The established horse world cringes at the thought of breeding horses of BLM stock. The fact that they are "mongrels" without pride of pedigree trumps the fact that many are horses of amazing ability.
For people that are more interested in performance than paperwork some of these horses cannot be beat. This point has been hammered home to me over the past week.
Leah is a tall bay BLM mare. She is blind in one eye and was likely born that way. Every inch of her body is designed to do only two things, move efficiently and cool off quickly. She is the perfect radiator--huge lungs, slab sides, and rafter hips.
She has not been ridden as much as my great Spanish mustang, Ta Sunka Witco and should not be as aerobically fit as he is. However, on a hard night ride last week Ta Sunka had to work to keep up with her. He could keep up and did, but only because I asked him to. Emily did not have to ask Leah to do anything. She has the physical ability to go on endlessly.
Why would one not want to pass on those traits?
Yesterday I took a mustang from the Virginia city range out in the woods for my fist ride on her. I place great value on comfort and endurance. I know what real comfort and endurance are. I ride Corollas. I do not expect other horses to be able to compare with the smoothness and heart of a Corolla. The little roan mustang, whose relative is shown in the picture above, was smoother than any Corolla that I have ever ridden.
Why would one not want to pass on that trait?
The sad truth is, across many issues, people are inclined to follow the leader rather than think for themselves. That's why the work you are doing at Mill Swamp is so vitally important -- by presenting and advocating for a different paradigm, you CAN change people's perception and thereby shift momentum in a positive direction.
ReplyDeleteThose who disparage mustangs are the kind of people who are obsessed with "costs" and oblivious to real value.
Deb in CA