This goes for any horse for any kind of training, including rehabilitation. I've read lots of threads about people who buy a horse and then send it off to a trainer for six months to be trained for reining, dressage, bucking/rearing problems, and even just exercise. The horse returns fully trained and cured of everything, and the owner can then use the horse in shows.
But this gives me two impressions 1. That the owner isn't skilled enough to be able to train the horse these things by themselves, so they are probably not very advanced riders or interested in understanding the horse's psychology. 2. The owner is not willing to take the training with the horse, and the owner cannot understand where certain problems arose in the first place to cause such bucking/rearing etc. Or if it was competition training, the horse has been programmed to respond like a machine, and the owner will have no other choice but to treat it as such because they have not developed that "feel" with their horse since it has been gone.
Take in mind, this is training for extended periods of time over a few months, not a few days or weeks. So this doesn't really apply for someone who needed a quick fix for a quick problem. But it just rips me up when I hear about people who do this. Buck Brannaman said that your horse is a reflection of your soul. If you are an insecure, hectic person, your horse will reflect it. If you are mentally balanced and in control, then your horse will reflect that. But when you send your horse off to a trainer for months at a time and turn it into the horse you want, then you're receiving someone else's soul. You're receiving a horse who has become in-tune to someone else, and it's a bit like wearing someone else's shoes.
I understand that sometimes people have no choice but to send their horse to a trainer for a few months, especially for serious problems. But what I don't understand is why people wouldn't take the opportunity to see this as lessons. If your horse bucks, what's stopping you from being there with your horse for (if not all, then) most of their lessons in order to help your horse overcome the problem while also learning where it came from and how to prevent it? If you send your horse off to training for competition, why didn't you want to be there to help train the horse so you can learn how it's done, and gain a deeper understanding of your discipline?
But this gives me two impressions 1. That the owner isn't skilled enough to be able to train the horse these things by themselves, so they are probably not very advanced riders or interested in understanding the horse's psychology. 2. The owner is not willing to take the training with the horse, and the owner cannot understand where certain problems arose in the first place to cause such bucking/rearing etc. Or if it was competition training, the horse has been programmed to respond like a machine, and the owner will have no other choice but to treat it as such because they have not developed that "feel" with their horse since it has been gone.
Take in mind, this is training for extended periods of time over a few months, not a few days or weeks. So this doesn't really apply for someone who needed a quick fix for a quick problem. But it just rips me up when I hear about people who do this. Buck Brannaman said that your horse is a reflection of your soul. If you are an insecure, hectic person, your horse will reflect it. If you are mentally balanced and in control, then your horse will reflect that. But when you send your horse off to a trainer for months at a time and turn it into the horse you want, then you're receiving someone else's soul. You're receiving a horse who has become in-tune to someone else, and it's a bit like wearing someone else's shoes.
I understand that sometimes people have no choice but to send their horse to a trainer for a few months, especially for serious problems. But what I don't understand is why people wouldn't take the opportunity to see this as lessons. If your horse bucks, what's stopping you from being there with your horse for (if not all, then) most of their lessons in order to help your horse overcome the problem while also learning where it came from and how to prevent it? If you send your horse off to training for competition, why didn't you want to be there to help train the horse so you can learn how it's done, and gain a deeper understanding of your discipline?