Customer Reviews

Breaking Your Horse's Bad Habits

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If the tactics described weren't so cruel, they'd be as laughable as the old-timey pictures inside this book! I ordered it on a whim just to see what the author recommended for "breaking" our horse's bad habits. In my opinion, it's not even worth the few dollars I paid for it. The title was a clue about the contents, but I still had to order it to see for myself. It seems the author can't lead a horse without a chain over its nose as the very first picture indicates.
We don't need to "break" our horses as was the practice over 35 years ago when this book was published. And I personally don't want my horse broken. I prefer to start them, develop them and support them so that few, if any, habits develop that are bad enough to require "breaking" them. But that's exactly what the abusive recommendations, which have little if anything to do with horse training and everything to do with force, fear, intimidation and even at times torture, illustrate. How to "break" your horse!
Apparently, per the author the horse is supposed to be afraid not to do what you ask of him. WHAT? The tactics described for breaking bad habits are dangerous to the horse and the human. This book should be removed from the market. In the hands of a novice, it will be dangerous to the horse and the trainer when the suggestions backfire. Also, the book also goes into some extreme aspects of physiology that the author is not qualified to go into. Don't waste your money!

I wish it was a little more understanding about the horses themselves. It didn't tell why they expressed certain behaviors.