...and on the eighth day God created the horse in perfect image, to romp, graze, gallop, play, and make manure wherever it darn well pleases, in divine grace.
Stop in to the Clear View Ranch just outside Jamestown, Pa., and you may think you are somewhere out west: rolling hills, blue sky with puffy clouds, horses grazing peacefully. Suddenly, the sound of thundering hooves comes down the ridge, the rider drawing hard, driving a herd of wild equine back towards the barn. One separates, trying to head back. The cowboy immediately heads it off, his horse rocking back hard on the haunch, dust flying everywhere.
The cowboy jumps off his horse and tips his hat. All the cowgirls swoon.
“Howdy, ma’am,” says he, moving his Stetson back, his eyes sparkling in the bright, summer sun...
No, not really.
You do see the blue sky, puffy clouds, and the horses grazing peacefully, but the resident cowboy doesn’t drive herds or ride his horses hard.
Meet Dave McClelland, Natural Horsemanship Trainer and Federally recognized Bureau of Land Management Mustang Trainer.
Dave McClelland met me out in his driveway and led the way down to the barn, where he quietly began showing me all the horses stabled therein. There were horses of different colors and breeds, all with various training issues and agendas.
Never short on words, though soft spoken, Dave McClelland looks out at you with piercing blue eyes from under a straw-style cowboy hat. His rugged good looks and cowboy attire, with a back drop of pretty horses and green pastures make you think you are on a Hollywood set.
McClelland’s life is just as exciting.
From Wisconsin to Texas and back to Clear View Ranch in Jamestown, Pa., Dave seems just as serious and driven as the Mustangs that come in off the range. Ask him a serious question about horses and those steel blue eyes look straight into yours; he is ready with an answer from simple Horsemanship to upper level training issues.
Enter “Natural Horsemanship.” Based on herd dynamics and horse psychology, it does not work with whips or chains, but rather using the way a horse thinks to help it progress into a calm and willing partner.
Dave McClelland is very selective on horses that come into Clear View Ranch for training. He does not advertise; everything is strictly by word of mouth. He mainly accepts problem horses or horses with training issues.
Riding Quarter Horses since he was four years old, McClelland, now forty, started to take steps back in 1998 to go beyond week end trail riding to some serious horse breaking and training. In 1998, he did a small apprenticeship with Nicole Koontz out at Hoofbeat Trails in Linesville. There he learned round pen basics and some resistance free riding.
It was there that he rode his first Mustang.
Later that year he signed up for a Natural Horsemanship Clinic with Chris Cox, in Mineral Wells, Texas. Cox, who was born in the US, and has dual citizenship in Australia. He owns the Chris Cox Horsemanship Company that is based in Mineral Wells.
McClelland took the “Horsemanship I Clinic,” which deals primarily with ground work, leading up to under saddle.
He also began to accept clients at Clear View ranch on 30 day programs and completed Natural Horsemanship Levels II and III, which included 43 hours of saddle time and 47 hours of cutting cattle, respectively. These took place in 2002 and 2004, out in Mineral Wells.
Having become a federally recognized BLM Trainer in 1999, he has continued to work with Mustang horses in order to maintain his status as a BLM Trainer,
To become a federally recognized trainer, you must be recommended by owners of wild Mustangs.
According to law, Mustangs are perpetually owned by the US government, however an “owner” holds a title like a car. The horse may be sold for profit, but never exploited in rodeos or zoos and may never be sold for slaughter meat.
The US government can check in anytime on Mustang horses at an owner’s barn. They can show up and take the horses if they are not being cared for properly. The government maintains a check system on the horses since they are always the property of the government and the horses are protected thus for life.
A Mustang will always have a freeze brand on the left side of its neck. This is a registration number and the BLM maintains a data base so that horses can be tracked for a lifetime.
The excitement continued in McClelland’s life when he decided to enter the Extreme Mustang Make Over in 2007 out in Fort Worth, Texas.
Extreme Mustang Make Over is a nation-wide competition for Mustang Trainers from all over the nation. The trainers go to Fort Worth and pick up a horse that is pre-chosen for them. Everyone gets a horse at the same time and they have 90 days to train this horse.
McClelland got a horse named “Slick..
The competition has an In-Hand segment which includes ground work, leading, picking up feet, etc. There is a riding segment in which the horse is put under saddle. The riding includes turning right and left and stopping. They must also do a trail riding competition.
Extreme Mustang Make Over weekend lasts 3 days, and all the trainers come back to show what they have done with their horse. Horses are judged on body condition, muscle tone and general good health, after their 90 day stint with the trainers.
All 100 Mustangs are given a score and after 3 days, points are added up and whoever has the highest score overall, wins.
McClelland mentioned that his chosen horse came in off the range without a mane. The mane did not grow fast enough in the 90 days of training to help in the Body Condition segment of the competition, so that was counted against him. Many of the competitors scratched the riding segment all together; some horses refused to enter the indoor arena where the Make Over was held.
Out of the original 100 Mustangs, 23 did not get trained well enough to enter the competition at Fort Worth. The remaining 77 Mustangs that did compete were adopted/sold out.
McClelland remained in the top 40 trainers throughout the entire competition and wound up finishing in the top 10. Not bad for little Jamestown, Pa!
And the other nice news is that he ended up adopting Slick, and Slick is now among the 4 Mustangs total that Dave McClelland owns.
Earlier this year, he once again competed against other Mustang trainers in the “Mid-West Mustang Challenge,” held on April 8, in Madison, Wisconsin. This competition is along the same lines as Mustang Make Over.
McClelland had to go to Illinois this time to get his chosen horse. He picked up “Kind Eyes Legacy” on January 12, 2008. Again, he had 90 days to train the horse.
Again, McClelland was in the top 10 at the end of the 3 days, mentioning he had some trouble with Kind Eyes during the trail riding portion. The horse was a little nervous due to the large crowd gathered in the arena; remember, folks, these were wild Mustangs out on the range 90 days earlier.
Only 55 trainers were able to compete, with Dave McClelland being the only one who could crack a bullwhip near his horse. Again, some horses refused to enter the gate for the trail ride portion. Of the 55, 3 horses would not lead to the sale and had to be sold outside.
When asked, why Mustangs? McClelland replies that they are the epitome of the All-American Free Spirit, the desert horse that roams at will and answers to no one.
When asked why he does the grueling Mustang competitions, he answers that he likes the challenge of taking a wild animal and showing it through kindness that people are good and to also get that animal to do tasks willingly, with a good attitude.
He adds, “ ‘Stangs are an easy keep and they’re easy to train.”
Some of Dave McClelland’s other accomplishments include the training 6 Mustangs for a 70 year old man from Ripley, New York, bringing his total to 17 Mustangs trained overall.
McClelland also trained the first Mustang featured on the TV show, “ Satellite Adopted Mustangs.” It is called Satellite Adoption because the horse is on television and bids are accepted by phone or internet.
He recalls the story of a woman who purchased an untrained Mustang on TV and when it was shipped to her, she tried to train it herself. The horse bucked her off and put her in the hospital.
The US government got in touch with him and the horse was shipped to Jamestown, Pa., from Virginia. When the training was complete, the horse went back to Virginia.
It had calmed down while at the Clear View Ranch, got its training with Dave McClelland, and from there it went on to be in a parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. It now goes to nursing homes and children’s homes for therapy, and does a St. Jude’s Ride every year.
The lady, now a client, sent a second Mustang up to McClelland for training, and that horse also had a successful stay at Clear View and is doing well.
McClelland says one of the first things he does is win the trust of the horse when beginning to train it. He believes that keeping the horse calm by understanding the way it thinks is key to a successful training program.
He states that if a person is interested in adopting a wild Mustang, the person must be pre-approved and have extensive experience working with horses. They must also send pictures of their facility and give references to their credibility. You can look on www.blm.gov if you are interested in adopting a wild Mustang.
Some of my cowgirl friends had previewed Dave McClelland’s pics on my laptop prior to publication in the newspaper, remarking on Dave’s handsome features.
Sorry, ladies, he is happily married for 15 years to his wife Cindy. Anyone who knows Cindy knows she is a very sweet woman, helping her husband with the Mustangs and going camping and trail riding in the mountains, to help him relax after serious training sessions at their ranch.
Neither of them show performance, preferring scenic trail rides and the natural outdoors. You can visit their website at www.clearviewranch.net for more information on Dave McClelland and the wild Mustangs.
The website is well laid-out and features pictures of McClelland working with Slick and Fuzzy, and includes a fabulous shot of him riding Kind Eyes Legacy, the beautiful filly he adopted from the Mid-West Challenge.
There is also information on the Mustang Heritage Foundation, Mustang Adoption Programs and information on the Mid-West Mustang Challenge.
Take a look-see, you’ll be glad you did. If your horse needs a tune up, perhaps Dave McClelland would take you on as a client. I have watched Dave work horses in the past, using the round pen and getting the animal to disengage its hips, and I would trust him with my own horses.
Maybe the Mustang could be the horse for you; Dave McClelland is friendly and is always helpful to people when it comes to talking about the Adoption Programs and what is expected of a prospective owner.
And with a soft-spoken “Thank You...,” Dave McClelland turns away at the end or the interview, adjusting his cowboy hat as his eyes scan the row of stalls, heading towards the next horse that needs worked.
Update: Dave McClelland is now based out of Greenville, PA, and pertinent information can be found on his Clear View Ranch website.
Does anybody have some Gene Autry records? Those old cattle songs would be most fitting right about now.
Leaving you once again with a beautiful sunset, lush green pastures, blue flowing streams, and some cowboys talkin’ to their horses, to the immortal words of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails to You.”