VISIT RANDY HELM’S WEBSITE  AND READ ABOUT HIS WORK WITH THE INMATES
Although we can only help a small number of prisoners, it is a great success. Not only in monetary value but also in human value, where prisoners become a productive part of society again.”
"
Inmates without horse experience had success

The prisoners would have to apply to volunteer for the program, and it soon became clear that the inmates who were best to train horses were the ones with no prior horse experience. They were gentle with the horses, and they didn’t have any preexisting bad habits and old ways of working with horses.  They were easier to teach, and they had more success in the program.

Horses can teach us value.

“Training horses has moments when you find that horses do things that you didn't expect them to, or they do something that makes more sense for them to do than what you had imagined,” says Randy Helm.  Perhaps it’s the horse's way of saying that this is their purpose, explains Randy Helm. Life for the prisoners is often similar. Through horse training, they get a sense of value, and they find things that they like, things that they succeed in doing. It’s not a straight path, it can be rocky, and there will be bumps on the way, but ultimately it gives them a sense of meaning in life.

This kind of response from the horse does something to the prisoners, who often don't believe in their abilities.

It validates the hard work you put in, not just in the horses but also in yourself. It gives the inmates a foundation, a solid ground to stand on. It has a sense of value to say that you’re not as worthless as you once believed.

Challenges in the prison system

The prison system can be pretty discouraging. The inmates come in with a terrible past and must spend many years in prison. Sometimes when people from outside see the inmates working with the horses, they complain that the inmates are having a good time. Don’t they understand why the inmates should enjoy themselves? In people's opinion, the prisoners should be punished for their crimes and not have fun. Randy feels discouraged hearing this type of response, and he feels a need to educate the public and address their concerns.

The inmates have repeatedly failed in society, and their failures led them to prison. So why would we think they would succeed by punishing them even more and putting them into prison? Treating prisoners this way is a sure way to make them fail again. Instead, we can provide them with something that will give them a sense of pride in themselves and succeed at something to make them realize what makes them happy. Then we stand a better chance of reintegrating the prisoners into society to continue down the road that gives them success.

The wild horse program prevents reoffending

The wild horse program has shown that horses can help. None of the 50 prisoners, who have been through The Wild Horse Inmate Program, have reoffended and returned to prison again. The program is a drop in the ocean, but the prisoners learn new life skills that prevent them from being involved in crime, which can help keep the prison population down.

Many justice systems around the world have the problem of resocializing prisoners. Governments tend to see the cost of establishing the programs, but even if just a few prisoners stay out of prison and become a productive part of society, it will far more than pay for the whole program. Not only in monetary value but also in human value. It will be of great benefit for society as a whole, but it will also bring the hope of a new way of life and a brighter future for the prisoners and the horses they work with, says Randy Helm.

Randy Helm says
Listen to Randy Helm tell about how he began his work with inmates and why it has such a big value for him, the inmates, and the community. In the background you can see an inmate train one of the horses from the program.

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros in the USA are protected by law because the horses are reckoned as living signs of the historic and pioneering spirit of the West. Horses contribute to the variety of lifeforms in the United States, enriching the American people’s lives. 

The horses have diverse genetics: some of them came in the past with the wagon trains, some originated from the native Americans, who kept horses with Spanish genetics, brought to America by the Spanish Fleet. Some horses stem from the Morgan horses used by the cavalry, and yet others came from Ranchers whose horses got away or were set free. Common for all the horses is that they have adapted to living in the wild, with no human contact, and learned to survive. There are an estimated 100.000 wild mustangs in the Rocky Mountains, and new foals are added every year. The herds grow, but their range diminishes because of competition from cattle farmers and drought and wildfires caused by climate change.



Mustangs are the symbol of the pioneering spirit of the United States
Although we can only help a small number of prisoners, it is a great success. Not only in monetary value but also in human value, where prisoners become a productive part of society again.
"

Patience and anger management

Often the inmates have been used to a street mentality, anger-related issues, and violence. They want things immediately, and they don’t understand the process of working through things. As a result, most of them have seldom experienced any success in life, and they’ve never been able to work through a process and get an outcome.

Training horses demands patience, and anger management plays an important part.

“If you have a conflict with a 1000-pound animal, you're not winning”, he says. “The inmates need to learn another way to succeed with the horses. They need to realize that walking away instead of getting into conflict will help them deal with their anger-related issues towards people.”
“It was essential to show the prisoner the connection, help the process along, and make them see what they can learn from the situation,” Rand Helm says.

The inmates learn patience, love, and caring from training horses and trusting others.
“It’s a success when they can see the horses entering as wild horses that nobody has ever been able to touch. It’s incredible to witness how the horse learns to respond and is willing to progress into training,” Randy Helm explains. “Wild horses can be dangerous to handle, they can be scared and react, but they don't hold a grudge.” He says they’re just trying to figure out what we want from them; it’s almost like a spiritual connection.

A sense of accomplishment

There’s a big difference in telling somebody what they need to do rather than letting them figure it out in a very natural setting, by seeing it from the horse’s perspective, says Randy Helm.
“For many inmates, it’s a challenge to think differently and thereby change how they perceive the world around them. The horse is much stronger than we are, yet we can have the horse following the prisoners around by gentling them and treating them right. It provides a sense of accomplishment, and it’s quite an emotional breakthrough for some of the prisoners. It’s something extraordinary. The inmates describe the special connection they have with their horses. It feels like the horse will go through trauma and still love unconditionally. Horses will forgive you and keep moving forward without holding a grudge.”

A possibility to prove themselves

Randy Helms says that regardless of why the prisoners are here, he wants them to understand that they can change their lives and live a different life when they get out of prison. The Wild Horse Inmate Program doesn't come with a rehabilitation manual or a plan; it’s just part of the process.
“We let the horses prove themselves; why can’t we let the inmates prove themselves too?” Randy Helm asks. He believes that people and horses are looking for the same thing. Horses can teach us about moving beyond our past and into a new life. “We all have a history, something we regret, something we wish had not happened,” Randy Helm elaborates.

Our memories may have helped us live the life we lived before, but they can also be our most significant obstacles to living a good life and surviving in a better world. Horses don't think of life as fair or unfair. They can move forward and give the future a chance. They have a unique ability to adapt, change, and move towards a new life. 

The past does not define the future.

Horses can provide us with a sense of purpose, says Randy Helm. The prisoners feel that they’ve found something they are good at doing. Before being detained, they often didn't know any trade, but after The Wild Horse Inmate Program, they felt they could make a living working with horses. According to Randy Helm, training horses gives them a sense of purpose and pride and increases their self-esteem.

“Like happiness, our purpose is not a destination but a path and a practice,” Randy Helm states.

“It means that we must be willing to explore what matters to us and what kind of person we want to be, and we must act to become that person,” he says.

Today and tomorrow are full of new opportunities and open doors to walk through.
“Horses can teach us that the abuse of the past doesn’t have the power to define our future,” says Randy Helm. “They can teach us a story of hope and healing to help us move forward.”

"
We let the horses prove themselves, and we should also let the inmates prove themselves
Horses can teach us that the abuse of the past doesn't have the power to define our future
"

Horses and inmates have several common traits.

Horses and prisoners have many traits in common. The horses are wild, and they have learned skills to help them survive in a challenging environment. They’ve been roaming in the mountains, and for whatever reason, they were captured and put in a holding pen. In a short period, everything in the horses’ previous life was turned upside down. We ask them to change their instinct for flight and respond positively to humans, which they initially perceive as predators.

The guys that go to prison have the same mindset. The prisoners can relate to the horses, there are many parallels in their lives, and there’s often an immediate connection. The horses are freeze marked with a number on their neck, and each inmate also has a number that stays with him for the rest of his life. The inmates come with anger and distrust towards the system, and people and the horses also have significant trust issues. Training horses gives the inmates a chance to work through some of these issues together, and the inmates will learn something about themselves in the process. Equal for horses and inmates is that they experience being treated equally and with dignity, and they go from being wild and unruly to being dependable partners.

Horse whispering 

The way of training in the Wild Horse Inmate Program is very different from the traditional way of training horses. The program provides an environment where the trainer can establish essential communication with the horse and gradually move on.

. “We’re not breaking the horses; we are softening them,” says Randy Helm. The method of training is known as horse whispering.

“When pressure is applied, the horse must yield. The trainers are whispering and speaking softly, but it keeps us soft too and helps us take a gentle approach,” Randy Helm says.

It almost sounds like you are doing something mystical. You’re whispering to the horse, saying “good boy,” and praising him, but in reality, you’re just trying to calm the horse. Randy prefers the term least resistance because the training goal is to use the least effort needed to get the horse to respond.

“We’re finding a way to say yes to the horse, and it takes much patience,” Randy Helm explains. He describes how he gets a 100 no’s from the horse before getting the yes.

Common for horses and people is that they seek peace, and pressure tells the horse that this task is something we can do together.

One of the prisoners describe listening to a horse like this:
“You must listen to them, not with your ears because they’re not saying anything. So, we have to train them using body language, and once you learn how to recognize the body language of the horse, they can speak to you in so many body language words that tell you if you are pushing your horse too far or if you need to slow down, You have to listen to them with your heart. You can't force the horse to do something it doesn’t want to do.”

Pressure and release

The horse can be wild, and when they feel they can't get away, they become scared and react with either fight or flight. The setting is structured so that the horse can get away from the pressure. All the holding pens lead into alleyways, and the alleys lead to more extensive areas. This way, they can sort the horses by just moving them without touching them. When the herd calms down, we will get each horse in the round pen and start working with them individually. After a while, the horse will feel safe, get used to the trainer’s presence, so it is possible to get closer to the horse. Eventually, the horse will get to the point when he sniffs your hand, and you will be able to start petting the horse and gain his trust. From there on, the rest happens pretty quickly. In the training program, Randy Helm emphasizes groundwork, working with a scale from one to 10 to determine if the horse is ready to move on in its training.
Training the horse begins with changing how we think. The horse knows how to do everything we it to do, like walk, trot, or gallop, even tricky maneuvers. They have been practicing from the day they were born.
“However, what the horses don't know, is what we want them to do and why they should choose to do what we ask them to,” explains Randy Helm.

In Arizona State Prison, prisoners learn to tame wild horses under the guidance of experienced horse trainers. The program is called the Wild Horse Inmate Program WHIP, Inmates learn all about caring for animals while building confidence. They learn the value of patience, warmth, and respect for living beings. They gain skills that they can use upon their release. The program includes training up to 50 wild horses and donkeys at a time and caring for a further 700- 900 horses, which will be selected for training later. The prisoners who have worked with the horses have returned to their communities, and none of the 50 prisoners who have been through the Wild Horse Inmate program have committed new crimes or returned to the prison.

The Wild Horse Inmate program

Horses can teach us a lot if we learn to pay attention to them. That’s the basic idea of Randy Helm. Issues like leaving the past behind you, learning from failure, and overcoming abuse are just a few things we can learn from horses. He is a Police officer and pastor, and supervisor of The Wild Horse Inmate Program in the state prison of Arizona. The program is world-renowned due to the exceptional results in resocialization, social skills, and life skills of the inmates. The BBC, Animal Planet, and other major media outlets have covered the program.

The Danish Equestrian Therapist Association, Rideterapeut Foreningen, has also visited the Arizona program. To share their knowledge about the project, they invited Randy Helm Copenhagen. Here, Randy Helm spoke on a seminar for equestrian therapists and other professionals who want to learn more about working with horses.

The untamed spirit

The American mustangs are the symbols of the Wild West, and there is a particular romantic sentiment attachment to them. They are incredible animals that have never been tamed, and they have learned to survive on their own. Mustangs have been a part of the American culture for centuries, but their presence conflicts with the local ranchers.

Every year around 6000 horses are rounded up and put into government holding pens at 49 million dollars annually. Some of the horses are put up for adoption, but only a few are trained.

Forgiveness: Overcoming trauma and abuse

Randy hasn’t always used the gentle way of being with horses. In his younger days, he worked at a traditional cowboy ranch.

The traditional cowboy way of breaking in a wild Mustang was using aggressive means, putting much pressure on the horse.

“You would get a saddle and bridle on a wild horse, put a rider on its back and let it run or explode until it finally gave in,” says Randy Helm. “It was not because the Cowboys didn’t love their horses, but it was the only method they knew. “

The old way of training was not based on communication for the horse to understand what they were asking of it. It was corrective training, using force, and as a result, the horse had to go through many painful and traumatic experiences.

“It’s astonishing to think how much trauma these horses had to overcome in a short period and still become dependable and good riding horses. The ability to forgive was critical to their success. They had to move forward despite having experienced discomfort and stress. If they didn´t learn to give in, they would fail.

A long history of crime

The United States has severe punishments for some offenses, especially drug-related crimes. The prison population has increased by 500 % in the last 50 years. Therefore, the prison authorities in Arizona State prison asked Randy Helm to supervise The Wild Horse Inmate Program, in short WHIP. The task was to educate prisoners to retrain the wild horses. It’s an imaginative solution for a growing problem.

“All the inmates have a long history of crime and violence, many of them have drug-related issues, and some are doing time for more serious crimes and even murder in the second degree.

“There is no excuse for what they have done,” explains Randy Helm, but the key is to understand why they did what they did,” he explains. “Over time, they understand that they don’t need to go back and live that way.”

How can the contact and training with horses develop social intelligence and improve the possibilities for resocializing prisoners and vulnerable people? In the state prison of Arizona, the inmates have exchanged handcuffs for horses. Prisoners who have had no experience with horses learn to be gentle and train wild mustangs that humans have never touched. It’s part of a rehabilitation program developed by Randy Helm.

By Merete Haahr // Photo: Maja Frederiksen, Frederiksens Isheste, Dansk Rideterapeut Forening

Wild mustangs guide prisoners back
to life
Learning from horses
VISIT RANDY HELM’S WEBSITE  AND READ ABOUT HIS WORK WITH THE INMATES
Although we can only help a small number of prisoners, it is a great success. Not only in monetary value but also in human value, where prisoners become a productive part of society again.”
"
Inmates without horse experience had success

The prisoners would have to apply to volunteer for the program, and it soon became clear that the inmates who were best to train horses were the ones with no prior horse experience. They were gentle with the horses, and they didn’t have any preexisting bad habits and old ways of working with horses.  They were easier to teach, and they had more success in the program.

Horses can teach us value.

“Training horses has moments when you find that horses do things that you didn't expect them to, or they do something that makes more sense for them to do than what you had imagined,” says Randy Helm.  Perhaps it’s the horse's way of saying that this is their purpose, explains Randy Helm. Life for the prisoners is often similar. Through horse training, they get a sense of value, and they find things that they like, things that they succeed in doing. It’s not a straight path, it can be rocky, and there will be bumps on the way, but ultimately it gives them a sense of meaning in life.

This kind of response from the horse does something to the prisoners, who often don't believe in their abilities.

It validates the hard work you put in, not just in the horses but also in yourself. It gives the inmates a foundation, a solid ground to stand on. It has a sense of value to say that you’re not as worthless as you once believed.

Challenges in the prison system

The prison system can be pretty discouraging. The inmates come in with a terrible past and must spend many years in prison. Sometimes when people from outside see the inmates working with the horses, they complain that the inmates are having a good time. Don’t they understand why the inmates should enjoy themselves? In people's opinion, the prisoners should be punished for their crimes and not have fun. Randy feels discouraged hearing this type of response, and he feels a need to educate the public and address their concerns.

The inmates have repeatedly failed in society, and their failures led them to prison. So why would we think they would succeed by punishing them even more and putting them into prison? Treating prisoners this way is a sure way to make them fail again. Instead, we can provide them with something that will give them a sense of pride in themselves and succeed at something to make them realize what makes them happy. Then we stand a better chance of reintegrating the prisoners into society to continue down the road that gives them success.

The wild horse program prevents reoffending

The wild horse program has shown that horses can help. None of the 50 prisoners, who have been through The Wild Horse Inmate Program, have reoffended and returned to prison again. The program is a drop in the ocean, but the prisoners learn new life skills that prevent them from being involved in crime, which can help keep the prison population down.

Many justice systems around the world have the problem of resocializing prisoners. Governments tend to see the cost of establishing the programs, but even if just a few prisoners stay out of prison and become a productive part of society, it will far more than pay for the whole program. Not only in monetary value but also in human value. It will be of great benefit for society as a whole, but it will also bring the hope of a new way of life and a brighter future for the prisoners and the horses they work with, says Randy Helm.

Randy Helm says
Listen to Randy Helm tell about how he began his work with inmates and why it has such a big value for him, the inmates, and the community. In the background you can see an inmate train one of the horses from the program.

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros in the USA are protected by law because the horses are reckoned as living signs of the historic and pioneering spirit of the West. Horses contribute to the variety of lifeforms in the United States, enriching the American people’s lives. 

The horses have diverse genetics: some of them came in the past with the wagon trains, some originated from the native Americans, who kept horses with Spanish genetics, brought to America by the Spanish Fleet. Some horses stem from the Morgan horses used by the cavalry, and yet others came from Ranchers whose horses got away or were set free. Common for all the horses is that they have adapted to living in the wild, with no human contact, and learned to survive. There are an estimated 100.000 wild mustangs in the Rocky Mountains, and new foals are added every year. The herds grow, but their range diminishes because of competition from cattle farmers and drought and wildfires caused by climate change.



Mustangs are the symbol of the pioneering spirit of the United States
Although we can only help a small number of prisoners, it is a great success. Not only in monetary value but also in human value, where prisoners become a productive part of society again.
"

Patience and anger management

Often the inmates have been used to a street mentality, anger-related issues, and violence. They want things immediately, and they don’t understand the process of working through things. As a result, most of them have seldom experienced any success in life, and they’ve never been able to work through a process and get an outcome.

Training horses demands patience, and anger management plays an important part.

“If you have a conflict with a 1000-pound animal, you're not winning”, he says. “The inmates need to learn another way to succeed with the horses. They need to realize that walking away instead of getting into conflict will help them deal with their anger-related issues towards people.”
“It was essential to show the prisoner the connection, help the process along, and make them see what they can learn from the situation,” Rand Helm says.

The inmates learn patience, love, and caring from training horses and trusting others.
“It’s a success when they can see the horses entering as wild horses that nobody has ever been able to touch. It’s incredible to witness how the horse learns to respond and is willing to progress into training,” Randy Helm explains. “Wild horses can be dangerous to handle, they can be scared and react, but they don't hold a grudge.” He says they’re just trying to figure out what we want from them; it’s almost like a spiritual connection.

A sense of accomplishment

There’s a big difference in telling somebody what they need to do rather than letting them figure it out in a very natural setting, by seeing it from the horse’s perspective, says Randy Helm.
“For many inmates, it’s a challenge to think differently and thereby change how they perceive the world around them. The horse is much stronger than we are, yet we can have the horse following the prisoners around by gentling them and treating them right. It provides a sense of accomplishment, and it’s quite an emotional breakthrough for some of the prisoners. It’s something extraordinary. The inmates describe the special connection they have with their horses. It feels like the horse will go through trauma and still love unconditionally. Horses will forgive you and keep moving forward without holding a grudge.”

A possibility to prove themselves

Randy Helms says that regardless of why the prisoners are here, he wants them to understand that they can change their lives and live a different life when they get out of prison. The Wild Horse Inmate Program doesn't come with a rehabilitation manual or a plan; it’s just part of the process.
“We let the horses prove themselves; why can’t we let the inmates prove themselves too?” Randy Helm asks. He believes that people and horses are looking for the same thing. Horses can teach us about moving beyond our past and into a new life. “We all have a history, something we regret, something we wish had not happened,” Randy Helm elaborates.

Our memories may have helped us live the life we lived before, but they can also be our most significant obstacles to living a good life and surviving in a better world. Horses don't think of life as fair or unfair. They can move forward and give the future a chance. They have a unique ability to adapt, change, and move towards a new life. 

The past does not define the future.

Horses can provide us with a sense of purpose, says Randy Helm. The prisoners feel that they’ve found something they are good at doing. Before being detained, they often didn't know any trade, but after The Wild Horse Inmate Program, they felt they could make a living working with horses. According to Randy Helm, training horses gives them a sense of purpose and pride and increases their self-esteem.

“Like happiness, our purpose is not a destination but a path and a practice,” Randy Helm states.

“It means that we must be willing to explore what matters to us and what kind of person we want to be, and we must act to become that person,” he says.

Today and tomorrow are full of new opportunities and open doors to walk through.
“Horses can teach us that the abuse of the past doesn’t have the power to define our future,” says Randy Helm. “They can teach us a story of hope and healing to help us move forward.”

Horses can teach us that the abuse of the past doesn't have the power to define our future
"

Horses and inmates have several common traits.

Horses and prisoners have many traits in common. The horses are wild, and they have learned skills to help them survive in a challenging environment. They’ve been roaming in the mountains, and for whatever reason, they were captured and put in a holding pen. In a short period, everything in the horses’ previous life was turned upside down. We ask them to change their instinct for flight and respond positively to humans, which they initially perceive as predators.

The guys that go to prison have the same mindset. The prisoners can relate to the horses, there are many parallels in their lives, and there’s often an immediate connection. The horses are freeze marked with a number on their neck, and each inmate also has a number that stays with him for the rest of his life. The inmates come with anger and distrust towards the system, and people and the horses also have significant trust issues. Training horses gives the inmates a chance to work through some of these issues together, and the inmates will learn something about themselves in the process. Equal for horses and inmates is that they experience being treated equally and with dignity, and they go from being wild and unruly to being dependable partners.

Horse whispering 

The way of training in the Wild Horse Inmate Program is very different from the traditional way of training horses. The program provides an environment where the trainer can establish essential communication with the horse and gradually move on.

. “We’re not breaking the horses; we are softening them,” says Randy Helm. The method of training is known as horse whispering.

“When pressure is applied, the horse must yield. The trainers are whispering and speaking softly, but it keeps us soft too and helps us take a gentle approach,” Randy Helm says.

It almost sounds like you are doing something mystical. You’re whispering to the horse, saying “good boy,” and praising him, but in reality, you’re just trying to calm the horse. Randy prefers the term least resistance because the training goal is to use the least effort needed to get the horse to respond.

“We’re finding a way to say yes to the horse, and it takes much patience,” Randy Helm explains. He describes how he gets a 100 no’s from the horse before getting the yes.

Common for horses and people is that they seek peace, and pressure tells the horse that this task is something we can do together.

One of the prisoners describe listening to a horse like this:
“You must listen to them, not with your ears because they’re not saying anything. So, we have to train them using body language, and once you learn how to recognize the body language of the horse, they can speak to you in so many body language words that tell you if you are pushing your horse too far or if you need to slow down, You have to listen to them with your heart. You can't force the horse to do something it doesn’t want to do.”

Pressure and release

The horse can be wild, and when they feel they can't get away, they become scared and react with either fight or flight. The setting is structured so that the horse can get away from the pressure. All the holding pens lead into alleyways, and the alleys lead to more extensive areas. This way, they can sort the horses by just moving them without touching them. When the herd calms down, we will get each horse in the round pen and start working with them individually. After a while, the horse will feel safe, get used to the trainer’s presence, so it is possible to get closer to the horse. Eventually, the horse will get to the point when he sniffs your hand, and you will be able to start petting the horse and gain his trust. From there on, the rest happens pretty quickly. In the training program, Randy Helm emphasizes groundwork, working with a scale from one to 10 to determine if the horse is ready to move on in its training.
Training the horse begins with changing how we think. The horse knows how to do everything we it to do, like walk, trot, or gallop, even tricky maneuvers. They have been practicing from the day they were born.
“However, what the horses don't know, is what we want them to do and why they should choose to do what we ask them to,” explains Randy Helm.

In Arizona State Prison, prisoners learn to tame wild horses under the guidance of experienced horse trainers. The program is called the Wild Horse Inmate Program WHIP, Inmates learn all about caring for animals while building confidence. They learn the value of patience, warmth, and respect for living beings. They gain skills that they can use upon their release. The program includes training up to 50 wild horses and donkeys at a time and caring for a further 700- 900 horses, which will be selected for training later. The prisoners who have worked with the horses have returned to their communities, and none of the 50 prisoners who have been through the Wild Horse Inmate program have committed new crimes or returned to the prison.

The Wild Horse Inmate program
"
We let the horses prove themselves, and we should also let the inmates prove themselves

Horses can teach us a lot if we learn to pay attention to them. That’s the basic idea of Randy Helm. Issues like leaving the past behind you, learning from failure, and overcoming abuse are just a few things we can learn from horses. He is a Police officer and pastor, and supervisor of The Wild Horse Inmate Program in the state prison of Arizona. The program is world-renowned due to the exceptional results in resocialization, social skills, and life skills of the inmates. The BBC, Animal Planet, and other major media outlets have covered the program.

The Danish Equestrian Therapist Association, Rideterapeut Foreningen, has also visited the Arizona program. To share their knowledge about the project, they invited Randy Helm Copenhagen. Here, Randy Helm spoke on a seminar for equestrian therapists and other professionals who want to learn more about working with horses.

The untamed spirit

The American mustangs are the symbols of the Wild West, and there is a particular romantic sentiment attachment to them. They are incredible animals that have never been tamed, and they have learned to survive on their own. Mustangs have been a part of the American culture for centuries, but their presence conflicts with the local ranchers.

Every year around 6000 horses are rounded up and put into government holding pens at 49 million dollars annually. Some of the horses are put up for adoption, but only a few are trained.

Forgiveness: Overcoming trauma and abuse

Randy hasn’t always used the gentle way of being with horses. In his younger days, he worked at a traditional cowboy ranch.

The traditional cowboy way of breaking in a wild Mustang was using aggressive means, putting much pressure on the horse.

“You would get a saddle and bridle on a wild horse, put a rider on its back and let it run or explode until it finally gave in,” says Randy Helm. “It was not because the Cowboys didn’t love their horses, but it was the only method they knew. “

The old way of training was not based on communication for the horse to understand what they were asking of it. It was corrective training, using force, and as a result, the horse had to go through many painful and traumatic experiences.

“It’s astonishing to think how much trauma these horses had to overcome in a short period and still become dependable and good riding horses. The ability to forgive was critical to their success. They had to move forward despite having experienced discomfort and stress. If they didn´t learn to give in, they would fail.

A long history of crime

The United States has severe punishments for some offenses, especially drug-related crimes. The prison population has increased by 500 % in the last 50 years. Therefore, the prison authorities in Arizona State prison asked Randy Helm to supervise The Wild Horse Inmate Program, in short WHIP. The task was to educate prisoners to retrain the wild horses. It’s an imaginative solution for a growing problem.

“All the inmates have a long history of crime and violence, many of them have drug-related issues, and some are doing time for more serious crimes and even murder in the second degree.

“There is no excuse for what they have done,” explains Randy Helm, but the key is to understand why they did what they did,” he explains. “Over time, they understand that they don’t need to go back and live that way.”

By Merete Haahr // Photo: Maja Frederiksen, Frederiksens Isheste, Dansk Rideterapeut Forening

How can the contact and training with horses develop social intelligence and improve the possibilities for resocializing prisoners and vulnerable people? In the state prison of Arizona, the inmates have exchanged handcuffs for horses. Prisoners who have had no experience with horses learn to be gentle and train wild mustangs that humans have never touched. It’s part of a rehabilitation program developed by Randy Helm.
Wild mustangs
guide prisoners
back to life
Learning from horses

DIGITAL MAGAZINE

Malgré Tout Media´s digital magazine is Europe´s new digital bi-monthly equestrian magazine with 100 % FREE content. Here you will find exclusive articles with a wide range of topics for anyone with a passion for horses and the equestrian sport.
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