Horseman’s Corner Radio

Colorado horse trainer Debbie Bibb works a lot with trail horses. What does it take to get a trail horse ready, Debbie? 

 

It varies. I've seen some horses off the racetrack that have become very nice trail horses. I've seen some of the ranch horses that are nice trail horses, some lesson horses. It really comes down to their temperament, you know, being that calm, easygoing, very willing horse, and also the foundation training.

 

You know, do they stop when you ask them to stop? Do they turn where you ask them to turn? Are they willing to go where you ask them to go? There's a lot of it that plays into it. Any horse that's been very well trained for most events can go be a trail horse because they have that mindset, that willing attitude you want. Some of the things that they have to get used to is, for instance, if they're a show horse, and they've never really seen things blowing out in the wind, out in the open, or some of the big, funny-looking rock formations, they have to get used to that a little bit.

 

But a horse, for instance, that has been in that show ring has seen a lot of bizarre things going on around him in his lifetime, and most of them can't usually adapt very well. 

 

Colorado horse trainer Debbie Bibb. 

You've tuned in just in time to catch the late Howard Hale with the great Ron Knodel.

 

Let's check in on that question that Howard asked about halter breaking. 

 

Nebraska horseman Ron Knodel is with us today. Ron, let's assume that I bring you a horse to halter break. What's the process? How do you go about it? 

 

"Well, what I do is, and it wouldn't matter if it's a Mustang or a Shetland Pony, and I've even worked a miniature donkey that was running off. But what I do, and it works on all horses, and you don't have to, but I rope them, and especially the Mustangs, it gets things done a little quicker there, not that that's the big focus, but I rope the horses, and the first thing I do is I start introducing the feel to the block. I block front and move the hind quarters around. And why that block is so important is that's the start of the stop. And through the halter braking process, if you let them horses continue to lean and walk forward and push through that block, that carries on, on a lot of horses, that carries right on into your snaffle bits, your hackle moors, your vitals, whatever. So it's really important to me that they get halter broke and not running through that block. So I block the horse in the front and move the hind quarters around."

 

That was the late Howard Hale with the unknown horseman, Ron Knodel. Ron's not so much an unknown horseman anymore, he's become quite popular putting on clinics around the country.

 

More on Ron from Farm Progress...

https://www.farmprogress.com/husker-harvest-days/horse-training-expert-returns-to-hhd-for-20th-year