What to Watch: Silent Thunder

A heartwarming story of Stanford Addison: a Native American Elder, Spiritual Leader, Horse Tamer, and Quadriplegic. Through his unique method of gentling wild horses, Stanford delivers an inspiring and timely message of universal peace and cultural tolerance by sharing the experiences of his own life.

This week's featured film is: Silent Thunder

As part of Vision Maker Media's "40 years, 40 films, 40 weeks" program, one archived PBS film will be re-released each week. Watch them while they are available!

Stanford Addison has every reason in the world to hate horses.  Twenty-five years ago, while partying with friends, the truck he was riding in ran straight into a herd of wild horses on the Wind River Reservation he calls home. The truck rolled three times; his spinal cord was severed.

Life as he knew it was gone. Alcohol and depression took over followed by dark days with thoughts of suicide. Eventually, he found his way back through the same creatures that crossed paths with his truck years before, becoming renowned for his gentle and intuitive training methods working with wild horses.

The story of Stanford's inspirational journey caught the attention of filmmaker Angelique Midthunder, herself a passionate horsewoman.  Her documentary Silent Thunder is a poetic ode to this man who took personal tragedy and turned it into something positive; particularly for young people on his reservation looking for inspirational role models.