Pixie's Magical Ember-Our 1st BLM Mustang Pony

Pixie just happened upon us, truly! :) I have been attending the Extreme Mustang Makeovers since 2007 and have been hooked on wanting to adopt a Mustang ever since! Since we don't yet fully have high enough fencing for the mustangs over a year old, I thought it would be a while until we could take in a BLM mustang from the holding pens. October 25th, a Mustang Celebration/adoption and open horse

show was going on an awesome horse farm called Golden Curls Ranch. I was curious, so I went that Saturday to spend some horse event time and see what it was all about. I saw some awesome looking 'Stangs that were adopted pretty quickly. Well, there was this sweet, little filly who had a huge laceration on her front left leg and hind leg. On Sunday, she was still there...she let me rub her neck and face...my heart MELTED. She just looked at me, as if to say "take me home"...I inquired about her, a smidgeon too late. There were going to be leaving around noon if not sooner, and I probably asked around 11 or so. They were going to adopt her out for $25.00. I told them I was going to get my truck and trailer (I live like 15 minutes, if that, from their ranch). Well...OF COURSE, I had never hooked up the trailer by myself before and I FINALLY got my truck aligned and then the crank for the trailer jammed and I couldn't get the wheel up! :( So, about half an hour later-45 minutes, I showed up, pretty bummed. They had loaded her at the back of their trailer already and wouldn't let me and the owner of the ranch walk her to their round pen...even though she seemed really calm that morning and was letting me rub her, I understand that they didn't want to be responsible for anything. :( And they couldn't back up their trailer because there was a small dressage arena set up outside their roundpen. The owner (who is SO sweet) told me to call up to their holding area where they were going in Oklahoma and ask them to hold her for me if I was seriously interested. . . I talked to my awesome husband and he knew how much it meant to me to help "rescue" her, persay...so we arranged a time to FINALLY go pick her up on November 12th!!! :D

It was a SUPER cold day and she was pretty frisky when we came to pick her up, but she went STRAIGHT into the trailer with no hesitance and she did really well all the way home! One of the guys at the BLM that I had been speaking to a lot on the phone told me about a product for wounds and proudflesh called Underwoods...I had never heard of it, and then wonderful Mustang trainer/owner Mary Miller Jordan said it was really good too, since I could just "spray" it on her wound...she didn't want it messed with AT ALL at first. So, we got her home, the other 2 girls checked her out...Pixie kicked up big time at them next to the panels...and we're like "whoa! she has no problem defending herself...that's for sure." So, she settled in for the night and the next day her back leg was WAY swollen....and I was pretty sad about it. She kept irritating her front wound too...I tried saline spraying it to flush it out, but she wasn't having much of that. I was pretty bummed the 1st week; the BLM guys were treating it when they could before we picked her up...and they did have the vet out to look at it and cut off the hanging skin after I said I was interested in her. Who knows if they tranquilized her to clean her and do that or not...and I'm pretty sure she didn't have good experiences with her wound treatments before us :(

So, it took a few weeks, but we were able to slowly get her more used to us putting stuff on her wound. I went between having her in a halter and loosely holding her while I sprayed wound treatment, and not having a halter on at all and just walking around with her until she stopped. Basically just playing around with her seeing what she would tolerate ;p

The last week of December, her wound really started drying up and no more medicine is being sprayed on. Her wound will sadly always have an ugly bump under it, but that just gives her more character. I'm guessing it's proudflesh that developed under the flap of skin hanging off originally, but I don't really know. All I do know is that now we don't have to worry anymore about her wound healing, and that after our round pen is set back up and she has a bigger, permanent pen, her training is going into full gear :) I'm very pleased with her so far and overall, she is a sweet filly. She is pushy sometimes, and overly curious at times, but very reactive to things too...so, she might be a tough cookie, but we'll figure her out :) She also "grooms" me back...I scratch her neck and withers and she grooms me back :) None of my others do that...so far she's stayed sweet with it, so I have no problem with it. I'm so happy to have my first mustang!! Before we left the holding pen, my husband asked about her background...and we were surprised to find out she was actually rounded up as a foal in Oklahoma; she and her momma and herd were on a rancher's property....so we're not sure if she's been at different BLM locations her whole life so far, or what :/ Still need to get that info!! All I know is that I feel like I rescued a sweet filly who needed a home and ya can't beat $25 for a sweetie who gives ya lovin' back ;)