Horse Trainer Extraordinare

[Faster horses]

Most of you have heard me speak of my favorite horse trainer,
Tom Wagoner. I was there this weekend and got to watch him work
a young horse we have there. He has had this horse about 2 weeks.
There are several photos of him, please note the last few show the
horse bridleless.

This is Tom working the colt on a burro. He likes the burro because
it gives the horse a reason for doing something good.

He ropes the burro off the horse, but he never tightens the loop so
that it never hurts the burros legs.

Basics of the spin. Note no bridle.

Tom says that each time a horse does something good while in
training, if you have him giving to pressure so that he will put
his nose on the ground, as he demonstates here, they will remember
95% of what you were teaching him.

All the horses are individuals to Tom and they get a LOT of one
on one. He truly loves horses and loves what he does.

I hope interested horsemen and women enjoyed this little show of
a master at work. He is amazing in his ability to communicate with
horses, yet Tom is a cowboy who uses the finished product to do
his work.

 

[Soapweed]

Thanks for the photo story. Tom looks to be a top hand at his chosen profession. Horses that are recipients of Tom's expert training would be very privileged animals indeed.

 

[PPRM]

Always a pleasure to see a guy get along with one so well...How old is the horse? How much of a start did it have on it before going there? Generally, we get a horse along pretty far as a two year old, but a lot of what H is doing here is saved for the next year or so....

What I do like is the guy that starts my horses, they are pretty solid. As they get older, I have no worries about kids being around them. Other than normal horse sense the kids ned to learn,

Thanks for sharing,

PPRM

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Great pictures and explainations of what's goin on. I just have one question, in the photo that shows the horse with his head down. You said givin to pressure. Where's the pressure comin from that gets his head lowered? Not questionin his ability at all......I'm just curious because I can't see in the photo where the pressure is comin from. ??? Askin cuz I might learn somethin new. LOL

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting. I would like to meet Tom someday.

 

[Faster horses]

JL, I'll try to answer your question.

Tom wants all his horses to GIVE to pressure and to not be defensive.
There are many ways a horse shows defense, not crossing their
legs over is one. He does some ground work to get all the horses
crossing over in front and behind. He says this all starts when colts
are HALTER BROKE. He travels to halter break colts and has found
this invaluable to the problems horses have (or don't have) later
in their training. He goes to clinics and sees so many problems that
wouldn't be there, if the horses had been halter broke properly.

As for putting thier head on the ground, he starts the pressure by picking up the reins so that the pressure
is from above their head. They will do a lot of things with their head
at first, trying to find a way to get away from the pressure. When
they put their head down, even slightly, Tom releases the pressure
from above. Soon they know the release comes from putting their
head DOWN, not up. They get very good at knowing where the release
is, that is why he can do it with no bridle. This is a very
important thing in training and most all trainers that are on this
level will use this technique. This photo shows the horse putting his head
completely on the ground. Please note Toms hands in the earlier photo.
That might help you understand. They aren't very high in that photo,
because the horse is dropping his head, but you can still get the idea,
I think.

This horse will be 5 years old this spring. He has been started, but
had a few problems. He jumped out from under Mr. FH last summer and
was a little worried about a rope and a little worried about dogs. So
we took him to Tom. Tom found out that he wouldn't turn loose in
his hips, therefore he could understand why he bucked in a certain
situation. He now has that problem all fixed. The rope deal is also
taken care of as you can see by the photos. Mr. FH worked with
him with a rope, but he still had some trust issues with a rope.
The problem came from the prior owner not having the horse
prepared when he took him to a branding as a 3 year old.
The burro is excellent for
getting young horses to accept new things. Tom has dogs in the arena
all the time, so now the horse will put his nose on the dogs, and is
not bothered at all. I'd say in 2 weeks we got way more than our money's
worth. That was this particular horse, not all of them is going to get
'fixed' in two weeks. But why carry these issues on all of the horses life,
or take ages to correct them, when we know someone that can do it,
it is his life's work to do it, and take home a happy horse. And Tom
says this horse is going to be a really good one.

This particular horse wasn't comfortable being 'in front' of his rider,
and Tom took care of that too. Now he is helping Mr. FH learn how to
keep his horses 'in front' instead of behind his legs. Whew, lots of
new tricks for some old dogs. But you're never too old, right? :wink:

I want to mention that he has him working a rope now too. I should
have taken a picture of that. He can be on the ground and get the
colt to back up when tension is put on the rope. We don't have to
doctor any calves horseback anymore, but in case we would, this
is a nice thing for a horse to know. As I say, Tom is a cowboy,
and he knows what these horses need to know to make function
ranch horses. Believe me, not every horse trainer knows that.
This horse will be ready for Mr. FH to take to brandings this year,
and be comfortable doing it.
Last year he was no way ready for that.

Hope this answered your questions. Please feel free to ask more.
It is all so interesting. Tom puts on clinics and best of all, he
does one-on-ones. You can go there and he will work with you and
your horse individually. I will highly recommend him to anyone
who wants more of a partnership with their horse.

 

[Faster horses]

Couple of other little things. You will notice this horse is in
a bit, not a snaffle bit. Tom uses a snaffle bit most of the time,
but there comes a time when they need to progress and this
horse was to that point. The bit is broken on the sides and in
the mouthpiece. It is Tom's theory that stiff bits make stiff horses.

And Tom has been starting horses since he was 6 years old.
He's humble and he says until he got on to this way of training,
"I wasn't training horses, they were training me."

He was PRCA Saddle Bronc Rookie of the Year in 1987.
He can ride the hair off one that bucks, but he does NOT
want them to buck and takes every step necessary to get
that out of them so they are safe, reliable horses and have
a great future.

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Thank You FH for answerin my question. And your right, your never too old to learn somethin new. I sooooo wish there was someone like Tom close enuff here to take horses to. So many "trainers" just put a saddle on one and crawl on, and ride em for 30 days and call em greenbroke, when basically all they've done is start em out with a whole bunch of problems.

 

[PPRM]

Thanks FH.....

I really need to slow my life down..I have been fortunate enough to have a few really good hands (One a lady) to send horses to. I like to do the halter breaking myself and have a lot of pretty fun/challenging games I like to play with them. Halter breaking works well for me in that I usually am done in 15-20 minutes per session. About how much time I have to give. Subsequent ones are just building on what we did before. I get them to look for the pressure and give to it.

Keeping the sessions short seems to work well. The horse really comes to me to get caught as they seem to look forward to "todays new thing"..

Wow, long way of saying, I would really enjoy taking some time to watch Tom work a halter with one someday....

PPRM

 

[Jerry H]

fh
that's great that you have a guy like tom that you can take horses to and learn from
i met buck brannamon about 13 or 14 years ago and started learning that method of horsemanship and i am still learning everyday and hope i continue to do so till i'm to old to ride anymore
btw
i agree 100% about gettting them halter broke correctly
i try to buy long yearlings that are not halter broke and have not been handled at all
so when i start them all they know is what their mamma tought them and what i'm teaching them
i have alot less problems with these colts than any of the others i have started that have been handled by others
until later
jerry

 

[Faster horses]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the pictures.
Tom has gone to Buck's clinics too, Jerry. The first time
he went I remember saying to him, "why are you going to
clinics, Tom? You should be giving them."

Tom said, "oh no. Buck has taught me a lot. He taught me why
I was riding broncs that were 9 years old."

Tom says everyday the horses teach him something new.
I have some photos of him halter breaking colts, but I need to
scan them to put them on here.

Bill Smith, of Spur, Texas (yes, MR. Bill Smith) says the horses
Tom halter breaks for him go to cattle 45 days sooner than any
of the other horses. It is because of what he gets done with them
when he is halter breaking them. It is actually like a 'first ride.'
He doesn't even put the halter on until he has control of their feet.
The whole thing is amazing. I'll try to find those pictures and scan
some. When he is done, they load in the trailer, side pass, you
can pick up all their feet, just so many things are taken care of
right then. It is interesting to watch how quickly a colt that hasn't
been halter broke responds compared to one that has been halter broke,
but has so many braces in them.

Tom ties the colts up, ONLY after they learn to give to pressure, and
it is so amazing to see that the colts NEVER pull back, regardless
of what happens. They know how to step up to get themselves out of a
jam.

As you can tell, I'm really proud to have been a part of his life.
He's good and he's kind and he really loves the horses.

 

[Jerry H]

fh
i'm proud for you to have a fella like that to go to for help
i'm shure your horses are better for it
iv'e been around bill smith some at the ranch horse compitions and he's always riding a horse that seems to be willing and try's as hard as he can
i'd like to get down there to spur and meet tom when he comes
spur is not to very far from here if i can meet a horseman like him
i'm shure i could learn alot just visiting with him
until later
jerry

 

[Faster horses]

Tom moved to Spur, Texas in 1993 and he moved back to Wyoming
about 2 years ago. We met Bill Smith when we were visiting Tom.
What a neat guy and wonderful horseman. He was a great mentor
to Tom, getting him interested in the Working Cowhorse Events.
Mr. FH got to ride Bill's 'Possum' horse that he won a lot of WC
events with.

Tom has a beautiful 2-year old buckskin stallion that is out of one of Bill
Smiths mares. I wish I had taken a picture of him. He is the
best looking 2-year old I can remember seeing. Wow, is he
something. Tom owns the sire, and this is the first colt out of him.
The colt was run through a fence as a baby and almost died from the
cuts. He has some scarring from it, but it hasn't hurt his ability. Like I said,
I wish I had taken a picture of the horse.

Tom halter broke a bunch of colts for people like Mel Potter.
He really is on to something, and the pro's know it.

Thanks for your nice words, Jerry. I can tell you have a lot
of knowledge and want to be 'right' with your horses.
Same to you PPRM.

 

[Jerry H]

fh
i try realy hard to do things right when it comes to my horses and dogs
i was just like tom i rode horses that were broncy and never really reached their full potential till i started learning this method of horsemanship
until later
jerry

 

[rainie]

Good pictures. Horse training has been a passion of mine since I can remember. Spent 20 plus years roping and treating everything from newborn's to ton plus bulls out on pasture.Broke some bones,spilt some blood, and lost some skin, but I still have all my fingers.Ha! Ha! I think you can always learn something. If you think you know everything, then maybe it's time to go to something else. Bought John Lyon's videotapes last winter. Found them very interesting and helpful. Lot's of good horse trainers out there. The one problem that I have though is these push button (robotic) horses. They look good in an arena and don't make a mistake. However these same horses working under ranch conditions are an accident waiting for a place to happen.This is my version of reality T.V. If a cow or bull is going to try to run through them they have to be able to recognize this on their own. They have to respect and not be afraid of the cow. Sidestep out of the way something coming at them, and then go back at it again.Sometimes I'd take the kids with me when we were checking. They had to be well mounted as I didn't want them getting hurt. When they were small, the horse knew more than they did because he could READ the cow. I wouldn't have felt comfortable with the kids on a robotic horse( one that can't think for himself). I would like to train a robotic horse but I don't think that he would be any good when working out on open range. Brandings don't really count (in the real world) because the horse really doesn't have to do a lot except go and heel a calf and drag it back. Doesn't take much thought or effort on his part. Just my thoughts . I'd sure like to have this guys indoor riding arena.

 

[Faster horses]

Believe me, this guy is a cowboy. He grew up on a 72,000 acre
ranch and he has BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. You would look
a long time to find a better hand. They rode horses there, not
four wheelers. Got up early and stayed late.
They would ride a horse and lead a 3-year old colt so the colt wouldn't
get ridden too hard. They'd tie the colt up where they were gathering
the cattle to, and when they were ready to sort, they rode the
colt. I saw both Tom and his dad do some amazing things in
very tough situations. Plus they had the Powder River in Wyoming
to contend with...tjey ARE cowboys in every sense of the word.

Robotic horses? Now that would give Tom a real chuckle.

I found your comment about horses at brandings very amusing.
When you are with Tom Wagoner at a branding, the calves in the middle
lay down because of how he works the pen (from the outside).
He knows a LOT about how cowboys/men work a branding corral.

Sorry rainie, but I took a little offense at what you were insinuating.

 

[rainie]

Faster horses: I wasn't insinuating anything, and certainly did not mean to offend anyone. I'm sure that Tom is an excellent hand and I could definitely learn something from him. We also had to bring along extra horses and switch them at dinnertime because they were tired.I would usually quit on an older horse that was doing everything right in favor of a colt because I found it a lot more satisfying personally, as the colt progressed and got better every time out.The point that I wanted to make is when is enough,enough. I believe that in some circumstances there is such a thing as overtraining, to the point that most riders are unable to ride these "robot" horses. The rider and the horse are both confused as to what the other is doing.If the rider wants to bring up his riding level that's fine. If you really want to see how the real world works, go and hook on (rope) some old charolais bull and see what happens.The horses that I really enjoy watching are the pickup horses at rodeos. These are big strong, rugged horses, that can watch a bull and know what he is thinking. They can also keep their cool in fast moving situations. This is what I admire.

 

[rainie]

Just reviewing your post. The land base where I worked was 156,000 acres. We took care of between 6000-7000 head ever year in some really rough ground, which was hard on horses and men.

 

[JF Ranch]

I find myself somewhat sympathetic to what rainie is saying.

No matter how properly you bring a colt along, in the course of ranch work, there will come a time when to get the job done, you have to push him harder in a crucial situation than what he is prepared for. Inevidibly much of your careful training goes out the window for a moment.

In a perfect world the training should progress systematically from beginning to end, but ranch work is far from perfect!

 

[Jerry H]

I find myself somewhat sympathetic to what rainie is saying.

No matter how properly you bring a colt along, in the course of ranch work, there will come a time when to get the job done, you have to push him harder in a crucial situation than what he is prepared for. Inevidibly much of your careful training goes out the window for a moment.

In a perfect world the training should progress systematically from beginning to end, but ranch work is far from perfect!

well put jf
but we still have to try
until later
jerry