The
Trainer's Challenge is something we have all come to enjoy at most expos. If you haven't seen one, the premise is simple. Selected trainers take unbroke horses and see what they can produce after 3 days of training. The challenge usually has a judging criteria, 10% horse, 60% trainer's ability to train the horse, and 30% the trainer's ability to translate to the public. The three contestants at
The Mane Event this year were,
Ken McNabb of RFD fame,
Martin Black out of Idaho, and
Bruce Logan out of Texas.
They all did a good job, but one really, really impressed me,
Bruce Logan. This
cowboy was so soft and he took everything the horse offered, allowing it to figure out how to do things correctly. It was amazing to watch and so different from the other two. It is no wonder; he trained under Ronnie Willis. For Bruce, the horse was checked in the whole time and there was language developing between the two. As the horse worked around the arena, you could see his confidence building and he was willing to let Bruce guild him over obstacles. That horse was becoming "solid." What a great foundation for that horse to start with. Way to go Bruce...I like what you are doing for the horse world!
Ken did a good job, but he seemed more concerned about the clock and talking to the judges...it almost seemed like he was bored with the whole thing. I know he does good work and I appreciate that he plugs
People Helping Horses, but it just didn't seem like his heart was in it.
Martin Black, was the one I liked the least and yes, he won. He seemed like a decent guy, his methods just aren't in line with the way I like to see people work with horses. I know these guys have three days to get the horses as far as they can, and it is a competition. Everything they did was impressive, but just because a horse does something, doesn't mean it was done right. Martin's horse whinnied the whole time, raced around the arena, sweated out, and it seemed that he had a death grip on the reins. The horse did everything he wanted, but it felt forced. He was a bit more of a showman and won over the crowd.
At this point in my life, I just prefer watching the building of a relationship between horse and human over force and acceptance. I was bummed the judges didn't see what I saw, but the crowd was happy. They got their hero, but it made me sad to see yet another equine competition won by quantity not quality. I hope you all read up on Bruce..he really impressed me. Bruce Logan has a new fan and I wish him much success in the future. Go check out his
website and learn more about him.
I just got my December issue of Equus Magazine. I have been getting it for years because I enjoy the fresh information. I think even on the web, you can google horse related topics and it is very limited. Especially if you want to learn about equine science. Equus is always forward thinking in their publishing of studies and research on horse health and advancements in care. Sometimes the content available online seems as arcane as some of the training methods that are out there. Just in this issue, an article about a new strangles vaccine and a study about gender affecting trainability. I am not writing this to sell subscriptions, but instead to mourn the loss of pages over 
the last couple months. My favorite magazine is shrinking. I set a nickel down next to it and it is the same thickness, a mere 72 pages. Coming from someone who works in news, I have watched the steadily decline in print over the last couple years and now I am seeing the bottom drop out. Print is gasping for breath and I think within the next two years we will witness its death. That means newspapers, magazines, and eventually books. Yes books. Have you seen the Kindle or the app on the IPhone that just lets you download books? Everything will be online, electronic information. So today I am going to kick back and enjoy turning my pages...even if it is only 72.
