Truly exceptional
5
By The guy behind the tree
My wife was recommended to the Port Townsend Film Festival to be the best choice in the area to sponsor Unbranded for the festival. We specialize in the exclusive use of nonabusive training and care methods for our horses, including the use of bitless bridles when riding. There was no way we would sponsor the documentary unless we were able to view it in its entirety and both fully approve of it in terms of how the horses were treated. My wife watched it twice, and I saw it three times. In the end, it was an easy decision to press ahead and sponsor the film.
Paul Quigley, the assistant editor, was able to attend the festival and participate in the showings, including question and answer sessions after each screening. He was intimately involved in the winnowing of 500 or so hours of video into the 105 minute release version of Unbranded.
The film is notable for its remarkably even-handed treatment of the controversy over the presence of Mustangs on the public lands. Given the polarity of the various interest groups, that's an achievement worthy of applause all on its own!
Yes, it's relatively inexpensive to adopt a Mustang from the BLM, in part because the agency is so deeply overwhelmed with the numbers of the horses it has to manage, both on the open range and in its confinement facilities. There's a great need for more people to step up and adopt these horses and the wild burros that are also part of the adoption program. That said, Mustangs aren't for everyone, and you need to be well aware of what you are getting yourself in for when you adopt one or more. Once you're there. you really have to fully set your ego aside, whether you're a trainer and/or a rider. If you're neither, you need to ask yourself whether you are the right kind of person for a Mustang who needs a job to thrive, because that's a horse that will never be happy as a pasture ornament.
The "cheap" horses Mr. Milne refers to in his October 5th review were those adopted by Ben Masters on a previous trip, during which he and the people he was with discovered the many virtues of these very sturdy and well-adapted animals. While the training for the Mustangs adopted for the border-to-border journey we see in the movie was abreviated, it was not as abreviated as the training provided in the 100 Days program. It's noteworthy that the four young men in the film formed significant bonds with the horses during their training, particularly given who the men and the horses were when that training began. As to how "old-school" the training was, we don't really get to see in the short amount of time available for a reasonable screening. That said, if it had been as old school as Mr. Milne believes, we would not see the kinds of relationships these guys have with their horses throughout Unbranded.
Far from these horses being used as "tools", we see distinct bonded relationships between the horses and their riders. Were those bonds abesent, there would be no way the horses could be allowed to run free when they were not working. The way the horses stayed with the riders and working horses demonstrates bonds of trust and interdependence that would be the envy of nearly every horseman and horsewoman I've ever encountered.
Yep! . . . there was a runaway incident precipitated by the noise of some dirt bikes and four-wheelers. Very understandable, given that the BLM rounds Mustangs up with helicopters and four-wheelers. Horses have much better hearing than we do, and the riders couldn't have heard the machines in time to gather in the free-running horses that were "off duty".
And, yes, one horse does fall on a steep slope . . . which was marked on the map as a road . . . and he came out of it with a few bumps, bruises, and scrapes. Scared the dickens out of everybody involved. The point is, once they were on that hillside, there really wasn't a viable opportunity to go back to where they had come from.
One horse does die, after breaking free from camp with a few others one night. We don't really know what happened, but we have to understand that these things do happen, even under the best of circumstances. His rider takes part of his tail to complete the journey . . . and I understand he still carries it with him. If you know the kind of people these young men come from, you can see and feel the pain they expereinced with the loss.
There are times when even the most experienced, best treated horses in the world get into trouble, and when you are traveling through public lands from Mexico to Canada, there are going to be times when things go sideways. Throughout Unbranded, though, what we see for the most part is a great adventure that four young men and some camera guys experienced and shared with us. Hardships and highlights throughout. Great scenery and wonderful people along the way. An America that we are still blessed to have, and hope for a future for our wild horses and our freespirited, independent people.
Becoming a "real" horseman or horsewoman is a process, and every one of us makes mistakes along the way . . . even Buck Branaman. If we care to, we learn a lot along the way, and the four young men in Unbranded made giant strides in their understanding of the horse and their partnership with these remarkable Mustangs. I suspect they will continue to learn more and more as the seasons turn and the years go by. I hope we haven't heard the last from them.
At the end of the day, with a Mustang you get more horse than you can anywhere else.
You owe it to yourself and to the Mustangs to experience Unbranded. Don't just take my word for it . . . get it for yourself and hang onto it to watch again and again.
