Kerry has been starting colts and tuning older horses since
he was 12 years old. The horses that Kerry has worked with
over the years are his natural teachers. Every horse that Kerry
comes in contact with he strives to work with in a positive,
practical manner. As teacher and student, Kerry is able to
advance horses in their training, while remembering every horse
is an individual. They all have their own capabilities. Horses
can't read periodicals on horse training, but if you listen
to each horse, you can learn a little bit more about becoming
a true horseman.
Kerry wants to continue to operate one of the best horse training
schools for the public. He limits the number of outside horses
he has to a maximum of 8 at one time, with a 2-month minimum
investment per horse. This allows Kerry to do all the work
himself by having a small number. When working on building
a strong foundation, changing some already existing habits,
or establishing some horse training cues, a two-month minimum
is a necessity. "You can not change bad habits over night,
nor create a champion reining horse in two months. The sooner
you accept that idea the better teacher you become for your
horse," says Kerry. Asking a horse to go from kindergarten
to college in 1 to 2 months is selling your horse short.
Kerry
believes the more time you invest, the better the investment.
A good horseman allows the horse the time he needs to advance,
not asking him to be something he isn't capable of being.
Horse training should be like school, you just try to advance
every day.
By maintaining a smaller
number of horses at a time, Kerry feels this also lets
him become more acquainted with each horse as an individual.
When it comes to good training, you need to train a horse
according to his own potential. Not all horses are world champion
reining horses or champion cutting horses. But every horse
has a level that is advanced, to them and each horse deserves
the chance to achieve their highest level. |
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Kerry doesn't push a horse to be something he
physically cannot be. He encourages them to be all they can
be as an individual. Kerry puts a lot of value in this theory.
With all the different horses Kerry has worked with, he sees
how important it is to train each horse at its own particular
level.
Another very important aspect of Kerry's program
is owner involvement. "The best way to educate a horse
is to educate its rider," says Kerry. If the owner or
rider has no involvement in the process, than he or she will
not know what level the horse is at when it goes home. The
rider needs to be involved and learn the cues and ideas the
horse is learning. This will enable him or her to truly benefit
from sending a horse to a trainer. It doesn't matter what level
the horse has reached before he goes home. If the rider is
at a lower level, the horse doesn't have a choice but to come
back down to that level. So if the rider can advance with the
horse, than the horse will not go backwards when it goes home.
Learn to be a leader and direct where your horse goes, not
a follower just along for the ride. If you are tired of not
getting from your horse what you could, let Kerry unlock the
true potential and advance your horsemanship at the same time. |
