PRINEVILLE – It’s a bitterly cold day in Prineville. But the scene in the big corral between the wild, wary horse and the steadfast man is heartwarming.

The wild Kiger stallion looks as if he’s trying to like the human at the other end of the rope.

Ears forward, nostrils slightly flared, the horse wants to trust his new companion. But he’s only been with the human for three days. He’s been wild for three years. Running free, according to nature’s rules, and not the laws of this two legged person with the rope and the different ideas.

Warrior, a three year old dun buckskin, relaxes the muscles in his back and neck and the look in his eye softens as Rick Lauman reaches out to stroke him on the neck.

Lauman explains that he wants to be like the eye in the calm of the storm for the horses. His goal? To replace the horses fear with trust.

”He’s doing a lot better,” Lauman comments.

Warrior is one of five wild Kiger mustangs at the Laumans’ facility who are finding out that being tamed can have advantages.

That is, if you’re fortunate enough to find someone who speaks wild horse fluently. The Kiger horses, ranging in age from 6 months to 4 years, were caught recently from herds in southeastern Oregon and offered up for adoption through the Burns Bureau of Land Management (BLM) facility. Except for basic work done in chutes like vaccinating and checking for age, the horses had never felt a human touch in their entire lives.

And anticipation of the touch by a human, or two legged prey animal, is generally worse than the actual touch, according to Kitty Lauman, Rick’s wife. The Laumans have developed a formula for helping the beautiful wild horses make a safe transition into civilization. It generally starts by being touched with a long bamboo pole, progresses through a series of steps, and ends with being ridden or at least led and tied.

Unlike many horses the Laumans work with who have problems caused by humans, the mustangs come in as blank slates, according to Kitty. She finds it rewarding to take something that is untouchable and scared and make it into a reliable, trustworthy saddle mount.

The Laumans stress that many people cannot and should not try to train wild horses on their own. Kitty has had more exposure to wild horses than many experienced horsepeople. Her grandfather John Sharp, a legendary cowboy in Central Oregon, introduced her to working with wild horses early on when he held his gentling clinics.

”I really enjoy the mustangs,” she says. ”But if you’re going to get hurt around a horse, a mustang can hurt you more because they really know how to kick. They’re tougher, because they know how to survive.

”They are so much more rewarding than working with a horse who’s a piece of cake. We teach them to try. They have a lot of heart, a lot of endurance. They are a strong horse who’s not going to give up because to give up means to die. They try harder because of that.”

The Laumans’ training facility has a special enclosed area made by Rick according to BLM specifications for keeping wild horses. It includes an outdoor ring, and stalls adjacent to an alleyway. It is ”mustang proof” and provides a safe environment for the horses while they’re getting schooled.

Kitty calls the transition the horses make ”from wild to willing.”

Rick says that outsiders watching the gentling process may feel like they’re watching grass grow. It involves much patient work and repetition which encourages certain responses over a period of time.

Taming the Kigers is not like a wild west show.

”If you see a lot of chaos happening that’s not a good show,” Kitty asserts.

The wild horses, when confronted with new situations, may react explosively out of fear but also show a reasoning process which may be missing in many of their domestic counterparts.

But the bottom line is that the horse must accept the new human as their herd leader.

”They must accept that I am a leader, a fair leader, and if they do stuff for me they will be rewarded,” Rick explains.

The Laumans talk a lot about the prey/predator relationship that is part of the life cycle for the Kigers in the wild. The human, in many respects, is considered to be a predator by the wild horses. Which is one reason the Laumans don’t use round pen training on the horses, at least in the beginning. You never want to make them feel like they’re cornered, they explain, or that they don’t have some kind of a way out. The flight and fight responses must be carefully considered when working with wild horses.

”Kitty and I sound like broken records on the same scratch line sometimes,” Rick says. ”But we actually have a lot of fun.”

While some might view the work they do as dangerous, the Laumans see the risk but insist that they love it or they wouldn’t be doing it.

And when you see a look of fear in the horse’s eye replaced by trust and acceptance, you get an inkling of the level of horsemanship that the Laumans have attained. They go through the steps with a minimum of fuss and fanfare, and a thorough appreciation for what they are asking from a wild animal who’s had many changes in succession.