Great suggestion! I am sure that mustangs read into and react to your body language a lot more than domestic horses. It would be a very interesting lesson.

Would that be interesting or what!!
I've been doing some research on the different breeds and they are something else.

yeah thats a great idea it would be really great to watch him working with a wild mustang i could really learn alot from a lesson like that.

Gen
My horse club just had a Mustang Days and we got 30 mustangs and about 10 wild burros adopted. This is an annual event working with Ford Motor Co and the BLM who captures the horses and burros then sends then to different locations to be 'gentled' They are taught to halter and lead as well as load into a trailer. The rest is up to the new owner.
Here is the web site of our member who runs this event

http://www.mustangs4us.com/gentling_&_training.htm They are incredible animals. Most are really smart! Lesley Neuman is one of the top trainers and she methods as well as most other trainers are exactly the techniques that Monty uses they just call it something else.

Cheers

I live in new Mexico and my first horse was a 15 year old mustang, jj..he was the best and fastest and honest horse. Ever since jj I just love mustangs. There are so many that have overbred on the blm. It's horrifying to see them all rounded up to be sent down to Mexico in very sorry shape. Mustangs are an amazing breed.

Hello
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Thanks for that link Dennis :-) I will have a look at that. Lillybust, I have never worked with a mustang (or brumby as we call them in Australia) but I have heard so many people like yourself say how great they are to work with. I would like to adopt a brumby myself one day. When my skill level is at an adequate level of course ;-)
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Thanks to everyone for showing your interest, it will be great if they can put some lessons together on this topic.
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See you later,
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Gen

Great idea!!

I also live in Australia and have just purchased a Brumby as my first 'starting' project! He is fresh out of the wild and already is showing a very trainable nature. I am told most brumbies are like this but a lot depends on how they are captured. If this is a traumatic experience for them it can make them hareder to train. Lets hope Monty hears our desire for some of these lessons :-)

Hi,
I have the movie, The Man from Snowy River.
I have a question for you, is the Brumby a mountain horse.
I have a post on the forum about breeds and I would like as much informationa as I can get about them and the training you all are doing, if you wouldn't mind?
Have a sunny day,
Ronda

Monty has a great DVD, meanwhile, called You and Your Wild Horse: From trailer to trail, where he adopts 3 BLM mustangs and starts them with the camera rolling. Its 3 hours long and amazing information!

Hi Ronda
.
I think that Brumby's are just what we call wild horses, but yes they do live in the mountains here in Australia in some parts of the country, but they also live in some very different terrains too. I didn't think to mention the Brumby on your Horse Breeds post because I thought the Mustangs were pretty much the same. Sorry about that. I have enjoyed reading your post and comments though - just didn't have anything useful to contribute.
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Hi Local
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Thanks for telling us about that DVD. Its actually on my wish list along with a couple of others that I don't have. So I will make sure I purchase it when I can, especially now that I know what its all about :-)
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The work Monty has done is just incredible and I am so grateful for video cameras so that this information can be shared :-)
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See you later,
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Gen

Gen
You peaked my curiosity about the Brumby and the difference between the two. Near as I can tell there is no difference. The physical caricteristics are the same, small surefooted with great endurance. I know that the mustangs that were put up for adoption a few weeks ago were a mix of all sorts of horses. There was one that was from the Appaloosa horse as well as Quarter. There are also distinct breeds of mustangs. There is the Kiger Mustang, the Sulfur Mustang and the Prior Mountain Mustang. These mustangs have a breed registry and are quite wonderful horses. These particular breeds evolved due to being isolated from other horses. I have a friend that raises Sulphur Mustangs and the are quite remarkable horses.

Cheers

Hi!

I think the biggest difference between the Brumby and The mustang is the breeds that each have evolved from. The history of the brumby suggests that they have evolved from horses and ponies turned loose during the late 18 and early 1900's, horses that went feral etc. Only the strong, sane, and sure footed survived. Leaving us with naturally bred hardy, even tempered horses. My Brumby comes from mountain country and is of a small but very heavy set, solid type. Possibly having clydesdale,timor pony,and welsh influence.

Gen, Hope you don't mind my stealing your post to promote our wonderful 'wild' horses here in oz!

I will def be buying the dvd about training the wild horse...could be very useful!

Cheers

Janelle

Hi again Dennis and Nelliebell
.
I did a bit of research too just before and I posted a link with some information on the history of our Brumbies on Ronda's Horse Breeds post. I do remember hearing once that some of our Brumbies come from the Whalers (don't know if that's spelt right). They were bred in Australia for our soldiers to ride in World War 1. Many of them were released into the wild after the war, and I believe that the breed almost became extinct. But there are some people who are breeding them again now I am pretty sure.
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I was also surprised to find that Australia also has a Brumby Register. I didn't look closely at it to see if we have different kinds like you do in the US. Its just amazing what you find out when you start looking. Thanks for the information Dennis. Your posts are always informative.
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It's OK Nelliebell, I think its great that you are promoting our wonderful wild horses ;-)
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I can't wait to be in a position where I can get my hands on one. Its a very exciting prospect. Even more so now after these great discussions.
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See you later,
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Gen

Hi Gen,

It is def amazing what you find when you start looking! I think it is great that we have a register to keep track of our brumbies now :-) I think the walers are a different breed. Some wild brumbies have been dna tested and have been found to be walers! They are pretty rare in the wild nowdays though. And you are right, there are some people breeding them now :-)

I hope you are in a position soon to get one of our lovely brumbies! I am very excited to be starting my own brumby journey! My prof pic is my new boy by the way!

Cheers

Hi all,

O help, I need a book about horse breeds!!! Wauw, what you all know about this.....
RONDA...., can I buy such a book as yours in England?
Or any other suggestions?

I realy don't know where you are talking about and I like to see how does breeds look like.
Thanks, May

Hi May,
I have so many books and have been a researcher for years. That was my main income for many years, in all different fields.
The books I have, I have collected over the years and the new ones I found in a library sale.
Anything I cannot find in hard copy I start researching on different sites.
I am always careful of my sourse because some infomation can be incorrect.
And as I want to write about this topic I have to be absolutely sure of my source.
I'm sure you can find some in your own language.
I have even gone on sites that are in a foreign language but my computer has the ability to translate for me and that is a great help.
Hope this helps a bit,
Ronda

Hi Ronda,

Thank you.
I will look in England, because I think when you all are talking about a certain breed I don't know if it is the same word/name in Dutch.
So you have your own library now? Haha.. With all do's beautifull books you found?
Maybe I can look also in the librabry, I bought many years ago a horse book in England from a library sale as well.
It's good to tell me this, I was forgotten that.
Good luck with all your researche.
Have a nice weekend.
May

Hi Nelliebell
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I thought that must have been a photo of your new boy. He is lovely :-)) Good luck with him!
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Kind regards,
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Gen

Hi Nelliebell and Gen - A friend, Caroline Hamilton, purchased a waler as a filly from the Northern Territory. She later had to sell her and she is now a brood mare for a waler stud somewhere in Victoria. I gathered from Caroline that it was the walers that were the horses released after the first and second world wars while the brumbies were already in existence. I think over time the breeds have become very mixed but apparently it is still possible to find horses in the northern territory true to both breeds. Nelliebell you may care to contact Caroline as I am sure she would be interested in your Brumby and could share her experiences with you. She is a horse masseur and I beleive she has a web page.

Just and add on. In my thinking Mustangs and Brumbies are both wild horses and have similarities but are different breeds. I stand to be corrected here but I have always believed that the brumbies were distinct to Australia while the Mustangs are distinct to America so their genetical backgrounds are quite different.

MaggieF
You are correct. They both started from different breeds. Mustangs started from the Spanish horses and the Brumby started from the Thoroughbred brought over from England. Naturally there are many more breeds that have been added to the original but the similarity between the two is their size, disposition, stamina, and intelligence. Isolation and mother nature (natural selection) makes these two breeds the same in appearance and behavior

Cheers

Thanks Dennis - sounds good. I need to check out the Brumby web address that was given in Ronda's horse breeding post as I feel that I should know more about them. There are many brumbies in the Northern Territory and they have now interbred with the walers that were released there in the post war period. Good luck with yours Nelliebell. They are very smart but apparently more challenging to train than the walers.

Hi Maggief
I will de look up Caroline on the web :-) You are right that brumbies were in existence before the first and second world wars, possibly as early as the early 1800's. There sre so many different descriptions as to what defines a brumby or a waler but i think the big difference with a waler is the original specific breeding that defined them as one of the best military horses of their time. Nowadays the dna and genetics of walers is documented so they can be traced to original bloodlines. Brumbies on the other hand are a mixture of many breeds and are not usually dna tested unless suspected waler lines are present. I went on a brumby tour in the snowy mtns a few years ago where they had a mob of 'brumbies' that were being dna tested for waler bloodlines.
On the contrary to your comment about brumbies being harder to train, from what i have researched and heard from those who take in captured brumbies that is completely untrue. If trapped passively they have an exceptionally trainable temperament. I recently visited with brumbies one week out of the wild who were so eager to with human company it blew me away. There are the odd few who are badly traumatised by being captured but that is rare with passive trapping. The brumby address on Ronda's post has loads of info on them...i too want to know more :-) Thanks for the encouragement on my journey with my brumby too :-)

Cheers

Janelle

I'm so glad I have peaked everyones interest.
It really helps when we know what breed we are dealing with and other members.
Our comments can be so much more informative.
I love this and I want to thank each one of you for all of the information.
If this book ever gets published it will be dedicated to you all.
Your horse lover friend,
Ronda

I adopted a mustang mare one time who came from a herd that someone had released 3 Belgian stallions into, so as to make the mustangs bigger. She was about 13 hands, but had big feet and heavy bones. Very sweet horse. I( got 2 others from the same herd, one looked like a TB and the other like a Quarterhorse, all were great horses, but I thought it was interesting that they all looked so different. The TB looking one was nearly 16 hands, the other was about 15. I have been told mustangs are stupid and hard to train, if its even possible, and can never be trusted, none of which is true. They are very smart, and easy to handle if you go about it right. But they will treat you the way you treat them.

If any one is interested, one of the members of my horse club has a site http://mustangs4us.com/index.htm
that explains all about mustangs. Nancy her husband Mike and daughter Sannen work to bring Mustang Days to Napa every two years. Nancy and Mike are exceptional folks that understand that the capabilities of a mustang is only limited by the person training it. I urge you to take a look at their website and if you contact Nancy if you want to know more.

Cheers

I watched a video on HRTV where these people were "breaking" mustangs, cant remember who they were, but they had several in a corral and were trying to rope them and I dont know what all, but they didnt seem to be getting anything done except for scaring the horses. And there were several corrals with several horses and people in each one. Made no sense to me. As far as I could see, they made no progress at all. On the other hand, several years ago, I went to a mustang adoption and was ab le to see Frank Bell give a demonstration, he worked the 2 stallions he had, one at a time, in about the same way Monty does, and had both of them ridable in no time, in spite of the 2 loudmouth old men who were watching and making rude and ignorant remarks, until I finally had enough and said "anyone who doesnt know what they are talking about should either shut up or leave." They left.