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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us September 29, 2005 Woman tames wild horses By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland horse trainer Laureen Sutton has devoted the last few years to domesticating wild horses so they can be adopted. She says this is easier than many think. Julie Munafo | For the Tidings Because wild horses are naturally herd animals, they instinctively look for a leader to tell them what to do and where to go. And because they are, by definition, born in the wild, they instinctively see humans as a threatening predator. But Laureen Sutton has mastered a technique, called horse gentling, that uses the first instinct to erase the latter. “It isn’t horse whispering so much as it is horse listening,” she said. “It’s all about talking to the horse in its own language.” Sutton is currently deploying this skill to ready two formerly wild mustangs gathered by the Bureau of Land Management from the South Steens Herd Management Area to be given away at the this Sunday’s annual Jackson County Harvest Fair. Both Calypso, a 2-year-old pinto filly, and Juniper, a 4-year-old bay-colored pinto mare, were as wild as the wind when Sutton first started working with them: untrusting of humans, and a little bit dangerous to be around. Now, after just a few weeks of working with the animals, Sutton has the two mustangs familiar with people and ready to be trained by just about anyone with a little rudimentary horse knowledge. “Initially, they think of us as predators, because we are,” she said, as she worked with Calypso in a small round pen. “The idea is to get the horse to think of me as a leader.” Sutton did this simply by the way she stands in relation to the horse. She starts by driving Calypso away from her. This, of course, forces the horse to run laps around the round pen. When she senses even the slightest sign that Calypso is adjusting to her presence, she turns her back to the mustang. “It works on pressure and release,” she explained. It can take anywhere from an hour to six months of working with the horse to elicit the desired response. “My presence is the pressure. My body is driving her away. She feels that I am directing energy at her. When I turn it almost creates a vacuum.” And, sure enough, as soon as Sutton turns her back on Calypso, the horse stops and faces her. “It feels good for her to not be on the defensive,” Sutton said. “It feels good because I just backed the pressure off. The horse needs to learn that it can be safe with you, that she can find safety and security in humans.” Calypso, evidently, has learned this. After just three weeks of working with Sutton, she is already trusting enough to allow a member of the media to approach her and rub her haunches. Juniper, on the other hand, is not as far along. Sutton just got a halter on her for the first time Wednesday morning. “Yesterday, she wouldn’t let me anywhere near her face,” Sutton said on Wednesday. “Today she just decided, ‘OK, I gotta learn this.’ Then I was able to get the rope all around her face and, eventually, I put the halter on her.” In just a few short days, both will be ready to be raffled off for free on Sunday at the Harvest Fair. The tickets are free but potential adopters must be at least 18 years old, complete an adoption application, have enough land and a high enough fence to keep the horse and have no record of animal abuse. Sutton encourages the lucky recipient of either horse to allow her to continue to work with both for a short while so that she can be sure all the bugs have been worked out and the two mustangs are ready to be trained, loved and, soon enough, even ridden. “It’s really important to me that the next person at least knows how to talk to them,” Sutton said, noting the new owners should be ready to at least spend lots of time with these horses and should, she hopes, have some knowledge of horse husbandry. October Hikes Oct 1 Sat Moderate 6-8 mile hike to the top of Watchman's Tower in Crater Lake NP. For information call: 488-8517 or 773-3204 Oct 2 Sun Moderate to strenuous 10 mile hike on Sturgis Fork Trail to Big Craggy. Leave Medford at 7:30. For information call: 734-7982 Oct 8 Sat Moderate 6-7 mile hike on Cold Springs Trail/Isherwood Loop in Sky Lakes. For information call: 210-0204 Oct 9 Sun Strenuous 15 mile hike on Sucker Creek Trail to Tannen Lakes via Steve Fork. Leave Medford at 7:30. For information call: 734-7982 Oct 15 Sat Moderate hike in Upper Rogue area for fall color. For information call: 560-1106 Oct 16 Sun Strenuous 11 mile hike on Greyback Mt. & Sugarloaf Peak. Leave Medford at 7:30. For information call: 734-7982 Oct 22 Sat Moderate hike in Upper Rogue area for fall color. For information call: 488-0152 Oct 23 Sun Strenuous 15 mile hike to fantastic Condrey Mt. Leave Medford at 7:30. For information call: 734-7982 Oct 29 Sat Moderate 6-8 mile hike on PCT/Mt. Ashland from Forest Boundary to I-5. All downhill. For information call: 488-8517 or 773-3204 Oct 30 Sun Strenuous 14 mile hike to Buck Canyon via Meadow Creek Trail. Leave Medford at 7:30. For information call: 734-7982 Nov 5 Sat Moderate 6-7 mile hike to Buck Rock in Cascade/Siskiyou NM. For information call: 210-0204 Nov 6 Sun Moderate 6 mile hike on PCT/Mt Ashland from F.R. 22 to Grouse Gap. Leave Medford at 7:30. Leave Talent at 8:00. For information call: 734-7982. A professional horse trainer and riding instructor, Sutton fell in love with wild mustangs three years ago. Since then, she has made it her priority in life to educate both wild horses about humans and humans about wild horses. “What’s amazing about a wild horse is they will totally give you their trust.” she said. “Once you have their trust they will do just about anything you want them to.” Sutton’s business is called In From the Wild Gentling and Training. She can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 482-0547. For more information on adopting a wild mustang from BLM, contact Kimberly Hackett at 618-2309. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. 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