HUTCHINSON, Kansas -- Standing outside the wild horse pens at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, the connection is striking. Inmates, men with a wild past, are breaking, training and rehabilitating mustangs more wild than any man.
“It's not uncommon that they grow in respect for that animal and that's something they carry on in their social life,” said Warden, Sam Cline.
Respect, communication, patience; all traits essential to take 1,000 pounds of wild animal and turn it into a gentle horse.
If anyone can appreciate the program, it's the Fort Riley mounted color guard.
Wednesday, the group spent the day with the horses and the inmates, learning techniques and sharing experiences.
“See what a few of their training techniques are. Nobody ever knows completely everything so maybe we can learn a little something from these guys. Maybe we do something they can learn from us as well,” said SSG William Johns.
From saving a starving mustang's life, to helping rehabilitate an inmate, to protecting the freedom of our country, the wild mustang program at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility is doing much more than tame a few horses. It is, in a sense, saving lives.
“We see a big difference between when an inmate starts here and when they finally come around to where they're about to get out,” said Program Manager, Dexter Hedrick. “They're basically saving the horse's life.”
