The term "Ranch Horse" means different things to different people.
At the J - S, a ranch horse is bred, raised, broke, and trained to perform
the duties required of him in a western ranch environment, mainly but
not limited to, controlling, and moving cattle. Along with these cattle
handling skills a ranch horse is exposed and is required to do jobs
that only a rancher can probably understand and appreciate. The true
Ranch Horse excels as a cow horse but his "bred in" and acquired
knowledge base and exposure to "everything that can, and will go wrong"
makes him in high demand as a trail horse, a kid horse, a ladies horse,
a companion horse, as well as a high performance event horse. The breeding
is of utmost importance when choosing a horse. There is way too much
of this "sweet personality" talk by people that judge a horse
by the way a horse eats sugar cubes from their hands, lifts his feet,
or walks in circles in a riding arena. Go on a mountain trail ride sometime
with a diversified group of riders and just relax and sit back on your
Doc Bar, Blackburn, Poco Bueno, Two Eyed Jack, or like bred horse and
watch as all these "sweet personality" horses, trained by
some legendary "Horse Whisperer" or "Guru" in an
arena and stabled in a stall become totally unraveled when they are
asked to perform like a horse and end up being led down the mountain
to be put back in their controlled environment.
Ranch horses by birth rite are good headed as they are bred from time
honored Foundation Quarter Horse bloodlines. They learn to cope with
a wide range of situations early on, following their mothers in a range
herd versus growing up in a stall. They are trained with proven techniques
(Ray Hunt style) by horsemen that will later ride them in the day to
day ranch duties that only a very small select group of horses are capable
of performing, the Western Ranch Horse.
