This Can’t Be Right?????

I found John Holland’s riding instructor????

It’s time for some lighter humor on Saturday. We have gotten way too serious about this. I will readily admit I know nothing about showing park horses or saddle equitation. I do know what two point position is. I am pretty sure this is not a picture of either one. Anyone more versed in flat seat horsemanship please explain how any element of this picture is correct. Until then I will continue to laugh and point.

Or this trainer application and reference form provided by the Mustang Heritage Foundation for the Trainer Incentive Program…..
I have a couple of questions…….Why does the mustang care about the applicant’s marital status?
Would any trainer in their right mind send a reference from a person who DIDN’T think they were capable?
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TRAINER APPLICATION
Name: ____________________________
Address: __________________________
City/State/Zip:______________________
Daytime Phone: _____________________

Cell:__________________________
Email Address: ____________________
Social Security#: ________________________
Age:________ Trainers must be 18 years of age or older to enter the contest.
Circle One: Male Female
Marital Status: Married Single
Questionnaire: All questions must be completed.
Please feel free to use the reverse side and/or additional pages if necessary.
1. How many years have you trained horses? ________
2. Are you a professional or have you received compensation for training? ___
3. Have you trained a wild horse or Mustang received directly from an adoption (not a Mustang that had previous gentling or training)? ______
4. If you compete in equine events, which disciplines/breeds do you compete in?
5. Describe and/or include a photo of the horse or stock trailer you will use to pick up the Mustang. Please be reminded it must meet BLM requirements.
6. Describe (draw layout with dimensions) and/or include photos of the facility
where the Mustang will be kept in. Please use the back of the application or
additional pages. Please be reminded it must meet BLM requirements.
Please submit a short trainer bio and photo (preferably digital) with application for promotional purposes.
By signing below I am stating that I am aware and in agreement that participation in this event is by invitation only; therefore, the Board of Trustees has the unqualified right to determine eligibility and can, at any time, remove a contestant from a Mustang Heritage Foundation program and competition for any or no reason at all. I am also stating that all questions above have beenanswered honestly by the trainer applying for this competition.
Applicant Signature: _______________________Date: __________
Mustang Trainer Incentive Program
TRAINER REFERENCE FORM
Two Reference Forms must be submitted with each application.
If the individual providing the reference would like for the information to remain
confidential, please feel free to mail this form directly to the Mustang Heritage
Foundation, P.O. Box 703, Bertram, Texas, 78605.
Fax: (254) 947-5504
Name of Applicant: _______________________________
Name of Reference: _______________________________
Ref. Home Phone: _______________ Ref. Alternate Phone: ________
Ref. Email Address: ______________________
1. How long have you known this trainer?
2. How often do you see this trainer ride or work horses?
3. Do you feel that their facilities are suitable for working with a wild horse?
4. Do you have any concerns about the horses in the care of this trainer?
5. Would you recommend this trainer to people with unbroken or difficult horses?
Personal Comments: (Regarding skill, work ethic, values, etc.)
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I think this should be a come as you are affair. Let’s let all the interested parties show up with their everyday horse hauling rigs. That should streamline the paperwork, separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak, and lighten the staff required to administer this program. I think it would be pretty easy to decide if a “trainer” has the ability to handle a wild mustang by looking over the rig they intend to transport them in. This is a pretty good indicator in “real” life too.

Last but not least…..
Happy Kids and Happy Horses……..

I spend a lot of time being serious here. I spend a lot of time pointing out things I don’t think make sense. I and many other blog writers spend a lot of time trying to shame people into conforming to our standards, trying to make our viewpoint the one. In short I spend a lot of time “bitching”. Bitching seems to be quite in style these days….Fugly, Alpha Mare, Rush Limbaugh, and most stand up comics have elevated it to an art form. I guess it should make me feel better to know I am in good company but it still gets repetitive and tiring.
I believe we all have good intentions. We all want happy kids, happy horses, and happy lives. I hope so anyway. Maybe the best way to achieve this is one kid and one horse at a time. Those of us who have been in this horse thing forever have lots of one horse, one kid memories. We have stories of horses as a friend of mine puts it “we would ride through hell swinging a dry rope”. We have stories of horses that tested us to the other limit too. The long days, the good days, the bad days, and the average days, mental Kodak moments we believe are threatened or belittled every time we are accused of being heartless. This is one of mine. It’s not a perfect picture, but I know the girl, the mare, and the “boy” who snapped it.

One granddaughter, one grey mare, and one day in August when all was right with the world.
BY RH1