LD>BK>I've got 15-20 years around horses.. and being on a breeding farm gave 
me
  >the
  >BK>experience I needed to handle babies.. or actually it
  >BK>confirmed a lot of what I thought..
LD>BK>At the same time I've watched several people ruin babies
  >BK>from inproper handling.
LD>Jim, I know where you're coming from with the do-it-yourself thing, but 
ob
  >does have a point.  I have had horses for 25+ years, (with a hiatus in
  >the middle) and the more I learn, the more I find I don't know.  I know I
  >don't have the balance, the expertise in problem solving and the schedule 
fo
  >every day, patient, careful, thoughtful time devoted totally to the making
  >of a mount.  So, I have done what I think is the best thing for me, and 
that
  >is sent my adorable 3 year old to a reputable professional trainer who has
  >everything that I don't have.  I could only take Phoenix so far, then I
  >needed help.  I'm not a novice, but I'm no expert.
My husband and I've owned from 1 to 3 horses now for 6+ years and
have been to many clinics and took a horse husbandry class in college.
We bought an abused horse that needed retraining and knew that we didn't
know enough to do the training ourselves so we have a trainer who is
training us to train our horse.  We take a lesson a week from her and
work on what she teaches us and then add to it.
LD>And, just because my horse is being started by a professional, that 
oesn't
  >mean that I won't have a part in shaping her future.  I'll have years of
  >perfecting ahead of me.  I'm not giving away my control, and you don't 
ave
  >to either.  A trainer can work with you and your family in a way that
  >will make all of you an intergral part of the whole process.
I think this gives us the best of both worlds but our horse had
already been ridden.  We make sure we don't mess this horse up further
and we get to learn to train a horse.  We have plans to buy a young
horse in the future and we have a person in mind to start this horse for
us.  I watched him start several horses for other people and know and
approve of his methods.
Debby
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