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Why do we say is he broke2007-11-24 21:23:23

I use:

- Gentling

- Backing

- Trained

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How about saying "tamed?"

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Your kidding....

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I do not break horses, I've never liked that term, but others using it doesn't really bother me either. I train a horse to accept a rider and willfully accept that riders instructions. But I also don't send home green horses. I like to keep horses anywhere from 60 to 90 days. Usually by that time I've hauled them to a few shows and taken them on a few trail rides, some of which are alone.

We can not change others, we can only improve how we do things and hope that it rubs off on others.

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As others have said, the term "broke" is in use because that's what used to be done (and is still sometimes done) to horses to accept a rider, the "trainer" would break its spirit, until they could do whatever they wanted to the horse without it putting up a fight. I also don't like that term, especially used on a horse that actually wasn't broke in, but trained correctly.

Terms I've heard used instead of being broke are "started", "trained", and "gentled", all of which I think are good, particularly "started", since training should be ongoing, not just a one-time intensive course for the horse.

By the way, for the woman who said "I hope that "fixing" my dog will be dropped too, he wasn't broken, he was neutered!", the term "fixed" is actually being used in the older sense of the word, not to "repair", but to make something "stay put" or " Not subject to change or variation; constant" in other words, they stay in a state incapable of producing offspring.

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Forward thinkers agree with you. In Australia they are using the word "started" instead of break or broke.

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I know what you are trying to get at here. I use the term broke or breaking a horse. It doesn't bother me in anyway, I don't put that much thought into it and the whole horse industry knows what that means. Breaking and Training are completely different by defination in the horse world. So those who are saying "in training" you are saying that the horse is broke to ride and now "in training" for a certain discipline. Very confusing to people actually looking for a horse "in training" and show up to see some green, half broke horse.