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News.bytesNews.bytes Extra, issue 442

BLM volunteers organize 'wild horse play day'

Mustangs proved they’re suited for a variety of uses, including water polo, at a wild horse play day Saturday at Dunnigan.

About 25 BLM volunteers brought their mustangs to the “equine playground” at the Running I Ranch for the event initiated by volunteers Mike and Nancy Kerson. Mustangs climbed steps and went through obstacles such as hanging strips of cloth and hoses. They made the acquaintance of ducks with electric-powered wings and statues of elk and bears. (text continues below)

Riders guide their mustangs up a terraced trail among dry grass
Mustangs head up the steps at the start of the course.

A man in a helmet guides a white horse on a trail through dry grass
Mike Kerson and Ruby start down the backside of the hill.

A white horse sniffs the wood planks that form part of the trail, as his rider and another horse and rider wait
Teri Reilly and Mike Kerson with Mustang Sally and Ruby cross a wooden structure, one of the first challenges.

A black horse sniffs a full-scale model of an elk
Fran Lagrange lets McKinleigh give the elk an introductory sniff.

Several mustangs took advantage of water on the hot summer day to go for a refreshing dip in the pond or in the water challenge:

Teri Reilly and Mustang Sally take a refreshing dip in the pond.
A rider sits on a horse in a pond

Michele DeCamp’s mustang Modoc cools off in the water course with a dip to the right...
A horse lies down in a water hole

...shaking it off...
Water flies off a horse as it begins to stand up in the water and shakes itself

A horse shakes water off as a woman holds his reins and smiles

...and a dip to the left.
 A horse lies down in the water while a woman holds his reins

Two riders and two horses in the pond
Come on in, the water’s fine!

A woman rides a blindfolded mustang and leads another around a tree
Becky Seibel leads her pack mustang through the gate challenge.

In other mustang events, residents of the Grass Valley area will have the opportunity to add a horse or burro to their families when the Bureau of Land Management brings its Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program to the Nevada County Horsemen’s Association, 10600 Bubbling Well Road (off Brunswick Road) in Grass Valley, Saturday, Aug. 28.

The BLM will offer about 10 halter-gentled horses, mostly yearlings, and two burros for public adoption.

- Dave Christy, BLM Central California District, 7/20/10


BLM California News.bytes, issue 441

 
Last updated: 07-28-2010