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Hancock Horses question

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MoodyMare said:
Oldtimer, so for his pedigree he is not the *typicall* hancock?
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I know little about the Hancock horses- I've avoided them, somewhat because of some of the reasons already given and also they didn't fit the direction I was going with my horses-- Not many places around anymore that use horses enough to keep them rode down.....

My comment was that your horse has a lot of Quarter Horse breeding going back to some of the old original foundation stallions....You don't always see this with paints since the APHA stud book was started in the 60's- and any horse meeting the color and conformation could be papered...It is a much younger registry than AQHA which was started in the 30's... The old QH breeders joke was if you had a catch colt that came out with spots on it, you could always register it as a pinto or a paint....

Now I believe the APHA has closed their books and requires one or both of the parents to be a registered paint- and/or allows one to be a QH.....I've had several people breed their APHA mares to my AQHA studs...

But he is a fine looking horse Moodymare-- and you can see the "personality" in his pictures......
 
I was out messing with the two year old this morning, just got them in yesterday to start school as I have some time now. I am trying to do things different and more in line so I am paying more attention to the horse and trying to get him to do what I want, not make him do what I want and I came to this conclusion: I think as moodymare suggested, these horse learn in a different way. He picks things up fast, but he is easily bored to the point that it is hard to keep his attention with this boring ground work, he was paying attention to the dogs, then a cat, he even was listening to a cow bawling out in the field rather than pay attention. I think the panic sets in when he is drifting in and out of paying attention, he's watching the cat on the fence, comes back to me and goes "what the heck is he doing?" and panics because he was not focused on me. After about 30 minutes of this, I took the halter off of him and instead of leaving, he followed me around like a good dog. So I walked around out there to see what he would do and he kept going with me 2-3 steps behind, even when the other colt came running up trying to get him to play, he stayed right with me until I went out the gate and then he put his head over the gate until I was out of sight. Maybe he was paying more attention to me than I thought. Most of the time it was like a kid that has been labeled ADD. This is the first Hancock I have started so I may have a differnt opion of them in a year. I did ride a started four year old for a while riding pens in a feedlot, every day for the winter. Come spring, I was given new horses and I gave the forman of the place the Hancock for his horse. First morning that he went to saddle up the horse I heard this gawd awful bawling coming from the barn, looked up and here came that horse bucking for all he was worth stirrups flapping, bawling with every buck until he got over to me on another horse. I got him up, the forman would not get on him, I got that horse back and he never ever even tried to buck with me. I think that he and I were of the same mind, that forman was a butt head and niether one of us wanted anything to do with him.
 
Hancock Horses I have owned one really good and one really bad Hancock horse and they were the same horse. You could ride that boy every day for 2 weeks and he would be tougher every day when you got on him. Not like these ones I own now ride them a day then rest. I really liked that pony you just had to pay attention would go any where catch anything. I think that was the only harsh words my wife and I had he had unloaded me and while I was in the hospital she sold him when I asked her why she said it had to be before one of us killed the other or both. Man that horse could buck. :D
 
We love our Hancock horses! I especially like the Blue Valentine colts. Cross them with Driftwood lines and you got yourself a horse! I like a horse that can take a long day in any kind of country. I will admit that, on ocassion, they may border on the stubborn side, but mine don't buck... much. They are just as versatile, intelligent, and athletic as any other bloodline. And some even have cute heads :lol:
 
I'm posting these pictures for Faster Horses. A Hancock bred horse she mentioned in a previous post.

I have to say he's a good-looking horse for 25 years of age!

Hancock1.jpg


Hancock2.jpg


Hancock3.jpg
 
Thanks SSAP, for posting the picture for me.

That horse was so broncy when he was young, it is still hard for me to imagine him as a kids horse. He has been a really great ranch and team roping horse, but a kids horse, whoda thunk it? :???:

But, pictures don't lie.
 
Faster horses said:
Soapweed, your horse looks like he was a great partner.
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With all due respect, it was Tumbleweed who posted the picture of his horse being a good partner and holding the rope tight on the yearling that is down. Looks like a great helper horse, Tumbleweed. Most of mine probably aren't that good. :wink:
 
I had a Hancock bred gelding quite a few years ago. He was a pretty colored red roan, but that is where the pretty stopped. He was big and rugged, but certainly no halter horse. He was the thinnest hided horse I ever owned, and about the only horse I've ever sored. Right under the cinch area, he got big open sores. This was just from one fairly hard ride one morning that turned into half an afternoon before arriving back ant the ranch. He was one of those horse I didn't own very long and soon had him traded off for something I liked better.
 
SSAP when I first saw those pictures you posted I said "Boy she wasn't kidding when she said she was short" :wink: Then I read the captions and got straightened out.

Little muddy was happy to night as the colt that wasn't moving out started walking out for her today. She had driven him some more and was just persistant in trying to get him going. The other 2 she is riding were going pretty good today as well.
 
just saw your post today, just wondering if that was Ben or Sam? And if he was the one i was supposed to ride in the queen contest? Beautiful picture by the way.
 
Hey gunslinger welcome abourd here and that was Sam holding down that heifer to doctor. You did ride him and so did several other ladies. He was always a gentleman when a lady was on him.

One time he got away from me and was bucking, bawling and really tearin up the dirt trying to throw the saddle off. Grandma was there with acouple of the neighbor ladies and her eyes got pretty wide and she said "thats the horse I've been riding"!
 
Around here we think of Hancock's as being good horses for guys who ride a lot and need a tough horse. They are not know for very pretty heads but they are built real tough in the body. They are hard to teach but once they learn it they don't forget. As mentioned earlier I think a lot of this anymore is environment-- especially as we get further and further from the original blood.
 
soapweed, My bro- in -law (vet) was just telling me about a malady that caused the extreme skin sensitivity you noted. I'll ask him more and get back. I think its genetic.
 
That happened 17 or 18 years ago, but he was sure thin-hided enough to be soreable. Besides, he was tall, long-legged and not very agile on his feet. A local horse rancher raised him, and even though most of the horses wearing his brand had a fairly good reputation, this particular roan didn't have much going for him.

The old horse rancher was a small man but a very good cowboy. He took care of a lot of yearling cattle in the summertime, and would ride one horse and lead another horse that was saddled. If he found a yearling that needed to be doctored, he'd drop the horse he was leading, and then rope the critter. Then he'd whistle for the other horse to come and use it to heel the yearling, so he could tail it over to do the doctoring. He had a pretty good one man-two horse system.
 
The other half's favorite mount is a grade blue roan mare that we (and everyone that has ever seen her) is sure is hancock. All those descriptions fit her, tough, good legs, good feet, thick, hard headed. Everything except uglyheaded, because it is nice. Point of fact, her name is Beauty because she is so pretty.
I rode her for a good while, and she was ok, but you REALLY have to ride her, no time for daydreaming with her. He rides her hard, uses her hard and she is great. Give her a little time off, and she seems to be really p'd off about it for a couple of days.
The only time she ever bucked was when a bull ran up under her flank and pushed her out of the way. She set in to buck, but when the other half yelled at her to stop, she stopped in mid-jump.
She also has learned to dump (trip)something that needs to be doctored. Guess other half got tired of waiting for me to catch anything besides a cold :!:
 
Tumbleweed said:
sam400.jpg


This is a picture of a Hancock horse I used to have. He was a horse I liked more than any other horse that I've ever had. I've never paid much attention to papers or breeding just rode what ever was handy and that I could afford. He was a quiet horse and alert. Would do pretty much what ever I asked him to. When ever he would see me coming he would look at me and nicker. Kind of like where are we goin and what are we gonna do now? He would take a notion to buck once in a while but I always got his head pulled up and around to stop him before he got me throwed off. One time I was going to gather and move some cattle and stopped on the way at a neighbors who trained border collies.
Got off and was visiting with acouple of fellows my neighbor was showing one of his dogs to working sheep. Guess my horse didn't like the look of those sheep or dog and he pulled away, stuck his nose in the dirt, went to balling and trying to throw the saddle off. He done a good job of trying and I was sure glad I wasn't on him. Guess he got it out of his system cause I got on and went and moved the cattle with no trouble. Just one more thing to like about him. I used to spend a lot of time riding and doctoring cattle alone like this yearling or cows that had foot rot. This old horse got pretty wise to it and was sure good help.
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I really like this picture & what stands out to me more than anything is the tie off job. It really looks clean and like it would last for hours if needed.

Paul
 
Howdy Paul

That picture is one of my most favorite ones because thats the most favorite horse I've ever had.

You're right about that heifer being tied off and being there for however long it takes to doctor her. I used to pick up both heels, pull them down then ride up as close as I could to them, lift on the rope and tie a clove hitch around the horn. Then take the tail of the rope go down on the other side of my horses neck, over the rope then back to the saddle horn and tie another clove hitch. Doing it that way as long as your horse faces what ever you have roped he won't choke himself. He will also have to face the critter you have down and if they struggle your horse usually backs up, tightens the rope which helps to keep them down. I would then step off and tie both front feet together. Once you have that done you can do anything you want to them.

The part where you really need to be careful is when you have your first clove hitch tied around the horn and when you are going down on the other side of the neck on your horse and around the rope and back to the saddle horn. You need to keep your horse facing the critter you have down. Once you have the second clove hitch tied they are forced to face the critter that they are tied to. The first few times they are a little nervous and skittish about it but soon get pretty comfortable with it. I stayed a horse back all the while until I had them tied off to.
 

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