LRTC Wild Horse Mentors'
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Letting a youngster
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Frank Bell, a nationally known clinician, is a Colorado resident.
His enthusiasm for handling horses is probably only
second to his enthusiasm for learning. At the workshops he's
like a mad scientist in a research and development lab, constantly
interacting with the other clinicians and working his magic on
the horses.
This year was no different. One notably excitable horse entered the pen trying to self destruct. Within a couple of hours' work the horse was calm, saddled and a participant who hadn't ridden a horse since the mid 1970s mounted up and rode the horse in the training pen. (Jeff LaBreck, the participant, later went on to adopt the horse.) (More of Frank's work can be viewed in the WHW '98 and WHW '99 workshop features.) |
Starting a fresh horse
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Frank and Chris Erlon
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Next the horse will pen us
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Jeff first getting on
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Starting to move around
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Getting comfortable
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Shortly after this photo sequence, Frank tied the end of the
lead back to the halter to make a rein and Jeff guided the
horse quietly around the pen on his own.
Frank's hallmarks include is his ability to read where a horse is mentally, keep the situation calm, think creatively and be part of a larger instructional team. |
Quietly haltering a fresh one
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Quietly on the line
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| Water is often scarce where wild horses range. Their population can't be allowed to exceed the water supply as this limited resource is crucial to other species and sensitive riparian areas can be damaged during horses' desperate searches for water. |
Continue to Part 7
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