wild mustang Archives ⋆ The Whoa Podcast

The Mustang, The Movie

March 19, 2019 by John Leave a Comment

The Mustang, The Movie

Matthias Schoenaerts stars as Roman Coleman in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s THE MUSTANG, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Tara Violet Niami / Focus Features

We talk to French filmmaker and director of the just-released movie, The Mustang, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre. If you’re a listener to this show, we know you love horses. However, many of you have had some tough horses to deal with. It doesn’t matter whether your horse is a wild mustang or one of the domestic breeds, one thing we’ve probably all had to deal with is our relationship with the horse. The Mustang takes this relationship to the limit with a prison inmate and a tough-as-nails wild horse.

Back in August of 2017, we interviewed Joe Misner who runs the RCC Wild Horse Program for the Sacramento Sheriff’s office. We talked about the symbiotic relationship between the BLM Wild Horse Management and the prison system. In taking responsibility for the care and training of horses, these inmates learn not only horsemanship, but how their attitude, actions, and body language affects the world around them in both the horse world and the human world. The recidivism rate for inmates in the program is substantially lower than those in other programs. You would think more prisons would take advantage of this.

Exploring the Plot

In the movie The Mustang, a hardened, angry criminal – just looking to do his time and get out – is paired with a wild horse freshly plucked by the BLM and thrown into his own prison system. Now, it might be argued that neither the prisoner or the horse did anything other than what nature taught them to do, but they both found themselves in the same predicament – stuck behind the prison fences. Could they rely on one another to help them work their way through this situation?

Bruce Dern stars as Myles in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s THE MUSTANG, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Tara Violet Niami / Focus Features

Director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre spent years researching and working on the script for this movie. We sat down over Skype on a recent afternoon and talked about what it was like making this movie. The Mustang was released last Friday and I know you will enjoy watching it. Also, check out the BLM website about their Wild Horse & Burro Program. Far too many horses in this country will spend their entire lives behind the fences of holding facilities.

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Episode #139

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Spring Creek Basin Mustangs ~ TJ Holmes

September 5, 2017 by John Leave a Comment

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs with TJ Holmes

Cinch leads Corazon and Twister along a bench east of the county road in Spring Creek Basin on Oct. 20, 2007.

TJ Holmes has been visiting the Spring Creek Basin Mustangs since 2002. In 2007, she began documenting the herd. She is essentially the herd’s historian. She keeps track of births, deaths, band structure and so much more. If something happens in the Spring Creek Basin Mustang herd, TJ Holmes has probably documented it.

Working as a volunteer for the BLM, TJ Holmes acts as an advocate for the Spring Creek Basin Mustangs. Because she knows the horses so well and on an individual basis, she is an integral part of the herd management. TJ implements the herd’s PZP program on the Spring Creek Basin Mustangs. PZP is a birth control protocol that has kept the Mustang levels at a manageable level. Much of the PZP methods used on Mustangs was taught to TJ by her mentor, Jay Kirkpatrick of the Science and Conservation Center.

Wild Horse Organizations and Resources

Friends of the Mustangs

Mustang Heritage Foundation

Horses of the Little Book Cliffs

Become a BLM Volunteer

Wild Horse & Burro Volunteer Resource Center

TJ Holmes Photography

As an accomplished photographer, TJ chronicles the progress of the Spring Creek Basin mustangs on her blog, SpringCreekBasinMustangs.

Best Horse Practices Summit

Ranae and I are headed to Durango in October for the Best Horse Practices Summit. This intimate horse expo brings together experts from all aspects of horse behavior and is sure to add to our horse knowledge. The BHP Summit is limiting attendance to 200 people ensuring everyone gets the focus and attention they need. We are looking to take away valuable horsemanship tools from the Summit and hope to meet you there. You can register here.

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