When I was 13 (spring and summer of 1981), Dad decided that it was time for Cade and me to break our own horses. Prior to that time, Dad would do all the work to break the horses. I spent a number of hours in my life sitting on the fence of the branding corral watching Dad with a new colt.
He would tie them to a fence post and work with the young horse to get it used to his voice and to things going on when a person was around.
We had a cotton weave flour sack that Dad used with every horse we ever broke. After working with the horse for a bit, he would ask us to get the "sack" from the barn. He would hold the open end of the sack in one hand and shake it around the horse to let the horse see the sack and watch it. Then he would flick the horse with the sack so the horse would get used to something coming toward it when we were around.
After sacking the horse, he would put "Grandpa's" saddle on the horse. This saddle had a high cantle and deep swells. This was the saddle that Mom always rode. But, Dad would start every horse on this saddle because the saddle he normally rode was the "roping" saddle with a low cantle and almost non-existent swells.
He would lead the horse around the corral to let it get used to the saddle. He would also "sack out" the horse while it had the saddle on its back.
When the colt got used to the saddle and was not so skittish around the sack, Dad would decide it was time to get on and ride it. I remember when I was really young, I always thought Dad was so brave to get on a horse for the first time. Even though we would break three to five horses each spring, I do not remember many of them ever bucking much or very hard.
Anyway, Dad decided that spring that Cade and I would break our own colts. Cade started with Thirty (full name Ten Thirty), a filly colt. He coached Cade through all the preliminaries. Then when it was time to top her off, Dad got on Al (full name Al's Tiger) and snubbed her to the saddle horn (not too tight but enough to keep her from running off). Then Cade got on Thirty. She danced around a bit but never bucked.
For my turn, I started with Pegan, also a filly colt. Dad coached me through getting her ready to top off. Then, he got on Al and snubbed her to the saddle horn like he did with Thirty for Cade. I was really nervous. Pegan was a bit more skittish than Thirty had been.
We were in the middle of the yard between the barn and the tack room. I think we danced in circles a couple of times before I was able to get on. Pegan jumped and humped her back but never bucked. Dad led her around the yard a couple of times. Then he turned her loose. We (Dad on Al, Cade on Thirty, and me on Pegan) rode to the river to check the cows.
Cade and I rode Thirty and Pegan every day from then through the rest of the summer. Pegan only bucked with me one time about two weeks later. Cade and I were on the river checking the cows. She was walking along and just put her head down and took about 6 big bucking jumps across the pasture. I lost my hat but I did not lose my seat!
Thirty and Pegan were such beautiful horses. Cade and I were so proud to have our "own" horses that we broke to ride. I remember feeling confident in my ability to do anything because I had broke a horse to ride.
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