Inmates at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center work with cowboy Hank Curry at the Carson City facility

Inmates at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center work at the Carson City facility

Horses at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center are trained by inmates

When inmate Austin Miller, 24 started working with wild horses nearly two years ago at the Stewart Conservation Camp in Carson City, he knew very little about horses. “I’d been drug along on trail rides and that’s about it,” he recalled Learning to tame the wild animals, wasn’t easy. He got bucked off several times and even got kicked.

“It can be overwhelming at first,” he said. “They’re big animals and they can be intimidating. It just takes being humble and patient.” It’s a lesson he hopes to take with him when he’s released in about a year.

“You just have to accept that you’re going to get thrown into situations that are over your head,” he said. “It’s the same thing, you just have to stay patient and humble. It gives me confidence when I get out there. If I can do this, I think I can do anything.”

He’s working with three horses and one burro that are set to be adopted next week through a partnership between the Nevada Department of Corrections and the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse (BLM) and Burro program.

A portion of the feral horses rounded up on the Nevada range are taken to the Silver State Industries Ranch, housed at Stewart Conservation Camp. Once there, inmates work with the horses to get them ready for adoption to private owners as well as placement in state and federal programs, such as U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Marine Corps, and various police departments.

Training Wild Horses With Convict Cowboys

Horses saddle-trained at the prison can go for a few hundred dollars on the public auction but have been sold for as much as $15,000. The inmate trainers say they’re a bit nervous to see how their horses will handle the crowds and show off their skills; there’s some competition among the trainers on whose will fetch the most money.

Hank Curry, the cowboy hat-wearing rancher who teaches the inmates how to train their horses, said the experience is a reality check for the inmates. Some have never held a steady job but are learning day by day to set goals and take pride in the fruits of their labor.

“The auction is a real barometer, I guess you’d say, for how well you got your horse to train, how high they sell, and how the people [respond],” Curry said. “It’s kind of like taking your kid to school and he does well at school.”

In an effort to maintain the feral horse population at set levels, the BLM conducts periodic roundups of wild horses. Hundreds of them end up at the prison ranch, where most are held in corrals, cared for, and sometimes adopted, but not trained.

Curry picks out a few select horses that will be trained each cycle. He looks for diversity in appearance and size, not just which animal looks most compliant.

The inmates — most of whom grew up in cities and have never ridden a horse — start the process by simply getting in the pen with their horse and getting the animal accustomed to their presence.

“It really takes a long time to get their trust,” said trainer Trevor Nau, 32. “It really takes a lot of time just working with them, just walking around in the pens with them. Calming them down so they won’t run away from you.”

Eventually, the horses allow their trainers to put a bridle on.

From there, the trainers try to help their animals learn how to go left or right based on the direction of the bridle. And then the saddle goes on — a step often met with bucking.

Curry draws on his years of experience to decide when the inmates should try to get into the saddle.

“It’s scary for us, it’s scary for the horse,” said Austin Miller. “I love it. It’s terrifying though. It’s a great feeling once you got him calmed down.”

Inmates have watched the horses buck off their riders; they wear helmets and try to give the animals a wide berth to avoid injury.

Miller said he’s come to sympathize with the behavior of his horse, a gray animal named Gandolf, especially in light of the trauma the horses experience through the process of being rounded up. The controversial practice can involve low-flying helicopters to herd the horses.

“It’s got to be traumatizing, and then breaking down those barriers,” Miller said. “It’s a really hard building that relationship with them. It’s really rewarding to finally get them over that trust issue they have with people. It’s really great to see that progression.”

“It was for sure a process,” said Juan Sanchez, 28, about his horse Gator. “He was scared of the pad. Everything is new to them, being mustangs.”

“In my case, I feel like he’s taught me a lot of patience because they don’t know what we want from them. It’s not like we can really communicate other than body language,” Sanchez said. “So he’s taught me a lot about patience, how to see things from different perspectives and just to see life differently.”

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