Looking at him, you might not expect David Carter to be a mustang trainer. A former basketball player — maybe. A former Louisiana State football player — you bet. But a horse trainer? Not really.

However, Mississippi’s representative in the Extreme Mustang Makeover challenge has trained over 100 horses since his junior year at LSU.

This summer Carter will have the challenging task of training a wild mustang — an animal whose only interaction with humans prior to last week resulted in its castration — in less than 100 days.

David Carter talks about the Extreme Mustang Makeover contest. Click here for slideshow

The competition itself pits the top 200 horse trainers from around America against one another.

Following 100 days, the trainers who have made it will all come to Ft. Worth, Texas on September 18 to compete against one another in a tiered competition.

The first stage is a halter show, which consists more or less of a beauty pageant.

“It’s just like a body builder, you have to have the nutrition and exercise program to get it as physically fit as can be,” Carter said.

Next, the trainers will compete in a ground competition where they must give the horse commands without actually being on it, much like a dog show.

Following the ground competition, the trainers will compete in a riding competition.

After the third stage the judges will select 15 finalists to compete in a 5-minute free-style competition to crown a winner.

At the end of the competition, the horses will all go up for adoption.

Getting Started

A week into the competition the horse still looks like a wild and rugged mustang, far from ready for the contest’s ring. But looks can be deceiving. Since its capture and trip to a barn just outside the Natchez city limits the horse named Silverado has undergone a progressive mental transformation.

Although its makeover seems rather quick, it’s a long and repetitive process to earn its trust and respect — although it’s a necessary process if you want the best results.

There are several schools of thought on how to train a horse. One of the most popular ways is to use force and fear to get what you want, which Carter said works. However, he likened that to the relationship between a bully and a child. If a bully wants your money, you’re going to give it to him for fear of being beat up. You’ll never respect him or like him, but you’ll do what they want out of fear.

“But at the same time, if you can put trust and respect in them, you’ll give your best friend money — and you’ll probably get it back in return,” Carter said. “It’s that same kind of pressure you try to establish (with the horse).”

With that in mind, Carter began his training with Silverado last Sunday, after returning from Pauls Valley, Okla. — where he first blindly met Silverado.

“I didn’t know what I was getting. I didn’t even know the sex or anything until the minute I backed the trailer up,” Carter said.

Although he had no background knowledge of his horse when he picked it up, he feels lucky to have been paired up with Silverado.

“I’m very happy with the one I have. When you picture mustangs, you picture kind of a skinny, scrawny looking horse that’s really rugged. This horse is a pretty horse. He’s big, he’s stout, he’s heavy muscled — so he’s more or less what I wanted.”

Today, even though he has been working with the horse for several days, Carter seems to have to start all over at the beginning of the session.

“It takes time, it takes patience and it takes knowledge. Those are the three big factors in training a horse,” Carter said. “It’s going to be tough to stay patient because we have such a short time frame, we’re going to have to rush a lot of stuff.

“Usually when you work horses, the goal is to work them real hard to get something done, then don’t push him past his breaking point. In this situation, I’m going to have to work to that breaking point.”

Once the gate of the trailer is opened, off Silverado races, into the ring. Round and round it races, no doubt burning off anxious energy that’s been compiling since its capture.

Carter said part of the reasons it runs as much as it does is because of its self preservation instincts.

“This horse is programmed for years when he feels pressure, his first instinct is to get out of dodge,” Carter said. “So basically, you’re trying to retain its mindset.

“A horse is going to be bigger than you, stronger than you and faster than you, so you don’t have any kind of advantage on a horse physically.”

You wouldn’t know the horse has an advantage by watching the Louisiana native work with the horse.

After several minutes have passed, Carter begins to get to work.

Slowly Carter walks back and forth towards the horse, which is staring back at him.

Pacing back and forth, Carter finally gets close enough to touch the horse — and so the painstakingly slow process can begin. One step backward, two steps forward in a way.

The interaction between the teacher and the pupil goes something like this: touch the front legs, touch the back legs — but not below the knee yet, for fear it may freak out. Touch its side; slyly pat its neck while it’s concentrating on you petting its side. Throw a blanket over its back. Put pressure on the belly. Jump up and down next to it.

The transformation is slowly but surely taking place in between these seemingly miniscule steps.

After beginning to put pressure on its back to simulate a rider’s weight, Carter does something that catches all of his observers off guard — he jumps on Silverado.

While Silverado is standing in place, Carter doesn’t just get on the once free-spirited horse, he stands on it — without any ropes or support or padding — as if he was standing on a sidewalk with his arms out.

A roar of excitement quietly rustles through the crowd of observers, so as not to startle the horse that currently has the trainer at its mercy on his back.

Seconds later, Carter hops down, as if what he just did was nothing major — just another day at the office to him.

We learn while observing Carter work that horses have several tells as to when they’re beginning to be comfortable, such as licking their lips and cocking its hind leg.

Towards the end of his session Carter is able to throw a saddle onto Silverado’s back — a huge victory considering the mustang was running wild only weeks earlier.

Silverado even begins to follow Carter, like a curious dog that becomes its master’s shadow — another good sign of progress.

Carter says what normally takes six to eight months, he will have to do in 100 days, which means any goals he has must be very liquid — able to change along with Silverado’s progress.

“I did have (goals), but I’ve already changed them,” Carter said laughing. “One of the hardest things when you do this is you can’t make any assumptions. At the end of the first week, I’d like to be able to at least saddle him up and get on him.

“At the end of a month I’d like to be able to walk him, trot him — I’d like to at least have a basic foundation for everything I want to do at the end of 100 days (at the end of a month).”

Carter said it won’t take long for a horse to learn the basics, but the refinement of the basics is what takes time — transforming the hose from a 1.0 troublesome student to a valedictorian.

“In two months, I expect him to swim across a pond like a dog with me on his back, I’m going to be popping whips, roping on him, riding bareback — which is a lot, but if we want any chance in competing, that’s what we’re going to have to do.

Although this is a tough task, Carter says he’s up for the challenge and wouldn’t have thrown his hat into the contest if he didn’t think he could win.

To an outsider, calling what Carter has already accomplished remarkable is easy. However, if you’ve been around Carter enough, you know to expect him to succeed in the task at hand — and when September 18 rolls around, don’t be surprised if Natchez’ representative is one of the last 15 standing — or riding.