My definition of a broke horse is a horse that knows all of your cues or signals; that does his job with confidence; a horse that isn't afraid, has a good mind and is willing to go do whatever it takes to get the job done. When people think about a broke horse, some people think of one that can really stop and turn around and do all kinds of fancy maneuvers. That's all good, but if they do those things out of fear, and they don't operate out of a willingness and an understanding, well, those are two different kinds of horses. There's the horse that works out of fear vs. a horse that works out of a good understanding of the things you're trying to get him to do. A horse that works based on fear may be broke in some opinions, but may not be a good team roping horse. Jake (Barnes) has said for years that he counts the horse as a huge part of what we do. I do, too. The horse is 90 percent of what we're trying to do, if you ask me. That's why the people who are roping on the great horses are elevated to great ropers. The great ropers of all time tend to have a signature horse. That's not a coincidence.
A great horse wants to work and has a mental toughness and confidence. A lot of things go into the makeup of the horse, such as athletic ability, speed and conformation. There are a lot of factors involved. But it's all the factors put together, the mental capabilities of a horse and how he goes about doing his job that are the key elements that make a great horse. And a great horse can take a really good roper and elevate him to greatness.
There are gifted, talented ropers who get elevated to career greatness because of those special horses. Leo (Camarillo) and Stick, (Denny) Mo Watkins and Banner, Jake and Bullwinkle and Barney, Charles (Pogue) and Scooter are just a few of those combinations that come to mind. You can go on and on and on, if you think about it. The great ropers down through the years have had that signature, great horse they could just keep winning on over and over again. The horse becomes an extension of what you do.
To me, the ultimate broke horse is the horse you don't even think about. I can remember going to the biggest ropings and rodeos-the BFI, NFR, George Strait, Houston-being in the zone that day, and winning. Thinking back, how did all that take place? What did that horse do to allow me to do it? The best thing I can describe is that I never even felt the horse. It was like I wanted to go and be at a certain place throughout the run, and that's where I was. That horse had me right in the perfect spot, and at the end of the run I never even had to think about moving that horse or doing anything horse-related. We were working together so well as one unit that he was right with me all the way.
