National Geographic: The Noble Horse Page #3

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is to flee the company

of humans.

Bryan Neubert makes a living,

not "breaking"

but-in his words-

"starting" wild or green horses

This two-year-old quarter

horse stud,

born on the open range,

has never been handled.

On his ranch in

northern California,

Bryan is about to

make first contact.

Bryan

will chase the horse until

he turns to face his pursuer.

The goal is capture

the animal's attention

and keep it.

I'll ask again now. Good.

Now let's see if he leaves

with the hindquarters

or if he leaves with

the whole horse.

See, here's the...

the first little part

is gonna happen here in

just a second, I think.

Subtle shifts of body language

keep the horse focused

on Bryan.

If his attention wanders,

I might see if I can get

another step closer.

As long as he's doing that,

I'll just let that soak in.

I'll take another step.

And I'll take another one here

He's having trouble with it,

but he's trying.

He's gonna have to leave here

pretty soon.

And I'll try to direct him back

There, he adjusted in

the rear quarters,

that's what I'm gonna

need here.

Within about 15 minutes,

the young stallion has

mastered the maneuver.

Now Bryan presents

a new challenge.

I might do just a little

swinging here

and see if he can stand that.

And I'll see about,

see if I can put that on there

without hitting him in the face

And I'll just,

as I come forward,

just let that go.

And it's kinda scary.

You can see that it's

troubling to him a little.

I'll just put

just a little pressure till,

till he finds his way

toward me

See, he keeps thinking

his answer is out of here,

but the answer's right there.

The horse turns to Bryan

for reassurance

a critical breakthrough.

Now he might reach for me.

Let's see if,

he'll come in here. I'll see if

I can get another half a step

without scaring him.

See how he's reaching for me?

Now here's a spot where you

want to watch their ears,

'cause some of them,

they'll take a run at you.

Now, I'll just wait here

till he reaches.

Like that.

See him smelling me?

There's the first,

second

time he's ever

been touched by a human

or he touched a human, I guess

Now, again, let's see

if this head shaking

will disappear. I'll just keep

a little tension there,

and I'll see if he'll reach

for me.

And pretty soon I'll reach

for him, like right there.

We sorta met one another.

Little bit of touching there.

Little bit more here.

See, he's finding out he can

touch me and reach for me now.

In a horse,

there's a spot

in there where

they can just turn

loose emotionally.

You can see in their eye

and their face

a change that comes over them

and they'll begin to

drop their head

and their eyes'll soften

and you can just see

that they're

beginning to trust you

and then you can

move right on and really

advance then.

I'll get my weight shifted back

He's feeling a whole lot

better about things now,

he's finding out I can touch

him and he won't get hurt.

Less than half an hour after

the first touch,

Bryan tests the saddle.

Very important to swing this on

so that it doesn't hit him.

I'll just grab it, gradually

just lays right over on

their back like that.

I don't mind seeing one buck

with the saddle,

because being a prey animal,

that's his responsibility to

not let anything stay up there

That's where the predator has

the best advantage.

If he can get above

and stay with him,

then he can have himself

a meal.

Pretty dreamy now,

but we'll see what

he's like when

he feels that saddle on there

I'd rather he test the saddle

before I get on than after

I got up there.

Now I'm gonna move him off,

but ever so softly,

if I can.

I'm not trying to

make him buck.

Okay,

maybe I'll give him

a little consoling.

Did you get scared?

It's been less than two hours

since Bryan began work

a fairly routine

"first session".

He'll leave the saddle in place

for a few more hours,

then give the young stallion

a well-earned rest

until morning.

Yesterday's fear gives way to

recognition and trust.

Today will be another

turning point.

Social animals feel safest

in a group.

As a comfort to

the young stallion,

Bryan has corralled

several other horses.

See, if he wiggles,

I'll just wait here

till he stands put.

Pet him over here as

if it was my leg and maybe...

get myself kinda set

here before he gets untracked.

Might let him go right out

that way.

And I'll just ask him to go.

If he gets upset,

if he gets scared,

wants to run,

I'll just try to go with him.

People ask me about

this new way of working

with horses.

Far as I know,

it's been around as

long as there's been horses

and men

interacting with one another.

I don't know how the

first man could ever get on

the horse for the first time

without having

something working for him.

I'll get a little bolder

as he gets a little more

confidence.

I'll ask him here

to come back to me

with this rein a little,

and he did.

The young stallion's

first ride

lasts no more than 15 minutes

and prompts a simple reward.

Hey kid.

This just kinda soothes

them sometimes,

give them a little hugging.

This is

a place where they,

a lot of them just can't stand

to have you that close.

And if you can show them

that it's okay

to be this close,

why it's a real relaxing,

soothing kind of thing.

They really have to trust ya.

By day three,

it's time to abandon

the security of the corral.

A whole new life is beginning

for the young stallion.

He's gettin' so he trusts me

a whole lot more today,

I see.

And Bryan

is left to ponder

an age-old mystery

about the nature of horses.

I often wonder:

How in the world would they

allow somebody to get up

on their back

and guide them around?

They'll take us

miles and miles till

they're totally,

you know, tired. Pull wagons and

pack loads and all kinds

of things,

when actually they could

kick us or hurt us

or buck us off any time.

And yet they'll just work

their hearts out for us,

if it's presented to them in

a way that they can understand

Pretty special animal, really.

Special, indeed.

No more than 60 years before

the first moon landing,

the world was driven

by horse power.

Every sector of the economy

relied on him:

transport and trade,

industry and agriculture.

No creature served us better

in the building of civilization

or its occasional overthrow.

For millennia, the warhorse

prevailed in battle.

If not for a horse,

would Alexander

have been great?

Who can imagine Attila the Hun

or Napoleon on foot?

Over a million horses served

in World War I.

Nearly a third died.

In World War II,

tens of thousands perished in

a battle of bullets and bombs.

The Age of Horsepower

was over

And yet there are more horses

in the world today

than during the 1800s

some 62 million.

In an Age of Technology,

perhaps we yearn all the more

for the touch of something wild

The horse is no longer

changing our world.

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