Wild horses in rural Nevada have received national attention for years.
In the midst of all the controversy surrounding wild horse roundups are local groups that take wild horses out of the desert.
Least Resistance Training Concepts is a group that began gentling wild horses in 1998, back when folks were adopting them, not knowing how to do the training themselves.
We saw some of the group's methods, which proved to be incredibly successful in just a short amount of time.
We meet 6-year-old Snort. A wild mustang who we're told is quite a trouble maker.
"He would jump into people's corrals and try to breed their mares," says Willis Lamm.
The Bureau of Land Management relocated him three times, but the problems continued. That's how he ended up in Stagecoach.
"We have to be somewhat patient and quiet with these guys," says Lamm. "Let them know that we're not here to threaten him."
Lamm is the President of Least Resistance Training Concepts. He shows us a technique called poling. The goal is to make Snort feel more comfortable.
"For us to watch what he's doing and not to push him, but just work with him," says Lamm.
In just 20 minutes, Snort begins trusting Lamm.
"We've had beginners actually have some of these horses under saddle in three days," says Lamm.
Every horse is different, but we could see the relationship building between the two of them.
"When you get that connection going, that's when you start getting some really solid results and you're not hurting the horse to do it," says Lamm.
That connection is something Betty Retzer feels every day. She says her horses bring peace to her life.
"Their truth, and honesty. There's no games played or anything. They're just who they are."
Retzer is playing with her adopted wild horse, 13-year-old Spirit. It's success stories like these that Lamm and Retzer want the public to see first hand.
"They need to have the best possible training from their wild, free roaming environment to the human environment," says Lamm.
There are folks in this area who aren't happy with what this group is doing, and Lamm and his volunteers know it.
"There is one camp that thinks we should just haul all these horses off and dump them with the kill buyers," says Lamm.
But, for people like Retzer, these wild horses and their unique personalities mean too much to simply give up on.
"They're more than my family, yes," she says. "More than my family."
Least Resistance Training Concepts holds these training exercises every Sunday. Since 1998, they've successfully gentled 400 horses at nearly a 100 percent success rate.
Written by Adam Rasmussen
