>>>> I know I'm spoiled having Cara and Kevin to help me, but there are times >>>> when we shake our heads puzzling over how to present some concept now and >>>> then. Sometimes I envy Karen, having Shirley so close...
I make no bones about it. We're spoiled. We were lucky enough to meet Shirley within six months of our getting horses. She's not a teenager as you might think from her pics - she's only eight years younger than me....and way too many pounds lighter. She was very good 18-19 years ago, about 3-4 after she graduated from Virginia Intermont with a degree in Horsemanship, and has really learned so much over that time, staying light years ahead of us. I think we have the best of both worlds - we do the majority of the training ourselves, but with as many horses as we have, we need help, and we can get her over about once a week most weeks. If anyone has access to a GOOD, local trainer, there is no shame at all in getting help. But, I don't think I could ever ship a horse off to someone for several months, without being able to check in on them daily, or at least a couple of times a week. The first year we had horses, we got sooo much advice, but I spent so much time thinking, "I don't think that's right." I think we had decent instincts, but most of the times we still didn't know what IS right, just a good bit about what wasn't. We still make a lot of blunders, but finding good, local horse-people and becoming shameless hangers-on, helped us along our way. Karen Thomas, NC, spending the longest "apprenticeship in horse training" on record
