Jan Drake - Wild Horses of the West

I was one of those girls born with the horse gene. As far back as I canremember, I have always loved horses. I grew up on a small farm in northeasternUtah. Once I had my own horse, an Arabian/Quarter gelding, I spent every wakingmoment of my free time chasing my wild imagination. I explored every crevice andgulch within fifteen miles of my home on horseback.

As time passed and my gelding climbed in age, my husband, Cliff, and Idecided we were ready to add another horse to our family. We had the time to committo another horses training, but not the money. Thoroughbred horses requireregistration papers and other expenses. A mustang seemed like the perfect answer. Wild mustangs can be adopted for only $125, and they are hardy animals. They areeasily nourished on the basics without extra additives in their feed, and their hardfeet are less likely to need shoes.

What Cliff and I learned about mustang adoption intrigued us, so we dugdeeper. I became involved in a mustang adoption support organization and wassuddenly immersed in all things mustang. Around the same time, I was introduced to alocal trainer who had a contract with the Bureau of Land Management to gentle oldergeldings. I asked him if I could assist him, hoping to learn to gentle my own horsesomeday. Gentling is the more natural horsemanship terminology, as opposed tobreaking a horse. When gentling, you are working with the horsesnatural curiosities and mannerisms, not forcing your will on them. Iquickly learned that gentling a wild mustang could be an incredible experience.

Within a few months, Cliff and I made plans to attend a satellite adoptionwhere a trainer was present doing gentling demonstrations. In the span of two hours,he had taken an untouched horse and was sitting on him bareback. Mustangs are aflight or fight prey animaltheir instincts tell them, with every cell in theirbody, to run away from danger. For this mustang to trust a human to makethat first contact is remarkable.

A cute little red roan mare with a big blaze face caught my eye as webrowsed the facility. I could tell she was dominant, even though she was thesmallest in the pen; the other mares were very respectful of her space. Somethingtold me she was the one. She stayed at the back of her pen, but no matter where Iwas in the building, I always found her looking at me. I dont know if it was hersmall size or the fact that she wouldnt interact with any other human, but no oneelse bid on her that day. I ended up taking my little roan mare home and named herLadybug.

She was feisty and opinionated in the beginning. But we soon reached abalance and understanding and her gentling training progressed. Our training beganwith a chute that let us touch her but kept us all safe. We did this daily to start,working with her for ten to twenty minutes at a time. Gradually, as Ladybugcould tolerate longer sessions, we increased the length. She wasntcomfortable with us touching her face early on, so we settled on her shoulders. Wecontinued with a lot of touching, petting, and massaging until she was comfortablewith us touching her anywhere .

I have now had Ladybug for over twenty years. We have done and seen somepretty amazing things. We have ridden in Fort Meade, South Dakota, where Custer wasstationed; weve explored the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Redwood Forest ofNorthern California, and the desert landscape of Death Valley.