The secret to training a horse is absolute trust. Being a prey animal, horses, by nature, fear humans. We are predators and, without trust, a horse will always be “on edge.” They are big, powerful and quick, and more concerned with their welfare than yours.
I first became interested in the Spanish vaquero’s horse training methods when I was a teen in the early 1950s and read Ed Connell’s “Hackamore Reinsman” series of articles in Western Horseman Magazine. The articles made a

January 2013
In This Issue:
More In This Issue
- Our Favorite Western Reads of 2012
- Was Wyatt Earp the model for the Peace Officer statue?
- What can you tell me about the badges of the Arizona Rangers?
- Did any Old West lawmen also work as preachers?
- Burns’s Biographer
- Lee Anderson
- Tapped Out!
- True West’s Best Art & Collectibles of 2012
- The First 60 Years of True West Magazine
- Trailing Billy
- Heritage Travel of 2012
- Firearms of 2012
- Our Favorite Western Music of 2012
- True Westerner of 2013
- Western Wear of 2012
- True West’s Best Movies, TV Series & DVDs of 2012
- True West’s Best of the West 2013 Winners
- What was the 1862 Dakota War?