I saw on Shirley's website it says that she had ridden with Lee Smith in clinics before. Hmm, I don't know that person. Being curious, I searched for he/she on Google. For all wondering, Lee is a girl. :) And it turns out she uses Ray Hunt's methods. Hmm, "How interesting!" I checked her schedule and was excited to see that she is coming to Wisconsin a few times. So, I might have something else to add to my schedule.
I got off track a little bit. My point was the quote on the homepage of her website. "Don't simply focus on doing what I do, learn to see what I see. If you could see what I see, then you would know what to do." Now, isn't that a wise thing to say? And it makes so much sense, too. If you could read the horse, you would know where to be, why to be, and what do do when you get there. That's a very savvy thing to say!
And I went to a clinic by Smokie Brannaman. If that name sounds familiar to you, it's because you're thinking of his brother Buck. As a sidenote, I wonder how Smokie feels about his brother being so well-known and him not? Anyways, the clinic was about trailer-loading. It was 4 hours long, but we were only there for about the last 2. I have to say I am a bit disappointed in him. He basically told the auditors what they wanted to hear.
But still, I don't condemn him for life just because I don't like his trailer-loading methods. He has another clinic in August (I think 8th and 9th, but I'll check) about round pen work. Maybe he'll do better there.
Hello there,
ReplyDeleteThanks for attending my trailer loading clinic... or part of it.. Perhaps had you been there for all of it you would have gotten more out of it.. Told folks what they wanted to hear???? Im not sure what you mean by that.. I don't as a rule do trailer loading clinics because people get the wrong impression of how long it really takes to get horses good about loading.. That is why I used horses that were not bad to load to start with with.. Maybe you can e mail me and explain just what it was you were disppointed in. Unlike most of your TV horsemen out there I'm not out to get rich and famous by selling a bunch of gadgets and telling someone how easy it is to become a trainer..(And I made $25.00 for that 4 hours by the way...) My only goal is to get people on good horses they can enjoy and be safe on.. I would rather find someone a good horse then take all their money going to a clinic I do, or to try and fix a brombie.. And am I jealous of my brother... NO! He does his thing and I do mine. He is a very fine horseman and trainer and I am not in his league nor do I want to be.. You see my customers are just plain folks that need help to get good enough to go to one of Bucks clinics and get something out of it.. And most don't even know who he is.. Should you care to drop by my site I would welcome your thoughts on this or any subject that would benefit the folks out there that I try to help.. Cuz like my book says, my way is "No Bull$#it" not a line that someone wants to hear!! So if that is what you think I do, I'd like to learn why so I can get better at what I do too :)
Best regards,
Smokie
I sent you an e-mail.
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