Post by Kelly Marks on Nov 17, 2009 12:45:23 GMT 1
Unrelated to Woody the bucking horse from the Grange, Devon I would very much like to contribute a brief story that recently transpired. I was in England conducting the science trial at the end of June. A photographer came to me and said that he had a friend in America who absolutely detested my work. She said that the horses were all trained in advanced and that the use of the buckstopper was cruel and ineffective.
Most of you will know that the first part her story is absolutely untrue. I now believe that virtually everyone understands that the horses are not trained in advance. With this in mind I asked the photographer to invite her to come to my farm in California, spend 3 days and watch me at work. Obviously I didn’t think she would take me up on the offer but in fact, I was very surprised when she emailed through her acceptance.
Susy Smith (a pseudonym, as I have no permission to use her name), arrived. She seemed a nice young lady in her mid twenties. Susy admitted that she had formed her conclusion based on one demonstration where she felt the solutions seemed to be too easy to come by. Later, she said, “I had several professional horsemen tell me that Monty did with the horses was impossible unless they were pre-trained”. She had no hard evidence.
There was an open door for Susy to watch me work, interview students, speak with the instructors and question owners throughout the first day. By the end of a long day 1 Susy had concluded that she was wrong to accuse me of having pre trained horses. I worked with about 6 very difficult horses on that day and Susy was able to visit with the owners while the work was going on. One horse was a remedial bucker and a very dangerous one at that.
Using the buckstopper I made a great deal of progress on the first session and I felt that I was going to be able to successfully put this problem to rest. Susy however came to the house that evening with a whole new direction to her criticisms of my work. She said that she was frightened for the horse’s life during the bucking he did. She stated that the use of the buckstopper was, in her opinion, cruel and abusive.
As luck would have it we were all schedules to go to a fundraiser that evening for the local Riding for the Disabled (RDA) group. The owner of the bucker happens to be on the board of our local RDA. Susy moved right in to tell him how horrible the buckstopper was and that she disagreed with its use, I was standing with them when the owner explained the story behind the subject horse. I did not say a word, the owner said it all.
Mr McInro told Susy that he was the master of the hounds for that area, he told her that he bred champion showjumpers and that while this horse had talent he had been bucking off professional trainers. He told Susy that he came to me and that I agreed to give the horse a try. He went on to tell Susy his hunt was constantly looking for hound food. He literally told her that he had suggested taking the horse into the field where the hounds lived and shooting him.
That’s exactly what he had told me when I accepted the challenge, on the way home Susy began to cry and she said that she was extremely conflicted with regard the whole situation. She watched the horse for two more days and he was being ridden without bucking for the first time in his life. I explained to Susy that because of a lot of criticism I had been turning down buckers by the dozens for the past 2 years. It just wasn’t worth the hassle.
Unknowing people, without evidence that it is cruel, will tend to be very cruel to me and speak to the masses on the internet and in magazines. They will speak of cruelty and abuse as if they have experience with the bucktstopper, I told Susy that I had worked with around 1500 horses with no injuries and virtually all of them came to be ridden without bucking. With that statement I had a whole new problem on my hands!
She shouted at me asking me how many horses died because I’d been turning them down for the past 2 years? I answered that probably 20-30 horses had been shipped to the butchers unnecessarily because they didn’t have the buckstopper to get them through the problem. Susy was furious with me saying that I was a coward and I had no right to turn these horses down just because a few uneducated people were criticising me.
Ultimately Susy came to admit that she could see the fact that I was in a no win situation. Susy cancelled some appointments and stayed longer and watched the horse being ridden comfortably. She has become a supporter of my work and in fact I will be having a meeting with her on December 2nd in Las Vegas, Nevada where we are joi ning forces against what both of us agree is some unfair competitive activity involving horses.
During this meeting I will ask Susy to agree that her name can be used and possibly do an entry for you so that you can hear her own words as to the revelation that she went through during her stay with me. Please read this and measure it against your own feelings and the statements you might have made in the past. Help me where you can to understand where the horse world wants me to go and what well meaning horse people want from me.
Monty
Most of you will know that the first part her story is absolutely untrue. I now believe that virtually everyone understands that the horses are not trained in advance. With this in mind I asked the photographer to invite her to come to my farm in California, spend 3 days and watch me at work. Obviously I didn’t think she would take me up on the offer but in fact, I was very surprised when she emailed through her acceptance.
Susy Smith (a pseudonym, as I have no permission to use her name), arrived. She seemed a nice young lady in her mid twenties. Susy admitted that she had formed her conclusion based on one demonstration where she felt the solutions seemed to be too easy to come by. Later, she said, “I had several professional horsemen tell me that Monty did with the horses was impossible unless they were pre-trained”. She had no hard evidence.
There was an open door for Susy to watch me work, interview students, speak with the instructors and question owners throughout the first day. By the end of a long day 1 Susy had concluded that she was wrong to accuse me of having pre trained horses. I worked with about 6 very difficult horses on that day and Susy was able to visit with the owners while the work was going on. One horse was a remedial bucker and a very dangerous one at that.
Using the buckstopper I made a great deal of progress on the first session and I felt that I was going to be able to successfully put this problem to rest. Susy however came to the house that evening with a whole new direction to her criticisms of my work. She said that she was frightened for the horse’s life during the bucking he did. She stated that the use of the buckstopper was, in her opinion, cruel and abusive.
As luck would have it we were all schedules to go to a fundraiser that evening for the local Riding for the Disabled (RDA) group. The owner of the bucker happens to be on the board of our local RDA. Susy moved right in to tell him how horrible the buckstopper was and that she disagreed with its use, I was standing with them when the owner explained the story behind the subject horse. I did not say a word, the owner said it all.
Mr McInro told Susy that he was the master of the hounds for that area, he told her that he bred champion showjumpers and that while this horse had talent he had been bucking off professional trainers. He told Susy that he came to me and that I agreed to give the horse a try. He went on to tell Susy his hunt was constantly looking for hound food. He literally told her that he had suggested taking the horse into the field where the hounds lived and shooting him.
That’s exactly what he had told me when I accepted the challenge, on the way home Susy began to cry and she said that she was extremely conflicted with regard the whole situation. She watched the horse for two more days and he was being ridden without bucking for the first time in his life. I explained to Susy that because of a lot of criticism I had been turning down buckers by the dozens for the past 2 years. It just wasn’t worth the hassle.
Unknowing people, without evidence that it is cruel, will tend to be very cruel to me and speak to the masses on the internet and in magazines. They will speak of cruelty and abuse as if they have experience with the bucktstopper, I told Susy that I had worked with around 1500 horses with no injuries and virtually all of them came to be ridden without bucking. With that statement I had a whole new problem on my hands!
She shouted at me asking me how many horses died because I’d been turning them down for the past 2 years? I answered that probably 20-30 horses had been shipped to the butchers unnecessarily because they didn’t have the buckstopper to get them through the problem. Susy was furious with me saying that I was a coward and I had no right to turn these horses down just because a few uneducated people were criticising me.
Ultimately Susy came to admit that she could see the fact that I was in a no win situation. Susy cancelled some appointments and stayed longer and watched the horse being ridden comfortably. She has become a supporter of my work and in fact I will be having a meeting with her on December 2nd in Las Vegas, Nevada where we are joi ning forces against what both of us agree is some unfair competitive activity involving horses.
During this meeting I will ask Susy to agree that her name can be used and possibly do an entry for you so that you can hear her own words as to the revelation that she went through during her stay with me. Please read this and measure it against your own feelings and the statements you might have made in the past. Help me where you can to understand where the horse world wants me to go and what well meaning horse people want from me.
Monty