Broke Horse vs. Schooled Horse

Although schooled horses become very well tuned in terms of performance they often cannot deal with the same amount of environmental stress as a ranch horse. It all comes down to the type of experience a horse gets, which is based on the needs of the rider and their expectations. To quote the late Ray Hunt, “the horse lives what he learns and learns what he lives.”

Trail riders can have well exposed horses that, depending on how much they are ridden, learn to deal with whatever environment they are put into. They are often less spooky simply because of the exposure they get to the outside world. The behaviour of broke trail horses becomes generalized. They learn that in any environment they must behave the same. There is not the same level of expectation in terms of correct mechanics or refined movement as a schooled horse but they are often a more relaxed ride. A schooled horse is very specific in his training. He becomes a specialized athlete that excels at whatever discipline his rider trains him to perform.

These horses certainly work hard but there is a big difference between working hard and doing hard work. Most of us ride pleasure horses that work because we create things for them to do with no real practical goal. Working horses work because of the necessity to complete a task that has real life implications. I am not saying that one is more important than the other; I’m just pointing out the differences.

It is hard to have the best of both worlds. Balance is very difficult to find in terms of how much casual riding is needed to make a horse more relaxed in different environments and how much schooling is required to make him responsive to ride. I have ridden broke horses that knew very little but they were reliable to ride, and I have ridden very well schooled horses that were as close to being explosive as you can get. If you own or ride either a broke horse or a schooled horse why not try to spend some time working towards a horse that is both?