Western Horse Training Methods

A Western horse is a horse that wears Western-style tack and competes in Western events like rodeo, cutting and reining. Any breed can be a Western horse, as long as they can perform as required. Modern Western horse show classes and rodeos are based on the skills needed for good ranch and trail horses.

  1. Types

    • There are two main types of Western horse training methods, generally referred to as breaking and round pen training. Breaking is the traditional method, while round pen training began with trainer Monty Roberts.

    History

    • The traditional way of breaking a horse was to race him around a corral until tired, have many people rope him, saddle him up and buck until exhaustion. Then, he could be ridden.

    Effect

    • Breaking a horse could make a very obedient horse. However, this also promoted injury and distrust between horse and rider.

    Considerations

    • In contrast, round pen training is a far more gentle method of training a horse based on the horse's need to turn to the trainer for company and rewards.

    Fun Fact

    • Monty Robert's training methods are now considered the standard for gentling all horses and ponies, not just Western horses.