“It’s a film with a cause, but it’s also brimming with drama in the midst of jaw-dropping landscapes,” wrote Los Angeles Times critic Sheri Linden.
Featuring stars with one-word names like Donquita, Simmie, Gilley, Django and Tamale, “Unbranded” is a 2015 documentary that aims to spur the adoption of wild mustangs. Currently, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has some 50,000 untamed horses in corrals, awaiting a home.
Sponsored by the Colorado chapter of the National Mustang Association, the documentary (1 hour, 45 minutes) screens at the Sunflower Theatre starting at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26. Tickets are $15.
Directed by Phillip Baribeau, “Unbranded” follows four recent Texas A&M graduates on a 3,000-mile adventure through the American West from Mexico to Canada. West Taylor, who had a “very small” role in the film, plans to attend the screening. He will not only share the experience of his film debut, but he will also deliver a presentation to help educate others about mustang adoption.
“Me and my youngest son, Swade, we were with the guys for three days while they rode through Utah,” said Taylor.
Taylor added that his son appears in the documentary for about 45 seconds, and the back of his head emerges for about 10 seconds.
“We were navigating a rocky, slick incline when a horse fell off a 10-foot cliff,” said Taylor. “I was one of the last guys in to help during a very dramatic shot.”
Taylor said by the time he and his son joined the cross-country adventure, the main characters – whom he described as friendly, open and cordial – had already traveled 1,000 miles.
“The reality of the project had long set in for them,” said Taylor.
A horse whisperer
A former and successful communications contractor, Taylor said he burned out on the corporate world about five years ago, and he and his family resettled to a small ranch in Loa, Utah, where he now works as a horse trainer.
“I had no previous horse training experience,” said Taylor, when he adopted his first two mustangs.
Today, Taylor continues to adopt and train mustangs, which he uses to help veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Just as the wild animals must learn to trust humans, so do those returning from combat, he said.
“That’s what people say,” Taylor replied when asked if he was a horse whisperer, “but I listen to them more than I talk to them.”
This weekend, Taylor is participating in a wild mustang trainer competition. The friendly rivalry afforded each trainer 120 days to transition a mustang from a wild state to a mild state.
“That’s a pretty tight window,” said Taylor. “I’d prefer 150 days.”
Depending on the horse, Taylor said it was possible to modify a wild mustang into a safe workable condition in as few as 90 days.
In addition to the screening, “Unbranded” coffee table books, which contain more than 150 photographs from the journey, will be available for purchase, and film goers also have a chance to take home an exclusive “Unbranded” print.
tbaker@the-journal.com
