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VIDEO REVIEW: Saddling and Riding the Unbroke Horse for the First Time
by Franne Brandon

One of the best kept secrets in the collection of videos offered for sale in the TWHBEA gift shop is the tape, Saddling and Riding the Unbroke Horse for the First Time, which is part of the Sam Powell Teaching by Asking series.  As Powell explains at the beginning of the video, he comes "from Oklahoma by way of Texas." His experience includes that of working ranch cowboy, rodeo cowboy, federal livestock inspector, and Oklahoma Ranch manager. Now living in the Nashville area, Powell applies the benefits of this experience in his current occupation as the manager of a full scale Equine Consulting Service. On the tape, he applies the principles he has acquired through a variety of experiences to surely and safely take an untried stallion from the halter-only stage to the first saddling and rider mount up.
Windward Manor near Franklin is the location where the action occurs. The film begins with the audience watching Powell and a handsome flax sorrel stallion in the farm's round pen. Powell explains that his job is that of a translator, to explain the stallion's "language" to the humans that have not met the colt before.  He states that his major effort will involve teaching the colt a few things while teaching the viewers some things about horses. Powell emphasizes that the "horse is a whole culture", and to truly work successfully with horses, a person must know and understand this culture.
Round pen training has become popular recently in walking horse circles. Powell takes these efforts a step beyond the usual in succinctly explaining the "why" behind every step that occurs in the round penning process. As he begins moving the high-headed colt around the pen's outer perimeter, he explains that the purpose is to gain the colt's respect, so that the trainer will be the dominant element in the herd of two. A second purpose is to teach the colt forward motion.  The driving movement done by the trainer in the pen makes use of the culture

that the young horse already knows, as this driving is learned at this dam's side when she tires of his behavior and chases him away to gain some temporary peace.
As the minutes pass, Powell demonstrates the responses that he expects the young horse to acquire as the training session progresses. He advises viewers not to make solid wood round pens, but the open kind that allow distractions to be part of the training process. He also provides the ideal dimensions for a round pen, and states the reasons why these dimensions work.
Powell proceeds to sack the colt using his lariat, introduce him to the saddle pad, then the weight of a saddle. When the colt's reaction to working the rail in a saddle is fairly calm, Powell brings in a young associate named Carol. She proceeds to introduce herself to the colt's culture, and actually gives him his first lesson in carrying a rider while trainer Powell provides the ground signals that the sorrel has learned in that day's training session.
This educational video is just that - an informative and instructive tape that entertains while it provides important principles in horse training that owners can use in their personal training programs. The segment which involves using the rope to tie up the colt's leg should perhaps be left to those with experience in working with ropes around horses or other livestock, but the techniques involved in the rest of the tape could be used by people from all backgrounds, including those with years of experience in riding Tennessee Walkers. 
This is an excellent video, useful not only for starting an unbroken horse under saddle, but also, as trainer Powell mentions, as a fine aid in developing a program for working weanlings and yearlings to prepare them for the jobs they will assume when they mature.
               For info on purchasing this tape, call TWHBEA'S Gift Shop at 1-800-359-1574.

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