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[RC] Re. BLM Horses - Jim & Drin Becker

Maggie wrote 
 
"But how many of you are now educated and dedicated horse lovers because =
someone gave you a horse you would not have been able to afford? You =
made mistakes, but you did your best to take care of an animal that =
maybe you got because no one else wanted him. You grew together and you =
are both better beings because of it."
 
That might be true Maggie but BLM horses are WILD horses , some can and will
try to kill you if you are not prepared and know what you are doing . These are not
your average horses that have been around people all their lives , they get scared
and will go on the fight . We have "adopted " 25 to 30 of them over the years , we
have adopted yearlings, mares and up to 4 or 5 year old studs . Some have turned
out excellent , and some we got rid of just as fast as we could knowing that they were
never going to come around to our way of "thinking". Just two weeks ago when our
weather started getting cold we put one down that was in his late twenties , had been
my husbands lead horse in our outfitting business for over 20 years and had been
retired for the last three years just enjoying life . This was a 16.2 hand gray that
came from Heidi's stomping grounds where at one time they had turned loose a bunch
of percheron mares instead of canning them when tractors came into vogue . When
my husband was training him I saw this 4 year old newly gelded horse come after
Jim trying to strike him to the ground . I saw this horse stampede when we were
just out for a ride because a helicopter flew overhead , take a guess at what they
used to gather him and his herd:-) This horse turned out to be one of the finest
horses we ever owned , he always stayed stand-offish with people and a bugger
to catch but Jim could and did almost anything on him including some LD rides.
We used quite a few in our packstrings  finding
them to be as surefooted as theycome . But people have to understand what they
are getting into and to me that is why the BLM adoption setup stinks . In all the
 years that we have adopted these horses we were checked one time and that was
the last horse we adopted . These horses are not like even a pasture bred horse
that hasn't been handled , they can and will come after you if not handled right . I
have seen them grab a 2x6 in their mouthand snap it like a twig . I have seen them
 stomp a heeler to death in seconds . I could go on and on about BLM horses .
I just hate the thought of someone buying a ticket to get a "cheap"horse and not
having a clue as to what they are getting themselves into .
               Drin Becker
               Mtn Region