I was the kid that would ride anything.

I was also the kid that could stay on….. pretty much anything.

They were putting me on difficult horses when I was 10 or 11 years old, and I was starting young horses myself by age 13.

I thought I knew something.

When I went to college at the ripe old age of 17, I began my own full time stable. I actually helped put myself through college teaching lessons and training horses.

After a couple years I was doing pretty well for myself. I’d started a couple dozen horses, finished another couple dozen, and reformed quite a few bad actors. I had a waiting list for horses to come to me for training.

The methods I knew worked….. most of the time. In fact, they had worked every time.

I thought I was a pro.

That I could train horses.

That I knew what I was doing.

A horse named Trouble changed all of that.

The day he arrived he destroyed 200 feet of fencing in the middle of the night. I had never had one wreak such immense havoc right off.

That was how he got the moniker in his first 24 hours.

Little did I know……

After the fence was repaired and the wild animal had settled in a bit, I went about my normal routine getting him started under saddle.

Or rather I ATTEMPTED my normal routine…..

and it was a

total

complete

fail.

This was a pretty big epiphany for a self confident 20 year old.

I was hanging out in the local feed store…… whining….. about this latest chapter in my horse training career.

The store owner craftily took advantage of my misery and sold me his latest item….. a full set of incredibly expensive VHS tapes on COLT STARTING!

I went home and watched the first tape. It was a totally different approach but seemed pretty doable.  

If nothing else, Bad Eventer is GOOD at following directions……(even the bad ones………)

I watched the first video. It started with a horse you couldn’t even touch and ended with the horse saddled and the rider mounting for the first time.

I marched straight out to the arena and followed the directions.

It worked like a charm.

I got on the wild steed.

No problems.

That’s where the video had ended……………..

I wasn’t sure what came next……….

So I did what I normally did….. I picked up the reins squeezed with my legs, and instantly found myself…..

in deep…….

DEEP……….

T R O U B L E

I managed to do something like an emergency dismount, crawled back into the house and started video #2.

The video begins…..he had just gotten on the horse (yeah, yeah, we had gotten to that part…..)

And he says, “Now remember. You don’t re-arrange the furniture on the first date. Whatever you do, don’t start with using the reins AND your legs at the same time.”

Bad Eventer decided to watch ALL THE VIDEOS before riding Trouble again.