*Dead Broke*
*Bomb Proof*
🫣
These are two descriptions used for horses that really should be taken out of our vocabulary. They are misleading and cause a lot of harm to both people and horses.
These kinds of horses do not exist. All horses, no matter the training, may react and can be dangerous, especially in inexperienced hands. And those are the hands these descriptions cater to day in and out.
Are there more tolerant horses to noise, events, mishandling and mistakes? Sure, though what it often takes to get a horse there is frequently unfair to them.
Do you need to look for a forgiving, desensitized and steady horse if you’re a beginner? For sure, but even the safest horse can develop dangerous habits and behaviors when handled and ridden with ignorance.
Many looking for easy horses expect to find a horse who is both young and cheap, as well. They end up finding horses sold by low end traders online that are injured, shut down and sick.
Our inbox stays full of messages like this:
“I was looking for a dead broke horse for my daughter. I bought one for $1,800, and once she gained weight and was at my house awhile, she started rearing. She isn’t what they told me. She also isn’t 4. A friend checked, and they think she is 20 or more.” Said person might then send a video, and the mare will clearly be lame, her feet will be long, her coat dull.
This story above isn’t about a specific email, but instead, it’s a generalization of thousands of stories we’ve been told over the last 16 years.
The safer way to experience horses with low risk isn’t to look on the Internet for “Bomb Proof.” Instead, work to become a capable horse person, so that when your beginner friendly (and usually, expensive and older) horse starts to unravel a bit, you can effectively get back on track with a trainer and skill.
