September 2003

Equestrian Travel: Riding the Southern
Pantanal - Earth’s Last Living Paradise
by Arthur Sacks......... 6

Horse and Rider: Choosing a Trainer
by Christina Fleming........8

Just My Opinion 
by John “Flint” Martin.................... 9


Moonstruck: Who is the Teacher?
by Frank Bell........................................ 10

Focus on Mules: Vaccinating Your Mule
by Sophia Sarember....................... 13

I am frequently asked to re-train horses that have had less-than-perfect initial experiences under saddle. This is the most difficult situation I face as a trainer. It is far easier to start a horse under saddle that has not been handled at all rather than “fixing” one that has been mishandled! For this reason, it is critical that you carefully select a trainer based on criteria that are important to you and the future
riding career of the horse.

1. Choose a trainer that uses a method you can continue to use at home.
For example, if the trainer uses a “nationally” known program, do you know enough to maintain it once the horse leaves the trainer? Can you easily (and affordably) get training methodology, support and equipment? If it is a program that is unique to that trainer, does it make sense to you and apply to what you want to do with the horse? Remember that consistency is the key, not necessarily the specific technique.
2. Visit the training facility. The facility should be clean, safe and appropriate for the type of training you desire. Inspect horses currently in training to see if they can be easily approached or if they act fearful and apprehensive. Horses in training with good trainers develop a willingness and eagerness to work. They should be inquisitive and friendly, not sour and mean. Inspect stalls, pens and pasture fence.
Check water tanks. Look behind the fancy barn to see what’s “out back”. Ask to see the feed.
3. Check references. Ask for written references and contact them! Ask to watch a
horse being worked. Ask if you can observe sessions of your horse being trained when and if the time comes. What has the trainer “done” in his or her career that makes them qualified to work with your horse? This doesn’t necessarily mean an extensive show career, but it may mean ten years of turning out quality trail
horses. If possible, speak to someone who currently has a horse in training and someone who just recently brought their horse home. Ask who will be allowed to work your horse. Some trainer’s charge big fees yet never touch your horse… ask who will be doing the actual daily training, handling and feeding.
4. Get a written contract. Make your own or carefully check the trainer’s contract
and add any information you think is important. If you feel overwhelmed with legal jargon, check one of the many horse-law books available at bookstores or call an equine attorney. For example, you want daily turn-outs and the contract calls for stall board only. Make the change to the contract and have all parties agree and initial the changes. Ask about all costs up front!
5. Stop by unannounced. Do this during normal business hours or when the trainer typically does his/her work. Some trainers don’t work horses regularly like they claim. Instead they give a crash course a few days before the horse goes home. This is inexcusable and leads to owners getting hurt.
6. Ask how many horses the trainer “trains” at one time.  You can only
ride/work so many horses in one day. Keep this in mind if the trainer works a full time job. Ask if the trainer is willing to work with you when the horse is near the end of his training. Bottom line is that this is your horse! You should feel comfortable with all aspects of the agreement. After all, the trainer is providing a
service that you are paying for. Treat the interaction like the business deal that it is! HT
Christina Fleming is a lifelong horsewoman living in
Cerrillos, NM. She trains, gives lessons and offers clinics
on a variety of subjects. She has a BS in Biology and is a
certified instructor, judge and guide. You can visit her web-site
at www.newmexicohorsetrainer.com or send her an E-mail
at NMVaquera@aol.com.

C H R I S T I N A F L E M I N G

The Working Horse
   Soon the age-old sound of “Clip-clop-clip-clop,” will compete with the traffic in the
morning shadow of the Cathedral in Palma de Mallorca, España. Four coach horses rest while waiting for the tourists to gather for a sight-seeing trip around the center of this ancient walled city. 
   Rejects from the Hippodrome, where trotting horse do run, these critters have seen the last of that life, for better or worse. Built something like an Arab with maybe just a dash of Spanish Barb, I watch as a carriage made its run with chattering tourists in a land where “The Sun also Rises.”
   In the back streets cats find shelter in nooks and hideaways, where some kind person places a little food for the scrawny critters, disdain for a shallow life. A little girl, bubbling over with excitement, picked out a kitten with her grandfather to take home. And a tear fell.

Toro!
   Dénia, a medieval town on the Costa Blanca, was the scene of the weeklong fiesta (14 July 2003) “Bous a la Mar,” where the Spanish male could show off his bravado to his friends and maybe to a special girl, by taunting a fighting bull.
   Six brave bulls were very angry that day my friends, as one at a time, with a snort, 500 kilos with pointed horns entered the three-sided arena. The fourth side was the sea wall, which was quite handy for the not so brave (including me) to dive over, sometimes even being hotly pursued by the bull.
   Of course it must be pointed out that before embarking on this type of adventure, it is prudent to be able to swim. Anyway, if there is any good news from all this, then it is that the pools of red on the ground were laid down by the foolish, not the bulls.

My Kingdom for a...
  I must admit, for someone who is supposed to write about horses, with perhaps a
dash of other critters thrown in, I did not see one the whole time I was paddling my feet at the beach in Ibiza. This island, sparkling in the Mediterranean, was once a hot bed of murder and pillage for more than two thousand years, but it has tamed down somewhat, only producing loud music in the bars on steamy summer
nights.

Surprise!
   There was no dancing in the streets, and a national holiday was not proclaimed, when it was discovered that only after three weeks away, I had returned to America. It seemed that what I was so desperately looking for was
here all the time. HT

John Flint Martin may be reached at; rodeoclown6@hot-mail.
com or the same phone number 505-250-5908.

J O H N “F L I N T ” MART I N