riding an unbroken broodmare

Question
we have a ten year old broodmare who has never been ridden.  she has been out with other mares and babies, but last year didn't take, so we've brought her up and she's in a separate pen.  i'd like to start riding her. what would be your advice?

Answer
Susan -

The best advice I can give is to find a local trainer that can help you out.  If that is not an option, a horseperson that has some experience with training that can help you as you go.  There are a lot of ways to train a horse, and different horses require different methods; so it is important to have someone there that can see what the horse is doing and guide you along.

As a rule of thumb, the older a horse gets, the harder it is to train them.  They become set in their ways.  So a ten year old mare may give you a little bit of a hard time.  I would start her out in a round pen or small corral, and do some lunging, work on turning using pressure on her sides, and backing.  She may have good ground manners already, but there is a lot of riding things that should be taught from the ground before you jump in the saddle.  Work on getting her good to briddle pressure and pressure on her sides(mimmic leg cues with your hand) aswell as working her while the saddle is on, then start to progress to riding.

A local horse trainer is your best bet.  Odds are she has decent ground manners already, so a decent trainer should have little problem with her.  And while a trainer can cost some money, it pays to have a good, solid foundation put on the horse.

Best of Luck!
Michael Hockemeyer
Kicking Bear Mustangs