WHITEHALL, Mont. — A Southwest Montana horse trainer located between Butte and Whitehall beneath the Highland Mountains has spent her career training wild horses, and now these icons of the American West just happen to be the newest Equine Liberty Organization's liberty and bridleless national champions at the Kentucky Horse Park.
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"It’s not exactly natural to live in the human world, but I try to be kind of that bridge between that," said Hannah Catalino, the owner of Hannah Catalino Liberty Horsemanship.
For the past 14 years, Catalino has spent time learning kind and compassionate techniques to train wild horses that are plucked from public lands in the American West.
Catalino is an experienced trainer, but her teacher is the wild horse.
"They’ve been my greatest teachers. So, everything that they’ve taught me, I apply with all my human and other horse clients," she said.
Recently at the invite-only national show, Catalino's mustangs, Bagheera and Rosette, took home top honors, beating different domesticated horse breeds while advocating for the icons that often get a bad rap.
"It’s really humbling to go back and think, ‘Wow!’ Like this was a horse that I never thought would be rideable, this is a horse that I never imagined doing something like this with," she said.
It took Catalino two years to gentle Rossette, who hails from a Wyoming herd. Catalino tends to keep the sensitive, quirky horses she trains, adopting out the ones that integrate more easily.
For horses coming from the wild, everything from loud music, clapping and even flags can impact the way they interact with their environment.
"To be able to take my personal horses to that stage really meant a lot and especially looking back... it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come," Catalino said.
Wild horses come from many states in the West, including Montana. Trainers like Hannah have nothing to do with rounding up horses.
"The government has already rounded 'em up. We have thousands of 'em already in holding pens, kind of just waiting to start their new life. My goal is to give these horses a purpose," she said.
Catalino is a part of the solution for the animals, training wild American mustangs to be adoptable. Showcasing her personal horses helps Catalino show others just what wild horses are capable of.
"To be able to bring home the championship was just kinda like the cherry on top. I was just proud to be there and proud to represent the American mustang," Catalino said.
