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If you want a broke horse...

2K views 21 replies 15 participants last post by  BloodBay0103 
#1 ·
... treat it like one!

I've read that statement not too long ago here on HF and thought it probably held lots of truth...

Fast forward to today: We finally had the first real rain in months and my mare was virtually covered in mud from head to hoof. No wonder I couldn't find a palomino in the pasture :rofl:
With the monumental task to get all that caked mud off, I set out grooming her as I would the I-love-to-be-groomed-and-will-stand-still-for hours horses at the barn. Starting with a vigorous curry comb massage, followed by extensive brushing, cleaning the brush all the time on a metal curry comb. And no "careful" navigation around the horse, as the job needed to get done...
And my mare, who normally squirms, twitches away from the brush and behaves as if grooming will kill her, stood like a rock and eventually even cocked a leg! :clap:

Lesson learned: do NOT tiptoe around a skittish horse. I thought I didn't, but today told me otherwise. The learning never ends! :winetime:
 
#5 ·
It's just a bit embarrassing that it took me so long to learn that lesson :oops:
But hey, better late than never!


Trust me, I have PLENTY of practice on well broke horses :D
But I actually really enjoy it! You have a good excuse to cuddle/scratch/rub the horse to your heart's desire :wink:
And it's is so rewarding to see the transformation and "find" your horse again.
 
#8 ·
There is so much merit to this. You must set an example for your horse by being calm and pretending as though nothing is a big deal. This gives them vital chances to become brave by gaining confidence in themselves when you provide opportunities.

An uneasy zebra will cross a rapid river full of predators so long as a confident leader jumps in first and shows that there is nothing to it. If no zebra is brave enough to volunteer however, the herd stays put.
 
#9 ·
My boss says this to me all the time (I may have even been the one that regurgitated it onto the forums, where you read it?) and it still doesn't always sink in.
It's human nature to not want to make mistakes (or not let our horses make mistakes) and to avoid problems. But with horses, you just can't do that and expect them to ever get any better.

The last time it came up, was with a young, newly broke colt I was riding for him a week or so ago. I asked someone to get the gate for me, and he told them no, that I could do it. He pointed out that either I could take the time and teach the horse how to help me open the gate today, so that tomorrow it would be a little easier, or I could not and tomorrow I'd still have a horse that I couldn't open gates on.
'If you want a broke horse, you have to treat him like a broke horse'

Boss is full of great one-liners, I should really start writing them all down!
 
#15 ·
Do you ever wonder why the most thoughtless(no common sense) horse people own the quietest horses? I once knew a woman who tied her horse to a cinder block while bathing, and used a wire brush instead of a curry comb. She also never rode sober, and had her 10 dogs circling at all times.(not that there's anything wrong with riding with dogs) Her horse was a saint. She also allowed anyone to ride him, which may not have been the brightest idea right out of the gate.
 
#16 ·
I'm going to disagree. You can have absolute confidence a horse will do X and have the horse throw a fit. You can expect trouble, and not get it. The hardest spooks I've ridden have come when I was totally relaxed and confident. My horse jumped out of his skin the other day when I sneezed while standing next to him, but then had no problem with me using a metal curry comb on the inside of his hind leg.
 
#17 ·
Yes, this definitely happens, BUT the thing is, you can't let that be the norm. You can't skirt around the issues and expect them to ever go away. You can't let the horse's reaction cause you to lower your bar of expectation. You just have to work on it until they rise up to meet the expectations you set. Don't settle for less, and don't let their undesirable behavior keep you from doing what it is you set out to do.

When something like that happens, you have to use it as a teaching moment. And you have to do whatever you can to not anticipate the undesired behavior in the future, like spooking, because it can result in you tensing up or otherwise sending a message to your horse, through your body language, that might tell the horse you're worried and there IS something for them to be scared and spook about.

It's a fine line between being ready to act, so that you aren't caught off guard, and anticipating the behavior so much that you're looking for it (or trying to avoid situations where it might happen).

It's very much an 'I know this is new/hard/weird/scary/etc for you, but you're just going to have to get over it, because this is what we're doing today', attitude. If you approach things like that, you'll find that most horses will get better and better about new, unusual, startling, uncomfortable things and won't have so many fits.
Basically, don't try to protect them from their issues by avoiding doing things that might lead to a fit. Make them face their issues and help them get through situations that are tough for them, so the next time it will be a little easier.
 
#18 ·
re the grooming and muddy horses - there's a reason I have a mud-colored grullo. She never looks dirty! :)

With all the mud, we spread some sand outside the stall and Cally was having fits at the crinkly bag. Part of it, I'm sure, was she just wanted to snort, run, buck and fart, but I made sure when we were both done that she stood quietly while I shook that scary old bad all around her (with no halter or lead, mind).

She's gun and bomb proof; the only true spook I've had with her is ...


... chickens.

Go figure.
 
#20 ·
"You can't skirt around the issues and expect them to ever go away. You can't let the horse's reaction cause you to lower your bar of expectation."

Very true. If the horse has a problem, the rider needs to come up with a plan for that problem and that horse - because every rider is training every horse they ride. But that plan may involve taking a number of little steps.

"It's a fine line between being ready to act, so that you aren't caught off guard, and anticipating the behavior so much that you're looking for it (or trying to avoid situations where it might happen)."

Also very true. It seems our default attitude needs to be "Of course he'll do it", while we also need to keep a plan B and plan C lurking deep within our minds.

I'm beginning to feel like a good rider needs to be a good actor as well. We always need to project confidence - "Of course!" But if it proves too much for the horse, we needs to have a fall back plan AND still act confident and controlled. However, I find it easier to act confident and to stay controlled and calm IF I have "what-iffed" things a bit.

What if the horse bucks? Stay deep in the saddle, keep my weight back, and get the horse's head up. OK. But I went 7 years before I had a horse buck. When I finally did...I stayed deep in the saddle, kept my weight back and got his head up. The bucking ended and we went on with business. What would have sucked would have been to have the horse start a buck and think, "Darn! What do I do now?"

But as this thread points out, a rider needs to ASSUME no bucking. You may have a grab strap on your English saddle, but you assume no bucking. You don't ride around with tight legs or with one hand on the grab strap. But it IS OK to have a grab strap on a saddle, riding a horse who hasn't ever bucked before - because if a buck occurs, you won't have time to go get one.

When I started riding, I read about how a horse would behave if I was confident he would. There is an element of truth to it, but I quickly found out it is not entirely true. The OP's post is accurate. Mostly. But backup plans lurking in the back of the mind aren't bad, either.
 
#21 ·
That is my mantra riding down the road. I HATE riding down the road ( had a horse that would panic and back into traffic..) Now i do tell myself to fake it. Relax my legs. Expect that my mare will be just FINE on the road. Does it always happen? No. But if I am expecting she will bolt into traffic, freak at the For Sale signs, refuse to go under the new bridge... well she will do ALL of the above. They get a lot of cues from us...
 
#22 ·
I can definitely relate to how true this is. I have a two-year-old that I can ride anywhere. She's never been on a real trail (just dirt roads) and Sunday we went on a nearly four-hour ride, a good part of which is a really rough trail. She didn't bat an eye! In contrast, I see people who go around their horses like a bomb's about to go off (and they don't even realize it), and their horses are nervous. Do things like spooks still happen when you're confident? Of course. They're horses. But the way you go about doing things with them definitely has an impact. Glad to hear of your accomplishment! I've got some particularly muddy girls I have to tackle when I get home too.
 
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