Meh, like I said $150 bucks isn’t something I’m going to get pissed about! Education is a journey, that was one stop along the way. I’ll probably get around to reading that book too. If I’d known about it I would have read it first, but I didn’t.
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I can recommend The Horse Screamer on FB is anyone needs a coming relief break from all the self proclaimed master equine gurus.
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So I don’t want to victim blame or dump on ammies that have had a hard time with their horses.
But I absolutely have watched newbies cycle through extremes of bad coaching, bad trimming bad nutrition advice etc as if everything wrong headed had an irresistible lure. My experience as a returning rider has been that it’s been really easy to find good coaching, good trimming, good nutrition advice, good saddle fitting, etc. And get caught up on contemporary best practices. I had a horse as a teen but no lessons, cold keg farriers, a saddle bought purely on wither gullet width, and 50 lb bags of sweet feed. No intelligent adult help whatsoever.
Somehow when I returned to riding in my 40s I was able to wade through all the new information and new disciplines and figure out what was on the continuum of good standard practice to current best practices informed by research. I found the right mentors. I knew what healthy happy horses going forward looked like, and I didn’t expect miracles or over estimate my ability.
So I am constantly bemused to watch newbies and even more experienced owners go down a lot of rabbit holes that they then have to climb out of slowly hand over hand.
So it kind of makes sense to hear about owners cycling between brutal coaching with gadgets and draw reins, then doing a 180 degree switch to biomechanical rehab but still landing on an incompetent practitioner.
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I didn’t see people dumping on older ammies,just feeling sorry for them getting sucked into expensive nonsense.
“good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.”
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You are very lucky.
It took me several years to leave a bad training situation—I am recovering from it, and learning more every day. My horse completely broke down in my previous program and I have had to rebuild her from scratch on my own, with a group of really wonderful professionals I found on my own.
I wouldn’t take a lesson from THW, but I decided to chance $150 bucks on some reading/viewing material. It doesn’t have to be an implication about my judgment in all things horse.
And frankly, I know I’m doing something right because my horse was unrideable a year ago but is now packing me and my mistakes around—looking like a million bucks, instead of a horse who doesn’t know where her front legs go.
Glad things were so easy for you—I sure hope you never find yourself regretting you said that. You don’t know what you don’t know, until you know it.
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Honestly, is it possible this is a perspective issue? I ask because I have read all 1000+ comments in this thread a couple of times, and I don’t see anyone dumping on amateurs.
I did see one post where one person took a comment out of context, where those few you’ve insinuated strongly against, were merely asking more direct questions to gather a deeper understanding of the issues being discussed at hand.
Asking for more direct clarification is very different than dumping on amateurs.
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I should also clarify that I was not referring to you when I wrote that “anyone who has the slightest understanding of anatomy and physiology knows that ligaments don’t break”.
I was referring to the people who hold themselves out as experts and take money from other people for their “expertise”. They should know better than this.
Horse owners come from all different backgrounds and should be able to count on the self proclaimed “experts” to at least know the basics.
The onus is on the person claiming to be knowledgeable and taking people’s money in exchange.
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Quite so.
The issue is that you were told this, not that you heard it.
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…and have paid to be told it, by an “expert”.
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Forgive me but I don’t need anyone’s pity, and definitely don’t feel like being patronized. I made a fully informed decision to spend a few bucks on some information that I ultimately found useful. I am not a victim, nor is every other amateur that signed up for the class. That’s ridiculous.
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I am really not understanding why people still defend THW despite learning of all the unethical business practices she has been caught red handed in.
It’s akin to watching someone learn something very commonly known from one particular source, and then defending that one source through all eternity as the sole creator and best version of that source. Despite being presented with mounting evidence that proves otherwise.
I am curious, is it like an attachment to their earlier decision and trying to save face somehow? As if, it would be more difficult to admit that there are more suitable, less expensive, less culty places to learn this information than it is to admit they got bamboozled like everyone else?
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I would disagree with the characterization of my posts as “defending” THW if that’s what you’re doing.
I wasn’t bamboozled at all. When you describe people that joined the group and liked some of what they saw there as suckers or “fools”, it makes sense they would get defensive.
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Yah I agree and that’s what I was referring to when I said I don’t like the way people on here are talking about people who are just trying to help their horses. At least they’re starting with groundwork instead of bits, whips and gadgets…
Horses are nothing if not humbling. If you haven’t made a single mistake in your equestrian lifetime then I don’t believe you 
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Case in point.
“It’s easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled” -Mark Twain
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Respectfully, I disagree. Brushing off unethical business practices as “not as bad” as some other bad parts of the horse industry just lets those practices survive. Continuing to defend a person who is disseminating incorrect information because you or your horse were not personally injured by it doesn’t sit well with me. Why double down?
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Where does anyone state they have never made a mistake?
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Why is it always assumed that if you don’t agree with whatever new age guru is out there that one must automatically condone the use of bits, whips and gadgets? Have you read through this and other threads on this forum and bore witness to the conversations of those you are accusing? Because I have, and these are not your slap on a stronger bit, whip them harder, gadget loving types at all. Quite the opposite. You would be pleasantly surprised if you took the time to look before passing judgment.
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It took a while but I did verify this and find it deep down in the saddlefit4life FB page. There are 2 body workers signed up. This would be the promo and education branch of Schleese saddles in Canada. I’m sure they have no idea who she is.
The congrats to Celeste bit is not on the original event notice. She added that.
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The congrats bit looks like a snap chat or IG text blob over a screenshot image. With no post able to be found of Saddlefit4life actually stating that, I thought it was suspect. I didn’t want to make an assumption, so I am thankful you took the time to verify another fake claim.
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I’m choking on the smug in here. Either that or you’re projecting. Are you the commenter who let her lead your horse off somewhere without being able watch what she was doing? That WAS foolish. Reading some stuff online and integrating the things that make sense into one’s education isn’t. Did she forbid you from watching??? because that would be a hard no for me and I would like to know if that is her practice. That is terrible.
