Projects
Rescue•Train•Re-home
PROGRAM
Our goal is both to preserve the rare Spanish Mustang population while at the same time bringing unwanted horses to the forefront of society by proper training and thoughtful
re-homing.
Many of the already rare Spanish Mustangs have fallen to the wayside from neglect, mistreatment, or abuse ending with either being euthanized or worse, sent to slaughterhouses. Since finding Spanish Mustangs that are well trained is already a rarity, we will be concentrating on training the rescued horses in the discipline that they seem most suited for. At times, this can be a slow and difficult process due to the trauma they have experienced, making it financially and practically unfeasible for many trainers.
All too often, the problem with the homes they are rescued from is a lack of attention to the individual potential of each horse. Thanks to your support, the Spanish Mustang Foundation is able to rescue Spanish Mustangs, train them to be more suitable adoptees, and re-home them once trained in the discipline they are most suited for, based on individual personality and conformation.
Part of the training process will involve using them in the Spanish Mustang Foundation sponsored horsemanship clinics, SOAR horse camp for kids, public demonstrations and Equine Assisted Learning Programs.
With this program we will save the lives of many Spanish Mustangs. We will help put them on the map as a valuable asset to individuals and the horse world, and “educate the public about the Spanish Mustang and the need to protect and perpetuate the breed”.
What do you get for your tax-deductible donation? The horses get a new chance at life. Few things are so valuable. We will also keep you personally up to date as to the progress of the horse you are sponsoring whether it be the training or just recuperating out in the pasture with the other horses.
Horses that need your help!
Our rescued horses need sponsorship on all levels. The Rescue—Train—Re-home Program is in its pilot stages.
We need to show the program is feasible and can actually help save some Spanish Mustangs. Its success is largely dependent upon the public. The Spanish Mustang Foundation guarantees their safety and training but for it to be an ongoing program it will need the support from you.
Rawhide, prior to rescue
Rawhide, June 2013
Chino and Adam, ready for a ride.
Rawhide is an average sized, black rabicano colored Spanish Mustang. He was recently surrendered and has suffered an incredibly tough life thus far. He was part of a seizure of 69 horses in South Dakota due to starvation. Rawhide came severely malnourished and quite sick, with a bad reputation of striking out and charging.
Rawhide has been coming along really well. A visiting friend of the Spanish Mustang Foundation did an animal communication session with him. The next day, was one of those days that everything changed. His whole mannerism was different. Starting when he went into the round pen to get worked, he didn’t even poop. He was rubbed all over with the saddle pad, ropes were rubbed over every square inch of him. Then we went for a jog together, over jumps, around barrels, backing over cavaletti, starting and stopping on a dime. It seemed like he was actually having fun for the first time with humans! We still have a lot of work to do, but now we know that there is a tremendous athlete in there and he wants to come out. We will get you there my friend!
Our first Rescue—Train—Re-home
success story!
Chino was surrendered to us this past winter very spooky, afraid of humans, and unpredictable, to the extent that if we didn’t take him the owner was going to put him down. We let Chino decide when he was ready to form relationships with humans again. We have been working with him since then starting by desensitizing him to ropes and working all the way up to competing in his first endurance race this May.
Chino is a remarkably kind horse that has good go in him. He likes to be talked to in a kind way and have a lot of fun. His bloodlines go back to some legendary endurance racehorses. His Great Grandpa was San Domingo of Marguerite Henry’s book “San Domingo Medicine Hat Stallion”. He, like many Spanish Mustangs, is a fancy mover and will excel in many disciplines. His beautiful and flashy looks make him appear to be a White Spanish Mustang, but he is actually a perlino. Perlino horses are less likely to sunburn because the skin is peach colored as opposed to the pink skin of a true white horse.
Chino has been a real pleasure to work with and ride. For several months we did just what wasn’t done to him in the past, ignored him. One day, it just happened. Chino changed his mind and we were riding him the next day. We spent 3 months working with Chino and rode him in a 35 mile endurance race. Chino is real gem because he actually wants to do really well.
Finding Chino a good home was not a problem. He is now living with a great family of horse people in really rugged New Mexico country and gets frequent riding. He is very loved by his newly adopted family.
Youth Horse Camp
The Spanish Mustang Foundation is hosting a summer day camp, Summer Of Awareness Riding (SOAR), to educate participants on the practices of ground training & riding working with Spanish Mustang horses.
SOAR has created a fun educational environment where youths not only learn about horses and horsemanship, but also themselves through the time they spend at camp. They will walk away from camp with a new confidence gained from working with horses. Through the guidance offered from experienced and compassionate camp professionals, the youths will be able to work with horses in a variety of different disciplines allowing each of them to find their own voice and passion with the horses.
There are many ways to approach riding, but at SOAR we focus on campers creating a solid relationship between themselves and the horse. Campers are taught how to communicate with horses using non-verbal communication. They are never simply riding a horse, they are listening to what their four-legged partner is saying while communicating finely tuned riding cues to accomplish a desired goal.
SOAR is for youths ages 6-18 who have the desire to learn about horses and horsemanship.
Using Robin Doughman’s existing philosophy, modality, and outline for his youth clinics we will add elements of riding, horse care and anatomy.
Daily exercises include time with Robin, practicing groundwork, riding, and lunch. Weekly experiences include goal setting, trail ride, give back time, and a horse ‘show and tell’.
Summer Of Awareness Riding aims to provide all students the opportunity to learn about themselves. SOAR will also fulfill the mission statement of the Spanish Mustang Foundation; “Educating the public about the Spanish Mustang horse and the need to protect and perpetuate the breed.”
SOAR Camp is located 20 miles South of Santa Fe on Hwy 41, just North of Galisteo. If you live in the Santa Fe area and would like to join us, please fill out the SOAR registration form. We look forward to hearing from you!
All 2014 Sessions are filled.
Return of the Horse
If You View Mustangs as Livestock Gone Wrong—Hold onto Your Horses!
RETURN OF THE HORSE (2012, Runtime 61 minutes, Spanish Mustang Foundation) chronicles the North American horse as it became one of the most significant animals in human history—the virtual engine of civilization: moving material, plowing fields and propelling large armies to victory. The horse returned home to America with Spanish explorers, quickly re-adapting to its native habitat and developing into a distinct breed commonly known as the Mustang.
"‘Return of the Horse’ is a beautiful object of art and thought and combines scientific and historical precision with artful film making; that's a rare thing. And the music...!"
Dan Flores, University of Montana
RETURN OF THE HORSE premiered to a sold out crowd in Santa Fe on August 27th at CCA and proceeded to win Best Animal Full Length Documentary at the Montana Cine International Film Festival. Its next stop is at the prestigious Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, where it will close the museum’s exhibit "A Song for the Horse Nation". Screenings are scheduled for January 6-7, 2013.
"This horse transformed hunting, it transformed travel, it transformed warfare."
Emil Her Many Horses, Curator, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
This powerful documentary traces the origins of the modern horse, explores its pivotal role in the settling of our country, and examines the fate of Mustangs in their native homeland.
"The Horse, Equus caballus, is perhaps the oldest native North American large mammal alive today."
Ross MacPhee, Ph.D., Curator, Department of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History.
Yet, rather than being celebrated as one of America's oldest and most successful native species, the wild horse is under constant assault as it is perceived as competing with cattle and big game animals.
RETURN OF THE HORSE takes an unflinching look at how the Euro-American relationship to land collided with migratory Indians, buffalo and wild horses. The film investigates the slaughter of Indian horses as a military tactic as well as the extermination of horses belonging to Native Americans on reservations. It reviews historical efforts by the U.S. government to eradicate wild horses and takes a hard look at current policy, which holds more than half of America's wild horses in containment facilities.
RETURN OF THE HORSE is a gripping and long overdue portrait of America’s most controversial native wildlife species. Above all it is the story of perseverance. The North American horse has been pursued by saber-toothed tigers, eaten by predators with stone tipped spears, poisoned, run off cliffs and hunted from aircraft, yet it still survives — wild, in its native homeland.
About the Filmmakers
Sharon Eliashar is a filmmaker and musician with strong background in ethnomusicology. Leo Hubbard is a writer, artist and retired architect. Both live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For more information, visit www.returnofthehorse.com
Spanish Mustang Foundation
The Executive Producer is the Spanish Mustang Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about the Spanish Mustang and the need to protect and perpetuate the breed.
Brislawn Family
The film was produced with the assistance of the Brislawn family of the Cayuse Ranch in Wyoming. Bob Brislawn was one of the first non-native people to begin saving the Spanish Mustang and along with his son, Emmet, helped found the Spanish Mustang Registry.
Screenings
If you would like to see the film or to host a screening in your area please email us at info@spanishmustangfoundation.org.
Presentations
Here at The Spanish Mustang Foundation, we believe that education of the public about the Spanish Mustang is essential to the preservation of the breed. Our focus has therefore been directed at collecting and distributing educational materials to the public about the Spanish Mustang, the qualities of the breed, and of the legacy this amazing horse has left throughout the entirety of our nation's history.
We are currently working to partner with schools and museums to spread and awareness of the Spanish Mustang to a much wider audience than perhaps has been reached before.
Spanish Mustang Foundation Youth Clinics
During the spring and summer of 2010, the Spanish Mustang Foundation hosted SMF Youth Clinics with trainer, Robin Doughman. Scholarships were awarded to nine students for the summer sessions this year. The foundation is reaching out to children, the next generation, so they can understand the history and the nature of Spanish Mustang horse.
The first two clinics focused on five ground-work maneuvers with a rope that build communication skills and provide a safe environment for the child and horse. Leadership capabilities are developed when the child achieves a mastery regarding the following core skills.
• Leading
• Backing
• Turning the front end
• Disengaging the hind quarters
• Moving the shoulders
In June the clinic was located at the Little Cayuse Ranch where the children had the opportunity to ride. This experience brought about a deeper connection that lead to a feeling of partnership between rider and horse. The connection between the horse and its partner reveals the healing power of horses. Horsemanship based on a natural partnership is a technique with many rewards. It can build confidence and patience that can lead to self-worth.
Students, Lillawah Andes and Rhiannon Doughman, expressed their experiences so well that we have decided to share them here.
I love the horses and people at the Spanish Mustang Foundation. All of my experiences with them have been wonderful. I work with a mare named Nahpi and she is a bay Spanish Mustang. She is sweet, willing to work, and well-tempered. Robin Doughman is a very nice and gifted man and all the horses love him. Every girl gets to work with one assistant per clinic along with Robin, the main teacher. I’ve worked with Donna and other wonderful assistants. I am grateful that the Foundation let me work with their great horses and people and I appreciate it very much.
Lillawah Andes, age 11
I love the Spanish Mustang Foundation because it gives me an opportunity to work with horses more often. It also gives me a chance to practice what I already know, but still learn new techniques with the horses and the rope. It’s a wonderful, fun, and educating program for all ages. Another reason I love it so much is that I get a chance to work with my grandfather (Papa, as I call him) on something we both enjoy very much. There are so many wonderful, caring people to work with; Sandy, Muriel, and Donna are just a few. My papa is the main guy though. I’ve worked with him not only at the clinic but my whole life. (THANKS PAPA!!) I’ve been working with a horse named Noway. She is a very nicely trained, caring horse that I have found pretty easy to work with in most aspects.
SO A BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE SPANISH MUSTANG FOUNDATION!
Rhiannon Doughman, age 15
We thank Robin Doughman for his careful instruction given to each student and their horse, and all the volunteers who donate their time. A special thank you also goes to the Spanish Mustang horses that made these clinics the extraordinary experiences that they were!
Robin Doughman gives private and group lessons, and presents clinics on horsemanship that increase safety and promote a deeper understanding of and communication with horses. Call 505.466.1549 or email robindoughman@aol.com to schedule an appointment, class or clinic.
Copyright © 2014 The Spanish Mustang Foundation. All rights reserved.