Horsemanship hasn't evolved very far, and Danny Thomas provided a glowing demonstration of that fact with these self-posted videos on Facebook.
Bragging that he was able to break a Mustang in 30 minutes…
Why are we still basing our training decisions on the brevity of time?
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I've been riding since I was 9, and in love with horses from the day I was born. Living in Washington with my horse and 5 dogs.
By nature we are designed to work against the horse, and the use of our hands is no different. When we sit in the saddle we respond in fear by leaning forwards rather than sitting up taller or leaning slightly backwards.
Which would you prefer; to be happy, or to prove you’re right no matter what? I know what my choice is, yet sometimes I let myself get confused with the thought that being right will make me happy, even if I have to feel absolutely miserable in the process.
This brief German documentary is worth a watch – last about 30 minutes. Interviews with Ludger Beerbaum, Princess Haya, Gerd Heuschmann.
No lie, I think most people by now know I’m not a big fan of barrel racing… but this is my new favorite video of just that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnjHxCDDGdQ But I mean, really, a TUBE TOP?…
I know I’ve said before, but this likely will not be the last time I will remark that it is a small world… in more ways than one.
If you’re like me you don’t always have a friend to accompany you down the trails. Granted I’ve opted to avoid going solo when riding unpredictable or green horses, but even the most bomb-proof horse…
Another winner, Erica. Thanks for posting the tough ones. Too many horse people would prefer to say nothing. I have had several posts about “30 day wonders” or even “90 day wonders”. There is no possible way for a horse to be properly gymnacized in that short amount of time. I fully disagree with the competition of “Road to the Horse” for this reason – it leads people to believe that they can produce a fully trained horse in a couple of days. They may know a few cues, but have had almost NO time to develop the soft poll, strong back and strong haunches needed to balance and carry a rider.
Some years ago there was a show on cable called “Cowboy U”. Usually it was city slickers competing doing cowboy stuff, but one season it was actual cowboys. There was a horse trainer from Oklahoma–when they competed in “colt breaking”, he was gentle and persuasive. Once he was on the horse’s back, he rode a slow walk once around the round pen, dismounted, and said “That’s enough for a first ride.” The guy that won, on the other hand, had the horse cantering wildly around the pen. The judges said that he got better action out of the horse. I’d much rather have a horse started by the first guy. “It’s easy to break a horse. It’s a lot harder to fix one.”
I don’t think he by any means broke a horse in a half hour but i won’t argue with the fact that he was calm and consistent and it worked for what he was doing that day
One seriously stressed and tormented horse. But, she will eventually fall into learned helplessness, with continued treatment like that, and people will think he has trained her well. Sad to see, but all too common.