Fire Mountain Mustangs

Proud of Our kids and Our Mustangs

2009-09-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

So we set up an obstacle course and had the kids take their mustangs through it. I am so proud of our kids, and of our mustangs. I feel that did a wondeful job with them. My youngest stepson is ver timid and shy around the horses, he was charged up about doing this with Prancer that he begged me to help him do it the next day. This is wonderful, he has not shown much interest in the horses until now. I hope that Prancer has gotten to him. Brady and Blue.

Carson and Prancer. Shawn was so proud of him.

Leah and Salem. Many of you know that we got Salem from Amanda last summer, and she had never done anything like this with him. Salem loves Leah so much that he did everything she asked without any hestition at all.We are working some huge things for the EMM, so no updates on Cougar or Stunner. SHHH its a big secret. lol.

Vent

2009-08-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have always tried to stay out of the damn drama and games that people play, but it seems that everytime I open myself up and think I have a close friend, I get a sharp pain in my back and sure enough it has happened again. I am sick of this.

I guess that is why I love my horses so much, they are honest about their feelings and don't play these petty little childish games. A horse is honest with you all the time, you know where you stand with them. You dont' have to worry about any of this crap.

One of my TRUE close friends always tells me that she is going to crawl under a rock and become a hermit, and I can understand why she feels that way. I am at that point right now, thank God for a loving husband or else I would go nuts.

I love my mustangs but due to all the crap and harrassment I have received in the past 5 years from other mustang people, I am sad to say, I do not plan on ever attending another adoption event. I have had horses my entire life, and I have never seen another more petty, revengeful, vidicative group of people any where. This is so sad, the only ones that suffer are the mustangs.

Just imagine what good us mustang people could do if we would unite instead of wasting all our energy attacking each other.

Ransom Update

2009-08-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

I was recently informed that someone is worried about Ransom being skinny. Ransom has only been here for a total of 39 days. This is Ransom at the adoption.

This is Ransom in Amanda's trailer on the way home.
Ransom at home. He was just unloaded out of the trailer.

This was exactly 8 days here. As you can see he is slowly starting to fill out. His hips are not sunk in nearly as bad. This was last week, I didn't want to post it,but you can see he is looking better all the time.

Today, first time in yard. Yes he is dirty, but it has been raining daily here, we close to an inch last night.

I truly hope that this person that is so concerned about him, can see that he is gaining weight. He was skinny when he got here, and is looking better all the time. I wormed him on Saturday, and will have to worm him again next weekend, as he has a lot of worms. He also had ringworm on him, but his hair is growing back in now. It has been treated daily also.

Yes you can still see his ribs, that is usually one of the last areas on a skinny horse to fill in. But folks it has only been 39 days, give me a freakin break. I will continue to post photos of my boy to prove that he is continuing to gain and that he will flourish here.

Wonderful Horsey Day

2009-08-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was just a wonderful day, Cougar (Brady wants to call her) is finally learning that we will not hurt her, she accepted the pole on her back, giving to pressure, and even let me touch her face. She wants so badly to trust Brady and I, but isn't quite there yet. Learning to lead.

Allowing me to touch her face, notice that her ears are up, and she is actually eating hay still. This is a huge step forward for her.

Cougar has a very nice head, whoever adopts her is going to be happy.

Stunner had a huge day yesterday, first him and Shawn got to know each other. We are trying to get him used to a lot of different people handling him.

Making friends with Shawn. Stunner was able to walk around the yard yesterday for the first time.

Following nicely along over garden hoses, around bikes, lawnmowers, and tarps.
Brady and Stunner playing in the water, Stunner loves to drink from the hose.

Following Brady

Stunner likes to be rubbed on.

Blue has to come see what we are doing and check out Stunner. As I was walking in the house, I turned are and caught this picture. Brady was talking to Jiggs, and she was falling asleep on him. This is one remarkable filly.

Jiggs trying to con someone into petting her. Silly girl.

As we were getting ready to come in for the evening, I found Ransom's spot, he loves to be rubbed on his withers, look at that lip. The more time I spend with this horse, the more I fall in love with him. He is truly one of those once in a lifetime horses.

Country Roads

2009-07-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

Now I know this is off topic, but I always get a kick out of taking some one down this road, some people hate it, some love, it makes some car sick, right Brady? Anyway, I just thought I would show my internet friends, the lovely Casar countryside.

This was the storm rolling in last night. I was standing on my porch.

Making progress

2009-07-29T04:24:00.000-07:00

Well Image has finally decided that we are not going to hurt her. Yesterday she did so good. She is now leading a little, still working on backing, she doesn't like that.

She allowed me to rub her head for the first time yesterday. This filly been a challenge, but I think we are finally winning her over. She has stopped panicking when we approach her, now she will allow us to walk up to her.

We are now working on picking up Stunner's front feet. I am pushing him on this, as his feet are so long.

Stunner isn't sure about Twizzlers, but he came back for more, lol.

His first bath, he loved it, and likes to play in the water. I think I ended up wetter than him.

Does that not look like a draft horse head or what?

Ransom and Leah making friends, actually she is trying to talk him into eating Twizzlers, she seems to think all of them should love Twizzlers as much as she does.

IMAGE's Story

2009-07-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

Cougar’s Miracle Image

In a mountain valley somewhere on Bald Mountain Herd Management Area, a new life begins; the little bay filly opens her eyes for the first time. She discovers the tall mountains, the sagebrush and her wild herd that she is born into. This filly is born with instincts that a domestic horse will never know; she has the blood of her ancestors running through her veins as she grows stronger every day. The herd teaches her to run with all her heart from any danger, this will help to keep her alive.

Her home is also home to the Mountain lions, she lives in constant threat from them. One nice warm day about the herd approaches a water hole, before moving on to the next grazing spot. The mare and little filly walk to the water, at that exact moment the lead mare catches the smell of the cougar. She snorts and bolts away from the danger, but it is too late, the cougar pounces at the closest horse. It is the little bay filly, the cougar swipes her with one paw and knocks the filly sideways, and miraculously she keeps her feet, and runs off with the rest of her herd. But the little filly has not escaped without injury. Her right hind leg burns with pain, and she is limping. The cat tore muscles, skin and sinew off her leg. But the filly has a will to live, she fights the pain, the soreness, the desire to lay down and just give up.
She is in tremendous pain, as she follows the herd for the next several months. Finally her leg begins to heal it leaves her muscles bunched up and a huge scar.

In January, helicopters come and chase the herd to a trap site. Then she is processed and sent to the Palomino Valley Corrals. No one has noticed the scar as of yet.

After spending a couple of months at PVC, she is selected to become one of the Extreme Mustang Makeover horses in the Tennessee Eastern Stampede. So she is shipped to Elm Creek, then on to Cross Plains, Tennessee, where the youth trainer that was selected to train her for the EMM awaits to bring to North Carolina.
Once again she is loaded into a trailer and comes to Casar, NC to live for the next 100 days. She sees mountains again, but it is not her home mountains where she lived with her herd.

The little filly is scared and doesn’t understand what this boy wants of her; he is an enemy to her, just like the mountain lion that almost ended her life when she was so little, so she runs like her mother taught her to do. After a few minutes, the little filly realizes that the boy is controlling her and making her move. This greatly puzzles her, so she stops, and thinks about this, licking her lips and chewing it over in her mind.

The boy speaks to her in a nice calm steady voice, she cocks an ear toward him, she likes his voice, it is calming. Maybe, just maybe she thinks, this strange two-legged creature isn’t going to hurt her. She takes a step closer, then another… Finally she reaches up and sniffs his hand. She bolts away, but then realizes that the creature didn’t come after her, he just stood there. Hmm, she thinks, what is up with this? She sniffs him again, this time he touches her nose. She likes the feel of his touch, so she takes another step closer, then another, as he is rubbing her face. She likes the way the boy is talking to her.

This boy sees her scar, but doesn’t think it is ugly, but instead thinks it is like a tattoo, but with a much better story. This scar is a tribute to the hardiness of the mustang horse. It shows how this breed has survived in the wild for hundreds of years. It makes me proud to say that I am the proud adopter of 8 BLM mustangs. They have more grit in one hoof than most domestic horses have in their entire body. Our mustangs survive countless dangers on the range, due to that they know how to handle their body, they know where to put their feet, and they will survive.

Please continue to follow the progress of Brady Hickman and Cougar’s Miracle Image through the competition in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on October 23-25. Maybe if you attend you can be the lucky one to win the adoption bid on Cougar’s Miracle Image and take a Miracle home with you.

Written by Janet Hickman. I do not know if the events about the cougar attack are true or not, but this is my imagination of what happened to Cougar’s Miracle Image.

Image & Stunner

2009-07-23T04:22:00.000-07:00

Well last night Image made huge improvements. She is facing up with Brady, and is now touching the pole without trying to strike or bite it. YAY. This filly has a wonderful flowing trot, and will make a very smooth ride for someone in a couple of years. I am really impressed with her. And love her built. To me she is more dun than bay, she doesn't look dark enough to be a bay. I hope to get a video of her today, I want to show off that nice trot.

The bad thing is Image has a terrible snotty nose, so she is on meds, and is being kept far away from everyone else, which has greatly upset her. She has been whinnying non stop for two days. But it also has her looking to Brady for companionship, which is wonderful.

Stunner is doing great, and is trying so hard to figure out what Brady wants of him. He is now leading, backing and yielding his hindquarters. He is still very nervous about anything touching his hindquarters, but is getting better all the time.

This is the best body shot of him so far. Y'all be the judge, is he brown or grulla?I love the way he arches his neck. He has a very nicely built head, neck and shoulder. This is Ransom, wearing a saddle pad. I am able to walk right up to him, and throw the pad on without him moving, I am doing this a liberty with him. He isn't even wearing a halter. I measured him the other day and he is 15.3, exactly what the BLM stated he was. This is one of the smartest horses I have ever worked with. I can't say enough good things about him. Thanks, Tara, Patti, Deborah and Juan Palma for working things out for me to get him.

This is Haramine, our little filly that was born here on June 12. Her Mom is out of Callaghan NV. I thought that Haramine was going to be a bay like Mom, but I think that she is turning black now. What do you think?

This is Jiggs, Brady filly from Rocky Hills, NV. She is so silly, hence the nickname Jiggs the Clown. She looks like a clown too with those blue eyes, lol. Yesterday she was showing off, and all of them were running and playing around. I tried to get pictures, but the camera on my cell phone is in a bad place and as you can see, I can't keep my finger off the camera lens.
Jiggs is going to be one BIG horse, measuring from the point of her knee to the ground is 16.2. If that test is accurate that means she is going to be 16.2 hands high. It should be interesting to see how close she gets to this. But I was told by someone who was at the roundup of this herd that there was some 17 hand horses captured. I would highly recommend anyone that is thinking of adopting to check out the current Internet Adoption, as there are several Rocky Hills horses on her, include a very nice grulla filly. Burns Oregon also has a nice horses on there, that is where my Ransom is from.

Stunner

2009-07-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

Now I just have to figure out how to remove a picture and place the pictures where I want them on the blog.

So I talked to Shawna Richardson today and found out more about Stunner, he was captured on Jan 5, 09 outside of a herd area. On Simpson Park Mountain, which is not a HMA, but horses from Callaghan and Rocky Hills. These horses are nice, big horses with some curlies there too. Stunner has a lot of curles in his ears, but I am not sure if that would make him a curly or not.

Stunner pictures

2009-07-20T13:58:00.001-07:00

Stunner's amazing footwork

2009-07-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

Today we finally convinced Ransom that it was a good thing to be in the stall. First time he ever went in the barn at all. But he stood in there like the gentleman that he is and did wonderful. I noticed that he looks really big in my barn, lol, thankfully he is a gentle giant.

I just love that horse so much. I will work with him tonight or tomorrow. It seems that my round pen is in high demand right now.

After we got Ransom settled, Brady and I decided to work with Stunner in the round pen. He is going to make a wonderful english horse, he likes to jump, he would jump the water tank every single time he came to it, instead of going around it. He also has a wonderful extended trot of any english horse.

What a Stunning Image!! Club

2009-07-20T10:01:00.000-07:00

Join the club and show your support for Brady!!! Membership benefits include a t-shirt and your name listed on the website as a club member/ You'll also receive weekly updates on our progress sent to your email address

To Join: The What a Stunning Image!! Club, click on the donate Paypal button on the right. Membership is $25, and the first club member will receive 6 free raffle tickets for the halter of their choice.

I will list the first club member and winner of the raffle tickets on both the website and blog.

Raffles

2009-07-20T08:03:00.001-07:00

Fire Mountain Mustangs has donated two brand new horse size halters for Brady to raffle off. The first halter is a brown leather halter lined with neoprene, and a breakaway crown piece, throat latch snap, and nosed band buckle. All brass heavy duty hardware.

The second halter is a custom made red, white, and blue nylon halter with "AMERICAN MUSTANG" embroidered on the cheek piece. Very nice heavy duty halter with throat latch snap and adjustable nose band.

Tickets for the raffles will be $1.00 a piece or 5 tickets for $6.00. Please use the donate button to purchase. Make sure you state which halter you are buying tickets for. The date of the drawing will be October 17th during our trail ride at South Mountains State Park, in Morganton, NC.

EMM Yearling Pick up Date

2009-07-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

Well today is finally the day, we left at 3 AM and headed to Cross Plains, TN to pick up Brady's yearling. We arrived in Cross Plains around 11 AM. I was finally able to meet Paula Carr, Patti, Kali, and Julie from the Mustang Hertigate Foundation, it is so nice to be able to finally put a face to the names. It was also very nice to see Fran with the Jackson, MS BLM and Randall Carr agian. It's been a few years since I saw them.

Kali told us the horse number, so we set off for the pens in search of 5939. She is the little bay dun in the center of the photo.

As we were looking at the horses, Patti asked us if we would be interested in a second yearling. So we selected 5065, a brown/grulla gelding. He is on the very left of the above photo.

The brown horse is one of the regular EMM horses. I really liked him. He was nice and wide.