Success Stories

I'm happy to have the opportunity to share my personal horse training success story working with Clinton's DVD training series. I get great personal satisfaction from every aspect of the horse training process. I grew up with horses from the age of 5, and I am someone who believes every horse owner should provide good, safe, humane foundation training to their horse as a one of the responsibilities of horse ownership. Horses depend on their owners for everything, including helping them become safe, respectful equine citizens.

I sincerely believe that a large percentage of horse owners, even those who are novice horse owners, could successfully bring about positive transformations in their horses by comitting themselves to following the excellent, detailed, easily understood training program offered on DVD by Clinton Anderson. Everything about Clinton's program and it's presentation makes perfect sense and is easy to understand. Every aspect of Clinton's program achieves the desired results through respect, trust and leadership, never through domination, aggression and fear.

There are no “holes” in Clinton's training program. He leaves nothing out, leaves no question unanswered. I have an extensive collection of Clinton’s DVD series, and every one is as good and as thorough as the next.
For me personally, the thrill of bringing about a major transformation in an extremely challenging horse is the most rewarding of any experience with a horse.

My first experience with using Clinton’s training methods were instrumental in bringing about a seemingly miraculous transformation in a very dominant, intentionally aggressive, dangerous, totally untrained, unbroke, four year old stallion. Whatever dangerous horse behavior I could think of, this horse was willing to demonstate it to me without hesitation.

Working with this horse using Clinton’s methods very quickly and effectively resulted in a communication level with this horse that initially I didn’t think was achievable.
It’s very difficult in just a few words to go into all the triumphant moments, so please forgive the length of this story. The stories of such moments are too numerous to mention each one, though I would love to share all of them.

In many ways, this particular horse was worse than a wild horse in that he didn’t fear people. Quite the opposite, he was more inclined to charge aggressively AT people, than to be driven away in any given situation. As a result, he had been somewhat isolated and was getting very little positive human attention. He had no consistent form of leadership when I met him.

From the beginning, there was great satisfaction in getting just one positive behvior to replace a negative. It was so rewarding to watch as the respect, trust and confidence of the horse took shape and grew to the point of focused respectful, willingness and cooperation.

The foundation work of Clinton’s program quickly brought about a bond of respect, trust and communication that increased with each effort at working the program. In very short time, the dangerous, aggressive, disrespectful and uncooperative behaviors simply disappeared. It's not that the horse is no longer capable of those behaviors, he simply doesn't have the need or desire to display them anymore. The negative behaviors were replaced by willingness to try and a horse that truly seemed interested in learning new things.

From the all-important “Respect and Control on the Ground,” through the stages of starting under saddle, to the more advanced techniques and maneuvers; this horse never failed to do anything I asked of him. I’m not saying that it was always easy or came without protest. There was plenty of protest and moments of struggle. This didn’t bother me. I expected and accepted it. I knew that with patience and consistency, we would overcome each hurdle as soon as he was able to grasp what I was asking of him. Each time he was able to find the right answer, I could see his confidence soar, and the protesting would stop. I believe he actually seemed proud of himself when he "got it."

Among the many things I’ve been able to accomplish with this horse, my winter grooming routine is done with a leaf blower. One day it struck me that it was easier than trying to brush away the dirt from a winter coat. The respect and trust gained as a result of following a great foundation program, made it no problem for him to accept this as well as many other things I've subjected him to. The horse stands quietly, without being tied or restrained in any way for his leaf blowing. This is a horse that was once afraid of fly spray.

He was previously terrified of stepping into puddles. He now loves going into the stream and flopping down...regardless of whether I’m in the saddle! I’ve ridden him at full speed with helium balloons tied to his headstall...slapping against his head and face. He took it stride as just another crazy idea I came up with.

He willingly tries for me with each new thing I ask of him. There is without a doubt a strong mutual trust and respect between us that I did't think would be possible. It’s an incredibly rewarding feeling of accomplishment to have been able to bring about that degree of transformation in an animal. A friend jokingly tells me that he would attempt to crawl into my car and go home with me if I asked him to!

This horse seriously tried to kill me numerous times while trying to teach him to back up on the ground. THAT was the toughest and most dangerous challenge I faced with him. I am most thrilled with huge transformation he made with backing up on the ground. He eventually learned to back up in patterns on the ground with no lead rope on. He can back up fast around barrels and around a series of poles; he will back over obstacles and back up steep hills. He backs down the aisle of the barn and backs into his stall as smoothly as if he were walking forward. He does all of this entirely by responding to my body position. I have no doubt that he would back onto the trailer...though I never actually asked him to do that.

Logically, in everyday life we don’t NEED our horses to be able to back up in everyday situations with that much speed, ease and willingness. But once I saw how good he became at it, I decided to just keep challenging him with it in all sorts of different situations.

It’s amazing for me just to watch this former out-of-control horse maneuver like that in a back up, especially when he's unrestrained. I totally agree with Clinton's opinion, that more than any other aspect of his training, I am convinced that the backing up was the most critical to gaining his complete respect. I also believe that making it part of his exercises each time I'm with him serves to maintain his respect at that level.

When I initially started working at teaching him the back up, this horse became so dangerously aggressive that I honestly thought he would seriously hurt me. I would never have believed his level of success with it would have gone so far beyond my expectations. He is truly the "poster boy" for the importance of good foundation groundwork training.

Ride this horse??? He had quite another idea in mind for anyone who dared to so much as lean on his back! By following Clinton’s Colt Starting techniques; by the time I mounted him for the first time, he stood relaxed, with his leg cocked, and looked at me as if he was thinking...”I was wondering what took you so long to get on!” He didn't get the least bit uneasy about it. He seemed to be thinking..."Cool...what's next?"

By the time I started him under saddle; I had so much confidence in him [and I believe, him in me] that on our fourth ride, I took him out of the arena on a trail ride over open fields and through heavily wooded areas on very narrow trails. This horse had never before been outside his pasture, his barn, the round pen or arena. This formally impossible horse behaved like a champ, first time out in the woods. He was sometimes uneasy and unsure, but there was never a second of panic. He was thinking through each new thing, every obstacle.

Since then, he loves going into the woods, off the trail,just hiking around in new territory, exploring the surroundings. We take these "walks" in the woods together both on the ground and under saddle. He always waits for guidance, waits for my cues, and I am very confident that he will use the thinking side of his brain in each new situation.

I'm fully aware that no horse is 100 percent predictable, but I am as confident as I can possibly be that he will not overreact or do anything foolish or dangerous. He simply chooses to freeze and wait for my guidance when he’s afraid. I’ve intentionally exposed him to anything I could think of that might frighten him, always with positive results. Oh, by the way, I'm totally envious of Clinton's first rate obstacle course! What a great training tool.

His progress under saddle was just as rewarding for me as his progress on the ground. We did struggle a bit initially getting him to canter with all four feet on the ground...I won't use the term bucking here. His lateral flexion was established before I ever got on. Yielding his hindquarters under saddle was almost instant because he’d learned it on the ground. Teaching him to stop on “Whoa” took very little time or effort. Actually, I think he likes that word “whoa” a little too much! His instant response to “whoa” was NOT appreciated by a couple of my “Hunter” friends who aren’t well trained to sit big stops. I nearly lost those friends...literally!

I’ve drilled him on every exercise from “following the fence,” to “passenger lessons,” and just about everything beyond. I taught him to side pass with little effort, two track at a walk and trot, and maneuver his body with ease in any direction to open any gate. He became “finger-tip light” to handle, both on the ground and under saddle. He learned to collect himself and get in frame with the lightest of cues.

This aggressive, dangerous horse taught me more every minute of working with him than 100 calm, gentle horses could have taught me in a lifetime. This horse challenged me to my best ability as much as I challenged him. The total experience was that we brought the best out in each other. An incredibly rewarding experience.

I would like to add that I was able to safely accomplish everything we did without the slightest injury to myself or the horse, even while working through those early dangerous behaviors.

I think I am most happy about the fact that not only was he transformed into a respectful, trusting/trustworthy, willing horse; the entire process was accomplished without sacrificing one bit of the spirit that I love most about him. He remained outgoing, confident and happy, while his energy was channeled into positive actions and behaviors. He seemed to look forward to learning new things and interested to see what new adventure was in store for him next.

At the beginning of this undertaking, I had never heard of Clinton Anderson. I was introduced to his work by the friend who had solicited me to work with the horse. My first exposure to Clinton was watching the Colt Starting demonstration from the Babcock Ranch. I saw that at just the time that I was ready to attempt starting the horse under saddle...it was perfect timing! That first introduction was all I needed to see...I was immediately sold on Clinton's methods because EVERYTHING he does makes perfect sense. From there, I put anything Clinton Anderson at the top of my "wish list." Thankfully, I have some wonderful people in my life who indulge me with Clinton Anderson gifts.

I instantly realized that having Clinton’s DVD series enabled me to organize the entire training process into achievable steps for both the horse and myself. If we got stuck, all I had to do was refer to a specific lesson in the program and go back to find a starting point.

The intelligence of this horse was apparent to me on our first meeting, regardless of his dangerous behaviors. I could see that he was simply in need of leadership so his intelligence could be directed into positive accomplishments. I quickly learned to read him and work within his nature and personality, not against it. That has been crucial to our success, and one of the most important things this horse taught me.

Every lesson gave me valuable opportunities to improve upon my feel and timing. The total experience with this horse, with the help of Clinton’s training methods, was nothing short of a terrific education for me. I don't hesitate to say that I learned as much as the horse.

I had reached the point in his training where I felt he was ready to take on the challenges of learning Reining maneuvers. We had just gotten started with this, but he was learning each new thing amazingly fast. I didn’t start this with the goal of making him a show horse. I believe that the maneuvers themselves make for a horse that is willingly guided and under control at all times. I believe this is as good as it gets toward the goal of having a safe horse, a confident horse, and a horse that is a pleasure to ride anywhere.

Regrettably, I was not able to continue on to more advanced Reining maneuvers with this horse; but I couldn't be more thrilled than just having been able to bring him so far from the horse I started with. Having worked through every step, every lesson, every struggle, every triumph, I never take for granted the horse that is now such a pleasure for me to spend time with. I couldn't have the same appreciation for a horse that I didn't work so hard through the training process with.

I am convinced beyond any doubt that every aspect of Clinton’s program WILL work if the owner/trainer is committed, consistent, patient and persistent in applying it. I know that not everyone is willing or capable of working with a potentially dangerous horse. I believe it's best for those people to seek professional help with training. But I'd like people to know that they don't have to give up on horse or condemn it as impossible. There is hope for bringing about transformation in most horses.

I’ve truly wanted the opportunity to personally express my thoughts and my thanks to Clinton for sharing his talent with the world. The little details often make a huge difference. The first rate quality, depth of instruction, and no nonsense approach to horse training puts his training program in a class all it’s own. Even for those who don’t want to train horses, it’s a great experience and invaluable education just to watch someone so talented at work.

The techniques, the creative exercises, the detail of the presentation and explanations, couldn’t be done better. I especially like the organization of the material. I really enjoy being shown at the beginning what it should look like when finished, so I know exactly what goal I'm trying to achieve.

I especially appreciate the use of untrained horses in the series. This is CRITICAL. It is of no help at all to see a clinician using horses that willingly respond to each step in the process. I needed to see how to deal with the challenges of disrespectful, aggressive, dominant horses in order to be effective in my training goals.

The review of mistakes and and demonstrations comparing the correct and incorrect techniques is another critical element in Clinton's DVD series. Every possible problem and mistake that might happen are addressed in detail. There simply were no questions left unanswered for me in any of Clinton's work.

An analogy would be that it’s sort of like seeing a picture of the meal before you begin following the recipe. It helps to know if the meal you turn out is what was intended. Clinton's DVD series provide the complete recipe with detailed pictures of what the final product should and should not look like. In fact, Clinton goes beyond that to show you exactly when and how much of each ingredient to add to the recipe each step of way.

In my opinion, the most rewarding experience with a horse is seeing the results of your hard work with them, knowing that you facilitated their transformation. To use the recipe analogy again, eating good food in a nice restaurant is great, but there is a priceless level of personal satisfaction in knowing I created a delicious meal myself.

Thank You Clinton for sharing your talent with the world! Thank you for providing the opportunity for me to share my success story. For every horse owner that discovers your program...the horses are the true winners!

Sincerely,
Dawn

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