STORY OF THE MONTH
The school holidays were coming up, which most years meant that I would be working virtually full time at the riding school. But the boss told me that he couldn’t give me a job in the holidays this year because his nephew was coming to stay and was needing a job over the Christmas break. At first I was a bit upset at losing out to a fellow who didn’t know anything about horses, but mum explained to me that family was family and always came first. The boss assured me my usual job would still be there once the holidays were over and his nephew went back to Queensland.
When I told Walt that I wouldn’t be around for a few weeks, he said that a fellow he knew from the auction sales was looking for some help. The fellow was a dealer who would buy horses cheap, spend a little time training them and sell them expensive. He also broke horses in for people and gave some lessons. Walt told me he would have a word with the bloke and give him my phone number if he was interested in hiring me. The fellow rang and told me the job was mine and asked me to start on the first day of the holidays. I would be doing a lot of cleaning of yards and stables as well as riding some of the horses. The money was not very good, but the work didn’t sound too challenging.
The property was a busy place. Horses were coming and going all the time. There was the boss Kevin, his son Kenny, a jockey sized fellow called Sam and me. I did all the muck work and the others did all the horse training. As it turned out there wasn’t much opportunity for me to ride any of the horses, but I got to watch a lot.
It was clear from the start that things were done differently to the way Walt and Amos had shown me. When a horse arrived to be broken in, the first day consisted of being put in a yard with a bridle and a roller. All the horses bucked when the roller was fitted, but they were left to buck loose in the yard while the guy went and did the same thing to the next horse in the adjacent yard. Usually the horse would remain in the yard for around three hours to get use to the bit and the roller. Then the horse would be lunged around the yard for about twenty minutes. At the end of this, the gear would be taken off and the horse put back in it’s own yard until the next day.
Day two always began just like day one, except after the horse stopped bucking either Kenny or Sam would fit running reins to the bit and back to the roller. They said it was the start of teaching the horse about the bit and to accept contact. The reins were not very short at first, but each day they would be shortened until by day five the horse would be carrying his head tightly tucked in. A horse would be left to work on the rein contact for between two and four hours.
On the third day, if the horse bucked when the girth of the roller was tightened, Sam would fit knee hobbles to the horse or Kenny would tie up a front leg with an old stirrup leather. They said it didn’t stop the horse from bucking, but made so much more work for the horse that they would learn bucking was just too hard and give it away. They were right because most of the horses didn’t buck the next day.
It was also on day three that the horse was driven or lunged with the running reins made a bit shorter.
The next day was pretty much a repeat of the previous day, except instead of a roller the horse was asked to carry a stock saddle with the stirrups dangling. The running reins were also tightened further and the horse was asked to walk, trot and canter on the lunge. At the end of this the horse was started in long reins to teach it to turn, stop and back up.
Day five began with saddling and running reins while the horse was lunged around the yard. Then followed more long reining. Finally either Kenny or Sam would ride into the yard on a saddle horse and lead the young horse around at a walk and trot. Once the horse was leading well from the saddle horse, a rider would mount for the first time. If the horse bucked, it was the job of the rider on the old horse to shut it down. Sometimes, they would put hobbles back on the young horse if it fidgeted a lot or tried to buck and try to mount again. Usually the green horse would then be led around the yard while the jockey rubbed him all over and held onto the saddle strap for dear life. They stopped when the horse stopped worry about the fellow on his back.
The following day began with saddling and long reining, then the old saddle horse was brought in and a rider would mount the young horse. Again, it would be lead around by the other horse and rider. But soon, the rider on the saddle horse would give the other fellow the lead rope to tie onto a saddle strap and the horse was having it’s first solo ride. The end of lead rope was used to tap the horse on the rump to encourage a forward response. The rider would ask for left and right turns, stops, back up and trotting.
The seventh session began like the last one finished with the rider mounting and riding all around the yard at walk and trot. After a short ride the gate was opened which allowed the horse to be ridden out in a larger arena. The horse was always encouraged forward with the rider’s legs first, followed by a tap on the rear with the lead rope.
Over the coming days the horse was introduced to all sorts of new and scary objects like tractors and quad bikes. He would be ridden on several bush rides and even over the occasional log or small jump. Most of the horses were ready to go home after about fifteen sessions. They were easy to handle and seem really steady to ride. None of the horses I saw were as soft and responsive as the one I had seen Walt and Amos break in, but they did seem more steady and less likely to argue a point with the rider. The owners all appeared to be really pleased with their green broke horses and didn’t seem to have any trouble riding them when they came to collect them.
I saw several horses broken in the same way and they all came out the same way – like cookie cutters. They were reliable, easy to ride and handle and level headed. It started me thinking about this way of training horses. They were done in half the time that Walt and Amos took to start a horse and seemed much more content with their fate in life. I decided to study and think more about this matter. Was this a better approach than I had learned from the old brothers? I was very curious.
It wasn’t until I went back to school that my job at the riding school became available again. I thanked Kevin for the job and told him I had learned a lot and he said to let him know if I wanted any more work in the future.
When I went back to the riding school Walt and Amos were waiting to give me a hard time about how good things had been while I was away and how good a worker the Boss’ nephew had been.
“Ya know matey, he was always nice and courteous and never gave no lip like some people a fella could name,” Amos chimed in.
“Well Amos, I could say the same about Kevin. He never made a joke at my expense. I guess that’s something a person does only when they are really really old.”
“Did ya ride any of them wild brumbies he breaks in,” Walt asked?
“Nah, but I did see them do some. They really go through a lot of horses over there. They churn them out like toothpicks,” I said.
“Yeah, well it is a business. That’s what Kev does,” Amos added.
“He does break them in a lot different to what you’ve shown me. He gets it done in about three weeks and he uses hobbles and long reins. He also uses running reins and leaves them in a yard for hours for them to get use to the bit and contact of the reins. “
“So what d’ya think of that, matey,” Walt asked?
“I dunno. The horses did get pretty quiet and easy to handle. None of the owners had much trouble riding them when they were done. I don’t think they were as soft on the reins or forward to the leg as I’ve seen you start them, but they were probably more predictable and reliable than some of the horses that you’ve started. I mean by the time they were ready to go home there was no need to do ground work or prepare them before riding. They just got pulled them out of the paddock, saddled and off they went for a ride. I thought that was pretty good.”
“Did ya ride any of them good horses,” Amos asked?
“No, I didn’t get a chance to do any riding.”
“Well matey, it’s not for me or Amos to tell ya what’s right and what’s not about how to break a horse in. Everybody has an opinion and they are all sure they are right. But I think ya gotta know what ya want from a horse. Kev’s style of trainin is about teachin a horse to be obedient and not to ‘buck’ the system. He tries to get a horse so it accepts its fate and goes along with whatever it’s told to do. It ain’t given choices and nobody over there at Kev’s cares what the horse feels about it. So if all ya want is an obedient horse I guess ya can do it his way.
“But let me ask ya if that’s how ya’d treat a friend? What if ya actually like ya horse. I mean really like it and not just like if for what ya hope it can do for ya – but like it for the horse it is. If ya really like it for the horse it is why would ya want to turn it into somethin else like a mechanical robot? If that’s what ya really want, then why not take up skateboardin where it don’t matter what the skateboard feels about how ya treat it. When ya tie a horse’s head down with runnin reins or use hobbles to stop it from fidgetin, ya tellin the horse that this is how it’s goin to be and ya don’t care how he feels about it. He can either give into his fate and accept it or he can fight it until he goes to the doggers. Horses by nature are pretty submissive and most horses give in eventually. But the quiet acceptance you see in Kev’s horses ain’t the same thing as a quiet willingness. There’s a big difference between a horse that blindly accepts commands from the rider and a horse that considers commands and decides to go along with them. The first one ain’t the same horse he was before he got broken. The inside of him has been killed. The second one is still the same horse he was before he got started but has learned that goin along with the rider is a good deal.
“Matey, these are hard concepts to grasp and even hard choices for people. Some people just want a submissive, obedient horse that never expresses an opinion and does everythin he is told. Other people want a horse to be a horse. They want him to listen and be obedient, but because he wants it and not because he’s either too shut down to care or too afraid to express his true inner feelins. There ain’t no right or wrong about it. But for Amos and me I don’t think any person is better than any horse. We are equal – different, but equal. And I wouldn’t want to treat my horse any less fairly than I would you or Amos.
Being trainers and relying on the horse loving public for our living makes this a difficult and complex subject to discuss. Part of our motto is “keeping the horse in the horse”. But sometimes this motto clashes with what people want. It seems to me that the vast majority of horse owners want unquestioning obedience from their horse above all else. They don’t often admit that or may not even know it, but that’s the reality. I’m not suggesting that submission and obedience are not important, but for it to be blind and unquestioning suggests something is wrong with your relationship with your horse. Horses have thoughts and feelings about everything in life and for them to be blindly obedient to a rider means those thoughts and feelings are turned off. For me this is sad for both the horse and the rider because neither will experience that harmony that is often talked about but rarely achieved.