BOULDER — Breaking a horse to ride is no easy feat. According to Rowland Equine Services horse trainer Tylor Rowland, green horses take about 30 days to break to ride.
“Yeah, it just depends on the horse. You know, it's almost like children in school, each one is going to have different ambitions and goals and trainability and different temperaments. You know, in 30 days, we are usually pretty confident saying that we will be riding, getting on the back of something and getting it going. In 30 days, usually it'll have a decent idea of how to be steered around and be written forward and backward and have a decent feel on it,” she said.
During this 30-day period Tylor Rowland and her husband, Daniel are working with the horses by lunging them, getting them comfortable being tacked up, and desensitized to movement on their backs and sides. They use bags filled with rocks and attach them to the saddle as one of their desensitization methods.
These may sound like things only real horse pros could do, but Rowland thinks anyone interested in equine sports could get into what she does.
“I actually didn't get into horses until I was about 20 years old. Just really been riding a few years at this point. I think little girls all love horses in their heart. And I just never had the chance to do it. So I got the chance and never looked back. So my husband and I have been together for a couple of years now. And we started riding together and eventually trained together. And so I've come a long way since being with him. And that's just what we do now,” she said.
She says there's no point in time where she really thought of herself as a trainer, that imposter syndrome always lingers.
“I don't think you ever feel good enough to do it. I think you just start doing it. There's days where sometimes I'm like, Wow, I'm way out of my league here. And you just get out every day and do the work. And they make progress every day. And you just find new ways to keep trying,” she said.
She has advice for those looking to start in equestrian.
“Find someone who does and kind of have someone take you under their wing, lessons are a great way to start. There's a lot of local barns where you can get started that way. You're definitely never too old to start. I didn't start till I was 20 even riding horses at all. So I would say just find a local barn. There's great resources all over the place for people that want to get into it.”
