On April 23, 2016, Overton “Cowboy” Brooks and his horse Stella presented a safety and grounds work class at Gabby’s Sanctuary Ark.
Overton started working with horses at age 9 with no training or knowledge of horses. He “broke” horses as a boy and young man in Wichita Falls. When he moved to Dallas, he was advised that city folks didn’t want their horses “broken.” They wanted them “trained.” It was essentially the same thing he was already doing, so he became a horse trainer.
He showed us how to train a horse to respect our space and keep us safe from accidents due to overcrowding. He rewards the horse with acknowledgement and petting (but no kisses) when they perform the action that he is working towards.
Overton demonstrated his training methods using Bella, who will be 2 years old in June and who has been spoiled all of her life. Once she understood what he wanted, she was generally willing to cooperate.
Gabby’s Sanctuary Ark plans more safety and training classes this summer. Events and details will be posted once they are finalized.
#helpahorse
