Horseman’s Corner Radio

Hale Broadcasting

On-The-Air since 1994, providing horsemanship tips from the greatest trainers and breeders in the world. 

  1. 2d ago

    Safety While Working With Horses

    Now here's the late Howard Hale with Cal Middleton asking him a question on safety around horses.   Cal Middleton is a horseman and clinician from Missouri. What do you need to do to be safe around a horse, Cal?   "The truth is if we want to be safe on a horse or around a horse, our first goal needs to be to make the horse feel safe. Because when the horse feels safe, we're on the right track. It doesn't mean that we just pet him and feed him cookies all the time. There's a lot of things we have to do. We have to be a little more firm when necessary, but we have to be as light as possible, and we have to care about the horse. And if we don't care about the horse, then we're better off to get a four-wheeler. That's kind of where it's got to start for me. Talk about some of the steps you need to take to make that horse feel safe, will you? Number one, it's the way we approach him, and that's physically and mentally. It's the way we approach him literally, and the way we approach him in a philosophical sense. The way we grab a hold of that lead rope, the way we put the halter on him, the way we put the bridle on him, and the way that we pick up the reins, you know, the way we saddle him. All those things come into play. It's something that I enjoy teaching to people, but it's not something that I can just explain to them real quick."   "Sometimes people will send me a question on an email like, my horse is doing this, what do I do? And I say, well, make him feel safer, and here's a few steps how, but it's something that you can't just pick up on a little weekend course or a little book, or a DVD."

    2 min
  2. 6d ago

    Ron Knodle on Mustangs

    Here's Ron Knodle and the late Howard Hale.    What are some of the differences you run into, though, with the Mustangs that you might not see with a domestic horse?    "About the only difference, Howard, is the first few days, or the first few workings that you're around the Mustang. They're brought in out of the wild, and they're not used to seeing a human, but maybe for a mile or two miles away, and they're gone."   "You're just working with a lot more alertness and wildness, per se, compared to the domestic horse. Even if you're just walking through a pen when they're young, or even if they're born and brought in, just walking through them, then the Mustangs don't have that opportunity to be that close to a human, so that's about the main difference on the Mustangs. They may be a little more alert at first, but after a few workings, then they're the same as any other horse."   "I think it was about 20 years ago, over in western Nebraska, I was working for a fellow working horses and riding them without anything on their heads and all and whatnot, but growing up and I always wanted to be a cowboy, and working on ranches, and of course all the ranches need horses started, and they kind of reserve that for the people that's good enough to start with those young horses, not get them bothered and turn them into a bunch of bronc. Your reputation is about all you have in life, and it precedes you, so from ranch to ranch, and people asking for references, they say, hey, get this guy to start your colt, and once you get started on the colt, it's kind of tough to get away from them."   Mr. Ron Knodle on today's Horseman's Corner.

    2 min
  3. Jun 1

    Justin Dunn - Training Mustangs

    Today, a special treat from the archives of the late Howard Hale.   Our guest today is Justin Dunn. He's a Colorado horseman (now training out of North Carolina). Give us some of your background and how you got started, will you, Justin?    "Started with training other people's horses and found that I had a knack for it. Got into taking people on trail rides down there in South Texas, and then decided to move to Colorado and start a trail ride business here. And on a shoestring budget, couldn't afford a lot of already trained horses. So I got a lot of buckers, biters, bolters, and kickers for free, and started training them and using them in my trail ride business. That just kind of kicked it off."   So you get some of those problem horses to the point where you could use them as trail riding horses for some of the folks?    "Yeah, I have a string of 14 horses, and all of them are either BLM Mustangs or rescue horses or, you know, rejected horses for whatever reason. I take them in, train them, put them in my trail ride business, and we also do a camp for children with cancer, and all my horses are in that too."   Are the Mustangs easier than the problem horses?    "They're probably the easiest horses I've ever trained. I have six of them myself, and I've trained probably 25, 30 other brand new Mustangs. So yeah, they're probably the easiest horse I've ever trained."   Justin Dunn on training Mustangs.    ---   Justin Dunn is a nationally recognized horse trainer and clinician who specializes in working with American Mustangs and rehabilitating horses with behavioral issues. Rather than focusing on traditional Quarter Horse training, his non-traditional approach is distinguished by training entirely without bits, spurs, whips, or horseshoes. American Mustang School: He is the founder of the American Mustang School, which focuses on gentle, natural horsemanship and educating owners on horse psychology.

    2 min
4.3
out of 5
7 Ratings

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On-The-Air since 1994, providing horsemanship tips from the greatest trainers and breeders in the world. 

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