Trainers vie to tame wild mustangs

Not long ago, No. 04218988 ran wild in the rugged ranges northeast of Susanville.

The 4-year-old mustang gelding, known only by a number to single it out from the herd, spiritedly clopped up the ramp Friday into a trailer and into a new life.

Harry Schneider eyed the chestnut beauty indignantly thudding around in his trailer and calculated his chances of reining in that wildness before summer.

"I have my own methods, and I just want a chance to test it," said Schneider, a rangy rancher from Medford, Ore.

If he succeeds, he could win some of the $7,500 in prize money at the Western States Mustang Challenge in June. Maybe more importantly, Schneider could attract a new owner who will provide an adopted home for the mustang.

Here's to No. 04218988.

The herd of 34 wild mustangs rounded up by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management huddled tightly in a corral in northern Sacramento on Friday, as trailers backed up to load a mare or gelding.

Like Schneider's new charge, each of the mustangs will go to temporary homes where trainers will try to transform them into riding companions by June. After the competition, in which judges will scrutinize the work of the animals and the trainers, the public can bid to own the horses.

Herds of wild mustangs with regal roots going back to the Spanish conquistadors roam on public land that is a fraction of the real estate they once dominated in the West.

A federally protected icon of the country's Wild West heritage, mustangs long epitomized pioneer wanderlust, their manes and tails flying as they gallop dusty plains, answering to no one.

But faced with diminishing food and water, the herds must be culled regularly by BLM to ensure their survival.

The Mustang Heritage Foundation, based in Austin, Texas, works with the BLM to promote adoptions for as many as 5,000 horses a year. All potential trainers are screened and approved in advance. Sometimes, trainers eventually adopt the mustangs. Depending on how well trained the horses are, they are sold for $1,500 to $2,000 to qualified buyers.

"We want to showcase their trainability," said Patti Colbert, the foundation's executive director, who came to town for the first step to launch the Challenge.

Nearby, the whooshing traffic from a freeway, the rumble of heavy pickups and the chatter of admirers conveyed unfamiliar sounds to the tentative herd.

As the ramp slammed shut, Schneider's mustang shivered with fear, its eyes dark pools of anxiety. It lunged and kicked at the sides of the trailer.

Schneider, 53, is undeterred. That's just the natural instinct of preservation at work in his new charge, he said.

He knows horses but won't call himself a "horse whisperer." No matter the origin, horses can be tamed, he said.

"Every horse in the world can run, stop and turn around," he said.

At his three ranchettes, he raises and shows horses, mainly quarterhorses and paints. The mustang offers Schneider a chance to see if he can train a horse from the wild.

His new challenge secure, Schneider climbed into his Dodge Ram 3500 and headed north.

As the truck rolled, No. 04218988 seemed to calm. The trainer's work has just begun.

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