This article is a continuation of Trent Peterson's story which appeared as a feature in the February issue Sport and Trail Magazine.
First, before I go into anything, I want to say thank you to everyone that helped make this project happen. I might have ridden solo, but I could not have done it without the help from friends and family, my sponsors and the most surprising, the kindness of strangers who opened their homes and at times pastures to me and my Mustangs. Thank you!
With that said, last time I wrote about the Who, myself, my father and the birth of The Wild In Us as a result of my father’s passing from Ataxia. Next, I will share a little of the What, When, Where and How of my journey.
The adoption process was relatively easy as I was preapproved by the BLM during my application process. Basically, the preapproval process is to determine that the mustang(s) are going to a good home.
With the application approval in hand, the search for the right crew began. On adoption day there’s a lot of dust and excitement, neither of which I wanted while trying to find the right horse. So, for several days preceding adoption day, I’d head to the BLM holding facility in the evening just to watch the herd. I knew where the 5-6-year-old geldings were being held, so while they were eating their dinner, and the time after spent playing, I would sit on the steel tube fencing of their massive corral and just watch. I was looking for how they interacted in a group, alone, how they moved, did they play or spend all of their time fighting, what did their feet look like as well as their confirmation. I was looking for three mustangs that got along, were of similar size and build, had good feet, and showed that they had a mind that would think, not act on fear. After several days of this, come adoption day I had my list. Each one of the mustangs wears a tag around their neck while in the corrals with their identification number, the same number that is coded in their freeze brand on their neck. List in hand, I set the date for adoption and got the trailers ready. I had no idea what was to come, but I knew I was about to put a wild animal inside a horse trailer. It probably wasn’t going to go over too well, but I’d soon find out.
The BLM handlers ran the herd down to a smaller corral, where they could then separate the herd into small groups. Then the work of sorting began. My crew and I were the ones standing on the platform, saying yes or no and pointing out which Mustangs I wanted so the BLM crew knew which gate to open. One door went back to the main corral and the other to an even smaller corral that would hold the mustangs that fit the bill. After making our way through the herd, there were ten left, which included the top five on my list. After watching them move around for a little while longer, the herd was whittled down to five, then four, then the final three. All this took less than an hour, which surprised the ground crew and the director of the facility as they didn’t know about the homework I was doing ahead of time.
8 / Sport and Trail Magazine
The Wild In Us
“The Why, Where and How”
By Trent Peterson