During the summer of 07, I camped out on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation while I worked on my Senior Research project for school. I will have more to follow on my research, and also some of the adventures I had over the summer. This time I would like to write about a friend I acquired over the summer. His name is Thunder and he is a 2 yr old mustang paint. I bought him from a friend, and he came from a mostly wild herd. I remember the first day I saw him, and I knew he was the one I wanted for my first horse.

I was out in the pasture to find him and visit him daily. All I could think on these visits was I wanted to touch him. I was not able to find him or the herd that he ran with every day. On the fifth day and my third visit, I was able to touch him. I ran my hand down his back. I was so excited and happy. After that day I was not able to find the herd for three days. On my next visit, I was able to touch his face. I could tell he was a smart horse.

About ten days after our first meeting, some friends helped me to wrangle the herd and bring them to the corral that had been lined up for training. Most of the herd had been cut loose except for him, his mother, and another horse. As they neared the corral, he broke loose from his mother and the other horse, and to everyone’s surprise, he went straight into the corral. About ten that morning he was in the round pen, and I began to gain his trust more, it was him and I without the rest of the herd. I spent the whole day with him. By two in the afternoon, I was able to get a halter on him, and by three, I was leading him around. After that fifth visit, I knew he was a smart horse, and on this day, it was confirmed that he was smart, and a fast learner. The next three days were spent almost entirely with him. The second day, I was able to put a blanket on him, and lead him that way. A friend was curious to see if he would take a bit, and he did, with no fuss. After the first three days of training, I visited him twice daily for the rest of that week.

I went in the morning to feed and water him, and also to check on his wellbeing. In the evenings, I would work with him for an hour to two hours, feed and water him, and tell him I would be back the next day. I had concerns about the condition of his feet and arranged to have his hooves clipped and filed. His right rear had been split pretty bad, and that leg also showed some swelling. The day after his hooves were straightened up, he was given 15cc of penicillin.

After his feet were worked on, I decided to give him a short break from training so his leg and foot might feel a little better. I let him out to roam and grave with some of the other horses that hung out around the corral. After letting him out, he went right for the gate that we had herded him through a week earlier. Some one had forgotten to latch the gate, and by the time we got over to the gate, he was through it and walking up the road toward where he had come from. I went through the fence, and followed some trees and got up to the road ahead of him. He had no halter, and we had no rope, but my friend took of his belt and slipped it around his neck. We used that belt around his neck, and led him back through the gate. We were relieved to get him that easy. He spent the rest of the day near the gate, and that night, he went to the corral on his own. I had no intention of keeping him in the corral but he was comfortable there. The next day he went out with the local herd. I walked around the hills to find him, and he nickered when he saw me, and came right over. He would almost always spend his days out, but come in the evening. I let him run for the rest of the summer while I finished my research, and could make boarding arrangements in Rapid City. Three days before we were to trailer him to Rapid, I brought his halter and rope out with me as I walked the hills looking for him. I found him about a half mile from the corral, and haltered him and led him down to the corral for our next part of our training. I had no idea how I would get him to get into a trailer. I started first with a railroad tie that I would lead him over many times both directions until I could tell he was comfortable stepping over it. I did not have a trailer to use at all because the trailer we were going to use wouldn’t be available until the day we planed to move him. Other than that, I just spent almost two whole days with him. The morning the trailer arrived, it was a little bit of a chore, but after about thirty min, he was loaded. The trip to rapid went smoothly. When we got to Rapid we took him to the vet for his first shots, and to get a quick looking at. The vet said he looked good but needed de-wormed for bots. We took him up to his new home, and I waited with him for a few hours until he seemed somewhat adjusted. The following took place Aug and early Sept. He was only about 900 lbs, still had problems with thrush in all four feet, and some swelling in his right rear leg.

These pictures of his feet were taken about mid Sept, the week after we brought him to rapid. Since I got him to Rapid he has adjusted quite well. We have reduced the thrush, gotten rid of the bots, and have had his feet worked on again. He is now about 1200 lbs, and has filled out nice. The swelling is gone in his leg and he dose have a nice set of legs on him. We now have him on a schedule for his feet, de-worming and vet visits.

Thunder is a late foal, and just turned 2 mid Oct to mid Nov. He is still a stud, and I am waiting until Srring to decide if I want to have him gilded. I really enjoy working with Thunder in my spare time. Next summer I will start doing some more intensive lead training with him. I am hoping to start breaking him to ride the later part of next summer. He is a great horse and I am very happy to have him as a friend.

He gets really excited when I take him out to run in the arena. He likes to buck around, run, and even show off by prancing a little. The later pictures were taken by my brother with his cell phone. I hope to be pasting some better quality photos later and more updates.