This simple statement is probably one of my biggest pet peeves. If you know me personally you could probably see the eye roll I have when I say it or hear it. And I’m not talking about the grade horses that have good sires and dams, we run bucking horse that are not papered but come out of mares bred specifically to buck and by stallions that are bred to buck. When someone says this, they are referring to the breeding not being such a big deal and basically saying that all horses are the same.
I will grant you that maybe 100 years or even 50 years this might have been a true statement, it’s far from true now and actually more of a reflection of the fact that they are probably riding a nag and have never gotten to ride and actual nice horse…
I have been so lucky these past few years to work at some of the biggest horse shows in the nation and while doing so get to see some of the best horses in the industry and it’s amazing how far they have come when you look back at old videos and pictures. Breeders have worked extremely hard to continually improve on their stock and it doesn’t matter what the discipline they are focused on.
One of the biggest questions that I hear among horse people is how is that one bred? I have heard this working the paid warmup pen at the NRBC, the local roping practice pen, bucking horses and even at the branding pen on a big ranch. This is because it’s something that most people take a lot of pride in and it shows.
While I will grant you that not every horse that is bred well, will turn out well it sure has a lot better chance of being something than one that doesn’t have the breeding. I also believe that theirs a spot of everybody, not everyone has big dreams of showing some want a nice level headed, sure footed horse to go trail ride on and that’s great! (Theirs even horses being bred for that!)
And honestly if you have horse any horse, someone put some thought and effort and dreamed of what that match was gonna create and go on to be! So it’s got breeding in there!
This thought has become even bigger on my mind since I purchased my colt BR Metalic Son 5804 (AKA Pickles!) last year as a weanling and turned him out with the baby bucking horses we have.
I purchased Pickles with the big hopes that he will be the horse that takes me to the finals at the Worlds Greatest Horsewomen and that I get to show in other Cow horse events. The other colts and fillies that he is running with are bred to be bucking horses and it has been so much fun watching them!
Pickles is so fun to watch and compare with the others because he not only looks completely different then the buckers he also acts a lot different.
The buckers are heavy boned, taller, and built more straight up and down and most are a little heavier in the front. Pickles is built with his hind legs underneath him to stop, more slender and stockier and heavier on the hind end. While they are built to stack up on their front end to buck and are nice and heavy to add power to their buck he is built to stop and turn back around himself to get a cow.
When they see something scary in the pasture the broncs tend to come up and run away while Pickles tends to drop before turning. It takes the broncs a circle to come to a stop when they are playing while Pickles enjoys sliding to stop and whipping right around.
They are so different and I think that it’s a great thing. Their differences are what makes them more suited to the job that they are going to preform mentally and physically.
It’s no secret that the horse industry has been breeding and getting more and more class specific and a true all around horse is hard to find anymore. I don’t think that’s completely bad because when you look at the quality of horse they are turning out now and how competitive the specialized events are getting things are definitely improving. With improvement comes some challenges, but I can honestly say I love seeing how cool the horses are getting!
So if your one of those that says “You can’t ride the papers” I hope that you take an honest look at your horse and then one of the top horses in your industry and then tell me how your horse that’s not got the breeding behind it, stacks up.
Ranch Wife Ramblings 