Trans-Atlantic Show Horses

Trans-Atlantic Show Horses specializes in the training and sales of talented young prospects and pro Riding itself is not complicated.

Charlotte Gerstenfeld graduated from Hollins University in 1994 with a BA in Economics/Business and a minor in Biology. Immediately after graduation she moved to California where she worked for Jim Hagman at Elvenstar Farms and then spent the next five years working for John Bragg at Bridgeport Farms. While working for John, she realized that her knowledge of educating show horses was limited and

06/22/2026

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06/10/2026

Beautifully explained. A fine line but a distinct one, none the less.

06/10/2026

A fine line, but a distinct one, none the less.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18YB1fjfzE/

Gentle is not the same thing as broke.

That is a distinction a lot of people miss, and it is one reason so many people end up with horses that are not what they thought they bought. A horse can be gentle, kind, quiet, and want to be good, but still not be truly broke. Gentle tells me something about the horse’s nature. Broke tells me something about the horse’s training.

A gentle horse may stand quietly, enjoy attention, lead around, let you saddle it, and ride around fine when everything is easy. That horse may not be looking for a fight. It may not be trying to hurt anyone. It may genuinely want to do the right thing. But wanting to be good is not the same as knowing how to handle pressure, confusion, fear, speed, bad timing from a rider, or a situation that gets outside of normal.

That is where the difference shows up.

A broke horse has been educated. It understands the rider’s hands, legs, seat, and timing. It knows how to respond when things are not perfect. It knows how to stay mentally available when pressure increases. It has enough foundation that the rider has steering, brakes, forward motion, body control, and some ability to influence the horse when the horse gets unsure.

A gentle horse without that training can feel safe because it is not looking for trouble. But when trouble finds it, there may not be enough education there to help the horse through it.

This is also why a lot of horses are called safe when what they really are is gentle. The horse may have a good mind. It may be quiet most of the time. It may even be suitable for the right rider in the right situation. But that does not automatically make it broke.

This is where horsemanship has to go deeper than first impressions. You have to learn to tell the difference between a horse that is mentally willing and a horse that is truly educated. Both matter, but they are not the same thing. If you interpret gentle as broke, you will make one kind of decision. If you correctly recognize that the horse is gentle but still uneducated, you will make a very different decision.

That is why correct interpretation matters. Better decisions do not come from guessing what a horse is. Better decisions come from seeing the whole picture and understanding what the horse is actually telling you.

Gentle matters. I like gentle horses. A good mind is worth a lot.

But gentle is not broke.

A gentle horse wants to be good. A broke horse has been taught how.