Ripley is a rare "curly" mustang. He was captured in January 2007 in Salt Wells, near Rock Springs, Wyoming. He was halter trained and brought to the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo in March. The photo below shows our first meeting at the expo where I fell in love with him. He was so adorable and sweet.

Here we are back home at Free Spirit Ranch. He is adjusting very well and seems to really like people. It's been reported by people that have curlies that they have wonderfully calm, loving personalities. They learn extremely quickly and adapt well, are playful and curious, bold but not pushy. While a lot of horse breeders claim these same traits for their breed, it doesn't always ring true. In my short experience with Ripley and from what I've heard from other curly owners, I can easily see these excellent traits are really found in curlies!!! Based on Ripley's behaviour, I still can't believe he was a wild horse just a few short months ago. He became part of my herd and barn routine in a matter of days. Its been really fun to watch him and one of my other young mustangs, HoneyBear, who adopted him and showed him around the ranch. They are great friends and play all the time.

What is a "curly"?

A "curly" is a horse with curly hair instead of straight hair. In the winter their coats show the soft heavy curls to best advantage. It is reported that they are very winter hardy. In the summer, they can shed some of their curls.

Here is a picture of the curls on Ripley's neck along with his BLM freeze brand (a unique ID mark that each mustang receives when captured).

Registering Curlies

Curly mustangs can be registered with the International Curly Horse Association. The breed standard likes the curly horse to have curly hair all over his/her body, curly manes and tails, as well as curls in his ears (shown here)....

...and don't forget the legs - lots of curly fetlock feathers! In fact, when you show curlies you are not to clip them so all the marvelous curls are demonstrated.

How did Curly horses come to America?

There are many theories as to how curlies came to America:

• During the last ice age the curlies migrated across the Bering Strait
• native horses genetically mutated to produce curly coats
• Russian settlers brought curlies to America from Russia
• Curlies are remnants of pre-Spanish horses
• Tom Dixon, an Irishman, in 1880s imported 2 mares and one stallion from India and turned them loose with the mustangs