[RC] Horse whisperers and problem horses - Debbie Lyons
I was super skeptical of the horse whisperers and didn't find a lot of
new information that I could use when I watched their clinics. I have
ridden for most of my 50 years and trained a lot of young horses, most with
decent results. Enter - my next endurance prospect, an 8 year old Morgan
gelding. I knew he was green and spooky when we bought him, but I thought he'd
be like nearly all others and become a good horse with a little training and a
lot of wet saddle blankets. After 2 years he remained very unpredictable
and spooky. I was seriously injured in a spook, spin and runaway incident on
him. He became my husband's horse and he liked the challenge of working with
him. We literally tried everything that I knew and took him to the trainer I
bought him from for help, only to have him get worse. He graduated
from the spooks, spins and bolting to bucking like a bronc when anything on his
back startled him. I was about to make a can of Alpo out of him when my husband
started watching RFD TV and Dennis Reis. For some reason his training methods
and communication clicked for him, when Parelli and some of the others didn't.
Most clinicians show and endless string of colt starting, which isn't very
difficult, or use their finished horse to impress everyone. I was impressed by
Dennis because I saw him take some real problem horses and come out with
excellent results. We attended a clinic and my husband bought his tape set, we
also attended a week long clinic at his ranch in California. The methods he uses
worked with this horse. He isn't perfect but has stopped the super dangerous
antics and most of the time is reliable. It was well worth the time and money
for that particular horse.
