This is a great movie. Let me preface, though: I am an animal lover and was introduced to horses in a parallel fashion, while living in a residential facility where there was a horse program available. I was "sent" to the horse program, and was not at all inclined to be there in the beginning. I had never been around horses, was pretty damn terrified of them, had some anger problems, and was getting clean off drugs.
I could relate to a number of the characters - over time and with constant support (although I didn't see it as such at the time), I became increasingly attached to working with the horses and letting them teach me. They calmed me and showed me that my lack of patience was only going to get me hurt, and set them back, as well. I worked up in the stables until I was working with rather challenging horses (Samson reminded me of one in particular) and being given more and more trust from the staff.
The BLM mustang program is phenomenal. I had begun researching it this summer having no idea that some of the mustangs were being trained by inmates. I have a whole new respect for this collaboration and find this story to be an incredibly important one to tell. I attribute part of the reason I am where I am today to my being introduced to horses in a rehabilitative manner and am encouraged to see how widespread that work truly is.

I watched this documentary on Prime video. Being a horse person and having started a few horses, this inmate/mustang program is an incredibly great idea. I know this was filmed several years ago, but I would really enjoy seeing a continuation of this documentary in a series format. I think that it would get the word out there, that not only does this program benefit the BLM Mustang Adoption Program, but it has great relevance to teaching the inmates as well. There is as much relevance to training a horse as there is in teaching a child such as; gaining trust, learning to be patient, understanding, empathetic and kind. The type of life lessons that we hope to instill in our children are so applicable to this scenario. Great documentary and would like to see more.

Wonderful program for both inmates and wild horses. However, don't let the information about the BLM fool you. They don't want wild horses. The big cattle ranchers want the wild horses gone, so they can graze more cattle on the BLM for FREE FEED. The horses grazing on the land are eating up what their cattle can be grazing. Wild horses are being shipped for slaughter every day! Most adopters don't want a wild horse and don't know how to train ANY horse. The BLM has talked about spaying the mares (which is a very extensive and expensive surgery) when it would be much easier to gather up the yearlings and geld the colts, and they refuse to do that. It's difficult to get these wild horses adopted, and when they do, they wind up going from home to home, until they reach the action yard, to a feedlot and shipped to hell. Most horse owners don't want an untrained horse, and the Mustangs are the ones that suffer the most. We need to insist the cattle ranchers BUY their own hay if they want to raise cattle.

This is a more real horse movie than most of them but it still is full of nonsense and dangerous training methods. The senior trainer allows the prisoners to practice desensitization, mounting and riding in a very unsafe and ignorant manner. Do not watch this movie to learn how to train horses. Practicing the techniques shown can easily result in injury or death. This movie should be removed from public viewing. It's certainly not suitable for naive adults or children to watch that want to learn about how to train horses.

I never thought I would watch an uplifting prison documentary. Its quite amazing to see how the guys in the program truly do get rehabilitated with the help of horses and vice versa. I am a dog trainer myself, and could relate to the fear aspect from a trainers side, but also from the teachers side. Its amazing ! More prisons should have programs like this. It is evident in the looks in their eyes and even in their skin , that this program truly does give them a deep level of healing. Loved learning about this program, Wish more prisons had programs like this !

I agree that programs like this can be very helpful for prisoners and for these horses. However, I completely agree with reviewers that point out how unsafe and dangerous these "techniques" are (for both horse and "would be trainers"). It was pretty shocking. It seems they are taking aspects of modern methods but without a real understanding of how to use them properly. The film also skips around so much, one never sees the actual development of these men or of the horses. I'm afraid I only got through half the film before I moved on. I've seen much better films of programs involving rehabilitation of prisoners and animals in training.

4.5 stars, only because it is advertised as using "horse whisperer" techniques which I really didn't see. However, it is one of the most exciting documentaries I have seen and at times I was so nervous watching the training between the inmates and the horses, especially when one guy mounted the horse bareback which represented trust issues. It's really therapy for both the horse and the inmate-the horse is essentially a "mirror" of the inmate/trainer and vice versa. The element of "fear" is one of the most important in training, for all animals can sense it, even bees.

Wild horses, never been shown love or patience from anyone other than the herd, make bonds and learn from the inmates. More importantly, to our society and the world, these men are able to learn those things, that once released, that they understand that people are individuals and life is easier when we remember that.
The directors did a fantastic job showing the connection, and making the viewer WANT both the horse, and the inmate to learn and do better. I wish that every prison had a program like this - animals have a magical way to teach us virtues that we need in order to make the world a better place, for ourselves and others.