2022 Virtual Extreme Mustang Makeover, Meet Ligero!

[@ryanneniicole]

The last few seconds of this video were so beautiful. Isidro rubbing and petting Ligero on the face paired with the music. They’re both a beautiful team, both learning about each other. As a side note, I love Ligero’s slight Roman nose!

[@kathleenmcginley4827]

Absolutely stunning! Can't wait to see after all the mud goes away and the shine comes on. I can see this horse prancing along all decked out in a silver saddle & bridal, super showy. Will look forward to the progress.

[@mikawinkler5642]

He's stunning, can't wait to see his transformation!

[@donnac.1609]

This horse is very quick on his feet! He checks out the source of the rope.....he looks at Isidro. He is thinking....nice.He has a strong flight mode but looking forward to watching learn to "trust" his new human!!

[@Bossladyone2]

He has some natural spin moves. Again you guys seem to get some super cool horses, but again, you are some super awesome trainers

[@laurievanriper7714]

Amazing! In my next life I want to train a mustang, but like you said early on... I'm too old for it now girl!!

[@KingsMom831]

What a handsome boy! Looking forward to following your journey with him😊

[@cowgirlval5216]

OUTSTANDING!

[@clayoreilly4553]

That is a very good start. Gonna be an interesting horse, for sure.

[@BariJay1]

Wow! He is stunning! I'm not usually a fan of Roman Noses, but he carries it so well! Well done!

[@ArmywomanVet]

I love this, just found you I am learning about horses. City gal here who knows nothing about these gorgeous animals. Thank you for sharing!

[@kelliepearsonbigmama]

I’m in love with this horse.

[@antoniojimenez372]

That’s a nice looking horse big Mustang you I can’t wait to see the end results

[@laurascherle930]

Wow! What a handsome fellow, I’m excited to watch him progress!

[@complimentary_voucher]

What an awesome Spanish head on this guy. Thanks for these vids.

[@brettdavis1409]

Found ya on Tik Tok ma’am and now I’m here. Thanks for sharing his journey on these platforms. Much obliged from Texas ma’am

[@k.l.korsmo7597]

Love this!!! He is absolutely gorgeous ❤️

[@suzanneyoung8011]

The last part of the video was great. You've got a nice horse there. Can't wait to see him all cleaned up. With that height he looks a little like a Thoroughbred. At his age maybe he was a breeding stallion. If so, I hope he threw his color and his height onto his foals.

[@sidilicious11]

Very nice ending.

[@sstarkey1695]

He is gorgeous.

[@jodie4609]

Im still watching the video . Is that a bullet hole in the window ? I bet thats a story . Ive been to quens creek.almost 30 uears ago now .does it still have that special aroma ?

[@irishgirl4331]

He looks like he would be a good endurance horse just by his build👍

[@jillpayne2231]

He is beautiful!

[@Hypnoticgroove973]

Es increíble el parecido de estos caballos con el caballo marismeño y con el PRE 🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦

[@gypsyqueen3806]

His shape reminds me of an Andalusian!! He’s gorgeous!! Is he going to be for sale?

[@IsidroEspinozaHorsemanship]

He will sell at online auction after the makeover first week of August. Can find out more at www.mustangheritagefoundation.org

[@elizabethann9152]

Love his Roman nose.

[@jimmyyounger618]

Nice! And how lucky to land a stout 15 hand mustang! Mustang size is an obstruction for a lot of people who'd otherwise be interested in adopting a mustang. If you go by the 20% rule of thumb for rider weight, and half of American males over 20 are over 197 lbs, half of U.S. females over 170, mustangs aren't a fit not just for half the population, but most of the population. I'm following the online BLM Corral Event open right now. Sadly, it's more than halfway through, and out of 94 up for adoption, only 28 currently have bids. The largest horse in the line up is 14.2 hands and has 9 bids. Most of the others with bids are 14 hand, 2 year olds who'll likely grow to 14.2 and will have a little better frame with good nutrition. I did spot a 3 year old from a Utah HMA where I would have guessed a bigger horse than one from Nevada, but she's only 13.2 hands with a light medium frame. Color is also an attractant for bidders. Hopefully the multiple bidders on buckskins, black and a partly overo pattern horse will spread out and give homes to other horses near the close of the auction.

[@suzanneyoung8011]

I prefer a taller horse myself, but all the great reining Quarter Horses are hardly over 14 hands, and many are ridden by very tall men in the show ring. If the horse is stout enough it can carry a tall rider.

[@IsidroEspinozaHorsemanship]

The 20% rule is obsolete. Cannon bone circumference is a better and proven assessment. Otherwise, like the person commented, how do 14hh qtr horses with way less bone and hoof than a mustang, cart around 200+lb men? People’s obsession with height robs them from having some pretty amazing horses who could carry them with no issues.

[@jimmyyounger618]

@@suzanneyoung8011 Agree, but I think it's important to remember a lot of genetic selection with attention to nutrition and fitness has gone into their development. (Larry Trocha has an excellent video up about conformation for competitive AQHA horses.) Even with those advantages, suspensory ligament injuries at the top end of the cannon aren't unusual. Among injured futurity colts, barely more than 2/3rds can recover well enough to go forward. While I've had off and on interest in cutting and reining competition, and have two bred from those lines, (about to turn 18 without a day of lameness), the frequency of short careers or lameness issues turning up early was a possibility I didn't want to be responsible for. For me, it's not so much about what would probably be okay or what I could get away with, but a built in margin of sturdiness that I can feel confident is fair and friendly with decades of soundness in mind.

[@jimmyyounger618]

@@IsidroEspinozaHorsemanship True! But when I say what you said, experience taught me saying this has a chance of provoking too much discussion, perhaps because people want to maintain a perspective about what they already understand. How that discussion usually goes is that outside of Icelandics, Haflingers, Gypsies and so forth, height and cannon size *usually* correlate. A 14 hand Gypsy can carry a linebacker. A 14 hand foxtrotter - nope. I've argued your point from experience riding a thick quarter pony, even throwing in a smattering of physics with physiology to explain how his shorter legs reduce loading at joints. Same with his short back. (Physics 101: "The shorter the lever, the lower the stress at the fulcrum.") If anybody can explain why saying this irritates old hands, I'm all ears. 😄 I ultimately found something worth bookmarking to make everyone happy. No one has to abandon their long time understanding of the 20% rule, but can refine this perspective with consideration of the cannon circumference: "Researchers in Ohio found that loin width and cannon bone circumference relates to weight carrying capacity. Horses with wider loins and greater cannon bone circumferences had less muscle soreness as their weight load increased. This finding indicates the 20-percent rule is a good starting point." Key phrase: "Starting point." All that said, I didn't find the 20% generalization to be untrue in the case of roughly 100 mustangs when we traveled to the adoption event in Inola, OK. On the one hand, I could appear to contradict myself by pointing to the light framed arabs successfully competing in endurance with 20-30% of their weight aboard, but there's a lot more to why that works for them and shouldn't be used as an excuse to badly match horse and rider in general. For those of us in the 200 lb. class hoping to use our 40 lb. FQHB saddles, finding a match among mustangs is a challenge. The most impressive mustang I've ever seen was actually at the Inola event. He was ridden by the BLM hand working the alleys for load out. I asked... He's 16.2 hands, built, built, built - and an absolute sweetheart who followed me around the pen for more scratches. I won't live long enough to hold out for a mustang like that one, but my right mustang match of build and mind is out there somewhere. Quick final point: The Utah Onaqui herd was genetically diversified and improved by release of BLM stallions and mares selected to improve size and color. Not only did this improve adoptions, but the bids for some of the horses from that HMA ran into the thousands in the last online event, literally a price point for some AQHA prospect colts. For the good of mustangs going forward, more of that would probably be a good thing.

[@IsidroEspinozaHorsemanship]

@@jimmyyounger618 that’s a small pool of mustangs to draw a conclusion from. Horses from CA, OR and WY, oh and northern NV tend to be stout with size. My 14hh devils garden mare handles 230lbs with ease and my 15.1hh NV mustang struggles. She has bigger feet, bigger chest and barrel and thicker legs than him.

[@terrymeek3093]

When was this horse branded ? Do you do DNA testing to prove pure mustang or is it assumed they are ? I believe so many domesticated horses have been turned out through the yrs that the possibility of the bloodlines being mixed . I saw a documentary on the Wild horses that there was DNA drawn to see the percentages of mustang blood . He is very unique and beautiful, that Roman nose gives him such a strong bold look .

[@safarisal007]

Por qué no ablas en español bale

[@gracemoore3822]

I enjoy the work shown, however, you use the word whisker, uhmm a lot. This detracts from the quality of your discussion.