Mustangs put their best foot forward during meet and greet
Goal is to show adoption potential of formerly wild horses
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer
The spirit of the West was alive and well recently at Rick's Saddle Shop. Members of the American Mustang and Burro Association brought their formerly wild horses out for a meet and greet to show the public what pleasant riding animals they can become.

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Jamie Landriscina, 11, of Howell, says hello to Strawberry Shortcake on Aug. 3 during the New Jersey Mustang and Burro Association's visit to Rick's Saddle Shop in Upper Freehold.

Robin and Mike Rivello, South Brunswick, have been involved with mustangs for more than 20 years. They help the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency responsible for mustang adoptions, when the BLM holds adoptions in the East. Robin Rivello has written a guide for wild horse adopters and also trains the animals.

According to the BLM, a wild horse or burro, under federal law, is an unbranded, unclaimed, free-roaming horse or burro found on public lands in the United States. They are descendants of animals released or captured by Spanish explorers, ranchers, miners, the U.S. Cavalry and American Indians.

Mount Laurel's Barbara Adams pays a visit to one of the mustangs at Rick's Saddle Shop.

Under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the Department of the Interior's BLM and the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service are authorized to manage, protect and control wild horses and burros on public lands in order to ensure healthy herds and healthy rangelands.

Federal protection and a lack of natural predators have resulted in thriving wild horse and burro populations, and the BLM monitors rangelands and wild horse and burro herds to determine the number of animals the land can support.

Each year, the BLM gathers the excess wild horses and burros from areas where vegetation and water could become scarce with too many animals using the area. These excess animals are offered for adoption to qualified applicants through the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program.

Reid Totten runs the Big S Ranch in New Egypt with his business partner, Esther Ortz. He said he decided to get a mustang because he "didn't want anything ordinary." Mustangs are smarter than domestic horses, he said.

Monique Mastrapasqua, 14, of Annandale, rides Reno's Lucky Charm.

Totten brought his two mustangs, Sage and Smalls, to Rick's. He has had Sage, a bay gelding, for 10 years, and has done everything with him from English riding and roping to team penning and barrel racing. Smalls, a 19- year-old palomino gelding, was wild twice, according to Totten.

The horse was originally caught and broke to ride and used on a guide horse string in Colorado for a number of years. When the owner disbanded the outfit, he turned the horses loose again. By the time Totten got him, training had to start all over, but Smalls has become a good all-around horse as well.

Both horses are part of the lesson program at Big S Ranch, and 12-yearold Sara Demeter, Jacobstown, has leased Sage for the past two years. She called the mustangs good kids' horses, who know when an experienced rider is on them.

Totten, a farrier, said most mustangs have good strong feet and do not need shoes, although he did shoe Smalls when the horse was jumping a lot.

Robin Rivello said mustangs are intelligent, versatile and willing to do whatever is asked of them. They are a mix of many breeds, and a horse person could go to any BLM adoption and find the type of horse they want.

The ideal adopter is someone who is knowledgeable about horse training, or who has the assistance of a trainer and proper facilities, she said. For example, wild horses over the age of 18 months require a 6-foot tall fence when they are brought home, she said. Younger animals require a 5-foot tall fence, she said. Less knowledgeable people who want a mustang should buy one that is already gentled and trained, she said.

The BLM will hold an adoption on Aug. 22-24 at the Sussex Fair Grounds, 37 Plains Road, Augusta. There will be 70 animals ranging from yearlings to 5 years old, and adoptions are on a firstcome, first-served basis.

Among the horses for adoption are Soleil, a 2-year-old chestnut filly from Nevada. She has been gentled and loves people. She cross-ties, loads in a trailer, likes to be brushed, and is good about picking up her feet. Also available is Strawberry Shortcake, a paint strawberry roan yearling filly. This Nevada born girl is very sweet, loves to be brushed and fussed over, cross-ties, trailer loads, and picks up her feet. These fillies are available for adoption fees of $125 each from the BLM.

For more information, call 866- 4MUSTANGS or visit www.wildhorseandburro. blm.gov.