And problem spelling. Hawt damn! This post title is brought to you by the letter C, for Crap. Because this ad is crap.
“Do you want your horse braking or worked on? I have10years experience braking and schooling . I havr been riding 22years now and i have broke schooled and competed my own horses. I also enjoy working with problem horses if your finding it hard with your horse and have ran out of options i can try help. Please call with any questions….”
But that’s not the point of this post. Oh no, the point is this:
Why is this happening? Whose idea was it to train horses to rear? Outside of movies and dramatic silhouettes, what practical application does this “skill” have?
No one walks into a sales barn and says, “Excuse me sir, I’d like to buy your best horse! And make sure it rears! I have vast rearing needs.”
No one. Ever. Not a single person has ever said that. And no one ever will.
Crap, ok maybe those Spanish dudes with the Lipizzaners 
But I think you get my grossly exaggerated point!
And this is not the first time I’ve seen this. It’s like a freakin’ epidemic! Shh, gather close. Closer. Little closer. I have a secret to share.
“TRAINING” A HORSE TO REAR IS NOT THAT DIFFICULT!
You know, on second thought, maybe I shouldn’t be pointing this out. It’s like the easiest way to identify a bad trainer.
Irma: “Oh look Marge, an ad for a new trainer.”
Marge: “What luck, I happen to be in the market for a new trainer!”
Irma: “I know, that’s why I mentioned it. Twit.”
Marge: “What was that?”
Irma: “Oh nothing. So this trainer.. let’s take a look at her ad. Oh look at that! She can make that horse stand on two legs.”
Marge: “Yaaa that’s not a skill. In fact, that trainer is an idiot if she thinks that’s a selling a point. All that is, is a safety hazard. Moron.”
Irma: “Sorry, didn’t catch that last part.”
Marge: “I called you a freakin’ moron. Do yourself a favor, stay away from horses.”
And scene.
19 Comments
Am I missing something? How do we know the trainer was deliberately training the horse to rear? I have come to realize, through the education I get on this blog and fugly as to crappy craiglist trainers ad, that there’s a certain portion of the population that thinks a photo of them on a rearing horse will cause people seeing the photo to think “oh wow, she rode a horse that reared up and she stayed on! She must be amazing!”
I think it parallels the logic in sale ads of “if we put show our small child standing on the horse/under its belly, it shows how gentle our horse is!”
Anyway… I’d never call her based on the spelling, lack of helmet, boots and what the heck is that horse wear for tack… nor do I think a rearing photo is good advertising… but I am much more inclined to think the message meant by this photo is “look I can stay on horses that rear”, not “I train horses to rear”.
lol That hadn’t even occurred to me. I must have got tunnel vision. I have seen a number of trainer ads lately where they did specify they trained the horses to rear and I blew a bit of a gasket last night when writing this. I would ask why this “trainer” chose to put the pic of the horse rearing up and then not say anything about training a horse *not* to rear – although that could be chalked up to poor advertising skills.
I don’t think I would hire her to do body clipping either.
Well, at least the horse hasn’t “raised several FOWLS!” like ad I saw, or should that be ADD?
We are now seeing the result of a decade or more of no phonics, no memorization, and no worry about whether or not the child can spell.
Added to that mix is the “Precious Snowflake Syndrome” where everyone is supposed to be glad you bred.
It could just be showing her on a problem horse. She probably didn’t train it to do that. But anyone who can’t spell is not getting my business.
Hawt damn! She’s going to break your horse.
Uh… the Lipizzan ‘dudes’ are Austrian. JFYI
It was a bit of a facetious comment
It’s still called the Spanish Riding School even though it’s in Vienna (http://www.srs.at/en/)
I have no idea what to make of that picture. that’s not even a controlled rear, it’s like the horse is trying to strike while rearing. Maybe that was an example of a problem horse like someone suggested, but I don’t se how that picture shows that the trainer has any skills at all.
It isn’t so much the spelling that puts my teeth on edge. I know a lot of very intelligent folks who have spelling bugaboos. It’s the improper usage that gets me. (“have ran,” “have broke”) Yes, I am a grammar snob. Just can’t help it. BUT, if you want people to respect you and what you have to offer, make sure you ad is well-written. You’ll be more likely to get decent clients.
Wasnt it taught in school that in order to be understood we needed to enunciate? (Yeap probably is spelled wrong
) Im not sure the ad qualifies as enunciating, but at least its not like this: OMG like UBL can you like totally believe I RARH like over a like huge like jump like it was awsome dude like totally awsome.
Ok now that i’ve totally dumbed myself up, I should probably go hit my head against something. You know to bring my brain back.
“Horse braking”
So, is that teaching a horse to stop when asked?
kno,thair ez ah petal fur braking dumbbiey!! OR better said as.. no,there is a pedal for breaking dummy! HAAA HAAA ..
I’ve been training trick horses for 47 years, and yes, my trick horse do rear – these same horses also have 28 world and reserve world championships between them. I give many clinics, in which I use my trick horses as an uinque way to both entertain and educate people, esp. children about horses. At each clinic, I show how the methods I use to train my horses can be very helpful in the show ring ( it helps to develop their confidence, obedience, relaxation, etc. ) but I very carefully instruct my audience to leave the rearing training to those who are in the equine entertainment business. My public exhibition trick horses rear because my audience expects it. It’s a cued behavior, and they know it as just another cued request. However, when beginners, or yahoos, teach the rear, they usually get it wrong and the horse ends up rearing at will, or when jerked in the mouth, or any time he feels like it. It something comparable to watching a police dog trained to bite on command, and then teaching your family pet to bite. It’s an accident waiting to happen in the wrong hands. Rearing one of the few behaviors that will come back to bite you. I always tell the kids and my 4-H groups, that there is never a need for horses to ever be trained to rear on command – unless they are in the circus, movies, or used for public performances. The ONLY reason that anyone else does it is to show off to their friends and there are alot better and safer ways to impress your friends. Even in the training that my trick horses receive, I never teach them to rear, until they have had a number of years in training. One of my current trick horses started his training as a 2 year old and I did not teach him to rear until he was 7 – which shows you how much training goes into them first.
Opps…some too fast typing mistakes here and there. Darn keyboard!
I’m somewhat tempted to contact this person just for the pleasure of watching my current retraining project smash her into the ground.
I am so tired of the term “breaking” when we should be using ” training”. I want my horses trained, not broken.
My Lusitano filly–now a mare–was not broken, but started. I prefer that verb. You don’t want to “break” a horse, with those violent connotations.
As someone else has commented, the only time a horse should be taught to rear is when it is being used in the entertainment industry. Also, medieval war stallions were taught to rear up and strike out with their front legs (training for war like this is the origin of the High School stuff that the Spanish Riding School do), and that is what this picture reminded me of.
And, unless my eyes are being weird, is she riding with a surcingle instead of a saddle?