Horse Training and Starting – Dr Myfanwy Webb

Why I love breaking in horses

As a kid, I became fascinated with befriending wild horses. To gain their trust and to communicate to them ways that they can interact with humans so we can enjoy each other’s company is the basis of what I do. I like to teach a horse to allow humans to ride it and to ensure it enjoys being ridden.

My breaking-in training

My method is a mix of influences but primarily I use John Drennan’s method. John was my mentor and was a Master Breaker. John was racehorse trainer Gai Waterhouse’s breaker for many years. I worked with John and his daughter Jo Drennan breaking in Thoroughbreds prior to their race-track pre-training at Randwick, Sydney.

The horse pictured is the first horse I bought to break in and sell, only I never sold him. That’s Jo and I starting long-reining with him. He was a 2yr old 16hh endurance bred Arabian by Ralvon Aeneus. I rode him in the bull ring at Randwick for his sixth ride. We got a few looks.

I also gained an ‘A’ in Horse Breaking in a Horse Management Certificate Course at Department of Technical and Further Education, Ultimo. This was useful in comparing various methods.

Training fun

I noticed Kosi’s natural freakout reaction to disturbances was to rear up. His rears were usually slow, solid and stable. We played a game of chasing one time around some trees and I lifted my leg up and he copied me with a mini rear. That’s when I realized he reared for fun and it would probably be quick to teach him how to do that on command. I first taught him from the ground using a visual and verbal command and then introduced a squeeze of my legs on his shoulders as the tactile cue from his back.

This was something I always dreamed of having my own horse do after I saw the American television series ‘My Friend Flicka’ as a kid. The main star, a boy would gallop back to the farm and Flicka would rear right up once they stopped. I loved that.