What is "broke"?

Thank you to Rachel Thorp (and husband) from Idaho Falls for hauling our horses to Texas. They will be leaving next week on the 19th and pulling into Fort Worth on the 20th. Our horses have been hauled so hopefully they will adapt well to the trip. Chopper never passes up a chance to drink! Zane is competing at the NRCHA Futurity in Reno and is taking a load of horses there first and flying from Reno to Ft. Worth. I am flying from Bozeman to Ft Worth and then returning after the competition and hauling another load of horses to RENO! So a big thanks to Rachel for being willing to haul Chopper and Algore with her horse Teton.
Algore has been on the road the last week and a half with Zane. They have been at the Idaho Cutting Derby and are now in Utah at a friends ranch where they are working cattle and doing some fencing. (I hear) I am sure he will be in dire need of some grooming (Algore) when he returns. We have an ongoing debate on the length of his mane. A large portion is rubbed out and I think it will look better shortened to all one length. Thankfully he has a beautiful, full tail. I had a grooming consult on Chopper with the neighbor who shows in halter. We worked on making his mane more attractive and I had a "banding" lesson. (Thanks Lara & Martha).
Two days this week I have ridden Chopper down to the neighbor's place. Today we rode down and worked on some trail obstacles. He is a dream to ride in the open country. We went down the highway, through the barrow pits, over ditches, through fields and we passed donkey's, dogs, trucks, and cars without any hesitations. A horse that is truly "Broke" or trained is fun to ride! When you can control all parts of the horse in any situation, the hindquarter, forehand, shoulder, neck, jaw, and poll -- that to me is a "broke" horse. Physically, Chopper is always easy to maneuver. Mentally, he is perfect! We loped through the fields with the greatest of ease. He was up in the bridle and light on his feet and felt so smooth. He is getting lighter each day to the neck rein. Now, if we can only guarantee he'll perform to the best of his abilities at the show.
I hope the competition is successful for the Foundation. I hope they get a good crowd and an enthusiastic set of bidders. It will be fun to meet all of the trainers and all of their horses. It will be interesting to see the progression of each horse. I wonder how many will be ridden?
Please scroll down to see interesting pictures of Algore and Chopper. Algore has became quite the ranch hand's gelding. Chopper could be too, he's tracked and turned back a lot of cattle and buffalo. Algore's been roped and doctored off of several times. Both horses have been ridden out on the ranch and fine tuned in the arena. Please call or leave a comment if you have any questions on these geldings!
Holly