Spirit Horses by Alan Evans Page A

recently baled field, which they had passed about a mile before.
    Located in the middle of the compound he noticed a
stoutly built square corral, with a strong looking snubbing post standing in
its center. This old-style-type pen was used for breaking young horses�—�the
hard way. He figured these pens were probably a common sight in this part of
the country. Built on two sides of the corral were a couple of nice flat
one-acre riding areas. These would be perfect to put some initial training on
the young horses, once they were started under saddle. Except for the old-school
breaking corral, he was
impressed. These folks had a nice training center.       
    He wasn’t surprised to see the facilities here. He
remembered Mr. Jensen telling him the Shoshone were born horsemen and that they
bred and trained working horses to sell. The horses in these paddocks were not
mustangs. He could tell they were domestic horses and guessed they were
registered stock. It was easy to conclude that these animals provided a good
supplemental income for the Indians’ cattle business. He wondered if the ranch
was owned by an individual or the whole tribe.
    Tara stopped in front of one of the small houses,
and Shane parked alongside. As they got out of their trucks, she motioned for
him to stay on the porch. “I’ll tell my grandfather you’re here and wish to
speak with him.”
    Shane sat down on the porch swing to wait. He looked
again at the snubbing post in the center of the corral and found it hard to
believe that experienced horsemen, such as these, would still be breaking
horses this old-fashioned way.
    A snubbing post is a large pole set firmly in the
ground. An unbroken horse is tied to it and forced to stand relatively still
while being saddled for the first time. This procedure provides a way to keep
an untrained horse under control while introducing these new scary things.
    Shane, from experience, knew this made horses feel
even more scared and trapped. It ended up leaving a bad impression on the
frightened animal�—�a feeling that could last for months or in
some cases for the rest of their lives. He grinned as he remembered using this
method himself a long time ago. The truth be told, if the right person hadn’t
come along and taught him a much better way, he’d probably still be doing it.
    After a short wait, Tara came to the door, “You can
come in.”
    The house was small but well furnished; clean with a
comfortable lived-in atmosphere. He could see several modern appliances in the
kitchen plus a large TV in the living room. In the small den/office, a
beautiful Indian headdress grabbed his attention. It hung almost five feet high
on a tall rack and still came within a couple of inches of touching the floor.
The entire length of the headdress was adorned with large, bright feathers,
skillfully laced together with leather and strings of colorful beads.
    There were many other Native American artifacts
neatly situated throughout the house. Shane’s eyes drifted to one wall in
particular, on which hung several impressive knives and hatchets with bone and
deer horn handles. On the same wall hung a very old looking bow mounted next to
a quiver full of arrows. “This is an interesting blend of past and present,” he
remarked quietly to Tara.
    Before they entered the living room where the old
Indian was sitting, she whispered, “My grandfather is very shy with strangers
and he prefers to speak our Shoshone language. I may have to do some
interpreting for you, but be assured he understands and speaks English.”
    The three of them sat facing each other while Tara
explained, “My grandfather is the shaman, or medicine man, of our tribe. It is
one of his responsibilities to teach the younger generation all about our
ancient traditions.”
    The old man sat quietly as Tara spoke. She told
Shane again how the Shoshone considered the mustang herd an important part of
their heritage. “It is also one of my