I loved riding horses when I was a teenager. I took lessons from a woman who was well respected in the horse community (I live in Kentucky) and she wanted me to show for her, meaning ride one of her horses in horse shows.

I had an appendectomy when I was 17 and didn’t get to show. Never went back to riding. I don’t know why. Too many other things in my life, I guess. My oldest granddaughter (12) now rides and has been taking lessons for a couple of years. She has won quite a few ribbons already!

Somehow, the other day, I got on the topic of horses and read an article about training. It said the trainer must be assertive and confident, yet gentle and understanding, and, if a horse is frightened in the process of training, the fear will plague the animal forever. At first, the horse does not know what is being asked of it, as a result, gentleness works best.

Horses are flight animals; so, if one feels threatened by the trainer’s assertiveness or meanness, it will run. Therefore, finding the happy medium between the two methods can be tricky but is essential to the development of an obedient horse.

Training a horse uses the term “breaking a horse,” which is an unfortunate term; it sounds as if it is being beaten or forced. It just means it is “broke” of its wild behavior and now accepts a saddle on its back and a rider. It has also learned the basic commands of leg pressure and other body cues and the tug or pressure of the reins across its neck or in its mouth from the bit.

This method of pressure is called give and release training. When pressure is applied and the horse responds by doing the skill being taught, pressure is released.

A broke horse is not just ridable but responds to a rider’s commands safely and calmly, as it has learned to “listen” to what a rider is telling the horse through the rider’s body movement cues.

On occasion, a trainer must be very gentle to overcome the abuse or neglect a horse has suffered. As a twist on a similar saying, a horse trainer once said, “A horse doesn’t care how much you know until he knows how much you care.”

Then again, some horses just refuse to be taught.

I found this an interesting generalization of the breakdown of training, not so much the time periods but the explanations…

*30-60 days: ridable but will test you every chance it gets
*60-90 days: bucking should quit
*120-150 days: ridable without being skittish at even the wind blowing
*170-200 days: refinement period

They say training never ends.

I find all this fascinating. But you do know my brain is twisted, right? {wink-wink}Why do I find it fascinating? If God were the trainer, which He is, and I were the horse, so to speak, look at how all the above applies to me…and you.

God must be/do…

*assertive/confident
*gentle/understanding
*cannot frighten
*train for obedience
*break wild behavior
*continuously train

I am broken when I…

*listen to what He is trying to teach me
*respond to commands, cues, and pressures from God
*respond safely and calmly
*respond obediently to continuous training

Have I finished with the buck and test part? Am I still frightened at every wind of circumstance? Have I finally reached the refinement period? Whew, I hope so!

Some people just refuse to be taught. Not me. I wanna be a broke horse! How ’bout you?

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