Jim Walsh wrote in a message to Bob Kohl:
JW> I have a 100lb dog
JW> sitting over there on the floor. I     consider myself a
JW> fairly expert trainer of dogs. It could be said     however
JW> that I should have taken my first dog to the dog trainers
JW>  because it could have been ruined by my lack of skills.
JW> However      there is plenty of literature available to
JW> train all sorts of     animals. You may say I'm talking
JW> apples and oranges here, but I     think you get the idea.
     OOHHH - do you have access to NetMail?  I have a question or two about a 
new puppy and I'd appreciate your opinion...
JW> Some person trained the very first horse.     While I'd be
JW> the first to agree it is a major undertaking, I also
JW> refuse to believe it is rocket science. It has been my
JW> experience     that much of what we teach animals involves
JW> common sense, and love.
     I trained my first horse myself, a tolerant and very intelligent POA.  I 
didn't know how to ride worth a darn, he was unbroke, so we learned together. 
I have a box full of trophies in the attic and a few trophy buckles from him. 
 I lucked out.  But, as you say, I was born to love horses and read every 
single thing I could find on the subject, so I wasn't going in there blindly. 
 But if it had been the gelding that I own now, almost 25 years after that 
first horse, I would have never survived to puberty.  My parents knew little 
about horses; you are a step ahead of us in that respect.
JW> horses are any different than many     other animals we
JW> "train".
     They are different than MY dogs, but then, I have a soft-coated Airedale 
who has the IQ of a rock.  My Appy gelding can be devious and clever.  But 
then, my Appy mare also has the IQ of a rock, and my new mutt puppy can be 
clever. You could be right, Jim.  ;)
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