Right or wrong...

When I started writing this blog, I wanted it to be different than other "this person is an idiot horse owner" blogs that are already out there.  A number of "those" blogs have become so vindictive and spiteful that they've lost any educational value they might once have had.

I'm all for learning through someone else's mistakes or a good visual of why something is definitley the wrong way - for the human's safety, for the horse's safety, and for the horse's long-term soundness and 'useful life'.  And I will continue to pick out this type of situation as I find them online - remember, if you post it for the world to see, you open yourself up to the good and bad of what everyone else has to say. 

However, I've been thinking a lot lately about "right" versus "wrong".  For example, pick out most any 'commercialized' horse trainer's technique - Parelli, Cameron, Cox, Anderson, etc.  These guys make big money off folks who follow their specific method - and nothing else.  If you, as a horse person, close your mind to everything but that single method - you are shutting out potentially thousands of useful tips, techniques and ideas that might help you.  At the same time, if you simply say, "Oh, that Big Name Trainer is a moron" - you might miss out on one small exercise that will help you with a problem down the road. 

Horses are like people - all learn at a different pace, all grow at a different rate - Suppose you are training 5 three year olds.  You've got three that are basically alike in temperament and conformation, then you've got one that is a full hand taller than the rest, and one that's half a hand shorter than the rest and never been touched.  Obviously, the smallest, least-handled horse is going to take the longest (in theory), since you'll have to start at halter-breaking and work your way up, and the size of the horse indicates she's probably not ready for serious saddle training, anyway.  The tallest, lankiest horse will probably take the second-longest, since in the process of teaching her to walk, stop, turn, she's also going to be learning where her legs are.  It would not be fair to lump all these horses into one box and say, today I am going to do THIS with all five of them.  Tomorrow I am going to do THAT with all 5 of them.

So with that in mind, I'm certainly hoping that I can rise above the "hey, look at this bad horse owner; he did something stupid so he doesn't deserve to own horses" -- and instead, offer a somewhat more redeeming viewpoint that maybe others can learn from.

(And nope, sorry to those who continue to do underhanded trading and the like...you are not exempt from inclusion on this blog.  People deserve to know who you are so that they can make an informed choice as to where their horses end up.)