Who is A Horse Trainer

As A Former Horse Trainer I feel that I am qualified to talk on this subject with authority. The horse is a semi domesticated animal that if released back into the wild still has the knowledge it needs to survive. Most dogs on their own will not be capable of surviving in the wild.

The horse was trained by man as a beast of burden but over time it was discovered that it is also possible to ride on the back of a horse with suitable training. Since that time the horse has been used as a mode of transportation, an instrument of war, for sport and a host of other purposes.

If the horse was one of the first animals to be domesticated by man then it follows that the horse trainer is one of the oldest professions known to mankind. Initially when man had time to train his horses, like the native American Indian, training was done patiently but as civilization advanced and the need for horses grew proportionately a different term was adopted. Horses were broken in. Sadly in most cases the word "brake" is a good representation of how the horses were trained. Thier spirit was broken until they were forced in to submitting to the will of the trainer. This was often done through beatings, tieing up and working to near death by fatigue.

Nowadays though, a more patient approach is taken. The horse is generally treated as a noble animal not worthy of brutal techniques. There are tragic exeptions to the rule in many places but animal protection organizations alongside government bodies work to stamp out these unwanted practices in many places.

Horse trainers tend to work soley in a particular field of equine activity. Some train race horses, some train horses for herding cattle, some train horses for dressage or the circus or just for pleasure riding or driving. Others for police work some for ploughing fields.

The disciplines of equine activity are many and horses are loved by many people, so much so that is an accepted fact that there are now more horses in some countries than there were when out forefathers were solely dependent on horses.

Horse trainers learn their trade over a period of many years. It is not a profession which can be learned in a matter of months. Yes, a person can be taught how to ride a horse in a matter of weeks or months, if he or she is talented but the knowledge one has to know about horses to produce an animal that will gladly perform at peak potential is no light matter. The eye of an experienced trainer is like a whole encyclopedia of knowledge which is constantly on the lookout for faults or those signals which tell him that the horse can be taken to the next stage of it's training. In short, a good horse trainer is worth his weight in gold and they deserve every penny they earn.