Meet my NEW wild mustang, Merlin!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Meet my new wild mustang, a 4 year old, 14.3 hand gelding from Devil's garden. This wild horse had his first touch and wore a halter for the first time! Subscribe to follow this handsome guy on his training journey!
ABOUT THIS CHANNEL
My name is Britta and this is my experience as an everyday person learning how to train mustangs. I’m what I call a “project equestrian” This is not training advice or recommendations, and many of the methods you see will be changing over the course of time as I continue to learn and grow.
🎥WATCH THE TRANSFORMATIONS🎥
Libby: • LIBBY
Freeda: • FREEDA
Sparrow: • SPARROW
Merlin: • MERLIN
Jaeger: • JAEGER
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00:00 the background story
01:07 the gray arrives in Vermont
02:28 Name reveal!
03:58 The gentling begins with positive reinforcement
08:38 Preparing to halter
09:36 Haltering for the first time
Learn more about the Devil's garden virtual adoption events:
Adopting a Devil's Garden Wild Mustang || How the virtual adoption process works! • Adopt a Wild Mustang f...
Rising Action Mustang Society:
risingactionmu...
Mustang Camp:
www.mustangcam...
Go to the US Forest Service website:
www.fs.usda.go...
He seems to enjoy the training, I like seeing what you call mistakes, it’s how we learn.
Great job at developing tools for building trust and communication. Mistakes happen,don’t be over critical of your work. I believe that failure is often the path towards success. Progress not perfection creates magic with Merlin. Your doing something few ever will. I’m grateful to be able to see your journey.
Merlin is so sweet-what a smart boy!!!!!!!!!!
What a sweet, smart little boy! He’s obviously really relaxed and happy around you!
What a lovely little mustang 🥰 a good friend of mine has gentled a nice mare with a sweet disposition like Merlin 🧙♀️ thank you for being so transparent with your mistakes, it really helps a lot to show that none of us are perfect and it’s still possible to do this even when we make mistakes ❤
Congrats! He’s Adorable! ❤
Great lesson session! 👏
I'm not an expert, but I am only 71 years old and had horses since I was in my teens on and off. I think that what works for you is the best thing to do
Now you got me wanting to adopt a mustang, lol. But I don't think my boy would be too happy with me about it!!🤣
Gurl- DO NOT BE EMBARRASSED ABOUT YOUR MISTAKES
These are the very best lessons for all of us
The best in you tube teaching
And ADORE the name Merlin!!
Hopefully in the next year we can do the same
Dream plan do!!
Merlin is BEAUTIFUL
AND CRIED WHEN YOU WON HIM♥️♥️♥️
Britta I love you 😂😂😂 and this video! Honestly thanks for including all of your mistakes I think it’s helpful! And it’s honest- we all have to go through the process. He is such a cutie!!! What a different experience than sparrow. You have two gorgeous horses!!!
Through you i am filling one of my items on my bucket list. Thank you. Keep up the good work.
Oh my gosh, Merlin is too stinkin' adorable! He already wants to connect with you and really seems open to anything you want to do with him. What a nice boy! He's going to be a really good one!! Can't wait to see your journey with him!🥰❤🐎🐎
of all the wild mustang videos ive seen over different creators, he seems very intelligent... Like, wayy more than most I've seen. His attention to queues is amazing
It's so crazy how entirely different these last two mustangs are! Complete opposites! Merlin seems like such a sweetheart! :D
SO different! Nothing beats a horse being ready lol
@@TheProjectEquestrian No kidding! Its always such a relief if you have one who's taking things more slowly, to then also have one who's super ready to go, I think! :D
@@bethanys-herd Yess, 100%! Honestly that's why I got 2 mustangs when I first started out! I figured if I was having difficulty with one, I may have more success with the other 😂
He is such a sweety pie, smart and well behaved. I noticed instead of a star, Merlin has a snowflake, appropriate since he arrived in a winter storm. Can't wait to see him all cleaned up.
I'll start with a negative comment: you don't train horse from across the fence! Being that sadd, your videos are a breath of fresh air!! Admire your enthusiasm positive attitude and obvious love, which creates connection !! Thank you for your work,
GOD BLESS!!!
Oh he’s fitting right in! He seems really smart and fun.
Love your honesty too, very brave, especially on a public forum.
The name really suits him too.
Thank you!!
Wow, it's crazy how much different he is than Sparrow. Shows that every horse has a different personality! He is so cute and love the name! Don't worry about your mistakes, everyone makes them. You're doing great!
thank you! :)
Looooooove him! So excited!
He looks great! Have fun and don't beat yourself up! Everyone has to learn! Nice name!
Merlin! I LOVE that name. He looked amazing with his sleek summer coat but he is just the most adorable thing in the world when he's shaggy😍🤗
Haha I’m eagerly awaiting that summer coat again!
He seems to enjoy the training, I like seeing what you call mistakes, it’s how we learn. He’s an eager student! I think he loves you!
Merlin is doing SO good
My gf suggested doing a mural of all of the mustangs and adding the tags in a way so they stay around their individual necks and makes it more realistic
Thank you for the update!
I'm picturing an blizzard of hair when he starts to shed! 😆😆😆
Oh I'm sure!! haha
Nice choice, and you will surely do your best. Don't stress the small stuff. His kind nature will guide you. The name suits him.
i love him
One critique for you is be gentle on yourself! You truly are making wonderful progress. Your mistakes are helping others and they help you too. ✨🙏✨
A mistake is the other side of success so keep going! 🤗 I'll be adopting mustangs soon enough..
He is so beautiful. He seems so smart. Thanks for saving him. I enjoy your videos. It like a new adventure with each horse. Thanks for sharing.
I've only been watching your channel for a couple of days. I love watching you enter act with your horses.
I love this channel! I think because I've started a few colts, including a mustang decades ago, I can be a little stodgy about learning new things. But when it's friendly, shared through fresh eyes and without pretense, I really enjoy it. A story that would be too long if detailed is about a gelding where you've helped connect some dots for us. Like Freeda for Sparrow, I've brought his pasture pal in to help and went back to the beginning. Then, all positive reinforcement. Thank you, because the change in such a short time is remarkable.
Aww, thanks for your comment, Jimmy! I really appreciate comments like this. It's been hard for me to start with the positive reinforcement and I don't think I'll ever be one of those people solely doing it, but I think it does add a lot so I'm glad I've been giving it a try. I'm happy to hear you've been having some success as well! How many horses do you have?
@@TheProjectEquestrian I'm almost embarrassed to say... I have 5 and by now I can't remember how that happened, except about the time horses #3 & 4 arrived there were more horses than people on my road. Was I thinking horse numbers in pastures was a competition I needed to be part of? 😄 My oldest two, 24, are retired and another is old enough that he could file for retirement any minute. The 2 younger teens are fresh restarts who were so green that they got passed over in favor of our older horses until the youngsters were back to not knowing anything. (Long story as to how I let that happen.)
Positive reinforcement with treats worked great to bring my gelding around. No joke about how helpful it was to watch you and realize this was worth a shot to help my gelding with trust issues. (I had a negative impression of clicker training and treats because I first saw it in the context of dogs. My experience was with tough trial bred retrievers, so this clicker training thing seemed like a gimmick so dumb that it would die outside a cult of personalities who would pay stupid amounts of money to peddlers of a 'method' and their magic clicker. Haha!) But treats and no assertive correction would be entirely wrong for my mare. In fact, I can't use treats with her or that's all she has on her mind. A firm swat on the neck for diving for the treat pouch means nothing to her beyond giving that behavior a 5-10 second rest before trying again. All 5 of my horses are the same breed with similarities in their cow horse type breeding, yet they all have different personalities. The gelding I've been speaking of is an atypical outlier in terms of sensitivity and re-activeness for his type - something unfamiliar to me. So, likewise, I'll never get overly attached to a single philosophy of method.
@@jimmyyounger618 I feel that - slightly embarrassed to say haha Not everyone gets it lol😅 haha, and I've had some similar feelings about positive reinforcement. I think the turn off for me was more that a lot of people using it seem to promote it so aggressively and as if it's the only way, which can be pretty unwelcoming for anyone who is considering it. I'm not sure how much I'll use it and integrate it, but I"m planning on multiple methods as I move forward.
Merlin looks an absolute sweetheart 😍
I now understand when everyone says every mustang is different. When I compare Merlin to Sparrow they are completely different. Merlin is so much friendlier then Sparrow was when she first arrived. It is just cool to see how quick you can work with him when you just got him!
edit: not sparrow being incognito in the background at 10:44
right?! Isn't it such a dramatic difference!? And LOL - that was a perfect moment of Sparrow😂
I love that you own your mistakes!!! It so nice to see and see how you notice/ correct what you need to do going forward! I think your videos are great!!
You are doing just fine. Merlin is a sweetheart and very curious and smart. He reminds me of Nyx. She’s basically TIP trained. She needs a little more practice with picking up her feet and smoother trailering. Merlin is going to be helpful with Sparrow at some point when they are friends. She will see his confidence (like Freeda) and it will help her be confident. Congrats again on these two!
that's awesome to hear about Nyx! I have to say it's really refreshing to have a horse like him, who is a bit easier than Sparrow! haha
Bless him what a cutie! Best of luck with him ❤️
Good work! I use a ton of positive reinforcement with canines and there is SO much to learn. After hearing what you had to say about “space invasion” I would be tempted to use a stationary target. Either for the nose or feet or a chest board. It would keep him in his space and give you time to get your reward. Thanks for sharing, I love seeing horses being worked with PR!
Thanks Lyz! It is SO much to learn. At surface level, it doesn't seem like that, but diving into it, there is so much! I've been listening to a bunch of podcasts on training horses with +R, and whew! It's a lot!
You're doing such amazing content. The process of learning how to care for equestrians is very long process, and many stories of failure, even amongst the pros. Believe, and learn!
His name is perfect! He’s so curious, what a sweet little horse! ☺️💓 (sparrow watching in the background during the haltering segment is so precious 💞)
hahah wasn't she cute! haha
What a love bug! I love his personality. So fun. Congrats Britta.
I know right!? I got lucky! Thanks Krista - I hope you are well :)
I adoooore Merlin!!! Your “mistakes” aside, it must’ve been so thrilling to interact so closely with him that early on. He really wants to please and seems he will be a quite affectionate horse. I’m so excited for you!!!!
Thank you! It was refreshing to work with such a ready horse!
Great job! Be proud of how far you have gotten. That can' t be wrong!
You are very brave to put yourself outthere in a learning process.
Thank you for sharing and inspiring with your videos!
Thank you so much! It’s a hard decision to share things like this. On one hand it’s nice to “be real”, but on the other, you never know what a keyboard warrior might say. Thank you for your comment 😊
Thank for sharing your journey with us. We learn the most from our mistakes and learning from them brings growth. Press on and don't loose heart!
I like the passion you put into your work! And the humility with which you present it!
Aww thank you!!😄😄
@@TheProjectEquestrian th-cam.com/video/7nMGCtwTwTU/w-d-xo.html
It might be interesting for you to check this horseman out?
@@TheProjectEquestrian th-cam.com/video/hAHxCCk3yMg/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/uZ1uNNVvdKw/w-d-xo.html
There is another one which I find highly interesting.
I did not know the Forrest service adopted out horses. I thought only the BLM did that for mustangs. Interesting. This little gelding will be gorgeous when his summer hair comes in.🥰🥰🥰🥰
Thanks!
Thank you so much! I appreciate that!☺️🙏
Wow! That is awesome training.
Wow what a sweetheart! Really helpful video I've just bought an unhandled yearling so this is super helpful 👍
oh fun! A mustang?
Eep! So cute.. Love the name
Next time watching -my new Bowie Kill Pen rescue about 2 is here in Oregon and I used the put the hay in the nose -under - for her to dip her hose in to-it went real fast but I taught her how to be in my space-maybe someone can teach me about keeping her off of me because she is afraid of deer and is jimping up behind me when I lead her outside the stall-she is 2 and lovey dovey=I always have a stick and keepher away that way but we cant lead outside the stall-she is terrified
I LOVE the name Merlin for him! It totally fits him, her seems like such a gentleman and so sweet! Thaks for going out of your comfort zone to show us your mistakes so that I can learn what not to do! Is Freeda back at your other barn now?
Thank you! And yes, Freeda moved back to the domestic barn a couple days before Merlin arrived. It was actually a really cool test - I was curious if Sparrow would interact with me at the same level once Freeda left, and what do you know, she did! A sure sign of progress!
Awesome! ❤❤❤
Wow! What a curious and bold guy! I love your transparency about the process so don't feel bad about it. None of us are perfect! I don't know much about actual training of horses but do you suppose you could use a dog clicker for the "beep"? I don't know if horses would respond to it. Never seen anyone try it, so that's why I'm asking. Dog clickers work for dogs because it's a consistent sound (not veering up or down or straying from tone) so I don't see why it wouldn't work with a horse. Who knows! Hugs!
yes! some people do use clickers with horses, but its an extra thing to hold so I haven't. But that is a very good point - you probably know more about it than I! And thanks for your support ☺️☺️
@@TheProjectEquestrian My dog clickers have wrist bands on them which makes things easier. I can send you one (I have extra) or send you links. They're really cheap. If you're not that interested, that's cool too, I was just genuinely curious if horses would even respond to it.
@@SmM33380 100%! I do have a couple of them actually, but idk, I just haven't used them yet! haha But thank you for that kind offer :)
@@TheProjectEquestrian Haha no problem! God bless!
I love him!!!!!!😍😍
He did so well!!😍😍
He is gorj
And how does he know so much!!
Isn’t he great!?
I LOVE the color SO much
When he trotted in the adoption video his fetlocks were touching the ground. When he stands in the paddock his entire hoof is in front of the pastern joint. This is a conformation flaw which will result in strain on the suspensory apparatus, the fetlock and the hoof. You’ll want to keep his toes short and stay away from work (such as jumping) that will further stress the fore limbs.
I appreciate you sharing this! Thank you!
I just started watching you.
I am so excited to have found your videos and am currently binge watching. Honestly it is so great to watch someone with kind of the same training frame of mind as myself along with the learning and flexibility as you try new things. So this traget training is blowing my mind. The horse is learning to target body parts just by name? I really want to learn more about this. How do you begin each body part and how long did you find it took for them to get the meaning of each word, generally? What book/s do you recommend? I'm starting a 1.5 year old currently and want to explore positive reinforcement. Thanks!
Shoot me a message if you’re on Instagram! I’d be happy to share a few resources! If not, I’ll type it up here once I get some more time 🙂
Love that name ❤️. Can I ask how you started the targeting of other body parts (ears, cheek, etc)? I’ve only used nose targeting, but I can definitely see they benefit of having more than that. Links or videos?
You’re doing great, and I love your channel 😊
Yea, I've really enjoyed and appreciated the targeting! I went into a little more detail on one of my last videos with Sparrow: th-cam.com/video/rOKrmyG9QqE/w-d-xo.html
Also could not touch Amelia when I got her so I brushed her in the air with hay and then brushed her with hay-then hay under noseband in a breakaway chinstrap open halter -then fly mask hardest of all-now have to wait to see if affirmation will help her accept the deer-we must be a bit crazy-us horse trainers
hi its Montana Scott, I would have to disagree with you .I think because horses are heard animals "ie social" building a good relationship is one of the most important things to head off future problems. In regards to your bubble he is showing no signs of mean disrespect. He seems gentle and trustworthy. I think any respect problems will be easily solved with a small amount of firmness . If you remember i am not a pro i am learning also . I think you are doing great.
I'm not sure if you watched the whole thing, but I tried my best (which maybe wasn't all that clear 😜) to explain that I was starting with positive reinforcement. I'll be switching to the typical negative reinforcement training later. I don't think I ever called him disrespectful, and yes, he's been a very willing and compliant horse which is great! The problem was with my training - I was literally creating "undesirable" behaviors... such as him coming into my space for food. He wasn't being disrespectful, as I was literally teaching him to do that (unintentionally) by rewarding the behavior. Opps! An important part of positive reinforcement is teaching a horse how to take food, and I missed that step and was trying to point that out in the video. That's not to say that being "firm" doesn't work, (I"m assuming what you mean by that is moving him out of my space). I know it works, but that is not part of positive reinforcement. I'm actually more familiar with methods that teach moving him out of my space, but I'm choosing to try a new method and start with positive reinforcement, and then he'll learn through the typical negative reinforcement, such as pressure/release, yielding forequarters and hindquarters, etc. I hope that helps explain what I'm trying to do a bit.☺️
@@TheProjectEquestrian o i gotcha .I am sorry I did not understand you are just trying a new method.
@@christimathews5278 haha yes, I'm trying to branch out a bit. No worries! :)
nice
Good name..
Hey I was just wondering what is the process with rehoming libby do you Re-assign her with the BLm cause IK that u cant sell her until you have had her for a year, and how are you planning to rehome Merlin and Sparrow?
Yes, it's similar! I'd have to reassign through the Forest Service
How can u find when these events are scheduled?
Check in the description box - I included a link to the forest service's website. They are the ones hosting these events.
120.00 dollars is affordable, wow 😮 I had no idea it was so cheap! I think I might've commented this before.
He Sweet
He’s a pleasure lol wanting affection not knowing about space
He's a gem!
My girlfriend track trainer for 60 years kissed a colt and got her face bitten and lost some nerve control around her mouth-if you love your pretty face don't kiss a horses' face. Merlin is darling !
People wil hate me for this BUT NEVER HAND FEED, I WILL TELL YOU WHY XX ive done natural horsemanship over 40 yrs, i can prove to you there are much better ways, LOVE AND PEACE
"Better" is a subjective term. It depends on the goals and values of each individual. Its ok to have differences :)
Pleaser**
Are these the Mustangs sent to Switzerland as meat? So rude