager or want to give it a try for yourself? Request a live demo here!

BarnManager is designed to be a part of your team, with the compatibility and credentials necessary to improve communication, simplify the management of horses, and get you out of the office, off the phone calls, and into the barn with the horses you care about! Click here to get a free demo and find out more!

Get Demo

Learn More