A Tale from Horse Lover's Magazine - September 1952

We were recently going through some old magazines that we keep for our guests and came across a really interesting article. Some might bristle at parts of this account but if you’ll keep an open mind, you will find some gems of knowledge and some insights into how people from the not so distant past regarded their horses. I thought this would make a worthy first blog post and I hope you enjoy it like I did.

OUR MUSTANGS ARE STILL WILD AND WOOLY

BY E.BRYAN GASSER

“Louis Lemaire, beloved wit and sage of Battle Mountain, Nevada, who is currently enjoying his vigorous eighties, remembers when he and the boys gathered as mantas 2500 mustangs in a single gather. In those days back around 1908 they sold at a very elastic rate of pay; some for as little as $1.00; many went to the army remount depot for a fair price - others sold locally and nearby for drayage, buggies, etc.

Max, mustang all his life, recalls “Southern chunks,” chunky little mustang mares used in the south for begetting mules, then much in demand for $35.00 and $40.00.

Max caught Big Brother for us by methods used by most lone mustangs of the old days as well as to-day. Not concerned with chicken feeders they are always on the lookout for likely individuals for their own breeding purposes, or for sale as stock horses. When he spots a promising horse or two in a given band he leaves his own broncs somewhere nearby and proceeds to break up the band by skillful running into and through areas where the topography forces them to divide, and by confusing them with gunfire. When the wanted horse has been cut out from the band the chase really begins.

Roping is out of the question at this stage of the game, and the object is to keep the horse continually on the fun until it is exhausted enough to be maneuvered into the mustang’s own bunch of gentled horses, called the “Parada:, who are then herded into the catch corral with no objections from the wild horse. Such a chase can cover as many as three or four days as in the case of the capture of Big Brother. The rider, of course changes mounts as often as is feasible, and as the wild horse seldom runs out of his home territory, an area covering roughly twenty miles or so, it is comparatively easy to tire him enough to use the “Parada” - providing of course, you can stick a few days of plenty rough riding and no sleep.

The mustang then loses no time in introducing his catch to saddle, bridle and rider. There’s no monkeying around with sandbags and gunny sacks and other devices to get the horse used to the idea of a rider. Generally the whole works goes on at once and strangely enough the horse more often than not, accepts this as part of the general confusion it’s been under since the chase began and by the time it has overcome its fright and worry it is already broke, quite often with nary a buck. I’ve seen this happen over and over. Big Brother never bucked a step and Jack walked out with a big hump under his saddle for two or three days but never cut loose. Lots of them do put on a small rodeo but seldom for more than the first day. It doesn’t seem to take them long to realize that the scary saddle-man smell is also the good hay-grain smell and not bad at all once you accept it.

The so called “outlaws” that never do accept them and and saddle are usually rather scatter brained individuals, suffering from an unreasoning fear that won’t let them recognize the signs of kindness and firm command that the others are so quick to grasp. Trying to beat them into submission only increases the mad fear and is apt to create one of those demoniacal killers we hear about or at worst a broken spirited old plug - one wouldn’t want anyway. Some times a very long period of captivity with gentled horses, receiving some daily watering or feed will tend to calm this type, but unless time and patience are unlimited it is better to turn such a horse loose again.

Once broken the mountain mustang can’t be beat for sure-footed endurance and is much in demand for stock horses in these parts. Frequently coloring and conformation puts him on par with the quarter horses and others bred particularly for handling stock. Color varies with locale. In the hills they are mostly blacks and bays, although a palomino stud was lost in this vicinity by a neighboring rancher and the chances are some color may be showing up in the next gather. Across the flats on Wild Horse Range and Kane Mountain, color runs rampant and many pintos are seen.

Louis Lemaire told me when they were making their big gather long ago, one of the boys would ride in and tell about a beautiful black stud he’d seen while the next might be raving about a pure white stud he’d seen. When the gather was completed they found to their amazement a stud whose one side was coal black and the other side was solid white, surely one of the strangest markings on record anywhere!

The modern mustang is a little better horse than his predecessor due mainly to the carelessness of ranchers and to the chicken feeder, however deplorable, whose actions break up herds and discourage inbreeding. Our own canyon is too steep for professional mustangs and chicken feeders - and we sometimes get some very miserable examples of inbreeding - a recent stallion - and you couldn’t begin to guess he was a stud on sight - looked somewhat related to a camel with a large ungainly head and a humped back, heavy legs with large feet but weak hind quarters, slender neck and no jaw line. His eyesight was so impaired that although his eyes appeared normal, he could apparently only make out masses and not detail, almost walking into you before his nose or sense of feel told him you were there and he’s snort in fright.

After the first World Ware - lots of ranchers took government thoroughbred stallions for breeding their own stock and raising horses for remount service. They were required to keep such stallions enclosed at all times, but their get roamed the range at will, thus raising the standard of mustang wherever they happened to meet.

There is a good deal of hullabaloo about special breeding for certain traits. Granted some breeds tend to have more stamina or speed or agility, etc., etc., still and all any one or combination of traits can be found in individual horses quite regardless of breed. We’re satisfied to leave the Morgans, Arabians, Thoroughbreds, yes even Quarter Horses to “them as can afford them,” the breeders of pure bred, showmen and race track blue bloods. For working stock, siring draft colts, mounting the dudes and for all around dependable, practical ranch work and pleasure horses, we’re satisfied to catch ‘em wild and woolly from the mustang herds.”

Well that wraps up our first installment. I hope you enjoyed the story. Please let me know if you have any topics that you’d like us to cover. Pat loves the history of the west specifically California and Nevada. Drop me a line with your suggestions at debpuckett@gmail.com. Thank you and we hope to hear from you!