As I have mentioned in the past, I really don’t think too much of the way I used to break horses. And I say break because that is what I was doing to them. There was no thought to an easier method, just get on and git-r-done!
Shady was a mare I rode for my parents when she was a 3 year old.
She ended up not being a very good momma (
Annie and the Ego).
She was mistrustful and fearful and I missed all the signs, heck I wasn’t even looking for them.
At the time I was still fairly young and rubbery, so I did not spend much time doing ground work. I used to laugh at my Dad for spending time walking around on the ground when he could be in the saddle. I used to tell him that “anything he was doing on the ground, I could do in the saddle!” Oh, how that statement came back to bite me…
I did some ground work, about 3 hours worth, so she wasn’t totally blindsided. But, once I got to the point I could put a saddle on her…well, no more ground work! Yee haw!
