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Such a thing as "to broke"

2K views 13 replies 12 participants last post by  gypsygirl 
#1 ·
I heard a funny comment made by a few riders the other day at a competition. My friends & I were at an event where you had to do multiple events to win the all around title & the saddle. You roped, cut, did a trail challenge, ranch sorted & finally a gymkhana. My friends & I competed, and all of us rode 1 horse each. I rode my mare that I broke in 2004, my trainer friend rode his mare that he has had 7 years & my other friend rode his gelding that he & his trainer girlfriend broke. All of our horses compete in the show pen, trail ride & work for a living. Some of the other riders around us made the comments that these horses had to be drugged because no horse could do that many events without drugs. Another rider heard them, walked up & told them "No girls, it's not drugs, they're just well broke". One of the girls replied "that would be to broke". I had to laugh at the thought of a horse being to broke. I agree that there are horses that are well broke, & may not fit a novice or a rider that has not had lessons or ridden a well broke horse. I have also seen riders purchase a great horse, especially reining, cutting & barrel horses, only to screw them up because they would not take the time to get lessons & learn that horses cues. I am a non pro, but have trained all my own horses. My current mare started off in the cutting pen, hauled with my grandaughter to the barrels & poles, competed in the extreme cowboy races, trail trials, & obstacle challenges, showed in ranch versatility and also works for a living in the pastures & breaking babies. I have made about 10 all around horses that compete in the same events. All of the horses have won numerous championships. All stayed level headed, were quiet, but stepped up when asked. I trained & made all of these horses, and all except my mare have gone to good homes & stayed sucsessful. My question is, has anyone ever had someone tell them that their horse is to broke ?
 
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#2 ·
Yes! I hear it quite frequently. We also have trained many all-around horses that could do anything asked of them. I had a mare some years back that had AQHA points in 7 open events, qualified for the World show in Hunter Hack and Reining and I field hunted her during the winter. She went to hunting camp in the fall and has packed elk out.

I also got involved in helping people train police horses that had to go through extensive CLEET Certification. These were mostly TB or big TB crosses. I used to have people say they thought they were drugged. I have just shrugged it off and thought how amazed these dummies would be if they ever rode a truly 'broke' horse. You have to feel kind of sorry for them -- in a way.

I would love to watch you and your horses 'work' since I am no longer able to ride much. Keep up the good work.
 
#4 ·
Haha, that's awesome. I love those horses that are 'too broke".

You could have come back with "I consider horses who can't do all of that 'not broke enough'!!"

A good horse that's well trained should be able to do just about anything you want them to and do it well. If they can't, then their training is lacking.
Exactly! I love the come back!

I've always expected mine to be jacks of all trades. I even jumped my reining mare as a kid, the farrier made her screw in cleats for her sliding plates.

There is no such thing as too broke IMO.
 
#5 ·
Hmm I don't think there is a "too broke".. I don't think of 'very broke' as being looking like they're drugged, more of a "they can do whatever I ask with no problems."
The horse I ride in my lessons is very broke, and can both save my butt and not do something when I don't ask right. He's amazing :)
 
#6 ·
There are times I feel like my own gelding is too broke...he'll do anything you ask, anyone can ride him. He's fantastic - but yes, I get bored and miss the green broke babies. I have a tendency to let less experienced riders take him on group rides and I'll opt to take something a little less well behaved, just because I like the challenge of working with them and seeing them succeed.
 
#13 ·
I use the term "too broke" in reference to what i consider a lackluster horse. I like spirited animals... I don't think it's an insult the way I use it. My Arabs are kinda ditzy, I could see someone saying they are not broke enough, ha ha.
The term "broke" means the horse's resistance is broken, not it's spirit. Just means the horse gives to pressure. That's how a horse is ridden, all pressure & release. A horse that does not give to pressure, is not broke.
 
#8 ·
I don't know if I'd call it too broke, but I did ride one TB in lessons who just knew too much for his own good. I didn't learn squat on him because all the instructor had to do was say, "we're going to do turn on the forehand now" and my horse would execute a perfect one before I was even in position. Whatever she called out, he would do. It was funny, but I never got to practice the cues for anything.
 
#9 ·
This.I once rode a lesson horse named Cammio who had been there for twenty years. I wasn't actually in the lesson that day, but I was in the same arena. Cammio learned the vocal commands from my instructor after her many years of working. So whenever my instructor said something, Cammio did it, no questions asked.
 
#10 ·
I think the only place I have ever heard it used was when starting a cutting horse on cows. The "old cowboy way" that was explained to me when I was entertaining the idea was to "get the buck out of 'em and put 'em to followin a cow before you go and get 'em too broke."

Personally, I think it is a load of poo LOL

A well trained, light and responsive horse that is calm about doing his job is not as common as it should be and honestly, depending on the types of people you are around at various events, there are a lot of people who have never been on one.
 
#12 ·
A well trained, light and responsive horse that is calm about doing his job is not as common as it should be and honestly, depending on the types of people you are around at various events, there are a lot of people who have never been on one.
That is so true. It is a genuine tragedy that so few people actually know what a good horse is like to ride. Because they don't know what a horse can be like, their standards are so low that they are tickled pink if they can turn and stop their horse and ride without getting bucked off. They have no idea if it's a smooth or a horrible stop/turn, they just know that it got done so they're happy.
 
#11 ·
This IS NOT GOOD or amusing. One of the important lessons horses should learn is to wait on the rider and not anticipate. This is why I do not teach voice commands on the longe line and always wait a stride or two (or three) after the announcer asks for a gait change so the horse does not learn to 'que' off of the announcer.

Anticipating has ruined many good show horses from reiners to equitation horses. It is bad, bad, BAD to let them call the shots and learn routines or patterns unless that pattern is ALWAYS going to be used (like a barrel horse).

If I am riding a horse and he anticipates a maneuver, change of gaits or change of direction, I immediately change the program and make him do something completely different. It is also why I never follow one maneuver with another once I know the horse will make that transition correctly.

This is like backing every time you stop or doing a 180 degree rollback and jump right out of it. Horses soon start doing a transition on their own and 180 degree rollbacks become 150 degree partial rollbacks and the horse jumps out and takes off. Before a horse can learn to do that, I will do a rollback to the inside or do 1 1/2 revolutions, make a horse back up and THEN depart at a lope. In other words, I will set him up to listen to me and wait on me.

Horses learn to 'rush' fences. They learn to 'scotch' on their stops. [Trainers 'fence' horses running them all the way to a fence so they do not initiate a stop part way down their run-down in a reining pattern.] It is much easier to prevent a horse from getting too 'wise' than to fix it later. While it might be amusing to ride or watch one, a horse like those described is completely un-showable and a real pain in the butt.
 
#14 ·
people think my horse is too broke, because she is super well behaved. they also think that i am too mean to her because i insist on good behavior. these people are the same people who cant get their horse to stop walking all over them and ask 'why cant he be as good as your horse' hmmm lets think about that... i agree that most people have too low of standards.
 
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