I used to get very frustrated when people would say things like “mustangs are hard to train”.  I assumed they were saying, essentially, that mustangs were unintelligent.  But instead of getting angry, I now have a better response.  They are not “hard to train” but they sure are different.

You see, in my experience, today’s performance horses are born stopping and spinning, piaffe-ing and passage-ing, jumping and running…  We have perfected genetics to a degree where a horse bred for a specific job, is literally born doing it.  Very similar to the way a well bred border collie or heeler are born knowing how to work livestock.  A little direction and you have a winner.  Everything in these horses DNA is telling them this is what they are born to do.

Then to top of the “natural ability” (I hesitate to call it natural because it has been carefully designed), most of today’s horses are also bred to have soft, willing, and happy minds.  And again, for the cherry at the top of the well bred Sunday, they are nurtured to love and trust humans from the moment they hit the ground.  They are imprinted, coddled, handled from the moment of birth.  They grow up living in the human world, not knowing much else.  So when the 2 year old year comes along, and the saddles and trainers are introduced, is it any surprise these horses are winning futurities at three?  Their life is so carefully planned from the first thought of a performance prospect.

I can only conclude that if these are the horses you have been exposed to for the most part, that yes by all means, a mustang must seem “hard” to train!  Why?  Because they are a true horse.  Nothing in their genetics is telling them to trust, much less please a human!  On the contrary everything in their genetics is telling them to run for their life, and if you cannot run, fight.  Mustangs are not unintelligent.  In fact, as far as horses go, they are (and I may be biased) the most intelligent.  If they do not learn quickly they die.  If they are careless they die.  They cannot afford to not be smart.

Mustangs make phenomenal performance horses.  They have so many qualities that make them amazing for performance.  Good legs, strong feet, mental and physical endurance, strength, very surefooted.  And if a trainer truly understands what I like to call “true horses”, he can tap into that.  But it takes a certain breed of trainer.  Not everyone can understand these horses, because they do not fit in today’s idea of what a “horse” actually is.  They are not made by man.  They are made by God and Mother Nature.

I like to watch really great Mustang trainers.  They are true horsemen.  A trainer that can truly teach a mustang to stop, spin, slide or piaffe, passage, pirouette… those are true horsemen with true horses.  It is a much more honest relationship, a much more honest teacher and student.  They were given such raw materials and turned it into something so beautiful.

A three strikes Mustang, named Cobra, just won the world championship in Western Dressage.  Not because he was selectively bred for years and years to excel in a certain sport.  But because he was a true horse, with true heart, that had a true trainer.  So I guess what I am trying to say is if you fancy yourself a student of the horse, like I do, there is no greater test of your horsemanship than a Mustang.  Because if you can teach a horse, that has no reason to perform for you, to perform at the highest levels, in my book you’ve aced the test.  So are Mustangs hard to train?  No.  They are just very, very different.

Cheers!