I met a fellow rider at a competition event one day. This rider made this statement “I paid big money to send my horse to Clinton Anderson.’” “ When I got my horse back, after just a month or two, my horse had the same problems before I sent him to be trained!” As we all know, Clinton is a world class trainer. So my unfiltered response to my disgruntled friend was…”Next time, leave your horse at home and YOU go spend some time with Clinton.”
Bolo Hunt
I my early years of training, I did what most any trainer does and take on the horse for the proverbial thirty, sixty or ninety days, achieve whatever goals were set or fix any issues, return the horse to the owner where occasionally I would get the same response as my aforementioned friend.
I learned that it is not enough to just train the horse. If you don’t train the human, then time and money may be simply wasted. Also, theoretically, If I can get the human to learn a certain skill set, they should never need a trainer again for that level.
I am not a horse trainer. Can I train a horse? … Yes, I can, but I feel that training the horse and, more importantly, training the human to develop good communication skills and a good relationship with their horse is my definition of true horsemanship!
Quite often I am approached by horse owners asking for help to fix a specific issue. Some examples, “My horse spooks on the trail’, “My horse bucks..”, “My horse wants to kick out at other horses..”, “ My horse runs over me..” and list goes on and on. So, we correct that one specific bad behavior only to have another bad behavioral issue surface. More than likely here, the root problem is poor foundation training.
There was a time in my life when everybody was very eager to give me advice on training horses. Being equally eager to learn, I would always listen with intensity and try to absorb as much as could. The problem, I soon discovered, was that every person who, with good intentions, gave me information, was only able to provide a small piece of the big picture. It seems that way too many times, a horse is rushed through training due to time, money or ability constraints or the owner is just in a hurry to do whatever they want with the horse so they figure, if the horse isn’t currently bucking them off, everything is good, maybe !
Training horses is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. If you get in a hurry and only get a portion of the pieces together, those pieces you left out will more than likely show up at some point down the road.
With all horses, especially young horses, provide them with good solid foundation training with ALL the pieces in the beginning. The extra time, money and effort spent here will save you much more time and more money later…and maybe a trip to the emergency room!
Here is a quick answer to loading your horse into a hauler/horse trailer!
Trailer loading seems to be a very common problem with many horse owners. One of the very first things any horse needs to learn is trailer loading! Since horses are naturally claustrophobic, entering a strange, dark, tight space, i.e. a trailer, is very un-natural. As soon as possible during my foundation training, even with foals and yearlings, I like to introduce the horse to as many unusual, circumstances as possible such as water, obstacles and especially the horse trailer!
Even if you don’t own a trailer this is important because if an urgent need arises where you may need to transport the horse to a medical facility or evacuate due to a fire or hurricane, you will want to know you can quickly and safely get the horse on the trailer and, be able to reload the horse afterward! While I won’t be able to provide a “complete instruction manual” on trailer loading in this short article, I can provide you with some helpful tips.
Trailer Loading Your Horse
Be Patient – The first thing I will tell you is that you must be patient! Give yourself plenty of time to get where you’re going! Too many people create their own loading problems by not being patient when a horse balks during loading and starts whacking the horse yelling “get in you …..!”.
No Pressure – Never apply pressure or stress while the horse is close and facing your trailer, in your trailer or exiting your trailer. If a horse has a bad experience in or around the trailer, he probably will not want to repeat the bad experience by approaching the trailer again!
Send the Horse – If you’ve already taught your horse how to “send”, this will make teaching your horse how to load much easier. You can bring your horse up to the trailer and send them in. (I prefer to “send” my horses into the trailer as opposed to leading or pulling them in as this is easier and safer!) if not, you’ll need to at least be able to move your horse’s feet fairly well when training your horse to load.
Protect Your Horse – Be sure to secure your horse safely inside the trailer! Remove any low hanging objects like feed bags, lead ropes etc. Remove or secure anything the horse can get tangled in. Use fly masks! At highway speeds, the moving air inside the trailer can be very turbulent and pick up bugs, shavings etc. that can get in the horses’ eyes
Drive Smooth – While transporting your horse (assuming you got them in), don’t drive like Mr. Toads Wild Ride bouncing your poor horse off the walls. Again, this creates a traumatic experience for the horse and you may have issues getting him back on. Leave early and give yourself plenty of time to travel smoothly and safely!
Again, these are just a few suggestions. Teaching this is not that difficult but it does require patience and a certain degree of skill. Just like all other aspects of horse training, educate yourself and/or seek out help from your favorite trainer/clinician.
The idea is that you want your horse to be safe and feel comfortable in the trailer and wants to be there!
There is a sundry of services out there, offering assistance with the well-being of your four legged little darling.
To name a few, we have Veterinarians, Chiropractic Services, Farriers, Trainers, Equine Nutritionist, Red Light, Electric and Message Therapists, Equine Dental Specialists, Equine Psychics, (That’s right, I said Psychics), and the list just keeps going.
Now, I’m not saying you should have everything everybody offers, however, owning a horse requires a little more than just feeding and grooming.
Build a good Team around your horse!
For me, there are four basic professional areas that are essential to support and keep our horses healthy and happy. Good Veterinarians, Good Farriers, Good Chiropractic Services and Good Trainers
My definition of a “Good” professional means, someone that gets the results I want and, in the manner I like. Someone with whom I can honestly and effectively communicate and who is professional enough to show up on schedule. I look at this as building a team that will, as seamlessly as possible, assist, and provide me with the best possible options regarding the welfare of my horse. Remember, as horse owners, we are ultimately responsible for making final decisions.
Now, let’s take this a step further, I really love it when my team members work together to reach a common goal. For example, A farrier should work closely with the Veterinarian to address laminitis since both of these professionals are needed. As a professional trainer it really helps when I can provide a chiropractic professional good feedback and they can give me good advice on a training program that is best for the horse.
I feel extremely fortunate to have a great team that I work with regularly. If you don’t already have your team, I highly recommend you start building your dream team today!
As a professional trainer, Why did I learn the sport of Mounted Shooting
I am a professional horse trainer. I’ve been training horses now for many years. A few years ago, I was approached by representatives of a local mounted shooting club and was invited to join them and try this new sport called mounted shooting. At the time, I was into reining and ranch horse type competitions and didn’t really have much extra spare time getting involved in another competition! Don’t misunderstand, I enjoy competing however, my passion is training, and that has always come first! So, the more I thought about it, from a trainer’s perspective, I knew the more things I could expose my horses to, the better! I then decided on a plan, I would bring a different horse each week, rotating them so each horse would get equal exposure to shooting a gun from the saddle. My “plan” was purely for training purposes only.
So, I show up with one of my own horses (Montana) and I was provided a very nice orientation to the world of mounted shooting. The first thing I noticed was the very welcoming and friendly atmosphere from all the members of this organization. So, I began my training sessions.
Bolo & Mesa Fall Shootout
With each horse I would bring, I quickly realized that mounted shooting required a whole new set of skills that I had not used or even thought of as a trainer!
As time progressed, I became better and faster with each horse…..now, I’m really starting to have fun! After a few months I was encouraged to think about competing in a mounted shooting match. I did, and well, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
I still enjoy competing to this day. I have no doubt that getting involved in the sport of mounted shooting made me a much better trainer and made every horse I used along the way a more well-rounded horse.
Try mounted shooting, or really, most any level of competition in any discipline! It might just humble you a bit and more than likely improve your horsemanship skills. I firmly believe you will also come away with a much better horse in the process!
There are three reasons professional horse trainers are hired. Either the owner does not have the time or desire required, the owner does not want to take the inherent risk involved, or the owner does not possess the expertise.
There are always many ways to get there, the only question is …. how do you want to get there
Round Pen Training
Time – Training horses is “labor intensive” and requires time. Most horse owners have a primary career/job that requires most of their time, not to mention additional social/family time. Just feeding and cleaning stalls can take up what spare time may exist! Professional trainers take the time a horse needs to properly learn without physical or psychological harm to the horse.
Risk – Not everyone wants to (or
should) take the risk involved working with untrained horses. The wrong move by
that 1200lb cutie can put you in the hospital quickly, or worse. Too much
pressure used on a highly reactive horse can cause serious injury to the horse,
not to mention the new hole in your fence.
Expertise – Let’s assume you have
plenty of time on your hands and you have great medical insurance. Do you have
the correct knowledge and experience to reach the goals you want with your
horse? Most professional trainers have
years upon years of experience working with hundreds, maybe even thousands of
horses. These trainers, more than likely, have paid their dues and spent tons
of time with more experienced trainers to develop their skill.
What makes up a trainer? – There
are many horse trainers out there. Some with familiar names, some relatively
unknown. Some have fabulous marketing packages, some are known from television
exposure and some are just at the ranch down the street. But I
will tell you this, every successful trainer has one thing in common, they
possess a keen understanding of the horse and the ability to effectively
communicate with the horse!
A good trainer will always keep
an open mind and always be willing listen and entertain new methods and
ideas. Personally, I have spent time
with many, many trainers, some locally, some known worldwide. As I learn from each of these trainers, I add
more tools to my toolbox.
Ultimately, good trainers will become a “conglomerate” of all the trainers who taught them. They will use what works for them and leave behind what does not. They will develop their own style and their own methods and ultimately become their own unique trainer.
There are always many ways to get there, the only question is …. how do you want to get there
Most people think that professional horse trainers get to spend all day working and riding their own horses. Ironically, this is far from the case! I’d be willing to bet that all professional horse trainers would agree that they spend so much time working with and riding other people’s horses, they never have time to ride their own!
Bolo with his Herd
Horse trainers need to make a living just like everyone else. I’m sure everyone can relate to the expense of merely owning horses, not to mention travel expenses, food, gas etc. The logic is, the more horses a trainer can work, the more money is made. Having said that, trainers tend to work long hours each day, sometimes weeks upon weeks without any down time for themselves. Even though we dearly love what we do, when do we find quality time for our own horses?
As a trainer, I realized this a long time ago so one year I
made a New Years resolution … I will make time for my horses!! With rare exception, I schedule my training
sessions accordingly and designate time to ride each of my horses at least once
per week.
Yes, we all must earn a living. Yes, we all have a social
life, however, if you accept the responsibility of owning a horse, you owe it to
that horse to spend regular and quality(1) time with him/her!
Let’s all make a New Years resolution this year that we will spend at least four hours of quality(1) time with your horse per week! I guarantee your relationship with that horse will improve!
(1) Quality time means training, riding or otherwise direct one on one activity other that feeding, grooming etc.
