Definition: Broke means a horse is trained. Broke to saddle or harness indicates what the horse has been trained for. Dumb broke may mean the training has just started. Well broke may mean the horse is well trained. Un-broke means the horse has not been trained to carry a rider or pull a vehicle.
These definitions leave lots of room for interpretation. What I consider broke varies greatly from what someone else calls broke. A lot of what goes into a horse being considered broke by different people is what they want to do with the horse. People who are planning to only trail ride a horse will most likely not care about leads, collection and headset. However, when you are working to train a performance horse all of those things have to happen first.
I am of the belief that all horses should saddle and ride quietly inside and outside of the arena. I do not care what discipline they are being trained for you should be able to take them on trail rides and they should be able to remain quiet.
I have been around entirely too many horses that were sold as "broke" and they were terrified of trails and only knew how to do one thing. Horses that only know how to run barrels are likely to get burnt out and start having problems performing.
There are many things that a horse needs to know how to do before you start running barrels on them. Collection is a major one, horses need to carry themselves properly and stay in the proper frame through transitions and lead changes.
What is Collection?
In the top drawing the horses head is elevated and the horses back is dropped. Try rolling your head back, what happens? Your back instantly curls away. This is what happens when a horse carries their head high. Try the opposite put you chin to your chest your back now arches out. We want our horses to move with a low headset and an elevated back. Why? When a horse is round in their back they have their hind quarters under them and engaged.
Horse's need to drive with their hind quarter's and not drag themselves along with their front ends. In order to achieve collection, we have to get the horse to relax and drop their heads. It requires the horse to be well broke and comfortable with their rider.
Transitions
Notice how in the above animation the horses head is in the same place. This is called the horses frame, they need to look the same no matter what speed they are going. Horses have to be able to stay balanced as they transitions through their gates. If they do not maintain a consistent frame they are likely to stumble and to fail to drive from their hind ends.
Additionally, horses need to maintain this balance through lead changes. Young horses must be able to perform flying lead changes. Flying lead changes are required in barrel racing. The best way to work on these is by doing figure eights. Vary the size of the circles to change the amount of time that the horse has to prepare for the transition.
Starting a young horse takes a lot of time and skill. There is nothing that can replace the value of a solid foundation. Horses who are started slow and correct will have longer and more successful careers than those who were rushed into the ring. The amount of time that is spent on the ground teaching manners and in the saddle before the horse sees barrels is what truly makes a horse broke.
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