In the sixth episode of The Horse Illustrated Episode of Horses in the Morning, sponsored by Title Sponsor Straight Arrow Products, hosts Glenn the Geek and Sarah Evers Conrad talk to Emily and Sarah Harris of Sisters Horsing Around; Steven Latham, producer and co-director of The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses film; and Colton Woods about the sustainability of the horse industry and his training philosophies.

Hosts: Sarah Conrad, Digital Content Editor of Horse Illustrated & Young Rider and Glenn the Geek, host of Horses in the Morning

Title Sponsor: Straight Arrow Family of Brands

There’s an App for that!  Check out the new Horse Radio Network app for iPhone and Android. Follow Horse Radio Network on Twitter or follow Horses In The Morning on Facebook.

Emily and Sarah Harris of Sisters Horsing Around

Emily and Sarah Harris are the sister duo of “Sisters Horsing Around,” which includes their YouTube channel, website, and social media accounts (see below). Sisters Horsing Around is a fun, engaging, informative and educational resource for horse information. As multi-discipline riders, Emily and Sarah have had a variety of experiences, and they are passionate about sharing the joys of horses. They call themselves the “Equestrian Guides” and want to help non-equestrians explore the amazing world of horses. For those that are equestrians, they want to help broaden their interests in different disciplines. They do this by creating content that can be enjoyed and understood by anyone. They also endeavor to bridge the gap between those outside the horse world and those in the horse world and bring equestrian sports into the limelight in an interesting and understandable way.

Additional Links for Sisters Horsing Around:

◆ www.instagram.com/SistersHorsingAround
◆ www.facebook.com/SistersHorsingAround
◆ www.twitter.com/SistersHorsing
◆ www.pinterest.com/SistersHorsingAround

For the article about our Equitana coverage, click here. Facebook Lives from Equitana feature:

◆ Susan Friedland of Saddle Seeks Horse
◆ Heather Wallace of The Timid Rider
◆ Certified Horsemanship Association CEO Christy Landwehr
◆ The Social Responsibility of Equestrian Influencers Panel Part 1 and Part 2 (featuring Sisters Horsing Around, interviewed in the podcast)
◆ Positive reinforcement trainer Shawna Karrasch
◆ The demo from Shawna Karrasch (mentioned in the podcast)
◆ Carriage Association of America’s Publication Manager Kathleen Haak
◆ A demo from Colton Woods (interviewed in the podcast).

Steven Latham with The Mustangs Film

Steven Latham is the producer and co-director of The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses, which takes audiences on an odyssey throughout America to places few people have seen or even know about. There are more than 80,000 wild horses on our public lands and more than 50,000 in government corrals. This feature documentary is executive produced by Robert Redford, Patti Scialfa Springsteen and Jessica Springsteen. The film features songs by Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson and an original song written by Diane Warren and performed by Blanco Brown.

Steven also created and produces the award-winning series, Shelter Me, which tells stories that celebrate the human-animal bond. The episodes have been hosted by John Legend, Jane Goodall, Kristen Bell, Jon Hamm, Hilary Swank, Allison Janney, Edie Falco, Jane Lynch, Wendie Malick, Daymond John and Katherine Heigl.

Steven began his production company with a film series he created with Barbra Streisand called, The Living Century, which focused on people who were at least 100 years old. He also produced and directed for the science series, NOVA, and made the only film about the TED Conference. Prior to launching his company, he worked at Ketchum, Grey, Paramount Pictures, PolyGram Television, and Universal Worldwide Television.

Additional Links about The Mustangs Film

◆ The Official Trailer
◆ The Mustangs Film website
◆ www.facebook.com/TheMustangsFilm

Colton Woods of Colton Woods Horsemanship

Colton Woods is a husband, horseman and entrepreneur dedicated to helping others develop themselves, their horses and businesses to be the best they can be. Horsemanship to him is not just a way to train a horse—it is everything we do with our horses and in our own lives. He grew up in a family of international business, and even lived in China for two years, and brings a whole new perspective and way of building horse training businesses to the horse world. Through his Professional Horseman’s School, his Business Mentorship for Horse Trainers, podcast The Heart of Horsemanship, teaching clinics and at expos as well as training select horses for clients, Colton is truly changing lives in the horse industry. He knows it is time we have the tough conversations, we challenge industry traditions and he lives it out. One of his favorite quotes is, “To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing” by Elbert Hubbard.

Additional Links about Colton Woods

◆ Colton Woods Horsemanship website
◆ FREE BOOK: “Be A Leader Worth Following by Colton Woods” with a SPECIAL OFFER for Horses in the Morning Listeners
◆ The Professional Horseman’s School
◆ www.facebook.com/coltonwoodshorsemanship
◆ www.instagram.com/coltonwoodshorsemanship
◆ www.youtube.com/coltonwoodshorsemanship
◆ TikTok.com/@coltonwoodshorsemanship

Title Sponsor

We want to thank our Title Sponsor, the Straight Arrow Family of Brands, makers of Mane ‘n Tail, Cowboy Magic & Exhibitor’s, with over 100 years of grooming excellence. For more information about your favorite products, please visit www.straightarrowinc.com and find Straight Arrow Products at a tack shop near you!

The “Magic” in Cowboy Magic comes from the bond between you and your horse. Cowboy Magic celebrates every moment with you, from quiet chats in the pasture to the adrenaline rush of competition. We want to invite you to embrace your “Magic Moment” with your horse by sharing your favorite photos with Cowboy Magic on social media using #CowboyMagicMoment.

The post Podcast Episode #6: Sisters Horsing Around, Colton Woods, and The Mustangs film for October 26, 2021 from Title Sponsor Straight Arrow Products appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The story, by writer/director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, is based on real-life programs that match inmates with Mustangs, offering a chance for inmates to develop vocational skills working with horses and helping to make the formerly wild horses more adoptable.

In this short feature, Clermont-Tonnerre, Executive Producer Robert Redford, lead actor Matthias Schoenaerts, and other members of the cast and crew talk about the powerful connections formed and the lessons learned from working with horses.

The Mustang movie is in theaters now. Find out more at focusfeatures.com/the-mustang.

The post Behind the Scenes of The Mustang appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Isolated Man, Isolated Horse

The creation of French actress-turned-director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, The Mustang movie tells the story of a violent convict named Roman Coleman who is so anti-social that he prefers being in solitary confinement over mixing with the other prisoners.

Incarcerated at a federal prison in Nevada, Coleman is withdrawn and despondent when he’s assigned the duty of cleaning the corrals adjacent to the exercise yard. It turns out his prison participates in the Bureau of Land Management’s Saddle Horse Training Program, where wild Mustangs are gentled and trained under saddle by inmates. Coleman watches with interest as his fellow inmates work with the horses.

One day while cleaning the paddocks, Coleman notices that one Mustang is isolated from the others. The horse is kept in a dark stall where he kicks the walls in protest. Coleman is warned to stay away from the noisy buckskin because he is wild and dangerous.

From then on, Coleman is drawn to the horse, who was rounded up on the range by helicopter with the rest of his herd in the film’s opening scene. The program director Myles, played by Bruce Dern, notices Coleman’s interest in the horse and recruits him for the program. Coleman names the horse Marquis and begins the work of taming him.

The inner and outer struggle that both Coleman and Marquis endure in the rest of the film is both touching and inspiring.

The Real Deal

Clermont-Tonnerre not only directed The Mustang movie, but she also co-wrote it. Inspired by research she’d done when making a short film called Rabbit (2014) about a pet therapy program in a women’s prison, Clermont-Tonnerre was drawn to the idea of a film about prisoners working with wild horses.

“In deepening her research about other animal therapy programs, Laure was led to the Saddle Horse Training Program in the U.S., which is clearly a cinematic subject,” said Molly Hallam, executive producer of The Mustang movie. “She spent several years researching this program as she developed the script. She felt it was important to keep the story authentic and close to the origins of the real program itself, which is why the script is written for and filmed in Nevada.”

Equine Actors

A big part of that authenticity meant having equine actors in the movie that would behave like real Mustangs. Three different horses were cast in the crucial role of Marquis, with a 12-year-old Lusitano gelding named Luke getting the majority of the screen time.

“Luke—aka Mafioso—was the main horse we used,” says Hallam. “He is the horse that Matthias rides, and who did all of the difficult stunts. The second horse, Max, was also a Lusitano, but a 4-year-old stallion. He came from Oklahoma and had no formal training. As a young stallion, he had a lot of personality, and was trained to rear and paw. We used him a lot in the round pen scenes. He also has a scar on his face from an injury he received as a baby, which we loved to use for close-ups.”

The only actual Mustang playing Marquis was a 6-year-old gelding named Buck that came from Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue, a Mustang rescue in California.

“We used Buck very little as he had only basic under-saddle training, but we felt that it was important to have a Mustang to build the personality of the horse,” says Hallam. “Buck was only used by our stunt men. He had very little handling and training, so he had the natural cautious reactions when you tried to saddle and ride him. We did not train him very much on purpose so he would react naturally as a Mustang that hadn’t been handled would.”

Luke’s previous career with a traveling live performance troupe called Cirque Ma’Ceo made him the most qualified horse for the role of Marquis.

“Luke did most of the stunts, like rearing, pawing, biting, laying down, and dragging a stunt man by the foot in the stirrup,” says Hallam.

Return to Freedom

Clermont-Tonnerre’s commitment to authenticity also included consulting with Neda DeMayo, president of Return to Freedom, a wild horse sanctuary in California, to ensure the film’s horse scenes were on the mark.

“Mr. Redford’s team asked me to look at the script because of Return to Freedom’s relationship with him and because of Return to Freedom’s 20-year history of advocating for policy changes and on-the-range management solutions,” says DeMayo. “We offered feedback and input as the process went along, and pulled in some of our resources, including sourcing some of the round-up footage.”

Return to Freedom also provided advice to the filmmakers on finding the right horse to play Marquis.

“Molly Hallam knew what Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre was looking for in a horse, and in the end, traveled all over to find a horse with the right look and temperament for the kind of trained behavior needed for The Mustang movie,” says DeMayo.

Both Clermont-Tonnerre and Hallam visited two of Return to Freedom’s sanctuary locations on California’s Central Coast, looking at horses being prepared for adoption that had been born at the sanctuary.

“A trainer and farrier who has worked with us on large rescue projects since 2011, Thomas Smittle, was hired to appear in the movie playing Thomas Youngblood, so we felt comfortable having our horses on the set,” says DeMayo. “Molly and Laure were also very open, and we were able to visit and check on the horses at any time.”

DeMayo says the horses were well looked after during the filming.

“They were basically the heroes of the movie,” she says. “The set was managed like a training facility, with the horses being handled and cared for pretty much all day.”

According to DeMayo, Clermont-Tonnerre has a very compassionate nature, which comes across in her film.

“It was clear to me that she felt passionately about telling a moving story about the prison program, and about the very individual and personal experiences inmates have while working with the horses,” she says. “I could see that she was really focused on what working with the horses gave to the men.”

By the film’s end, both Coleman and Marquis have learned a lot about love and trust. And judging by the photos of actual prisoners and their Mustangs that appear during the final credits, they are not alone.

This article originally appeared in the April 2019 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Horses Change Lives in “The Mustang” appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

This is the opening scene and a preview of “The Mustang,” a movie opening March 15 and executive produced by Robert Redford. The movie chronicles the fictional tale of a Nevada inmate who is recruited to the prison’s BLM Mustang program, where he forms a bond with the prison’s most difficult horse. Along the way, similarities between man and Mustang cause problems as well as helping both of them. Watch the official trailer preview of The Mustang and be sure to catch it in theaters.

A Film to Remember

Focus Features invited select members of the equine media as well as equestrian social media influencers to attend a private screening of the film and a tour of the Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary, which assisted with filming. I was fortunate to attend this special trip and learned a lot more about wild horses in the process.

After boarding a private charter bus, we were taken to Paseo Nuevo Cinemas in downtown Santa Barbara to see the movie. Although there was an amazing lightning show going on outdoors during a rare Southern California thunderstorm, it couldn’t compare to the touching story of Roman Coleman, a prisoner that everyone seemed to have given up on. As he fails to get paroled again and again, making more enemies than friends, a chance work assignment mucking out stalls for the prison’s Mustang training program changes his life.

Coleman notices a horse more wild than the others, locked in equine “solitary confinement” and kicking the walls—something he understands deeply. The program manager decides to let Coleman take a swing at training the horse for a fundraiser auction in a few weeks.

I won’t give away what happens as man and horse struggle to be heard, but the bond that forms between them will surprise you and may even bring tears to your eyes. I definitely did not predict the ending, so you’ll have to see it for yourself to find out what happens!

Sanctuary and Freedom

The following day, we were invited to the Return to Freedom American Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc, Calif., to meet its president and founder Neda DeMayo. She introduced us to KoLa, one of the horses who appeared in the film, and talked about her Mustang advocacy work in Washington, D.C. Although she had never planned to “get political,” as she says, her lifelong love of Mustangs eventually convinced her that having a seat at the table was the only way to help these horses and put forth humane options for population control, such as birth control vaccines for wild mares.

The sanctuary has done an amazing job of securing private land to bring horses out of BLM holding pens. Approximately 400 horses and 30 burros roam the 1,500 acres of Return to Freedom’s properties. While most of the horses they take in continue to live this natural lifestyle, horses that take particularly well to training and socializing with humans are offered for adoption after a rigorous applicant screening process.

After admiring KoLa and taking about a million pictures of him—he’s truly gorgeous—we got to meet the most famous resident of Return to Freedom, Spirit. You may know him from the 2002 animated movie “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” and the current Netflix series, “Spirit Riding Free.”

Although Spirit is in his 20s now, he still looks and acts like a young buck, full of personality and eager to show off for visitors. He is part of the ongoing education being done by Return to Freedom that helps put the public in direct contact with horses in a natural environment.

To learn more, visit focusfeatures.com/the-mustang and www.returntofreedom.org.

The post Movie Preview: “The Mustang” appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.