Posts Tagged ‘horse training’

When a Stud’s Bad Heart Saved His Life

September 24, 2026
Jan Swan Wood

When we were running a band of mares and breeding some outside mares, we had two stallions. Thesenior stallion was Duncan, who we got when he was in his 20s and used until he died at 28. The otherwas Spider, a stud we’d raised. Both were gentlemen to handle, well broke, and just plain nice […]

Born Broke Horse

September 5, 2025
Jan Swan Wood

It had been a busy spring and early summer. Foaling was over so it was breeding season for our mares and two studs. The outside mares added to the workload, plus it was a dry time and I was irrigating the hay ground and pastures on top of fencing projects, a big garden, and getting […]

The Outlaw, “Silver Mane”

July 23, 2025
Jan Swan Wood

In the 1920s my grandad, Bill, was what would be described as an all around type of cowboy andrancher. He was a tough bronc rider, due to the fact that the horses he traded for were usually outlawtypes. He could ride horses that other men couldn’t work in harness, plus he could work them in […]

School Yard Bronc Ride

June 9, 2025
Jan Swan Wood

My Dad told me a “last day of school” story that I sure got a kick out of. Being a ranch boy, he usuallyhad riding to do either on the way to or on the way home from school, so a saddle horse was his usualmode of transportation. On this fine May day, he had […]

A Cowboy’s Horse

April 22, 2025
Jan Swan Wood

My Dad had a weakness for a horse with a fast walk. I swear, he’d have bought a horse from a gypsy peddler if it just walked really fast. So, sometimes he got burned due to this weakness of his. As he gotolder, he didn’t allow for his aging body and limitations and when looking […]

Real Winners at the Draft Horse Pull

March 29, 2025
Jan Swan Wood

Many years ago we went to a draft horse pull. It was held in the winter in a warm facility, and promised to be a fun day off the place. It didn’t disappoint.The horse pull was a big one, as nearly 30 years ago it was a pretty big thing in the region. There wereprofessional […]

Teamwork Between a Kid and a Colt

March 13, 2025
Jan Swan Wood

I recently told you about some of the daring ideas that a kid will come up with when teamed up with agreen colt. Son Colin’s filly was two and he was 10. He had officially “started” Callie in August, but he’dbeen sneaking off to ride her bareback in the pasture for months before that, so […]

A Kid, a Colt and Interesting Ideas

March 6, 2025
Jan Swan Wood

Calving was starting and my son was gathering the cows at night while I fed them some good hay in agrass lot. Colin was 12, and he was riding his filly Callie who was a three year old. He had officially“started” her the summer before, but unofficially, he’d been sneaking off and riding her bareback […]

Hunter/Jumper/Barrel Horse

February 15, 2025
Jan Swan Wood

Back in the olden days when I was young and single, I had a very high powered gelding that I was trying to make a barrel horse out of. Back then you had to just go get some runs on a horse, somewhere, as it was before there were anything like 4D barrel races and […]

Lead Departures

February 8, 2025
Anna Foulger

In any reining pattern, a beautiful lead departure can make or break your score. Though it seems really simple, some horses really struggle with making a lead departure look effortless. A perfect lead departure is going to feel and look smooth, with minimal effort. Your horse should really gather himself up into the bit and […]