# What do YOU consider 'green broke"?



## cebee (Apr 4, 2010)

Im horse shopping ( yay!) and notice on CL and the like that people seem to mean different things by " green broke"... some will say something like " she is green broke... nice walk trot, working on her canter" while others seem to use 'green broke' to mean " we put a saddle on her once and she did fine"... of course I can ask for more info if I am interested in the horse... but was just curious how YOU interpret " green broke"?


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## Atomicodyssey (Apr 13, 2014)

Green broke to me is a horse that can reliably be saddled and handle a rider but lacks finishing and miles. Think a horse with 30 days put on them. However anything below that is still "green".


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## Curly_Horse_CMT (Jun 8, 2008)

^^ agree with the above. I also consider it to have a solid foundation with no holes or baggage.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Horse that can be handled with no problems on ground at all. And will accept saddle, bridle and rider with no fit throwing. Understands whoa and go and turns decently.

The refinements can come, but without the above being solid, horse is not green broke to me, but "barely started".


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## lovebearsall (Jan 9, 2011)

Wow, good question.

American West and Cowboy Terms

I suppose for me, when I hear the term green broke I always think they have been started under saddle, but still need more miles and training. For instance, my guy has had nearly 8 months under saddle being ridden anywhere from 20-35 hours a week depending on the weather, traffic safe, fine with dogs, four-wheelers, water, tarps, etc., etc., etc., yields fore and hind quarters, flexes, side passes, backs perfectly and ALMOST stops on seat position alone, been on countless trails, and not overly spooky but I still consider him green broke. Prob. mostly because there are times when I still have to tell him what to do. Like stand still, or stay at my pace when others are loping ahead of us, not try to dig in and catch up!


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Agreed, a green broke horse is a horse that can be handled and ridden without many issues and no real malicious misbehaviors. A horse with the bare basics of knowlege about being ridden (will stop, turn, go with no problems, stand for saddling and mounting, etc) is green broke. IMHO, anything less is considered "started" as there is nothing _broke_ about them.

I'd venture a guess that more than 70% of pleasure riders are riding horses that are nothing more than green broke. They will stop, turn, go and be handled/ridden without throwing a fit but are lacking any sort of refinement or subtlety in their training.


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## beverleyy (Oct 26, 2011)

To me, it would mean they have good ground manners, know their basics such as whoa, go, turn. The horse would be started W/T/C, maybe popped over a couple Xs depending age of horse/how long ago it was started. At this point I would expect to be doing some refining and putting miles on the horse. 

I think anything less than that and I would consider the horse green.


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## Frieda (May 17, 2014)

Knows go and whoa. For me a green broke horse can work at walk, trot and canter and understand the basic aids. Needs miles and is ready for specific training in whatever discipline it will be working in. Can be ridden on a loose rein. May or may not have started lateral work, had some exposure to obstacles, distractions, and scary stuff, may or may not have been ridden at more than one location.


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

smrobs said:


> Agreed, a green broke horse is a horse that can be handled and ridden without many issues and no real malicious misbehaviors. A horse with the bare basics of knowlege about being ridden (will stop, turn, go with no problems, stand for saddling and mounting, etc) is green broke. IMHO, anything less is considered "started" as there is nothing _broke_ about them.
> 
> I'd venture a guess that more than 70% of pleasure riders are riding horses that are nothing more than green broke. They will stop, turn, go and be handled/ridden without throwing a fit but are lacking any sort of refinement or subtlety in their training.


It's funny. At first the idea of saying that about my horse after I have been riding her for many years (in the future, that is); this context annoyed me- that she would never be more than green broke.
But it makes sense. 
But the question then becomes: If you have a horse you 'only' ever rode for trail riding and fun, got it 'green broke' (for example, my mare I bought when she was almost 3, had only been backed for barely 6 months (or less?).) If this is the case for a horse, for say 10 (or more) years... what is that horse then? 
Say the horse is super great on trails, listens the majority of the time with no worries of injuring the rider, doesn't spook horridly, all the good stuff. 
What do we call that horse? They have proven themselves as a solid trail horse, they've even learned new things with their rider, or maybe they went to the trainer once or twice for a month over that time period. 
They will never be an 'oh my gosh look at that flying lead change' in the arena type of mount, but they are a wonderful, sound minded and bodied trail mount companion. 
I am sure my horse will most likely always be part of that pleasure horse group. Unless we strike it rich, then I am getting some cows to play with dang it! (Oh and the trainer to go with the cows!) But she will improve with time (she already has tons), I just don't think it will be any beautiful, 'wow what a great trainer you have' type of improvement. lol Would she still be green broke? 
And hopefully there wasn't any animosity in my reply, there wasn't meant to be, I was trying to make sense of my thoughts.  
Smrobs though, it is a very interesting way to look at it.


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## BlueSpark (Feb 22, 2012)

> I'd venture a guess that more than 70% of pleasure riders are riding horses that are nothing more than green broke. They will stop, turn, go and be handled/ridden without throwing a fit but are lacking any sort of refinement or subtlety in their training.


 I sort of disagree with this. Its kind of like saying a piece of furniture isn't finished because its maker never got around to carving and embellishing it. Sometimes all it needs to be is simple. That said, a horse that is well broke in one area is always green in others. A huge percentage of owners have no need or desire for a mount that knows anything but go, stop, back, slow, faster, turn. A horse that might be extremely well broke for that sort of rider would be incredibly green to a dressage rider, an eventer, a team penner. I work with OTTB's that are dead broke - for the track. They know their job inside and out. But as a saddle horse they are green as grass.

A green broke horse to me is one that has the basic knowledge of being ridden but no experience. It knows that go means go, stop, stop, etc, but it doesn't have the miles under saddle to solidify these rules and make them second nature, ingrained responses. A green horse always has the potential to be unpredictable, no matter what its temperament.


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## GracielaGata (Jan 14, 2012)

BlueSpark said:


> I sort of disagree with this. Its kind of like saying a piece of furniture isn't finished because its maker never got around to carving and embellishing it. Sometimes all it needs to be is simple. That said, a horse that is well broke in one area is always green in others. A huge percentage of owners have no need or desire for a mount that knows anything but go, stop, back, slow, faster, turn. A horse that might be extremely well broke for that sort of rider would be incredibly green to a dressage rider, an eventer, a team penner. I work with OTTB's that are dead broke - for the track. They know their job inside and out. But as a saddle horse they are green as grass.
> 
> A green broke horse to me is one that has the basic knowledge of being ridden but no experience. It knows that go means go, stop, stop, etc, but it doesn't have the miles under saddle to solidify these rules and make them second nature, ingrained responses. A green horse always has the potential to be unpredictable, no matter what its temperament.


This is pretty much what I was trying to say, but couldn't get out! Thanks BlueSpark! I concur that many of those pleasure trail horses would probably not work for some of those arena show people, as the skillset is completely different. But it shouldn't take away from that horse's version of finished by still being called 'green broke.' 
My husband and I tried out a wonderfully bred Arab mare... she was only 8ish, but had been very well trained. Too well trained. She needed to be sold to a dressage/show home, as she knew too much fancy stuff for us trail riders. Same thing with a little pony mare. Barely the slightest touch of your leg at one of several spots on her barrel, and you got that many different responses! More than we needed on the trails. We could hardly ride either of them for fear of doing something wrong. But to add, neither of those horses were good trail horses. But probably stellar in the arena setting.

Both of our horses now are 'green broke' to follow the tenor of the conversation. But my mare at age 5 is awesome on the trails. Loves her job, loves new places, new horses, new challenges, and does it all well and with flying colors. She hates the arena and 'fake practice;' she would much rather learn a refining skill on the trail. Same for my husband's gelding. 

I think this sorta issue/question at hand comes from the original idea of green broke, which I assume was meant to acknowledge only the basic concepts of the horse knows stop, go, left, right, back. That sorta thing. But do we have a name for a horse like you and I describe?


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