Just another horse

Just Another Horse -
The Story of Trooper
(Formerly "Donald Trump")

Over the years we have posted numerous case studies that included a variety of situations including problem solving, gentling and training a wild horse for a therapeutic riding program and even wild horses and burros that the volunteers gentled and trained and that went to the Olympics for demonstrations. However we recently had a unique opportunity to look inside the inmate horse training program in Carson City and follow a horse from selection to adoption and beyond.
Author Willy Klaeson from Sweden writes about horses and owns trotting horses in Sweden. He has actually gentled and saddle started a mustang for a previous book. His assignment this time was to spend four months with the prison training program where he took volumes of notes and thousands of photographs. Making this story more compelling is that one of these horses, a difficult one at first, is now standing in my back yard.
Willy has given us permission to use a few of his photographs and summarize this horse's journey. Of course the complete story told in greater detail and involving this entire class of horses will appear in Willy's book. Meanwhile here is the abridged story of "Trooper," who was originally named "Donald Trump" in the adoption catalog.
Trooper was captured as a 5 year old from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area northeast of Susanville, CA. in September, 2010. He was selected that winter for the prison training class and entered the program as a 6 year old. His transition from a very wild and scary horse to a content and successful "domestic" horse is the product of desensitizing, bonding and confidence building that was achieved at the program. I hope you enjoy this adventure.
Willis Lamm

GETTING STARTED

This particular horse was definitely afraid of confined areas and human activity. As a six year old gelding, he tended to respond with physicality - crashing fences or letting fly with his hind legs. If you look closely at early photos of him you can see marks on his face from his fence crashing episodes. It was critical that his trainer remain calm, let the horse work through his reactions, then show the horse that he was actually in a safe environment. Fortunately senior trainer German Lachuga worked this horse with the skill and patience needed to be successful.
Early encounter in the pen. Horse on "high alert."

A "physical" response to pressure.

Learning to trust his handler.

Much calmer now.

After the horse became relaxed around people and learned some basics on the ground, it was time to move to the next step.
Learning to tolerate people on horseback.

A bit "western" when first saddled.

Once again starting to think about things.

A bit upset first time with a rider on his back.

Trainer Thomas Smittle puts some energy behind the horse to get him moving forward.
(The plastic pipe is a visual aid. The horse was never struck.)

Stressed worked off, the horse now accepts and feels safe with German.

Continue to Part Two

Please Note: This feature is a snapshot of the training process and development of this horse. The trainer is experienced and the activities were supervised. You can achieve similar results at home however more complete descriptions as to how to safely and successfully gentle and train a wild horse can be found by visiting the Wild Horse and Burro Help Desk.

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