Shoshone/Dann sisters' mustangs ...

[mykingdomforahorse]

(Moved from Yakima Nation horses thread)

Oh, so cool, Bridgetah!

I was told my mustang is Shoshone -- the story told to me was that he was foaled on a feedlot in Nevada, and his dam was a rounded up Shoshone mustang from the Dann sisters' herd, who sadly shipped to slaughter.

I rescued our mustang from an equine rescue that had starved, abused and neglected him. I'll post more photos once our high speed is installed, but he arrived here a wild mess.

Actually, since this is a rescue board, maybe some here know more -- the story is that my mustang and a group of other feedlot babies were saved from the feedlot and "passed out" to different rescues who took them in. I remember Mustang Spirit was involved.

Also, my mustang has a hand-drawn "N" brand on his neck, the left side.

I don't know much more than that, and it's possible the woman who ran the abusive rescue (who has since been convicted on multiple animal cruelty counts) may not have been honest.

I have contacted people but haven't been able to find out what the brand is.

Em

MTA -- I think I'm inadvertantly hijacking this very serious thread, so I'm going to start a new thread and copy this post over there.

bridgetah said:

mykingdomforahorse said:

LOVE the photos.

She looks a lot like my Shoshone mustang!

Mustangs are some of the most loving horses around.

Em

You have a Shoshone mustang? I do too, two little mares from the Dann sisters' herd. They're great little horses.

[mykingdomforahorse]

Just adding that I also feel badly for the Dann sisters, after reading the whole story. In a strange way it almost feels as if I have a "stolen" horse. I've actually thought of writing them and letting them know my mustang is okay, safe and happy and loved.

Em

[barbpurple]

ok i will chime in again mustang spirt is where i got sunshine,
wow nellie... my mare sunshine is from that same mess!!!! she also has the n brand on her neck!! i got her from a rescue here locally ,, and was told she came from the slick garner ranch and was starved also.. maybe that is why she came to me preggers!! she gave me sunny my in your face pocket pony!!!

so it seems that we all have the same herd mates scatter around but are reuniteing here in this board!! welcome home family!!

[mykingdomforahorse]

I have to chime in again too, lol! Too cool! WOW!

So if I research the Slick Garner herd, I should know more about my mustang! I also never thought to contact Mustang Spirit -- I forgot all about Mustang Spirit until I started writing out the Shoshone post today.

I have a few photos of my mustang when he first arrived on my computer. When I go into town tomorrow, I'll see if I can upload wirelessly, and if so, I'll post them. I'd love to see yours, too!

So that just leaves how my guy ended up on a feedlot -- was your mustang on a feedlot, too? And what is the "N" brand?

Em

barbpurple said:

ok i will chime in again mustang spirt is where i got sunshine,
wow nellie... my mare sunshine is from that same mess!!!! she also has the n brand on her neck!! i got her from a rescue here locally ,, and was told she came from the slick garner ranch and was starved also.. maybe that is why she came to me preggers!! she gave me sunny my in your face pocket pony!!!

so it seems that we all have the same herd mates scatter around but are reuniteing here in this board!! welcome home family!!

[Tockita]

The Danns sisters were forced to sellthe horses since they no longer had grazing land for them. They were on a ranch in NV and the strong and healthy went to Slick Gardner where they were starved and then re rescued.

But they left 150 horses in NV that were too weak or heavy in foal to move to CA. The man that bought them NEVER sent any money for feed for 150 horses!!!

When they heard about it Lifesavers went to save all that they could, and they still have many of them at the ranch and in the sanctuary.

Think how hard it is to care for one starved horse, then imagine 150 some nursing mares, some were orphan foals

www.wildhorserescue.org/fishcrk.htm

[bridgetah]

tockita said:

The Danns sisters were forced to sellthe horses since they no longer had grazing land for them. They were on a ranch in NV and the strong and healthy went to Slick Gardner where they were starved and then re rescued.

But they left 150 horses in NV that were too weak or heavy in foal to move to CA. The man that bought them NEVER sent any money for feed for 150 horses!!!

When they heard about it Lifesavers went to save all that they could, and they still have many of them at the ranch and in the sanctuary.

Think how hard it is to care for one starved horse, then imagine 150 some nursing mares, some were orphan foals

www.wildhorserescue.org/fishcrk.htm

The Danns had been in a dispute with the BLM since the '70s over grazing rights. When they lost their final appeal, early in '03, I believe, the BLM confiscated about 1,000 horses and a couple hundred cattle.

The story I've heard is that Gardner offered to buy the horses at $2.00 a head and sell them back to the Danns once they were able to take care of them again. Those horses that didn't remain in Nevada at Fish Creek, went to Gardner's "sanctuary" near Santa Barbara. He let them starve as well, along with a group of Virginia Range horses.

I have heard that some of the herd went to slaughter. I don't know what the "N" brand is.

Lifesavers has a good write-up of all this, as does LRTC. Also, check out the WIN website.

[mykingdomforahorse]

Thanks Tockita and Bridgetah.

I'm trying to figure out the timeline for my mustang. I just found old emails from 05, which is when I rescued him, so it seems he was 3 or 4 years old then. He always struck me as younger. But, figuring him to be 5 or 6 now, I need to cross reference that with the dates of the Dann Sisters/Slick Gardner events.

I read that the land was Shoshone land that was being fought over, and that the Shoshone Tribe/Dann sisters lost the battle. No big surprise considering how much land the Native Americans have been raped of since the beginning of America. The wild horses, on that land, were rounded up and confiscated.

So, if my guy was foaled on a feedlot, and his dam was a wild, already pregnant Dann sisters mustang, she ended up on a feedlot for slaughter, where she met her end.

I just need to figure out how old my mustang was when he was saved and dispersed with the other feedlot mustang foals. I don't know how long the AZ rescue had him there after he was sent to them. There was also another Dann mustang at the AZ rescue who was the same age, and I had planned to rescue that one initially, but I took my guy instead because he was all club footed and I knew he was less likely to find a home because of it.

I'm about to send my email to Mustang Spirit with photos of Shooting Star (aka Peanut) and I'll pass on to y'all any info I find out.

So Bridgetah, your Shoshone mustang doesn't have the "N" brand?

I have to say, my Shoshone mustang is the most loving horse of my bunch. He gives kisses like a big dog, and comes fast-walking up to see me when he sees me coming out the door. He's very sensitive and very sweet. And absolutely beautiful, now that he's happy and cared for.

Em

[toeps]

Can someone post a picture of the "N" brand?

[mykingdomforahorse]

I'll take a photo, if I can alone, if someone will post it for me -- let me go try.

Peanut doesn't like the camera, so, if not now (it's almost dark), then tomorrow with Jack's help.

Em

toeps said:

Can someone post a picture of the "N" brand?

[bridgetah]

It's interesting that Peanut is clubfooted - one of the mares and one of the fillies that came down here each have a club foot. They do OK w/proper trimming.

I know that the Danns had one brand - it included a number and the letter "M" and it referenced a large amount of money. I can't remember what it was - I'll as around.

I have some nice photos of my horses, but I can't locate the disk where the best photos are stored. I'll look around and post something - wish me luck with the posting part of it.

[mykingdomforahorse]

I was able to get the brand photo, I just need help posting it -- photobucket won't really work with dial up, the uploading part. I'll see if Shawna or Leanne might help.

I'm thinking that if Peanut was foaled on the feedlot, his dam would've had the Dann brand, and he was branded by ? That remains the question! I know the Navajo brand is bar N. (I was trying to think of different things "N" could stand for.)

The state of Nevada never got back to me, when I left a message with them and emailed them, also.

Yes, even with the club feet he's always been sound. The trimming has helped the back, and the front are better, but still strange.

I don't know what you call it, but in his 2 front he also has a very steep line from the fetlock/pastern to his hoof -- VERY steep. We're trying to relax the tendons with corrective trimming, but the vet once mentioned needing the tendons cut if it didn't work?

The hard part about messing with it is that he's sound. But I don't know if it may cause other probs in the future.

There is a photo of Peanut next to Mr. Bean (the blue roan Draft cross) in the "Introducing Myself -- pictures added" thread of mine.

Em

bridgetah said:

It's interesting that Peanut is clubfooted - one of the mares and one of the fillies that came down here each have a club foot. They do OK w/proper trimming.

I know that the Danns had one brand - it included a number and the letter "M" and it referenced a large amount of money. I can't remember what it was - I'll as around.

I have some nice photos of my horses, but I can't locate the disk where the best photos are stored. I'll look around and post something - wish me luck with the posting part of it.

[barbpurple]

can you send me the photo i am wondering if it is the same as sunshine,, her n has what looks like an arrow on the bottom of the n hard to descibe..wish i could draw it here..

[Tockita]

Hmm Sunshine doesn't have what I would consider a club foot, but she is a clubby on one foot, which she passed on to Sunny. With regular trims it just looks a bit too straight and she gets around perfectly.

[mykingdomforahorse]

Sure!

If you PM me your email, I'll email it to you. THAT (emailing photos) I can do, lol.

Em

barbpurple said:

can you send me the photo i am wondering if it is the same as sunshine,, her n has what looks like an arrow on the bottom of the n hard to descibe..wish i could draw it here..

[mykingdomforahorse]

This site below is a very interesting one on brands. The link below takes you to the page that has the Navajo brand info -- the bar N -- and I see it's put on the horse's shoulder, not neck.

I emailed the site owner about Peanut's brand and sent him the photos. Let's see if he might know more.

www.cowboyshowcase.com/brands2.htm

Em

[mykingdomforahorse]

Peanut is trimmed religiously every 4 weeks. And he's never been anything but sound.

Em

tockita said:

Hmm Sunshine doesn't have what I would consider a club foot, but she is a clubby on one foot, which she passed on to Sunny. With regular trims it just looks a bit too straight and she gets around perfectly.

[mykingdomforahorse]

Here's what I heard back from Mustang Spirit -- she was very nice.


"Hello Emily,

its not a hand drawn "N" it is a plain "N" and that means the horse is NOT a dann sister horse it is a comstock mustang from the reno area of NV. these horses are considered estray horses and are not protected by the wild horse and burro act, and sometimes they end up at auctions and feedlots. with just the "N" there is no real way to track them, so i guess i wasn't much assistance with that. we have taken in many of these horses. a man in santa barbara was sold/given or something a large heard of these as well as dann sister horses which were being starved and we were also involved in that. we assisted 57 horses out of the roughly 600 that were pulled off his ranch.

the only club footed horse we have taken in branded with an N is a colt that was put down recently, his one hoof was so bad that he could barly walk even though he had corrective farrier work so i don't think this was one that came from us or one that we had anything to do with this horse but at least you know what area he came from

if i can be of any assistance please let me know."


So, that's very interesting! I wrote her back to find out if the "N" brand belongs to the state of Nevada. I'll let you know what she says.

Em

[Tockita]

I had thought the N was Comstock, that explains why both were at Slick Gardner ranch.

I think I have a pic of at least one of the Danns at Lifesavers. I'll look for it in the morning.

If you go to their blog they have pictures of their Virginia Range Babies
wildhorserescue.blogspot.com/2007/10/adopt-wild-foal.html

[barbpurple]

i just look at that link and sunshine doesn't look like that at all no bar the arrow is attach at the bottom of the N. i wont be able to get a picture of that till i see her again in a day or two..

[mykingdomforahorse]

Barb, I just saw your PM, and I'll email you the photos. If you can post photos, can you post it in this thread? Thanks! I do have to say that Peanut doesn't have any type of arrow on his "N" brand that I can see.

It's still fuzzy, Peanut's history, but what Tania from Mustang Spirit wrote me does give me information I didn't have -- that he's a Comstock mustang!

Obviously (and I know this already from the RO board) rescues work together to save horses from bad situations. So obviously in Peanut's case it wasn't Mustang Spirit (as she said) but a different effort of rescue groups that rescued Peanut and the other feedlot babies.

That's very helpful. I never expected to get the exact specific details of Peanut's past. I'm just happy to know what kind of mustang he is!

I'd love to see the Dann mustang photo, Tockita! I know so much about them, having thought Peanut was one of them. I'm just so glad some of both herds were rescued!

Here's her reply back about if Nevada owns the brand, and with great links:

"not sure if they own it but it is the Nevada Dept. of Agricultre that is responsible for the comstock mustangs. here are a few links with info on these horses

www.mustangs4us.com/comstock.htm

www.vrwpa.org

www.whmentors.org/whcclo/sc04a.html this page has some foal pics from 2004, thought you might enjoy looking at

www.whmentors.org/teamlrtc/teamindex.html here are some pics of horses through a tx group that were rescued from the slick gardner ranch

http://www.rgj..com/news/printstory.php?id=23674 here is a story about some of the comstock mustangs that were sent to the slick gardner ranch

www.wordsasweapons.com/shoshoneslick.html here is a story about the dann sister horses and slick

if you google "slick gardner" you will get all sorts of articles and stories on different rescue sites. there is a large rescue in ojai california that was very heavily involved and they took a huge portion of the comstock horses but i can't for the life of me find the rescues site...sorry.

here is the rescue that took the largest amount of slick gardner horses

wildhorsesinneed.org

she has all sorts of info on her pages and lots of pictures too"


Em

[barbpurple]

picture of sunshine's brand.. does it match yours?

[mykingdomforahorse]

File transfer (photos through email) is 76%. So the photos are almost to you, Barb!

It does look like Peanut's -- only your brander did a better job on your horse than on mine! Peanut's brand is shallower, so broken lines in places, but it look a lot the same.

Em

[barbpurple]

well i have to agree with ya.. not quite the same,, but you can still see the "n" sorry not the best,,



and peanut lying down

[mykingdomforahorse]

Thank you, Barb! The photo of the brand isn't blurry on your end, it was the best I could take up close at night. I figured it shows the brand well enough.

I still think mine looks hand drawn compared to yours. But they are both plain "N"s. And I think, whether they are exact replicas of each other or not, still a plain N is a plain N.

Next I'll email and call the Nevada Dept of Agriculture, see what more I can find out. I'm finding it all very interesting!

Anyway, my guess is that out on the range, some of the N's are done with premade irons, and some are hand drawn.

As for the photo of Peanut, that was taken after we had gotten good weight on him, and while we were correcting his poor hooves. His back hooves look *nothing* like that anymore, but it did take awhile. (Takoda is on the left in that nighttime photo. I'll get some pics up of him once we have high speed -- I'm counting down the days! )

Thanks again Barb! And your mustang is gorgeous!

Em

[Mackenzie]

Hi guys,

I know this is a super-old thread, but I just came across it while searching for some info on the Dann horse seizure, and I thought I might have some info to contribute. I used to work for Lifesavers, and also adopted a Dann horse, a beautiful roan I call Juno. Most of the horses we had at Lifesavers when I was there were Dann sisters horses.

It's correct however that horses with the N brand are not Dann horses. I knew as soon as you said it that they'd come from Slick Gardner's place, and the photo that Barb posted just confirms it. The Comstock/Virginia Range brand is a plain N (sans-serif), and you can often tell if you've got a Slick Gardner horse because on many of those horses he appears to have attempted to modify the brand by adding little 3s, curlicues and other embellishments to the points of the N. I'm not sure what the point of that was, except to try to pretend they weren't Comstock horses, but the counterfeit was pretty obvious. Anyway, I thought you might find that interesting, as it explains the variation in the brand... just one of Slick Gardner's many crimes.

Anyway, I hope that was marginally interesting. Working at Lifesavers was an incredible experience and I know an awful lot now about mustangs that I wouldn't have otherwise... not to mention I've got an incredible horse. You guys are great for giving your mustangs a home.

Mackenzie
www.redroanchronicles.com

[Tockita]

Hi Mac.

This is my old alter ego on the bulletin boards. Tockita is a hold over from my AOL days. (when/where no one dared use their real name online!)

Give Juno a kiss from me, and thanks for selling us your Parelli play cards.

Kathy, Cindy, Dodge, Dyna, Rose, Symphony, & Tryst.

[Vicki]

I have some Virginia Range/Comstock mustangs that came from Lifesavers. Actually, I got them from a rescue that rescued them from another group. One has an N on her neck. One was born here and one was a foal when she came in. There are also 3 others a friend has who also have N brands. Our rescue acquired them in 2007.... all very interesting to me. My little Annie is a bay roan. The other 2 are bays. All are rather small 13-14hh.







Vicki