Wild Horses of the West

By Jan Drake

Captivating photographs and stories of the wild horses of the west.

Take an intimate look at the majestic equines who roam the public lands of the Mountain West: Wild Horses of the West provides a front row seat to a world rarely glimpsed by most people. Stories highlight specific horses known in these areas as The Old Man, One-Ear, and the Cremello Brothers whom the photographer, Jan Drake, has been following with her camera for years. More than 200 color photographs are divided into sections including Family Bands, Mares & Foals, Fighting Mustangs, Stallions & Bachelors, and Cedar Mountain Mustangs.

Jan Drake is a long-time photographer based in Park City, Utah. She oversees the equestrian center at the National Ability Center (NAC) where adaptive horseback riding, trail riding, equine-assisted learning, and hippotherapy is made available to all ages and abilities. As an annual fundraiser for the NAC, Drake guides private groups on photography excursions to see wild horses of the West up close. She also volunteers regularly with the nonprofit Intermountain Wild Horse and Burros Advisors. This is her first book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Release date: Feb 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781423655312

Book preview

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Wild Horses

 of the  West

Jan Drake

Photo of logo.Photo of wild horses.

Digital Edition 1.0

Text and photography © 2020 Jan Drake

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Published by

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

1.800.835.4993 orders

www.gibbs-smith.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020933161

ISBN: 978-1-4236-5531-2 (ebook)

Photo of wild horses.

Dedicated to Don Cook, Tim Clark, and Peggy Spear for always being willing to go out on adventures to photograph wild horses with me, and to Stella Tavilla for introducing them to me.

Photo of wild horses.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Family Bands

Snaking

Branded Mares

Waterhole Etiquette

Wind Braids

Band Stallions & Bachelors

The Cremello Brothers

Old Man

Black-and-White Pinto

Chasing Snow

Mustang Challenges

One Ear

A Good Roll in the Mud

Mares & Foals

The Birth

Mock Fighting

Cedar Mountain Mustangs

Acknowledgments

Foreword

I was one of those girls born with the horse gene. As far back as I can remember, I have always loved horses. I grew up on a small farm in northeastern Utah. Once I had my own horse, an Arabian/Quarter gelding, I spent every waking moment of my free time chasing my wild imagination. I explored every crevice and gulch within fifteen miles of my home on horseback.

As time passed and my gelding climbed in age, my husband, Cliff, and I decided we were ready to add another horse to our family. We had the time to commit to another horse’s training, but not the money. Thoroughbred horses require registration papers and other expenses. A mustang seemed like the perfect answer. Wild mustangs can be adopted for only $125, and they are hardy animals. They are easily nourished on the basics without extra additives in their feed, and their hard feet are less likely to need shoes.

What Cliff and I learned about mustang adoption intrigued us, so we dug deeper. I became involved in a mustang adoption support organization and was suddenly immersed in all things mustang. Around the same time, I was introduced to a local trainer who had a contract with the Bureau of Land Management to gentle older geldings. I asked him if I could assist him, hoping to learn to gentle my own horse someday. Gentling is the more natural horsemanship terminology, as opposed to breaking a horse.  When gentling, you are working with the horses’ natural curiosities and mannerisms, not forcing your will on them. I quickly learned that gentling a wild mustang could be an incredible experience.

Within a few months, Cliff and I made plans to attend a satellite adoption where a trainer was present doing gentling demonstrations. In the span of two hours, he had taken an untouched horse and was sitting on him bareback. Mustangs are a flight or fight prey animal—their instincts tell them, with every cell in their body, to run away from danger. For this