‘Last Chance Mustang’ Chronicles the Rehabilitation of a McHenry County Horse by Trainer Mitchell Bornstein

Samson, a wild mustang helicoptered from his home, forced into captivity, and physically abused for years, was, to most, a lost cause. Mitchell Bornstein, a lawyer who started training horses as a hobby, saw him as an animal, alone in the world, with one last shot at atonement.

Bornstein’s physical scars from being bitten and kicked, a popped shoulder, being trampled, and, once, knocked out cold after a determined charge from his most challenging four-legged case were not enough to deter him.

Bornstein first encountered Samson while at a consultation for another horse to be donated to a therapeutic riding center. When the owner of the farm nonchalantly mentioned Samson and his current condition, Bornstein knew he had been brought there under false pretenses. Still, he agreed to look at the horse.

“He oozed contempt. He was the perfect storm.”

That meeting led to a journey that took years, as the Wheeling resident led Samson down a road back to trust, back to will, back to life. He documented their trying first year together in his new book,“Last Chance Mustang: The Story of One Horse, One Horseman, and One Final Shot at Redemption.”The book, released in June 2015 by St. Martin’s Press, is set in McHenry County, where Samson still lives on a quiet family farm.

The book also details the circumstances that led to Samson’s arrival and eventual abuse at the hands of several owners in the northwest Chicago suburbs from the mountains of Nevada in 2003, what Bornstein calls the mismanagement of the wild horse population by the Bureau of Land Management. A 1971 law aimed at curbing the number of wild horses states that when an overpopulation exists onpublic lands, excess animals can be captured, removed, and adopted out to families able to provide humane treatment and care. But Bornstein says statistics used to determine what defines an overpopulation, set at 30,000 horses, were arrived at arbitrarily and they have led to the dwindling wild horse population in the country.

Bornstein’s book covers the history of the wild horse population in the U.S. and the program that was created to control it.

Bornstein found himself akin to horses at a young age, enjoying his first ride on a horse as a young boy at summer camp. Although his mother tried to dissuade him out of fear, he rode again in his late teens and never looked back.

Bornstein spent two years on his book, researching and writing between midnight and 3 a.m. most nights. Bornstein used his experiences along with a diary he kept during Samson’s training to tell a story intended to inspire hope and expose the long-lasting effects of animal abuse.

Bornstein likens Samson to a PTSD sufferer and has received calls and mail from people suffering from the same type of emotions Samson struggles with in the book. Many readers find his story relatable, which has built quite a following.

Bornstein said a lack of assumption is a powerful training tool, and said he always tried to “start at zero.”

Bornstein continues to visit and work with Samson at his McHenry County home and has put even more of his energy toward his training business, The Art of Horsemanship, which has seen an influx of clients since the book’s release. And while he said“Last Chance Mustang”seemed to flow freely from him, he finds the idea of a follow-up book a bit daunting.

Originally posted by Northwest Herald