Trainers & Twainers

Anybody new to horses beware... with the economic crisis, twainers are flourishing. They pray on unsuspecting newbees and though their intentions are usually good the damage they can cause it insurmountable. They lurk around boarder barns, auctions and on craigslist. They rarely have well trained horses (leaning more towards the 'hot' horse, it gives them a false sense of skill) and they are never over 30. A twainer knows everything, rode everything, showed everything and doesn't need Parelli because she is the second coming to natural horsemanship with her own unique and dangerous 'make the horse lay down' method. Is it obvious I don't hold them in high regard?



Yesterday we had a world class twainer. She came in with a client looking for an intermediate jumper for a very novice but in training client. The trainer (hence forth, Jenelle) listed her requirements which where pretty easy to match, though she was unfortunately another color buyer, everything else was pretty standard. What wasn't standard was Jenelles inability to saddle a horse properly (the saddle about 8 inches to far on the back) and a total lack of confidence on the ground. The hose we matched them with is a 9yr old tb gelding and a real gentleman- she scolded him for being fresh whenever he took a step. When it finally came time to ride, Jenelle not only could not post on the correct diagonal (come on, this is basic) she could not, for the life of her ask the TB to pick of a correct lead. She balanced solely off of the horses mouth and her idea of a correction was sharp tugs on the horses head cause one very angry TB by the end of the ride. It took about an hour and a half to bring him back down to good working form.



I don't mind bad riders, I would hope they find a trainer, but I don't mind them. The idea of her client learning to ride just like her is nauseating however and I feel very sorry for the horses doomed to be in their care.



What would you do in a situation like this? I was always told never to correct a customer unless what they are doing is boldly dangerous to horse and or rider. What she was doing, though painful to watch was not terribly dangerous... saying something could have seriously offended her probably very tender twainer pride. How do you inform a client that the person they have put their trust in not just for training but in purchasing a horse is a total sham?







Ugly stud of the day:

Cruise is a buckskin yearling, registered paint stud colt. He is very calm, gentle and loves people. He gets along well with other horses, not very spooky, leads well, loads, trailers, clips, baths ok, good for farrier. Started on lunging. He would make a great 4h project and be very eye catching in the arena (pictures don't do him justice). He is very cute. He should be easy to train/break and could be taught any discipline (english, western, jumping, barrels etc...) He will finish out over 15 hands and be quite stocky. Asking best offer.
Location: Mio, Michigan



Ok.. YAY! The horse is registered... thats a step a head of most CL studs, but that's where the good ends. first thing: correct me if I'm wrong but unless that Stud looses his nuts, he is NOT A 4h project, and who would recommend a stud to a kid anyways? I don't really care how educated the child is... it's a stud for petes sake... must adults shouldn't even be handling them.
Second: I really doubt that 'the pictures don't do him justice'. If that where truly the case, why didn't you just re-take the pictures? Good pictures help at least get potential buyers interested... and with a little bit of proper staging, a ugly stud can at least be presentable... once way trip on the testicle removal train would help more though.
Finally... is that a loose hanging barb wire fence in the background? Thats not a huge accident waiting to happen or anything...


No price is listed, but I'm interested to see what kind of offers she gets. You can see the add here.