Meditations on Equestrian Art

The Project:

One Mustang directly off the range, One trainer, No tools, Just body language

The Goal:

To discover how far Equestrian Art can be developed solely using body language.

We Have Dates!

So it seems this dreamed up project is no longer a fantasy; it is coming down to brass tacks and looking like the real thing with dates and all!

The Bureau of Land Management in Burns, Oregon is gathering about 135 horses from Jackie’s Butte on August 2^nd, and, on August 9^th, they will be bringing in about 175 horses from The Three Fingers herd area.

This works out perfectly for me as I am already committed to go to the Parelli tour stop in Redmond, Oregon on August 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th.  So, the current plan is for me and my daughter, Cameron, to drive down to Burns on Monday, August 8^th, spend a few days watching the horses and hopefully be struck with lightning force by the presence and personality of the horse who wants to come do this project with me.

I would like to choose two mustang mares  to take home with me so they can travel together, hopefully lowering the stress of travel by having each other for companionship. One will be for my project, the other will be a horse I start for someone else. I am looking for mares between the ages of three and six. The one for the documentary project I am hoping will have been recently gathered; the other just needs to be a horse I think I can easily find a home for.

I have been told it is customary for the BLM to not let horses travel to their new homes for six weeks. I am asking for an exception in this case because being able to train from the very beginning as close to possible to the horse being brought in from the wild, will I believe, help people see how beautiful and simple this process of gentling can be.

I would like to prove a point with this documentary about how trainable and fun mustangs are. Though I am choosing to spend a year training with no tools or tack for the joy of the challenge, I will of course make sure the horse is comfortable being haltered and loaded in a trailer for safety reasons, and we will of course begin our training in secure high fenced areas. Once we have those basics covered we will dive into our project head first aiming to allow this horse freedom and connection, comfort and security of family and herd life throughout the process of bonding to me, learning with me, growing with me, and I am sure teaching me things I never thought I would need to learn.

So if all goes as hoped, on August 8^th we will leave from Seattle to drive the eight hours to Burns Oregon. We will spend the 9^th,10^th and 11^th watching horses, then the 12^th,13^th and14^th will be spent in Redmond Oregon at the Parelli tour stop. On the 15^th of August we will head home two new mustangs in tow, the ten hour drive to Anacortes capped off with the one hour ferry ride to Friday Harbor.

Home Sweet Home and the journey has begun!

Wish us luck with finalizing all the logistics.

Elsa Sinclair

EquineClarity.com