A 6-year-old horse that was once wild and living in the Jicarilla Ranger District of the Carson National Forest in New Mexico is now in Cortez, where he will be trained and adopted out.
Named after the loud noises he tends to make, Snort has been in captivity for five years, though he hasn’t really been worked with, said Bonnie Anderson, an active member of the National Mustang Association of Colorado who’s training Snort.
Anderson said it’s costly to train horses, especially when they once were wild.
She said she thinks Snort was bait-trapped, which is important, since he has no negative associations with humans. By comparison, horses who are rounded up with helicopters often experience trauma and have trouble trusting humans.
Still, his social skills are limited, she said.
Anderson has several other horses on her property that mingle in the same pen; until recently, Snort had been fenced off, kept alone in his own space.
A few days ago, Anderson let another horse into Snort’s pen, and “they are doing great,” Anderson said.
Snort is a stallion or was, rather, since he was recently gelded. After about six weeks, his testosterone will decrease and he should be more amicable with his peers.
Anderson said she started training Snort by sitting in the pen with him so he could get used to her presence and they could achieve mutual trust; he’s gentled, and will be halter trained soon.
“He’s moving along in training fast,” Anderson said.
She expects him to be ready for adoption in a month or two.
“It takes at least two to three months to gentle and halter train the bait-trapped mustangs to the training level we feel comfortable with adopting them out,” said Anderson. “Helicopter horses will take twice as long.”
She said the bonding and trust component is something unique in having to establish while training a wild horse, and “a step you don’t have to take with domesticated horses.”
And though training might take a bit longer, Anderson holds mustangs are “better” than their domesticated counterparts.
“'Mustangs are the most intelligent and healthiest of all horses because they were built to survive harsh environments without human assistance,” said Anderson. “Once you make a bond with one of these horses, you will have a strong partnership; you will not find a more loyal horse.”
She has two other once wild horses named Marvel and Merlin that she’s training, too.
Those two are originally from Mesa Verde National Park and share a father, she said.
Both Marvel and Merlin were bait trapped and “have only had positive interactions with people, which made training easier and safer,” Anderson said.
She said she’s trusted them around her kids since Day One.
Marvel is halter and saddle trained, where Merlin is just halter trained, as he’s still too young for a saddle. The length of training is different for every horse, she said.
If you’re interested in learning more or adopting a horse, email the National Mustang Association of Colorado at info@nmaco.org.
