Spanish Mustangs

[Ponyman]

Guess I will be the first since I am a pretty horse crazy guy. I raise Spanish Mustangs in Wisconsin and the reason why I love them so is that they come in every color you could want a horse to be so whatever tickles your fancy you can find one. They are incredibly smart so once taught something they get it and can get mad at doing the same thing over and over again! They bond real hard with their owners, much like a dog so they are incredibly loyal and consider you part of the herd. They were raised for centuries to be war horses so they will fight for you, with you or against you if you choose to abuse them! They are smaller (14 - 14.3hh generally) so not as far to bounce from, run more efficient so you don't need to baby them and just don't seem to have many health problems. Hard feet so you don't have to shoe them in most situations and they can hold 1/3rd of their weight, not 1/2 like other breeds. They are tough, sane and quite possibly the best equine partner you could ever ask for if you want to spend the time with them! I could go on and on but if anybody ever has any questions about them I will be happy to help as much as I can and point you in the right direction! Right now I have 14 with 4 babies on the way in spring!

Ponyman

[spygrl]

Pictures Ponyman, we need pictures of your beauts.

4 babies on the way? Ahhhhh...... :)

[pancho]

Many years ago I bought several spanish mustangs from a man named Brislawn, spelling isn't right. He broke them himself. They could do it all, all day long. From working cattle to hunting off of.

[Ponyman]

Tell me more about your horses you got from the Brislawn's! This coming year marks the 50th year anniversary of the Spanish Mustang Registry and they are all of what you say and more! I'll be making the video!

Ponyman

[Ponyman]

Is there a way to post picture's here? And HOw if you can!?

Thanks,
Ponyman

[pancho]

Tell me more about your horses you got from the Brislawn's! *This coming year marks the 50th year anniversary of the Spanish Mustang Registry and they are all of what you say and more! *I'll be making the video!

Ponyman

From what I was told old man Brislawn was one of the most active in bringing the spanish mustang back. He was originally from Idaho or Wyoming. At one time he brought all of his mustangs to southeastern Okla. Along with his daughter and her husband. They lived there until his daughter and her husband had a child and he became old enough to start school.
Old man Brislawn was a normal man but his son in law was something different. He wore a cape and dress, never cut his hair or beard, and never wore shoes. He was a strange site but was one of the best horseman I have seen. He attempted to send his son to school naked. He never wore clothes for the first 5-6 years of his life. The child got on the school bus and went to school naked. When the school refused to let him attend without clothes they moved back west.
Back to the horses. Many people bought them for trail riding, cattle horses, and pleasure riding. They were great. Could work a quarter horse to death and live on leaves. Some outstanding colors also.
There is still some people breeding them around Medicine Springs, Okla. Have a yearly trailride and get together.

[spygrl]

Ponyman: Is there a way to post picture's here? And How if you can!?

Go to the General board. Find 'Photo' and click on that topic. Read the first introduction started by Rassd71. He explains it better than I could any day. I hope that helps. OK. :)

[spygrl]

Old man Brislawn was a normal man but his son in law was something different. *He wore a cape and dress, never cut his hair or beard, and never wore shoes. *He was a strange site but was one of the best horseman I have seen. *

He attempted to send his son to school naked. *He never wore clothes for the first 5-6 years of his life. *The child got on the school bus and went to school naked. *When the school refused to let him attend without clothes they moved back west.


Was the son-in-law a horse whisperer? Or is that a Hollywood make believe word? Blimey! Well perhaps he enjoyed being one with nature (nudist). ;D ;D ;D The description of these horses seem really lovely. I hope one day I can see one up close and personal. 8)

[pancho]

Was the son-in-law a horse whisperer? Or is that a Hollywood make believe word? Blimey! Well perhaps he enjoyed being one with nature (nudist). *;D ;D ;D *The description of these horses seem really lovely. I hope one day I can see one up close and personal. *8)
No, he was anything but a whisperer. I was watching him break a horse some one else had ruined. He walked into the pen with the horse and when the horse made a run at him he caught the horses ear in his teeth, swung onto his back, and rode him to a stand still. Without a single thing on the horse. In 30 minutes he rode the horse out of the pen still without even a rope on it.
According to some who raise the spanish mustang they come in all colors except the black. Although there is a certain bloodline that is black with a faint stripping on the hind quarters.
I don't know that much about them but have owned a few. My father owns one now.

[pancho]

Just did a search on the spanish mustang. Robert Brislawn was the founder of the Spanish Mustang Registry, in 1957. We called him Mr. Bob. Born in 1890 and started the registry with 2 horses.
Interesting read. It didn't say anything about the son in law.

[Ponyman]

Pancho...

I am guessing you are talking about his son, Neil! Neil dances to the beat of a different drummer that is for sure but he also at one time was a heck of a rider and has written some beautiful articles about these horses. Last time I saw him he was wearing a long dresslike robe thing and yes they did stay at Medicine Springs with Gilbert Jones and his family for a while. He has taken to spelling his name like it was when they came over from Ireland and how Marguerite Henry spelled it in her thanks when she wrote about the medicine hat stallion San Domingo. O'Breaslain or something similar.

The SMR split around 1976 or so and Gilbert formed his own group, the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association and it is still going strong today with a lot of good mustangers in the Oklahoma area. They just had their playday a few weeks back!

When I have the time I will post a few pics of my spanish mustangs and share the story of Shooter with you. What line does your dad have today?

Ponyman

[pancho]

Pancho...

I am guessing you are talking about his son, Neil! *Neil dances to the beat of a different drummer that is for sure but he also at one time was a heck of a rider and has written some beautiful articles about these horses. *Last time I saw him he was wearing a long dresslike robe thing and yes they did stay at Medicine Springs with Gilbert Jones and his family for a while. *He has taken to spelling his name like it was when they came over from Ireland and how Marguerite Henry spelled it in her thanks when she wrote about the medicine hat stallion San Domingo. *O'Breaslain or something similar.

The SMR split around 1976 or so and Gilbert formed his own group, the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association and it is still going strong today with a lot of good mustangers in the Oklahoma area. *They just had their playday a few weeks back!

When I have the time I will post a few pics of my spanish mustangs and share the story of Shooter with you. *What line does your dad have today?

Ponyman

Yes , my mistake. Neal was his son, not son in law. That was many years ago. Neal and his wife lived just up the road from us. He had a very nice , and nice looking, wife.
I knew Gilbert also. He used to work at a slaughter house and owned a jeep pickup which he needed to get through the roads up to Sedicine springs. He had 2 barrels in the back of the jeep that he filled with the slaughter scraps for his dogs. No one ever knew how many he had. All I know is if you made it up the road to Medicine Springs you would be met with 50-75 dogs.
I was born and raised in Finley and knew all the people in the area. I was well aquainted with the Carters who were neighbors also.

[mistyriver]

When I was reading about them on the Spanish Mustang Registry website, it says they are not to be confused with BLM mustangs. I wonder why a BLM mustang couldn't be a Spanish mustang if the Spanish mustangs are/were feral also? Here is my 11 year old daughter's 14H mustang eventing pony:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/lisainnorthidaho/IMG_0333.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/lisainnorthidaho/prettypony.jpg
And in action (that's her trainer yelling at her):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/lisainnorthidaho/th_MVI_0329.jpg (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/lisainnorthidaho/?action=view&current=MVI_0329.flv)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/lisainnorthidaho/th_MVI_0319.jpg (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/lisainnorthidaho/?action=view&current=MVI_0319.flv)

[pancho]

The spanish mustang was kept more or less pure. The blm mustangs were feral horses but many draft studs were released to increase the size. Most of the blm mustangs have draft in them. The spanish mustang supposedly does not.

[mistyriver]

There's no draft in our little mare. She's been described as looking like a "tiny thoroughbred".

[Ponyman]

It all depends on what was released into an area to make the wild horses there more marketable. Lot's of thoroughbred calvery remounts were released into herds as well. What the Brislawns and men like Gilbert Jones did was collect good Spanish Mustang horses from rural areas and indian tribes that still had them from as far back as the 1920's and try and preserve them. They spent their entire lives trying to save this breed. There is documentation as to the different herd management areas as to what was released into it and the SMR or any other group isn't putting down any herd management blm horse at all, they just aren't Spanish Mustang. Many of us raise BLM's as well or this was how we got into the SM's and we all think they are wonderful animals! There are 2 or 3 herds right now that still a horse can come from and be inspected and maybe pass into the SMR. The Sulphur and the Cerbat's are the 2 that come to mind and both are still very remote areas. I have a blm sulphur and think she's as spanish as they come!

Very nice horse you have and I bet they make a great pair!

Ponyman

[Ponyman]

There are lot's of great Choctaw and Cherokee aka Chickasaw horses in that area and I am told the Carter family raised some of the best around! Do you still have horses in your life? In this day and age not knowing what may come tomorrow I can't imagine not going through it without a spanish mustang! I had elbow surgery a little over a year ago and before they knew what it was it was just a tumor in my elbow... quite the shock to be sure... I came home and just walked around the horses for comfort and they all flocked around me like they knew I needed them... even more then usual like they were gonna protect me. Even one of my studs, Black Sparrow Hawk who basically just tolerates my attentions... I walked into his pen and was talking to him as best as I could in the situation and he just walked up to me, put his head over my shoulder and rested his neck against me and let me get it all out of my system for about 20 minutes. He didn't move a muscle and a Sherman Tank couldn't have come close to me. A week or so later I found out it was benign and a few weeks after that I had surgery to remove and reconstructive surgery to fix what the tumor ate away and the elbow is about 90% or as good as it is gonna get... but what I am getting at is these horses seem to have a better sense of self, awareness of how you feel and what you need and once bonded to you nothing but your own stupidity will break it! They can smell electricity in an electric fence, can unlock every gate or crawl through any fence without a scratch and ride for 100 miles any day of the week....

Ponyman

[pancho]

My father who still lives in Finley, Okla. has a spanish he is trying to give to me. He raised it when the mare died. He is a great little horse but my father is 82 and thinking he should slow down. I won't take the horse as I think that is one of the things that keep my father going.
Nothing is better for a mans inside than the outside of a horse.

[Ponyman]

I agree with you Pancho... Dad should keep the horse as long as he can. They both probally have a special relationship and would suffer without each other... I know the colt I raised after his dam rejected him loves me more then anything in the world and will come running when I call him! Although nothing is stopping you from getting one of your own either! If you are still in OK there are plenty of good breeders and horses still around and in any flavor you want!

I am more of a spiritual guy then a fall asleep in church kind of guy and I know I never feel closer to God then when I am sitting on a horse. Don't know what it is but everything that doesn't matter seems to melt away and what does matter doesn't stress me as much! I am hoping Shooter grows enough for me to actually make him my full time riding partner as nothing much fazes him and it would be fun traveling around this wonderful country and seeing it with him! His legs seemed to fill out this summer and grow bone (get thicker) so I know he is getting close but like a fine wine it takes time for these Spanish Mustangs to grow and age... but when they do they are special!

Neil had a nice article in this last Newsletter of the SMR. I think written a while back and reprinted, but I just got my copy last night! Their is an online one that can be sent if you are interested in seeing it... just let me know!

Ponyman

[jim]

So what does a decent unbroken one cost.

[Ponyman]

Generally you can find one for $500-$1,200 and there are plenty of good one's out there for $500. It all depends on where they are located. If you are looking I can help point you in the right direction! Good Luck!

Ponyman

[Ponyman]

In my first post I meant to say the Spanish Mustangs can carry 1/3rd of their weight on their back, not 1/4 like other breeds... and I am sure their are exceptions to every horse and I am sure I have pushed that envelope on many an occasion myself!

Ponyman

[jim]

What would you estiamte the weight being of the 15hh to 16hh Mustangs that some of the Oklahoma folks have on hand?

jim

[Ponyman]

That's big for a spanish mustang. Generally they top out at 15hh and 1000lbs roughly... there is always exceptions to that rule but I would say the average for a SM is 900lbs and 14.1 or 2hh and could carry a 250lb man and his gear all day long everyday without it being drudgery!

If they are in the 15-16hh range then they have to be getting in the 1,100 - 1,200lb range I would guess and probally come from BLM stock which may have some thoroughbred calvary remount stock or draft and whatever else people put in there to try and modernize the herd! Nothing wrong with them although it can be a little harder to know what you got when you adopt that cute little colt and he grows up to be 16hh when you were expecting something a tad smaller!

Ponyman

[jim]

My understanding is that these Mustangs are pretty pure, and most of them were from the Cheyenne tribes that got settled in Okla. Can't remember the name of the org. but the founder was serious about saving pure mustangs.

Thanks for the ratios.

jim

[spygrl]

I like your horse DULZURA (Honey)--what a beaut! :)

[Ponyman]

I just recently read that another calculation is that they can carry 40% of their weight, not 30% like other breeds... so any way you slice it they can carry a lot. So a 900lb horse could carry 360lbs vs 270lbs or a 1000lb horse could carry 400lbs vs 300lbs... I think that 900 lb horse ratio is pretty accurate as I have seen some smaller horses sure carry a load and hardly break a sweat!

Thanks for the kudo's on Dulzura. She is one built to carry the mail so to speak! About 14.1hh and solid as a rock! She may get some training done to ride this summer as well!

Many of the horses in the breed have San Domingo blood in them so if you ever read the Marguerite Henry book "San Domingo, the Medecine hat stallion" it was based on a real horse named San Domingo from the Brislawn ranch in Oshoto, Wyoming!

Duane

[jim]

These animals sound better all the time. My son was trying to get me to buy him one, and I probably will. Just have to get something that he can grow into.

jim