I was vaguely thinking of sending Amber away for training, just to see how she is the first few times hacking/jumping etc. She is a big, powerful and largely unknown horse! So I have been doing some asking around and has been very frustrating. I had already got her on the waiting list for a ‘name’ until someone told me of their friend’s horrific experience with that trainer. The problems were too specific to be excusable: horse had rain scald, had lost weight, as well as now being terrified of ropes and head shy etc. That reminded me of Karin US who had an awful experience sending Minnie away to a well known trainer. So I decided to stick local and go with recommendations from friends and trainers I know. Well one trainer recommended Mr X….. said he had done a fantastic job on so and so’s pony etc. So I was keen on him till my YO said he trained them very harshly. Basically got on and thrashed them till they stopped bucking! So that was a non starter. She recommended someone else who has started several of my friends ponies and those ponies are all lovely. YO said he was ‘much gentler’ and more patient. So I then approached one of the owners and she raved about him: he was patient, effective, got amazing results. It all sounded great till she added “she started bucking so he tied tyres to her and made her drag them round for 3 hours in baking hot sun. She has never bucked again!”
So by ‘patient’ he meant would wait for hours while basically abusing a horse, not patient WITH the horse.
It struck me how ludicrous these training ‘methods’ are. How can ANY horse link bucking under saddle with then being dismounted, tied to heavy objects and driven round. How can she possibly have known this was a punishment for the bucking and she’d better not buck again. As far as I can work out, whether you tie a dummy to a horse and let it buck till it stops, or get on and whip the horse till it stops or tie tyres to it and let it buck till it stops the only thing that is happening is that the horse bucks through fear and over time comes to realise that it isn’t dying after all and stops bucking. Which probably actually takes longer when you add in punishment (whipping, dragging tyres) because it increases the fear response. These people are professionals but their methods are totally non-sensical as far as I can tell.
I'd far prefer to just do things more slowly so I don't trigger much of a fear response in the first place and each new step feels ok to the horse. So I have given up looking for a trainer, and plan to do it all myself. May take longer but I just no longer trust anyone else tbh. Though I am still nervous about it all.........
Annyone else sent their horse off? How did it go?
So by ‘patient’ he meant would wait for hours while basically abusing a horse, not patient WITH the horse.
It struck me how ludicrous these training ‘methods’ are. How can ANY horse link bucking under saddle with then being dismounted, tied to heavy objects and driven round. How can she possibly have known this was a punishment for the bucking and she’d better not buck again. As far as I can work out, whether you tie a dummy to a horse and let it buck till it stops, or get on and whip the horse till it stops or tie tyres to it and let it buck till it stops the only thing that is happening is that the horse bucks through fear and over time comes to realise that it isn’t dying after all and stops bucking. Which probably actually takes longer when you add in punishment (whipping, dragging tyres) because it increases the fear response. These people are professionals but their methods are totally non-sensical as far as I can tell.
I'd far prefer to just do things more slowly so I don't trigger much of a fear response in the first place and each new step feels ok to the horse. So I have given up looking for a trainer, and plan to do it all myself. May take longer but I just no longer trust anyone else tbh. Though I am still nervous about it all.........
Annyone else sent their horse off? How did it go?