At two months old the little black colt's life changed forever...
Most of his herd was captured by the BLM. The herd was first moved to Palomino Valley, Nevada, where they were freeze branded and vaccinated. A BLM wrangler told me they do not separate a foal from it's mother until he or she was at least 5 months old. After he was weaned they moved him to Carson City, Nevada and then Elm Creek, Nebraska where he stayed until March 21st or 22nd when he and about 100 other Mustangs of all ages were trucked to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, just outside of Harrisburg, for an auction. After his capture and until he was send to auction my little black colt had been living in a large holding pen with other colts his age, away from human contact other than when the tractors brought hay into the holding pens.

March 23, 2001 Friday evening, 4:30 pm: I arrived at the BLM auction location; Diamond Seven Ranch & Arena, Dillsburg, PA. I viewed the Mustangs and watched a demonstration with David Seay (pronounced "sea"), Progressive Horsemanship Trainer.

My Black Beauty - 14 Months Old

As I previewed the mustangs I realized that there aren't many 2 year olds my prefered age to adopt so I would not have to wait too long before I could ride my new horse. There were quite a few yearlings and a lot of 5-8 yr. olds, even a few 12 year olds.

March 24, 2001 Saturday morning, 8:00am: Ryan Coaxum, friend and horse trainer/gentler met me at Diamond Seven Ranch and Arena to help me pick out my Mustang. There were some last minute changes that resigned me to the fact that I would not be able to adopt a mustang at this auction - the horse trailer I planned on transporting my mustang home with became unavailable at the last minute. The BLM requires stock-type trailers with rear swing gates to transport adopted animals; drop ramp, divided two-horse trailers, and trucks with stock racks are not acceptable. There was only one person I knew that owned this type of trailer and now it was no longer at my disposal.

Wooly Samson before grooming - Day 2 - 11 Months Old

Ryan and I were wandering around and talking with previous adopters about their experiences with their mustangs. Everyone had very positive feedback for us. One woman suggested that we speak with owner of Diamond Seven Ranch & Arena. She told us that he is very helpful individual and that possible he would allow us to keep a mustang overnight at his facility until we found a shipper (if we found a mustang to adopt). Well, he went one step further; he graciously fixed us up with a shipper. It was literally a last minute decision to go for it! I had about 5 minutes left to get a bid number. I decided to go with a yearling as this was my first time owning a horse, and a Mustang no less! I asked Ryan to pick a yearling for me from a pen with about 8 or 9 yearlings in it. He picked an 11 month old black colt. When I asked why he chose this particular colt, Ryan said it was a gut feeling...he just read something in him. Samson wasn't afraid, nor was he aggressive. Ryan had been watching him for about 45 minutes before I arrived. Ryan felt that this colt would not become herd bound so, when I needed to get him from the pasture, he would not give me a hard time (a year and a half later this has proven to be so true - thank you Ryan!). Samson was social but also independent. He spent time mutually grooming another colt and also spent time alone. Some of the other yearlings were getting in minor squabbles and tried to bring Samson into it. He walked right through the disturbance, unafraid, unintimidated, but did not involve himself in the squabble either. Ryan felt this colt had a good mindset. We stood outside the pen and watched him for about 15 minutes and then checked out the other pens. I came up with three choices, the little black colt being my number one choice. We then went back to Samson's pen to check his bid number, which was tied to his neck with twine. As I was leaning over to get a better view of his number, Samson came right over to me and gently nuzzled my hand! For me, that was the deciding factor...I turned to Ryan and we smiled at each other as if to say "This was meant to be". I really didn't pick Samson...he picked me!

Samson's pen was the last pen to be auctioned off and he was in the last group from that pen. The routine was to herd 2 or 3 mustangs into the auction ring at a time. I started bidding immediately but when the bid reached $300.00, my original stopping point, I declined. Luckily, I was drawn back into bidding three more times by the auctioneer and by Ryan's gentle urging. I felt everyones eyes on me and there was an energy in the air - I really felt as if everyone at the auction was rooting for me! I was swept away by the energy surrounding me and before I knew it, Samson was mine (really I'm his is more accurate). Samson turned out to be the high bid of the day - $465.00. After the auction was over, one of the BLM specialists came over to congratulate me and said "You got yourself a great horse there!" I oculdn't have been more pleased.

Most of the adopters were having the BLM specialists put halters on their mustangs as they went into the loading shute. I watched the horses load up, most of them afraid, rearing or kicking. The BLM people thought I was a little reckless for not putting a halter on Samson, but I didn't have one. I really hadn't expected to be able to adopt a mustang because of the trailer issue so I went totally unprepared. As it turned out, not putting a halter on Samson wasn't such a bad idea; Samson did not spook in the shute and loaded on the truck without a hitch.

After giving the trucker directions to Quakertown, I followed him all the way (I wasn't about to let Sammy out of my sight for even a minute) to his new home, a 10 acre ranch 4 miles from my house. Two hours later we were ready to unload Samson. He unloaded as easily as he had loaded two hours previously. I gave him water and hay and then left him alone so he could settle into his new surroundings.

I would like to thank my Wild Horse Mentor,Trina Bellak,founder of American Horse Defense Fund, for her help and encouragement in the months before and after I adopted Samson. One piece of advice was especially helpful - and so simple. When Trina gentled her mustang Sonoma Star, she told me that she approached Sonoma with a flake of hay and stood perfectly still, waiting for Sonoma to come over and eat. At first Trina just stood there but eventually she tried to touch Sonoma each time she came to take a bite. Very simple, very easy and it worked like a charm with Samson. I never round-penned him, I just hung out with him and waited for him to approach me. The hay made the incentive to approach me very tempting and very easy!
Footnote: Sadly Trina passed away in 2006 after a battle with cancer.

You are on Page 1 (Home)

Mostly Mustang Links