Prior to yesterday, I didn’t know much about Clinton Anderson. I knew the name as a big one in the world of trainers doing clinics for problem horses, and I have been tempted to buy his DVD’s on eBay but never done so. When I found out he was doing a “Walkabout Tour” fairly close to home for me, I decided to check it out.
Today I’m quite proud to say I a member of the Clinton Anderson “Tree Huggers Club.” He took time out of his foul mouthed I-am-the-greatest-trainer-now-buy-my-stuff banter in order to speak directly to me and my fellow mamby pamby wusses in the audience, addressing us by his selected epithet, “Tree Hugger.” He said he was doing so out of concern for our safety and the grave danger we were putting ourselves in by not subjugating all equines to far more work than affection because horses are just that dangerous by their very nature.
At least three times, Mr. Anderson stopped what he was doing in order to address our group. He told us that he knew we were in the audience, and that he could feel us judging his methods as too harsh, and that we were probably upset because the demonstration horses were “not enjoying themselves.” As any good teacher would do, he not only demonstrated for us, but also took the time to explain that when he hits the horse on the nose or jaw with his training stick, he’s just “looking for sensitivity.” And that when the demonstration horse has raised marks on its hind end, that these were “knowledge welts.”
This show was free for children 12 and under, and by the looks of the audience, quite a few took Mr. Anderson up on his offer of this free tutorial in a variety of colorful words, with sh** seeming to be his favorite. To give him credit, he did also apologize on one occasion, after calling the mare a b**** several times, he switched to the word “wh***.” With great sincerity he exclaimed, “Oh my, did I just say that out loud?” followed by the pause of a skilled comedian waiting for the laughter. Had he stopped this way every time he uttered the words sh**, he**, da**, pi**, bi***, or sonofab****, we would still be trying to get thru the first session a day later.
The tree hugger writing this post is not a horse trainer and doesn’t even play one on TV. She tends to think of her philosophy with horses a combination of strategies to bring about a willing and safe partnership. She strives to be consistent in the ways she asks for things from a horse, being firm in the cues she gives and her expectation that the horse will respond to them. She seeks to offer the equine choices with consequences - the right choice will be easy and rewarded, and the wrong choice will be met with more work. She does her best to recognize and reward when the horse is truly trying, or intending to succeed. And in offering those consistent cues, she also tries to apply an “ask, tell, spank” approach, always striving for the equine to respond at the slightest “ask” level, but knowing that it’s imperative to elevate to the “tell” and “spank” levels when necessary. She has whacked her horses on the chest, barrel, or butt with a lunge whip or training stick on occasion.
Clinton Anderson’s demonstration was with two horses who were described by their owners as unpredictable, capable of biting, kicking, bucking, and rearing, with or without provocation. He pointed out to us all that they had gotten this way by training their humans, and that his demonstration would seek to undo several years of “bad training.” With that explanation, he demonstrated a philosophy that this uneducated tree hugger would judge as “ask” and “tell” being compressed into a millisecond of a cue that the horse is supposed to recognize immediately, and when “ask and tell” were over, they were followed by WHACK, WHACK, WHACK, and WHACK some more.
The female dog-horse in his second demonstration was handled by one of his “certified trainers” (who by the way are available to come work with YOU and your horse!), as Mr. Anderson narrated the actions and occasionally directed the trainer. He explained to us that his goal was to turn the horse’s world upside down, push all her buttons, and make it the worst day of her life thus far. On more than one occasion, he directed the trainer to “smack her in the nose,” or “hit her in the jaw,” and on some of these occasions he stopped to explain to the audience that these steps were required because the mare had stepped into the trainer’s personal space.
Words coming from the speakers spoke of the division of the body at the shoulder, with the head and neck being for steering and the ribcage and butt being for power and driving, but the demonstration showed us that we should steer a non-moving horse by strikes to the head and shoulder in an attempt to convince it which direction it should take, and driving is done only after it is moving. As the certified trainer progressed in this “lunging with respect” method, the mare escalated to the point of rearing. But Mr. Anderson assured us that this was perfectly acceptable because at least she was out of the trainer’s personal space. By that logic, it would seem that mere distance renders any dangerous horse harmless.
At the end of the lunging with force session, the certified trainer stood with the mare as Clinton Anderson rallied excitement from his audience of largely women and children. The mare stood there with heaving sides and a defeated look as the trainer flicked the stick-string around her back and legs and thwacked it on the ground near her. This tree hugger has seen horses like that before, ones who have been harassed and worn out so much that they just stand there dejected and take whatever else comes their way. They don’t even bother to flinch anymore because they are existing on inhales, exhales, and sensory overload. So, this tree hugger left the “Walkabout Tour” after watching just two sessions, and no interest in wasting Father’s day on being berated publicly by a good ol’ boy who displays his manliness by choice of words and physical abuse.
To be clear and fair, I will at least give props to Mr. Anderson for not losing his cool. The techniques I witnessed were pretty consistent and repetitive, and he pointed out that neither he nor the certified trainer were acting in anger at the horse.
Mr. Anderson invited us all to join his “No Worries” club. I’ll be declining that offer Mr. Anderson, as your methods of deliberate confrontation, escalation, and abuse do nothing but bring on worry for me. I worry for our future of human society if more people should be fooled into thinking that your constant verbal and physical insults to those less abusive than you, to females, and to equines alike might in any way be considered as signs of respect.
Disrespectfully,
A Tree Hugger in the Audience
The Walkabout Tour I witnessed was presented by these sponsors:
Ritchie
ADM
Vetericyn
Belen Country
Martin Saddlery
3M Vet Wrap
IRHA
Horse & Rider
P&P
Standlee
Smart Pak
Safe Gard
Classic Equine
I saw him 15 years ago when he was on his rise up and he was decent back then.