The Devil’s Garden Colt Challenge offers a solution to California’s mustang overpopulation.
ALTURAS, Calif. — The young mustangs were sleeping merrily in the snow around the corrals of the wild horses of the Double in December, their thick coats spotless.
Several months earlier, they had been born on the rugged grasslands of the Devil’s Garden Plateau in the Modoc National Forest, a remote corner of Northern California that bears little resemblance to the beaches and cities most people know.
The mustangs cut striking figures as they roamed the open fields, a descendant of horses once useful to US cavalry and ranchers. But more than a century of largely unchecked reproduction has resulted in a population explosion far beyond what the land and residents can tolerate.
Wild horses eat the plants and trample the streams which serve as critical habitat for native species. To reduce their impact on the fragile ecosystem, the federal government collects hundreds of horses each year and takes them to corrals, ideally to be adopted by people who have the space, time and place to tame them. .
That’s where the Devil’s Garden Colt Challenge comes in.
At the end of last year, 40 children from across the state were chosen to take home a special set of horses. Over six months, the mustangs grew accustomed to being fed, brushed and walked. And their young guardians would learn responsibility, nobility and humility in the face of nature.
In June, about 20 of the horses returned to Modoc County, their manes brushed, braided or spangled, as the culmination of the challenge: a horse show to test everything the mustangs had learned – and their trainers.
The swan challenge aims to attract a wide range of young people with an interest in equine matters – from people who know horses to those who have grown up looking after the animals.
13-year-old Liberty Gonzales fell squarely in the latter category.
In her home in Turlock, in California’s Central Valley nearly 400 miles south of Devil’s Garden, she has dozens of equine figurines known as Breyer horses. Her older sister rides horses, as do her mother and aunt.
On a family camping trip last summer, she saw the Devil’s Garden mustangs at a corral.
“Saoirse wanted us to bring home a horse that day,” said her mother, Joy Gonzales.
The girl entered the next colt challenge. By winter, she met Bernie, a little girl, the color of a dark nut. Immediately, she began a training regimen with clear milestones, starting with being able to pet him on their first day together.
“It’s kind of an important thing,” Liberty said.
She achieved that goal. But not all of the training went according to plan. At first, Bernie was too excited to walk in a harness – he gave up and wouldn’t let Freedom catch him.
“It’s very different from a horse born in captivity,” Joy Gonzales said. “You have to win his trust – he’s a 600-pound beast that thinks you’re out to eat him.”
10-year-old Ben Silveira had to learn that lesson by enduring a few knocks and side kicks from Buddy, the Devil’s Garden mustang he adopted.
“It was definitely an adventure,” said Cheri Silveira, Ben’s mother, a few months after they brought Buddy home to Turlock.
The Silveiras were new to horse ownership. But when they were planning to move to Tennessee to a house with more land for horses, Ms. Silveira saw an opportunity.
Ben plays baseball and takes karate lessons. He was a little surprised when his mother suggested he consider horse training.
“I was just minding my own business, and she came up to me and said, ‘Hey Ben, you want a horse?'” Ben said.
At first, Ben wasn’t allowed in the pen with Buddy. But gradually, with the help of alfalfa cubes, Buddy became comfortable enough to pet Ben, then brush his fur, then stop him. Next, the horse needed to be desensitized to the sights, sounds and textures it might encounter. Ben slowly exposed Buddy to flags, foam pool noodles and the horse trailer, all accompanied by a feast.
Buddy, the Silveiras learned, could be stubborn. The horse was grumpy for days after Ben brushed his leg — “and he just hated it,” Ben said. But the boy became devoted to the young bay mustang.
“I was so happy he came and ate it out of my hand,” Ben said, recalling an early bonding moment.
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For the uninitiated, the 74th Modoc County Junior Livestock Show in June was a whirlwind of activity. On the same subject : Become rich and healthy by growing your own food!.
Goats and sheep crossed by spectators in cowboy hats and camouflage. Teenagers wearing crisp white shirts tucked into their jeans huddled in front of a snack bar served by piping cheeseburgers. Rows of livestock pens were decorated with artificial flower garlands and glittered hand signs.
For the residents of these rural areas of California, the livestock auction serves as a kind of annual revival, a celebration of an agrarian way of life that has been in decline for decades.
“It’s important for kids to know where their produce comes from,” said Todd Hughes, a biology teacher from nearby Cedarville. He brought his children to the event and watched the pigs nose around the pen in front of him. “You will see many tears of respect and admiration for the animals.”
But even among livestock fans, wild horses can be a source of tension and frustration. The region’s cattle ranchers push for strict rules governing when they can let cattle graze on federal land and how long wild horses can roam freely and graze grass.
“The horses are just where they want to be,” said Zack Hannah, a cattle ranger who watched his daughter dart around the livestock show. “Not only is it destroying the county,” he said, but the horses are often malnourished living in the wild.
But Mr Hannah praised the swan challenge not only for reducing the number of horses but for getting more young people across the state interested in farming or other agricultural industries.
Charlea Johnston, a US Forest Service staff member who manages Double Wild Horse Corrals, said the program was also meant to help reduce the stigma around mustangs, which can make great ranch or rodeo horses. care and with training.
“This herd is known to be versatile and easy going,” she said.
Laura Snell, director of the University of California Cooperative Extension in Modoc County, said she started the Devil’s Garden Colt Challenge three years ago as a way to find more homes for wild horses, whose numbers have plummeted. and flow over the years since then. The Free-Roaming Wild Horses and Burros Act was passed in 1971.
The law requires federal agencies to protect and manage the wild horse population, which are not natural predators, on public lands. To do that, federal land managers operate corrals like no-kill animal shelters in urban areas by trying to place the mustangs in good homes.
Ms. Snell said a variety of programs over about 30 years have tried to pair wild horses with willing trainers, including students and inmates. But Ms. Snell said it was unusual for programs to allow participants to fully adopt the animals, as the swan challenge does.
By 2016, there were approximately 4,000 horses on the Devil’s Garden Plateau alone, an area experts determined could only sustainably support 400.
“We’re seeing the highest numbers we’ve ever had,” Ms Snell said. “Thinking outside the box is a must.”
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When the swan challenge finally came in June, the rain got up on the horses from time to time. On the same subject : The Food Guy: Chicago caterer prepares food fresh from the garden. The children gave last minute instructions to their mustangs, patted their noses and fed them carrots.
“I’m feeling good,” said Kati Hallmark, 14, a livestock show participant who trained a Devil’s Garden colt named Walker. “I think it is, too. His ears were forward, so he’s alert.”
Cliff Thomas, volunteering as a judge, walked the obstacle course with his grandson.
Mr Thomas said he saw the need for the program to correct the decline in youth participation in horse culture.
“My approach is if you can communicate with a horse, you can communicate with people,” he said.
One by one, the 19 contestants whose families were able to bring them back to Modoc County wheeled their horses around the ring.
Ben looked with a small frown.
“I’m excited,” he said. “But I’m really nervous about the trailer – it’s a new smell.”
“If you trust, he will trust,” his mother said. “Just be patient.”
In the ring, 10-year-old Mason Sedillo led his horse, Sassy Llama, to a tarp meant to mimic a small stream. she balked.
Afterwards, Mason’s best friend, Joshua Fernandez, ran up to offer solace.
“I’m so proud of you,” Joshua told Mason as he put an arm around his friend’s shoulder.
Some young trainers got out of the ring with tears in their eyes. Kati repeatedly tried to guide Walker through a tunnel of battered pool noodles, clicking her tongue and coaxing him silently, to no avail. Mr. Thomas nodded for her to move on.
“It was a learning experience, for sure,” she said later. “I worked so hard, but he put his whole body weight against me.”
At one point, Buddy got back up and Ben tried to urge him forward. Buddy was still standing at the edge of the ramp into the trailer. Ben, who was shorter and smaller than his equine companion, took a deep breath, a frown settling on his face as he tried to move an animal that wouldn’t budge.
“It’s like watching the kids with a young horse and trying to do an obstacle course,” said Mr Thomas as the competition drew to a close. “They got to see how they deal with the frustrations and the challenges.”
At the end of the day, Ms. Snell handed out awards, and no one left empty-handed. Ben joined five children in his age group to accept a fourth place yellow ribbon and a Purina bag. His parents smiled and clapped.
The next morning, Kati woke up at her family’s sprawling farm outside of town. The day before was disappointing. But just like every other day, she got up and went towards the red barn where the animals lived. She cleaned the stalls. she fed the horses. Walker thumped happily on the grass.
