The Cause

      There was a time in the not-so-distant past when we bred and raised our own horses. We had a small band of really nice, AQHA foundation-bred broodmares, and a stallion that was a grandson of Three Bars on the top side and Blackburn 31 on the bottom. This was a time before I was doing clinics, when I was the foreman on another ranch not far from where we live now. During that time we raised, trained, and sometimes sold our horses from that program.

      We continued our little breeding program for a few years after I left the job on the ranch and during the time I began offering horsemanship clinics. However, it didn’t take long before we realized that trying to operate the quality of breeding program we were used to while at the same time trying to maintain a full-time travel schedule just wasn’t going to work out. So, we eventually found good homes for the mares and stallion along with the last crop of babies and left the breeding business behind.

      I bring this up because since stepping away from the breeding business all those years ago, now when we’re in the market for a horse, we simply go out and buy one. We like to look for horses that range between four and fourteen years of age, are between 15 and 16 hands (although we never rule out something that is a bit smaller or taller) and we like them to have some basic ranch experience: have been around cattle, done a little roping, are fairly comfortable in all three gaits, and stop and turn when asked.

      We usually buy Quarter Horses, mostly because that is the breed I grew up with and am drawn to, particularly for the type of work we do. However, we don’t necessarily rule out other breeds, either. Our horses need to be versatile enough to do a variety of jobs and tasks, from ranch work, to being handy on trails, to the work we do in clinics, to ponying colts, and the list goes on. Because of this, we also have a tendency to look for horses with a good disposition. Actually, maybe I should rephrase that: what we really look for are horses that want to have a good disposition.

      Here’s an example: In the fall of 2015, my first novel, Out of the Wild, was scheduled to go into production as a full-length motion picture. Along with coproducing the film, I was also hired as the Stunt and Animal Coordinator. Part of my responsibilities as Animal Coordinator was to acquire and train the horses that were to be used in the movie. For the most part, we actually ended up using many of our own horses for the major equine roles. But during early preparation several months before filming was to begin, we decided the script called for one more horse than what we had available, so we would need at least one more saddle horse before production started.

      At the time we had no idea who the actors were going to be or if they would have any riding or horse experience, so it was going to be important that the horse we found was quiet and easy for almost anybody to ride. I began looking around to see if there might be a horse out there somewhere that would fit the bill.

      Eventually, I came across a nice-looking gelding that I found on the Internet. He was a red roan, 13-year-old, grade Quarter Horse that was born and raised on a ranch in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. Later, he was sold to another rancher in Kansas, then he went to Oklahoma and finally to Texas where he ended up in a Quarter Horse show barn as a pony horse. Basically, his job there had been to travel around the country with the show horses and pony them from one point to another at the various show venues.

      Along with his history of ranch work, the gelding had traveled coast to coast numerous times and had been to some of the biggest shows in the country, including the South Point Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The ad for him said he was bombproof, good on the ground, easy with the vet, and good with his feet. He trailer loaded and unloaded without any problems and was safe for anybody to ride.

      He sounded perfect, so I contacted his owner to get some additional information and a video, which confirmed everything that was said in the ad regarding the horse’s temperament and skills under saddle. Then, after a few more conversations with the owner, I decided to go ahead and buy him.

      Now I’ve learned over the years when buying horses that most sellers truly do try to be as honest as they can be in their descriptions of the horse they’re selling. Of course, there will always be the unscrupulous person out there looking to make a fast buck on a dangerous, unsound, or poorly trained horse. But if you know what to look for in a horse and what to listen for when the seller talks, it’s pretty easy to avoid ending up with a horse that you’d rather not have.

      In this case, however, I felt the seller was being perfectly honest with me. As far as he was concerned, everything he told me about the horse was true and correct. For instance, when he said the horse was sound, he truly meant it. When he said the horse was healthy, easy to vet, easy to catch, good on the ground, and good with his feet, he meant those things in the absolute sense.

      However, what we also need to understand is that everything the honest seller tells us about his horse is relative to his own personal experience and what he finds good or acceptable in horse behavior. So when a seller says the horse is easy to catch, it could mean anything from the horse actually is easy to catch, to the horse is easy to catch as long as you have a bucket of grain with you. When a seller says the horse is good with his feet, it might mean the horse is good with his feet, or it might mean the horse allows his feet to be worked on even though he is worried and tense the whole time. When the seller says the horse is good for the vet, it might mean the horse is good with the vet, or it might also mean he’s good as long as he has a lip twitch on. Everything is relative.

      That was the case with this particular horse, whose name was Rusty. When Rusty arrived at our place, we found that all of the qualities the owner said Rusty had, he did indeed have. But, each of his qualities seemed to have somewhat of a caveat to it, as well. For instance, he wasn’t outwardly lame, but he was quite stiff, particularly in his shoulders, lower back, and hips. He was easy to catch…sometimes. Other times, he would turn tail and run for all he was worth. We could handle his feet, but he seemed terrified anytime we did. Under saddle he was as good as gold, but nothing he did was terribly soft, nor did it seem as though he did it with much willingness.

      To be fair, he would have been fine just the way he was as far as being able to do the job we had gotten him for, which was to simply be an extra horse for the movie, should we need him. But he was such a nice horse that it was clear he not only could do better than he was, but he could surely feel better. And it was the feeling better part that we were particularly concerned with.

      Rusty seemed to have a fairly strong foundation already. The only problem, if we want to call it that, was that everything he did was pretty mechanical and void of the kind of suppleness that allows for ease of movement. It was clear that much of the mechanical feel to his movement stemmed from his past training and handling, but some of it also came from some physical issues he was dealing with.

      You see most any horse ridden or handled with rigid hands will develop defensiveness and rigidity in his response. That rigidity of response was most certainly present in Rusty. But a quick look at Rusty’s conformation and movement when he wasn’t under saddle also added to his