OUR STORY

Origin of HorseSensing

In 1977, I (Sally Broder, Psy.D.) was fifteen years old and answered an ad in the Penny Saver for a groom’s job in Rancho Santa Fe, working for a well-known Western trainer, Chet Apshire. Well, I got to the barn in the ad and he was not there. However, there was a man in the bull pen working the prettiest horse I had ever seen. It was a light chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail and shiny as could be. It turned out this 2-year-old colt was an American Saddlebred. The man said that Mr. Apshire was not at the barn but that he could use some help himself if I was interested. His name was Frank “Poncho” Kibbee. He was trainer to Mrs. Bernice Neil (Saint and Sinner and other nice horses.) That began my journey with American Saddlebreds.

I had lost my brother two years before and with just me and my mom at home now, life could be very sad at times. One day, while at the barn, I was rubbing on a horse’s leg and had started crying. Mr. Kibbee happened to walk up at just that minute. He said, “Sally go ahead and let down on the horses. They can take it.” And he was right. Although it was a painful time at home, at the barn I came alive in the joy of learning more each day about these magnificent creatures, the American Saddlebred!

Mr. Kibbee sent me to work for Barbara and Sonny Cannon in 1980 at the Menlo Circus Club. After a year of working for them, I moved to San Francisco to go to school. I ended up taking a wrong turn and going down a path of drugs and alcohol, much like my brother that had passed. I know now, as a psychologist, I was numbing the pain of that loss. Years later, at the age of twenty-six, I ended up at an AA meeting and decided to stop all substances. I have now been sober and clean from all mind-altering substances since 1988. I was literally at an AA meeting shortly after when someone asked me, “Sally why aren’t you doing what you really love, the horses?”

I got on the phone and called a well-known, now Hall of Famer, ASB trainer, Anne Speck. As luck would have it, World’s Champion American Saddlebred horse trainer, Bill Field had newly established his barn in Rancho Santa Fe. Anne suggested I go out to Bill Field’s barn. He hired me. He tells a story of how he really did not need any help but he hired me anyway. I either looked super eager or desperate, not sure which! At that time, Mitch Clark’s barn was right behind us and we often had horses that competed directly with Mitch.

Within two years Bill named me his stable manager and I was incredibly proud. That job gave me pride, self-esteem, a true purpose, and a reason to continue in sobriety. An added benefit was to work on great horses like Warrick Warrior, El Presidente, Out Fox Em’ and many others. Bill Field was as meticulous as they came, and I learned from him every day. After being with Bill’s barn for 4 years I was lucky enough to work for Bill and Nancy Becker for a brief time before deciding to enter college.

With the confidence, skills, and work ethic I had learned working with horses I received my bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees one upon the other. Being in the horse business taught me that when you have twenty horses at a show and you have seven going in one morning and seven that night, you better just put your head down and keep moving (figure of speech) there are tails to wash, feet to sand and tack to shine to perfection. This served me well through school.

I went on to become a clinical psychologist, working for the NFL, training law enforcement, working for years helping veterans and finally incorporating horses into my therapy work. It all started with the horses. I have had this HorseSensing dream, our grooming education and therapeutic program, for a long time. The time and the place were finally right, here in Shelbyville, KY.