An Old Horse Trainer Returns To His First Roots

As horse trainer Charles Walks steps into a round pen with a new horse, he says “Hakuna Matata,” and takes a deep breath.

“They can feel everything in your body, like every nerve twist," Walks said. “If you're scared, then they know.”

At Terry Bison Ranch in southeast Wyoming, Walks is tasked with turning plucky colts and fillies into gentle giants that anyone can pet or ride.

“When they say breaking horses, sometimes they actually think we're breaking horses, like hurting them,” Walks said. “It isn’t like all they see in old Westerns where they’re smacking them. I try to use my voice and my commands, without whips or anything.”

His love and respect for horses is clear as he takes training breaks to encourage even the most difficult horse. As Wyoming modernizes, the historic Terry Bison Ranch remains a place that continues to allow dedicated trainers like Walks to pursue their passions.

Wyoming’s first governor once owned the 144-year-old Terry Bison Ranch, which is best known for its train, which takes tourists to see bison up close and feed them. It's also a popular spot for horseback riding.

The horses work with a few trainers before their bodies fully develop and they’re ready to give horseback rides. Walks is their first stop.

It has been about a decade since 40-year-old Walks last trained horses, but it was once his entire life as a teenager and young adult on the Crow Reservation in southern Montana, near the Wyoming border.

Since moving to Wyoming in 2018, Walks has marked a few significant achievements. He’s close to earning his journeyman license as a plumber, and in a few months, he’ll mark his 12th year of sobriety.

Now, he can add his horse training comeback to the list. He began training horses again in January when he was offered the job by Terry Bison Ranch. He’s wanted to work there since he moved to Wyoming.

He’s quickly making progress with the horses, too, according to Terry Bison Ranch Manager Erin Grey.

Breaking Spirits, But Building Trust

“This one’s a little more spirited than the last one,” Walks said as Teter, a 2-year-old horse, galloped past him, refusing to focus.

“That's their spirit and their pride that they don't want to let go, and it's our job to break that, not fully break it, but just enough to where we can enjoy riding them,” Walks said, adding that most of the horses are already halter broken, but riding is a different challenge.

Teter is one of Terry Bison Ranch’s 57 horses. About 30 of them give visitors trail rides. The ranch, which sits on the Wyoming-Colorado border, hosted more than 1,800 trail rides last year.

Using different stimuli, like a flag, blanket or saddle, Walks desensitizes the horses to scary distractions that could put the horse and a future rider in danger. A flag might sound like a tarp or a plastic bag, which, without exposure, could send a horse into panic.

The sensation of a blanket might make a horse flinch at first, until they realize the blanket is not a threat. The unfamiliar pressure of an empty saddle caused one horse, Wanda, to push Walks away on Jan. 29, but with Walks’ vocal reassurance, she quickly calmed down.

Those experiences help Walks build trust with the horses and demonstrate that people won’t hurt them. Throughout his lessons, Walks tires the horses out by directing them to trot in circles.

As he stands inside the pen, Walks continuously scans the horse's body posture as he aims to get the horse to focus. The animals might start out with tense muscles, or fluttering ears, which tells Walks that they’re nervous or distracted. When the horse begins to lick its lips, relax and focus on him, he knows the horse is ready to learn.

“Once you're calm, the horse is calm,” Walks said. “You're its guide out there. And if you're not calm, then you're not going to get the reaction you want.”

It’s important that the horses become tolerant to new sounds and touches, so when the animal is eventually ready to ride, even an inexperienced rider will be safe.

Grey said Walks builds bonds with the horses more quickly than many other trainers she’s seen.

“One thing that Charles does is the respect for the horse… And that horse is going to respect you if you can respect it,” Grey said. “That respect that he gives the horse is something that I haven't seen with a lot of trainers.”

Walks’ 1,000-Pound Anchor

“They bring a calm to me. Kind of like when you’re riding a Harley, how that wind feels. That’s how I feel with horses, it’s just like my zen,” Walks said.

Before he was hired, Walks said he wasn’t sure he would ever get back to horse training.

“I came and actually put an application here a while back, and nothing,” Walks said. “... Four weeks ago, I got the call… I've been here ever since.”

While he waited for an opening at Terry Bison Ranch, he visited almost every day, just to hang out with the horses.

Over the past decade, he’s chased more stable jobs, like roofing or plumbing, rather than his passion of training horses, which has fewer opportunities and lower pay. After a full day of plumbing, he heads to the ranch to start training.

His techniques blend lessons he learned from many people, including his grandfather, Vincent Crooked Arm, and his uncle, Allison Bouyer. As a teenager and young adult in Crow Agency, Walks was both an avid horse trainer and racer.

“It’s kind of hard to get a job on a reservation. There’s so many people applying, and sometimes you just don’t get the call,” he said.

Walks said one of the few job options was working with horses.

“There was no other avenue for us on the reservation,” Walks said. “I kind of started turning away from breaking horses and basically drinking. That caused me to lose focus on my passion.”

On May 1, Walks will mark his 12th year of sobriety. For him, horses are an anchor.

“I know I'm safe around them, even though some of them want to hurt me. Some of them want to hurt people, but I know that's where I get my trust and my confidence is with the horses,” Walks said.

He had a full knee replacement in October 2023 that he’s still recovering from. His next goal is to get back to riding.

“They're actually bringing my spunk back for my passion, for what I loved and just pretty much put [it] on the sidelines,” Walks said. “... It’s basically bringing me back to my roots.”

Hannah Brock can be reached at: Hannah@CowboyStateDaily.com

Reilly Strand can be reached at: Reilly@CowboyStateDaily.com