When I was asked by a few people at various BLM districts to check out the 4-H wild horse and burro project in Carson City, I had no idea what I was going to see. I had previously met some Washoe County 4-H members when they worked with some Virginia Range weanlings at a Nevada Dept. of Agriculture adoption. The young ladies were quite a hit handling the young horses at the adoption (some of the weanlings drew higher bids than the prison trained saddle horses), but I had no idea as to the 4-H youths' skill level with mature horses. Four representatives from LRTC visited a Carson City / Storey County 4-H horse and burro project and we were immediately impressed.
BLM horse "Koal" and the "Gift Horse Program" volunteers at Silver Saddle Ranch.
The project operates at Silver Saddle Ranch, a BLM facility. The project is currently assigned a 5 year old gelding that is qualifying to be a ranger's horse, and two burros. The horse originally had some saddle starting work done at the Prison Training Program at Warm Springs Correctional Center. The 4-H members then took over care of the horse. They are responsible for all aspects of care and maintenance of all the project's the animals, including gentling and training of the burros and continued training of the horse.
Sandy Wallin from the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension 4-H and Youth Programs for Carson City and Storey County is the project's leader. This is a pilot project, the results from which should serve as a basis for similar projects.
The involvement of parents is a major component of the project's success.
One of the project's burros.
Another burro.
We found the 4-H participants to be pretty horse savvy. They have attended various training programs including the recent Pat Parrelli symposium in Reno. They have high quality equipment and articulately demonstrated a whole array of safe horse handling techniques ranging from round corral work to safe and efficient trailer loading.
Working on the longe.
Working at liberty.
"The friendly game."
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