I'm So In Love!!!

We had to get up at 2:30 on Saturday morning for our big adventure. I am NOT a morning person and it was not easy for me to get up at that hour. But I was filled with so much excitement for our newest adventure that I popped right out of bed.... but it also could have been because I did not sleep at all and was already awake. We were in the truck and on the road at 3:45 a.m. just like we had planned. I was filled with so much anticipation and excitement, that the 4 hour drive seemed like 10 hours. I just wanted to get there. We finally arrived at our destination at 7:30 a.m. The people at our destination were expecting us and knew it was us when we pulled in. They met me at the truck and I went to sign some paperwork. I then got back into the truck and pulled it into the arena and backed it up to the chutes. Yes, the chutes.........

Trailer backed up to chute.

Now let me back up a few weeks. My OH and I have been sorta talking about getting another Mustang. The BLM was having their online auction and we had been looking at some of the yearlings. There was one that we kept going back to and just loved. We talked about it for a few days and I didn't want to pressure my OH. I told him I wouldn't bug him about it anymore until he gave me the go ahead to bid. But I needed an answer by a certain time so I could get my adoption application filled out, approved and then bid on the horse we wanted before the bidding deadline. He called me one morning and said "Go get our new horse!". I took that as a yes and got all the paperwork in order. I was approved and went online and put my bid in on the horse we fell in love with. It was a nerve wracking week waiting for the bidding to end. You see, anyone can bid on any horse at anytime. Just like a regular auction. Some horses were in a bidding war and their prices were shooting up. Price was not a concern for us. We just did not want to be outbid or get in a bidding war. That last morning of bidding, I was on my computer for at least 2 hours keeping an eye on our horse. And when the countdown clock for the final minutes of bidding expired............. I had won the bid!!! I immediately called my OH to tell him that we had a new horse! 

Now a lot of people would say we are crazy, buying a horse sight unseen. Well we saw a lot of pictures, but no, we did not get to see the horse in person. BUT with the BLM auctions, even after you win a bid and you go pick up the horse and it does not meet your expectations, or is lame, you DO NOT have to take the animal. So we knew going in that if the horse was not what we were expecting, then we would get a different one, or wait. 

So after I backed my trailer up to the chute, I went to go say hi to my new filly. She was nervous in the chute, so she is a little wild eyed in this picture here. Since they are wild horses, the BLM halters them while they are in the chute.

"Hi baby!"

The BLM guys opened my trailer doors, opened the chute and she ran right into my trailer. They are hauled loose since they are not halter broke or tame. I had taken the dividers out of my trailer and had hay in there for her to munch on, if she wanted. She wanted!

Right after being loaded and already eating!

We then got on the road back towards home. The BLM people are super nice and helpful. We were going to have to go to Oregon to pick her up, which is a 9 1/2-10 hour (approx 20 hours round trip) drive for us. But they were doing an adoption event in my state on Aug. 4th and they said they had room in their trailers to haul her there for us. Then we only had to drive 4 hours to get her (8 hour round trip). Saved us a lot of time and also the new horse wouldn't have to be in the trailer for so long. We stopped at my sisters ranch to give our filly a break from the drive. My OH had never been to the ranch so my sister gave him a tour. We only stayed for half an hour, but she also got to peek in the trailer windows at our new baby. She hauled really well and I only felt her jump around a couple times. 

When we got home we we couldn't believe the time. It was 12:58 p.m. Our new filly's tag number is 1258. Coincidence? I backed the trailer up between the other horse pasture's and to the gate where her new corral was set up. We had a chute put up that would go from our trailer to the gate of her new corral.

Just opened trailer doors to let her out of trailer.

The BLM has a height, fence and shelter requirement on all ungentled Mustangs. With yearlings, it has to be 5 feet high, no wire or electric. So we bought a 60' round pen and set up her "temporary" corral a week before her arrival. We opened the trailer doors and she turned around, jumped out, trotted up the chute through the gate of her new home and it couldn't have gone any easier!

Trotting around right after being unloaded from trailer.

We were so tired and it was a super hot day, actually the hottest day of the year so far. We wanted to watch her for a bit then go get some lunch. She checked out her new surroundings and drank a ton of water.

She loves her water!! She plays in it!

All the horses were super excited. But Chance was besides herself. Yep, little miss Chance decided this would be a good time to go in heat! She could not take her eyes off the new baby.

Grazing in her new home.

We already had a name picked out for her before she came home. Her star gave us plenty of options for names. Her star is in the shape of South America, so we decided to look at the South American map and find a city and name her after it. We fell in love with Rio. So that was it. RIO. It stuck. (Some would also say her star looks like a tornado/twister). And it fits. She loves playing in her water. She dunks her face in it and splashes it all over.

Rio.

Looking at her BLM paperwork, they say she was approximately 8 months old when she was herded up from the wild into the BLM corrals last year, August 2011. So that puts her age at approximately a little over a year and a half. She is from the Jackies Butte HMA (Herd Management Area). She was in the BLM corrals for a year. So she has been around feed trucks and seen humans. She is just not gentled (tame). That is why you will see her with a halter and lead rope attached in all these photos. This is what you do with the ungentled Mustangs.

Loving her new home.

We can get to about within 4 feet of her and she will come within 4 feet of us. But that is all she will allow right now. She is NOT nervous, scared, spooky, defensive or aggressive. If I try to move a little closer then 4 feet, she snorts at me. She just needs to get used to humans in such close proximity and learn that we are not there to hurt her.

Me and my new girl!

She looks to be close to 14 hh. She is almost as tall as Chance, who is 14.1 hh at 3 years old. She obviously needs to put some weight on and that will happen here.

Happy Rio.

I thought she might be scared of the goats, since she has never seen one before. But she LOVES Edgar!! And Edgar loves her. He sticks his head through the panels and she nuzzles him.

Lovin' on her new friend, Edgar.

We have been spending a lot of time just sitting in her corral to let her get used to us. I will do that all week. I am hoping that she will begin to trust me and I can soon touch her for the first time. I have my handy stick to use as an extension of my arm.

More goat love.

I couldn't resist putting this picture of my OH and Edgar. I think the goats are enjoying all the time we spend in the corral, because that means they get a lot of extra attention.

My OH and Edgar.

And again another cute OH/goat picture!

Silly goat.

I put Chance's jolly ball in the corral with Rio. She is not scared of new things. She hasn't played with it yet, but hopefully she will.

Checking out the jolly ball.

I am so in love with this horse already. She is super cool, drop dead gorgeous and I can't wait to start handling her.

Beautiful girl!

The plan for Rio is to be my OH's future trail horse. I only have one arena horse right now and that is Chance. Brandy is on light riding on trails only due to her arthritic knee and she will probably be retired in a couple years. And Fritzy hates the arena, she is a trail horse! Also Fritzy gets a lot of abscesses and when she is out of commission, my OH doesn't have a horse to ride on the trails. So in 2-3 years, Rio will be ready to go for him. That is the plan. 

I am so excited to gentle/train another Mustang. I am a HUGE believer in these horses!! I mean look at Chance.... she is super smart, beautiful and I simply adore her! I am hoping Rio will be just like her!