Re: Moral Dilemma / Trainers

[Tara Wheeler <harpy@io.com>]

Title: Re: Moral Dilemma / Trainers

"Tracey" <tracey@tbt.co.za> wrote:
> I've been sort of / kind of following this thread, and have only one question : is it normal, in America, to send a horse to a trainer, who does everything and then sends the horse back to you?  Out here, trainers work with owners when training horses, either by travelling to the horse, or the owner travels to the trainer's yard.  
>  
A lot of people do send young horses out and receive back finished horses.  

I can't afford that, but I do have a trainer who comes to my house (or who I meet somewhere if we want to use equipment/terrain I don't have) who teaches me and my horses basic equitation a couple of times a week.  And I know lots of people who go to a trainer for general equitation, dressage, hunter-jumper, problem solving, etc. etc. etc. type training.  But I don't know of a single person you could take a green horse to and get to work it yourself under a trainer.   I should think the liability would prevent it.   I know of one person in my area who advertises that she comes to you to start your horses.

I just purchased a 15.2, greenbroke Colorado Rangerbred who looked great on videotape, but proved to have a lot of emotional problems stemming from being left at an abusive boarding facility for six months after his initial two months of training (when the videotape was made).

My trainer is 5.2 and maybe 85 pounds sopping wet.  When this new horse panicked, neither of us could hold him.

We sent him to a great trainer in Boerne Texas, who spent a week desensitizing him, doing round pen exercises, ground driving and simply getting on him, riding around and getting off, without any stress to him or the horse.  He just reminded the horse what he'd been initially taught (even though he didn't do the initial training).

After a week we were able to bring the horse home and take over his training.  He's nowhere near being a 'finished' horse, but we're learning.  And the horse no longer explodes when we introduce him to something new.  It was worth every penny to send him away for training.