We discovered David simply by finding his business card at a local tack shop. We had purchased a high strung Arab with quite an extensive show record. We boarded him at various stables that specialized in Arabs and wanted to keep him used to the pampered lifestyle he had grown accustomed to over his 18 years. However, it became apparent that after three months that he was reverting back to being wild. We were not allowed to ride our horse without purchasing an hour of riding lessons for $40. And even then it was limited to riding in a covered arena with focus on riding posture and technique. There was nothing in the lessons that involved building a trusting relationship with your horse- something I knew we needed if we were to ever have fun riding him. We were constantly told that we could never ride this horse outside of an arena because that was what he was trained for. We bought him with the intent of riding him out in pasture on our land. Further we were told that he was too high strung for our kids to ride, even though his seven national titles were all with youth (under 13) showing him. After seeing no progress and not being able to ride our horse for the first three months, we had resigned ourselves to sell him. I listed him on the internet for sale and received numerous calls from people that were familiar with his extensive show record. I knew we had an incredible Arabian but I just did not know how we would ever get to ride him as none of us had the confidence on how to handle such a high strung animal.
I called David to have him start another horse we owned and told him of my dilemma with Patriot, our Arab. David confidently said he could “fix” him. I had my doubts being that he was 18 years old and likely set in his ways. David guaranteed me that if I would just give him 2 weeks with Patriot, we would see a difference. He was so confident that he could fix him that he promised me that if we did not see a difference, we would owe him nothing. David suggested that we let Patriot be a horse and stop the “pampering” he was used to. Within the first week of being with David, we noticed a HUGE difference in Patriot’s demeanor. He was no longer head shy, spooked much less, and was only being ridden in a hackamore/halter. By the end of the second week, we had complete confidence in Patriot and even more in David. We immediately took the ad down off the internet and decided to keep him. Today, we ride Patriot all over our land, all over David’s place, and Patriot has lost almost all of his “spookiness” and seems to enjoy riding in halter more than anything. He also enjoys being a horse that is not being constantly pampered. He likes to roll in the dirt, go unclipped, and flop around the pasture. He has truly become the member of the family that we wanted him to become.
We have now entrusted David and his wife Denise to start our 2 year old colt. The two year old would not trailer at all and when David came to pick him up, David’s wife, Denise, had him loaded in no time. Just three weeks into training, he yields his hind quarters, backs, trailers, and even allows us to lay down with him (he likes to lay down to take naps).
David and Denise have the patience and the love of horsemanship that allows them to be able to train ANY horse, whether it is a colt that needs starting, a former race horse that needs to be re-conditioned for the trail or ranch, or a horse that needs training for work. Their approach to natural horsemanship not only builds the confidence of the horse but also the rider. They work with riders from “the ground up.” What I mean by that is that they start by building your confidence by helping you work your own horse in the round pen through various exercises. For us, it was showing us how to desensitize Patriot in a controlled and confident environment. It was only once we had learned how to react to his spookiness, that David let us saddle up. It is very apparent to us that David and Denise do this because of their love of horsemanship. There have been numerous times when I have seen David working with a difficult or wild horse and see that he has a giant smile on his face. He and Denise truly love the challenge of training horses.
I am also proud to say that David and Denise have become close friends of ours. Their “always welcome” attitude and generous hospitality makes us feel confident in our riding abilities and our horse. I trust no one else with my horses or their training.
Chris and Amy
Owners of Patriot’s Image (seven time National Reserve Arabian Champion, Regional Reserve Champion, and Canadian Reserve Champion)