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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 19, 2006 Lori Thomson and Cheyanne, a 5-year-old mare, were matched through the Bureau of Land Management�s periodic wild horse auctions. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Wild at heart It takes a special type of owner for mustang adoptions to succeed By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune Adopted by an Applegate woman last fall, a wild mustang will be a poster-pony for a wild horse adoption auction in Grants Pass this weekend. Approximately 40 wild horses from Eastern Oregon will be available for viewing at the Josephine County Fairgrounds on Friday and Saturday. Each animal will carry a minimum bid of $125, saidKimberly Hackett of the Medford Bureau of Land Management. "I’m excited to be taking her," said Lori Thomson, speaking of the 5-year-old mare she has named Cheyanne . "It’s amazing the amount of progress she’s made in such a short period of time." Cheyanne was culled from the Steens Herd Management Area in Eastern Oregon in late 2004, and adopted by Thomson at the Jackson County Harvest Fair in October. Thomson hired Ashland horse trainer Laureen Sutton to work with the wary young mare. Sutton has two mustangs adopted through BLM programs. Advertisement "One of the best things a trainer ever told me was green (horse) and green (rider) equals red — meaning someone’s going to get hurt," said Thomson. Sutton taught Thomson how to use centuries-old herd dynamics to mimic the behaviors of a herd’s lead equine and build the cornerstone of trust, necessary for proper training, she says. At her ranch, Sutton demonstrated how to use posture and energy to drive the mare away — then drop it down to invite her in. By mimicking equine dominance hierarchies, the human trainer’s actions both command and reassure the wild mare, she says. "It’s a language they understand," says Sutton. "And it makes them feel safe and secure." Lesley Neuman, a horse trainer from Sacramento, Calif., has adopted more than 20 animals from BLM programs over the years, she says. Neuman will offer some wild horse training tips for potential adopters. Neuman says a good candidate to adopt a wild horse would be someone with previous experience with horses. "This isn’t a first-horse experience," says Neuman. "You should know what you’re doing." For her wild horse fairground demonstration, Neuman will take one of the untamed horses out of the round corral "and show people how to get close to it, how to touch it, how to read it," she says. "I always tell people, ‘This is a wild animal. Take a deer, put it in your garage and try to catch it,’" says Neuman. "That’s really what it’s like." Thomson’s first attempt to make a reliable saddle horse out of a domestic foal she hand-raised proved more difficult than working with the wild mustang mare, she said. Determined to take a different approach with this horse, Thomson took several lessons with Sutton at her Ashland training facility before taking Cheyanne back to her Applegate ranch. Thomson said the lessons she learned from Sutton have helped Cheyanne’s transition from wild and free to domestic companion a positive one. "I didn’t want to stress her any more than necessary," says Thomson. The pairing with Thomson was a second chance for Cheyanne. The mare’s first adoption to another woman in February 2005 proved unsuccessful. The woman returned Cheyanne before the BLM’s one-year probationary adoption period ended "for personal reasons," Hackett said. The mare didn’t appear to have received any training while at her first adoptive home. Neither did she get any attention from a farrier (horseshoer).Unable to keep her hooves naturally trimmed by wandering miles over varied terrain, the mare needed to learn to stand quietly while a total stranger lifted, trimmed and filed her badly overgrown hooves. "The first time the (shoer) was here, we worked with her for five hours," said Thomson, adding the patience exhibited in Cheyanne’s first hoof trimming has paid off. "Now she lets me pick up all four feet very easily," says Thomson. After just four months of regular handling, Cheyanne not only tolerates contact, she seeks affection, says Thomson. "When she was in a pen at the Expo (last October), she wouldn’t allow people to walk up to her without trying to nip at them," says Thomson. "Now she looks to me. She follows me even when she’s not on the lead." Neuman says wild horses do come to enjoy human contact. "If we can show them we are a leader and they are safe, I think they really want that touch," says Neuman. "They have a very curious nature — as long as you can present yourself as something that’s OK, then they can do it." Hackett said the ideal adopter would have a strong desire to provide a home and work with the horse. "We’re looking for someone who can work with the characteristics of a wild horse and is willing to spend the time with them," said Hackett. The trainers agree success stories like Thomson’s more often than not depend upon the knowledge and character of the human, not the horse. "Wild horses are the best," says Neuman. "They are true horses. Man hasn’t gone in there and messed up their brains, endurance, social skills or feet." The wild horses for this adoption were culled from the Stinking Water, Palomino Butte and Cold Springs herd management areas. Like Cheyanne, these animals spent the winter in the vast multi-acre wild horse corrals in Burns. The horses are eventually herded into squeeze chutes to be aged, vaccinated and freeze-branded, says Hackett. "They’re sorting them right now," says Hackett. "They’re looking to get a variety of colors, age classes and sexes." A mix of mustang mares, geldings, foals, fillies and maybe even a stud or two will be up for auction in Grants Pass, she says. Hackett says those not sold through the bidding process will go back to Burns — but not for release back into the wild, said Hackett. "Usually what will happen is they’ll make it for another adoption," says Hackett. "That can happen several times." Horses on parade The Bureau of Land Management will hold a wild horse adoption at the Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass next weekend. Approximately 40 horses will be available for viewing and adoption. Registration begins Friday at 4 p.m. Application forms are available at the BLM’s Grants Pass office, 2164 N.E. Spalding Ave., and at the Medford District office at 3040 Biddle Road. Adopters must present photo identification showing them to be 18 years of age or older. Adopters must have no record of animal abuse. The minimum bid is $125. Friday: 4-7 p.m. Animal viewing and adopter registration. 5-7 p.m. Gentling demonstration by Lesley Neuman. Saturday: 8-10 a.m. Gentling demonstration by Lesley Neuman. 8-10 a.m. Animal viewing; adopter registration at 10:30 a.m. Decades of adoption The BLM adoption program has placed nearly 200,000 horses since beginning in 1973.The wild herds are managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Oregon BLM wild horse and burro population data lists current totals at 2,655 in 21 separate herd-management areas throughout the state. Because of the pressures of population, limited range lands and politics, a percentage of these horses are gathered every year by the BLM, taken to holding facilities and made available for adoption. For information about wild horse adoption, contact the BLM at www.doi.gov/horse on the Web. Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail WILD AT HEART ">[email protected] . 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