Thursday, October 30, 2008

What's happened to the Horse Trainer????

What REALLY makes a trainer??? You know it's so damn funny because on craigslist every 19 yr old and their mom claims to be a horse trainer. I remember growing up and you had to be truly worth your salt. It was a NON optional program! Oh, and ATTITUDE meant ZERO! I've ridden under some of the BIGGEST god damn assholes on the PLANET, but they were some of the best! They wouldn't be nice if meant saving their own lives LOL!!! They'd tell you to lose weight, make you drop your stirrups over a 3'6 course, "get your fat ass up there", oh and that was the nice stuff. The more you messed up the more they thrived on it! BUT, the better you became. You had no choice, it really was GO BIG OR GO HOME! And they would sure as hell tell you that. NOW though, we have clients, who like to pussy foot around, "I think horses are pretty and hubby bought me one, but I don't have a clue what I'm doing DUHHHH" or maybe as trainers we've become to PC. Too afraid to piss anyone off. The meanest most bad ass trainers when I was younger had the LONGEST waiting lists of people begging to get in! What about the TRULY Badass riders out there who aren't afraid to get dirty or do a little work? (I LOVE you guys by the way!!) They can sometimes get stuck trying to find a GOOD trainer while sifting through all these fucking teenagers!!!! Now you have these people who think that just because they can ride, they're capable of training a horse, or you! YIKES!!! That is also when the most damage occurs. At one of the facilities I train out of, there is another girl who is literally 19, and anyway she "trains" horses and gives lessons, to 1 person a week up there. And I watch her and I'm usually pretty fucking irritated by the time she's finished. She thinks that teaching a horse to lower it's head to perform the fucking "see saw" on it's mouth. Or grab the harshest western bit with the longest damn shanks made, because the horse "won't" stop. She also rides like a god damn ogre, yikes. She LOVES to rip on your horses face AND spur the fuck out of them at the same time too! Because you know that teaches them a lot!!! YIEEEE that's a "trainer?" Eeeep... Oh and if that's just not enough she has excellent people skills! She's mean!!! Not "I'm mean because I'm trying to help you mean" Just a fucking BITCH for fun... and people pay her for that. WOW, I guess it's one thing if you're at least a decent trainer, but damn. She's truly the epitome of all I hate in a horse person. There are times where I may be little too "abrupt" for some people, but then again I'm not a perfect fit for everyone." When finding a trainer for you or your horse you want to make sure that they are a good fit for you guys. I have fabulous "horse family" that respects me and is VERY loyal. We're all very close and love to have fun, and I would do anything for them to make their horse experiences top NOTCH, but that is a dedication that I have always made, and it has paid off BIG TIME!!! So my fellow horse friends when you are looking for a trainer pretty please watch them ride, look at the facility, look at their tack, you know what type of bit are they using? How harsh are the spurs? ETC...especially talk to their other clients and LOOK at the horses. Watch the horses activity. Do they seem happy? Distressed? Fearful? There are way too many of you awesome horse lovers to get fucked by some loser ass wannabe "trainer". Those of you who already have fab trainers? Give 'em a hug!! They may look at you funny at first, but it's all good!!

4 comments:

SpotMeSomeColor said...

Wow, you could be describing a "pro" trainer in my town. He favors what we like to call the "stab-and-shank" method. Long shanks on the bit, spikey spurs, and then you seesaw-shank-shank-shank while at the same time reaming with the spurs. For some reason, every horse I've met "trained" by this "professional" has a nasty habit of rearing or bucking for no reason when their young rider rides them; even without any spurs or a harsh bit. And, people line up to send their horses to him.

TheHorseGirl said...

Wow, reading that, i'm so thankful for my trainer...

www.trialsofahorsegirl.blogspot.com

Cut-N-Jump said...

AAAAAAAAMMMMMEEEEEENNNNNNN!!!!!!

I too recall the hard ass, my way or the highway folks. They taught you a lot and often with the best results. Didn't mean you had to like them as a person or hang out on a Friday night and drink with them, but they did their job, did it well and the horses were solid as a rock.

Way to go on the blog. I will be adding it to my own and checking back from time to time- maybe even daily.

KUDOS!

Trainer X said...

Thank you A million CNJ :):):):)