i think sometimes their marketing does them more harm than good in some cases. I almost gagged trying to read Gawani pony boys "Of Horses and Women" book with all those sickeningly smarmy photos of him trying to look sensitive and romantic with his long hair and tight jeans. Then I saw him in person and he knocked my socks off. He is marketed differently than what he is, a person who knows a TON about horses and is very very in tune with them. Same with parelli. I sorta disdained him til i saw him in person and my impression there was that he really truly wants to give a gift he has to others, a gift of insight and true horse communication that he has and wants others to have instead of beating horses into submission etc.
I t also works in reverse--- I saw Lyons on tv and liked him. Saw him in person and felt like if i wanted to go to church i woulda went to church and not paid for him to preach and pray and run a horse around like a nut slinging a rope at its rear end for a couple of hours. I entered my jaspar in a clinic held by a TWHBEA spokesperson/clinician at the time, a WGC twh trainer etc. He has been written up many times for soring violations but at the time I didnt know. It was a wonderful clinic and I walked away with a lot of really great new things learned. For one thing as we started the clinic in front of a crowd of about 200 people he appraised and evaluated openly each horse. I was cringeing inside wondering what he would say to me, the only rider on a hard pacey pure trail horse in a group of all fancy gaiting obvious show horses. in a gait clinic, what was I thinking, i didnt need this public humiliation. Then as I went by he began "and here we have a perfect trail horse, a pleasure horse, the kinda of easy going wonderful laid back horse any trail rider would die for, come here, bring him over here," and he took his bridle off, put a plain snaffle on him, got on him, rode him around the arena and in three rounds had him in a nice easy gait of some kind. Then he told me what I have always known "this horse is so laid back its hard to get gait out of him cause he has no consistent forward motion. Some people would pay a lot of money for a great laid back horse like this. I think a nice stepping pace like he has is greatly under-rated". So soring violations or not, he earned my respect that day. what I saw was a man who is paid to train horses and somehow got off on the wrong foot, probably because he had a family to support and people paying him to make a horse win no matter what. which is what is happening with icelandics today. Liz Graves is the best clinician on the planet today. bar none. Janice -- yipie tie yie yo
