thoughts on Clinton Anderson ?

I like some of Clinton Anderson's stuff, but I don't like following on solely one single trainer's methods. I like to piece together several trainers methods. Mostly because every horse is different and needs to be trained different than others, and if you follow only one trainer's methods you might run into something that doesn't work with your horse and have to find a better way to do it. Plus, what those big trainers are after is money. It's their job. They overprice their books, videos, equipment, etc. I like to ride with friends and get their opinions on what to do, and I've also had a few lessons with different trainers around the area so they can watch what my horse and I are doing and aren't doing and help us out with our problems.

I guess if you have a slightly warped sense of humor, I think I fall into that category, then you are more likely to see the CA appeal. Calling a horse an ignorant pig is to kind of lighten up the situation maybe. People take themselves so seriously around horses, or like me get tense and forget to breath. Laughing at a joke takes the tension out of the air.

I can appreciate humor as much as the next person, and definitely don't take it too seriously, but I believe that when you have paid someone an ungodly sum of money, they ought to try very hard to be positive around your horse rather than negative. That's just me!

AGREED!!!! I once went to a trainer that chewed me out for putting a medium ported curb bit with a 5 or 6 inch shank (can't remember exactly what it is). He said if I felt the need to put that on my horse then it was time to sell him and move on. I put it on him not because of the brakes, but because he likes the roller and he HATES broken bits. Snaffles, tom thumbs, etc. I just thought why couldn't he have just told me it would be a good idea to switch bits instead of chew me out for the one I was using? I stopped taking lessons from after that. He wasn't very friendly.

I know what you mean, just because you are famous and charge a lot of money does not give you license to be rude.

I'm going to use the dreaded "it depends" phrase here, because I kind of disagree with the above in certain cases. But, so much of this idea of trainers being "really nice" or "really rude" probably depends less on the actual trainer and more on the personalities of the people who meet them.

Simply paying someone a lot of money to help you with your horse, or to improve your own riding, does not mean you are entitled to have sunshine blown up your skirt. Of course, some trainers (at all levels) make a good living by working with clients who pay them to make them feel like everything they do is just marvelous. If that's what works for them and their clients, fine. Then again, I've known people who are used to being spoon-fed compliments, who are forced to relocate for a job or whatever and end up in another barn with a trainer who isn't quite so "fluffy." And drama ensues.

Those are the trainers who don't like to waste their time (or their clients' time) sugar-coating things no matter how much money they are being paid. It doesn't mean they are miserable, mean people all the time. It doesn't mean they are rude or antisocial. But they're not being paid to be your friend, they're being paid to show you how to be a better rider, or how to do a better job of handling your horse.

Just as there is no "one style of training" that is perfect for all horses, there is no "one style of trainer" that will mesh perfectly with all clients. Some students/clients excel under the tough, demanding, no-nonsense trainer because they feel challenged. . .and yet, a different student with that same trainer may find them "rude" and "mean" because the trainer didn't give them a pat on the head and a cookie every time they did something right.

On the subject of those "meet and greet" with the big-name trainers at various expos. . .I never really understood the appeal of waiting in line for over an hour just to get their autograph or ask them a question about a horse "problem."

I personally like CA's, tell it like it is method, when watching it, but I suspect I would be fairly intimidated to ever go to one of his clinics!

Hahaha, Jolly Badger, I have to comment . . . I just read your personal quote about Parelli and laughed out loud. That's a funny one.

I'm open to just about all ideas, so I'll read/watch the 'horse pimps' when I get it for free, but I would never pay for it. In my opinion, whether it is CA or any of the others, the thing they are best at is salemanship and making $$s. In my experience, you can solve a whole host of 'problems' with simply enough miles under saddle and common sense.