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Continued from the March issue of Sport and Trail Magazine. See Part I in last month's issue on page 16 >>
Life is all about perspective. A cattle stampede creates dreadful drama. Afterwords, the cowboy in charge gets the boots put to him, and his horse gets some good grazing time in. Which one has the better story? One might never want to read about the horse in that story, unless he turned the cattle around singlehandedly, or something heroic like that. But what if he were just an honest horse and all he did was keep his cowboy safe during the stampede? I don’t have a stampede story, but I do have an honest horse.
My Pony Horse
My unsung pony horse, David, has a story worth telling. Even though he’s never won a championship ribbon, a high stakes race, nor produced anything other than manure, his worth is greater than any other horse in the barn because his job holds together the lives of people.
Using a pony horse, a “Steady Eddie” to ride alongside an unbroke (or a very green riding horse) to establish a worry free zone, has been a hoot to share with you these past months. The stories have been longer than a wagon track, but I hope I’ve created for you a picture of how valuable a reliable pony horse can be to the success of your training ventures. My pal David is my $100,000 secret weapon when it comes to horse training. It’s the reason I accomplish a lot, and steer clear of vertical 180’s while riding. If you missed last month’s wranglings, you missed out. This month I’ve got the final five “must have” abilities to share with you.
What truly separates an eagle from a turkey in a pony horse is that it must tolerate being bumped into. Young horses are eye browsers—so busy gawking at everything they don’t pay attention to where they are headin’ while you’re riding up the trail. They embody reactive and overstimulated. Your pony horse will get bumped, pushed and shoved. Probably the most common occurrence between the unbroke and the pony horse is the unbroke stepping onto the pony horse’s feet, or the heels. No matter how hard you try to keep your pony horse safe, it will happen. The pony horse must be forgiving. He can’t raise a fuss, no kicking back—which is why mares aren’t always the top choice (They have no problem planting one, a hind hoof that is).
I want to ride happily up the trail, that means easily. If I want to ride happier than the butcher’s dog, I ride a horse that neck reins. Riding one-handed leaves you with the other hand free to manage the cotton lead rope (looped once around the horn is what I prefer), to manage the trainee you’re leading. Some trainers loop or “dally” the rope completely around the horn several times, but for most folks, that’s promises to create too much tension. And such and such happens, and then begins an encounter with your now claustrophobic trainee whose wrapped tightly around your horn, until finally (ten seconds later) he rips free bringing your fingers around
the horn along with the rope. Your smoking, rope-burned fingers become the glorious aftermath of the session. You followin' my arithmetic?
On the other hand, you have different fingers. With one hand on the rein, you are now free to do your job with the other, which is to manage the scene. As the brains of the operation, you need to keep the unbroke respectful to the pony horse. I never allow the unbroke to put his lips on me or the horse I’m riding. I call it the “bridge of respect”—don’t cross it.
Jeff's current training project is a yearling Fresian
Photo by Denise Matash