...endurance and trail horses with loving hearts and free spirits...
We are located on a 1600 acre farm in northeast Missouri. Our horses live in a natural environment that provides access to high quality grass pastures, clear ponds, abundant shade trees, and miles of beautiful, private trails. Our mustangs come from the Bureau of Land Management and are range-bred. They are individually selected for their athletic ability, conformation, endurance potential, and personality. We look for those horses that have a certain charisma, the ones we just can't seem to resist!
We train our mustangs using a combination of gentle, so-called "natural" techniques that are specifically tailored to each mustang's personality and needs.
We take our time with the gentling process and concentrate on building a strong foundation of trust and respect before any further training is introduced. We first gentle our horses without halters, ropes, or handling chutes. It does take extra time, but in the end we find that our horses are more trusting and more willing because they are never forced into any situation they are not emotionally, mentally, or physically prepared to handle. We focus on groundwork at every stage of training so our mustangs will have good manners even during stressful situations. We start them under saddle once they are 4 years old, and we use principles of classical dressage to develop their suppleness, responsiveness, and balance.
Our mustangs are currently being prepared for endurance careers. We have taken the time to lay a solid foundation of trust and respect, so that as their training progresses they will remain cooperative, willing, and eager to go new places with their riders. They are being introduced to trails, obstacles, and the exams they will have to undergo at vet checks. They are being taught to tie and trailer well, eat and drink on the trail, and lead both from behind and in front.
While all mustangs tend to be tough, hardy, and smart, some are better suited to the demanding sport of endurance than others. Because the wild herds reflect so many different influences, it is possible to find mustangs with a variety of body types and breed characteristics. Some are stocky and heavily muscled, like draft horses or Quarter horses. Others are lean and slightly smaller, like Arabians or Morgans. We have chosen mustangs that we believe have a good chance of excelling at endurance; we selected them with certain characteristics in mind. We looked for good hooves and straight legs, dense bone, well-sprung ribs, deep heart girth, lean muscles, and thin skin. Our mustangs will be ready to start proving themselves on the endurance trails soon!
We will occasionally offer gentle, well-started mustangs for sale to approved homes after they have been titled by the BLM and registered with the American Mustang and Burro Association. We will only sell mustangs that are friendly and able to adjust to new people.
We also offer a variety of training and support services for mustang adopters. Feel free to contact us with any questions. We welcome visitors and we love to talk about mustangs!
