Re: Boz

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

At 08:29 PM 09/25/1999 -0700, Sharlene wrote:
>I have to speak to this.  Until one sees John ride, and see how his horse
>responds, one really can't pass this kind judgment.  I accept your
>impression.  But, I did have the opportunity to speak one-on-one to John,
>and to see him work his clinic horse. Awesome is the only word that comes
>to mind. >I have never seen this kind of rider/horse cooperation short of
>>videotapes of the Spanish Riding School performances (a different forum,
>>that's for sure!) 

This may be very true...and I did watch his video while he explained what
he was doing and what was happening.  He actually had me interested until
he tried telling me that if I didn't have a horse that could canter
backwards, I DIDN'T HAVE ANY WELL TRAINED HORSES AT ALL!!!  (And the all
caps is to emphasize the volume and emphasis he put on the words when he
was talking to me.)  Excuse me?  I don't think it's necessary for a horse
to canter backwards to be considered well trained.

I then asked him why the rider's feet were stuck out so far in front of
him...that this looked a bit heavy in the seat and not in balance.  I was
told that this position was necessary for balance at the canter so that the
rider could more easily stand in the stirrups.  I said that posting the
trot might be more difficult and he said it might be.  (That didn't sound
very balanced.)  

Apparently he didn't like my questions since he proceeded to get louder and
more obnoxious telling me that I didn't know anything about balanced
riding...and I never would, unless I took his seminar.  It didn't matter
who's idea of balanced riding I had learned before, it wasn't correct.  He
knew I was a riding instructor (I had told him in the beginning) and he
told me that if I didn't do it his way, I wasn't doing it right.  He was so
strong in his comments that he turned me right off -- he could've been
passing out free ice cream by then -- I wasn't going to be interested.

Now whether he actually had something of merit to market remained to be
seen.  His manner to me was rude and arrogant.  I'm married to a
salesman...and John's sales techniques left a lot to be desired!  He may be
*very* impressive to watch in a clinic...I will never know because his
attitude and marketing techniques were awful.  You don't insult people AND
their horses and then expect to have them spend hundreds of dollars to
listen to you further!  And I have spend MANY hundreds of dollars auditing
clinics over the years because I've always been eager to learn new things!
You just can't cram them down someone's throat and insult them and then
expect them to embrace your philosophies.

As far as his saddles are concerned...if you're cutting cows or reining,
they may be fine.  If I can't post or two-point easily for a long period of
time in a particular brand of saddle and I feel as if I'm always bent
forward over the horse's neck in order to balance, I'm not interested...no
matter how many tricks the trainer's horse can do...and no matter how fast
he can shoe a horse (another of his talents.)  Besides, I'm a heavyweight
rider and my horse does not need all of my torso weight heading straight
down thru my tailbones while my feet stick out in front of me.  

Sue

sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.


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