I remember that show from when I was a kid.  How family dynamics have changed since then.  I’m not going into that because that will open a whole can of worms.

We have knowledgeable horse people and we have horse owners.  That’s not saying that horse owners are not knowledgeable, but it is saying that professional horsemen/women aren’t always right.  Let’s look at that for a moment.

You have professional horsemen/women who are very knowledgeable in their fields.  They have more years of experience than you have lived.  When we deal with them we believe that they will make the right decisions.

Then we have the horse owner.  Now this person may not have the years of experience, but if they have half a brain, they know their horse.  They understand their horse and their horse understands them.  Now I’m not saying that every horse owner has a corner on the market of how to handle a given situation, but they usually know how their horse is going to react.

They may not have the bag of tools needed or the aggressive behavior to give their horses confidence to move forward on an issue, but they have the clues to right a situation.

Now I will give a professional the benefit of the doubt when going to do something with one of my horses, but I’m not a stupid person, and I do know my horses.  I’m not asking them to submit to my way of doing things, but I do expect them to check with me as to what will work with a particular horse.

My one mare was balking about getting into a Equine Dentists trailer.  Nothing bad, just hesitating and moving from side to side.  She’s usually an easy loader.  She was concerned about what was going on.  Why were these strong-willed men trying to make her go into a trailer with all this stuff in it?  Were they going to take her away from her home?  Why were all the other horses running around in their pastures?  All this was making her hesitate.  I had my other horse in my hand and said I will put her in the round pen and come and lead my mare into the trailer.  While I was walking away, the one man took a crop to her butt.  She got in, but at what cost?

Now I know this mare, and she will remember.  I also know she will get even.

I didn’t understand why they had to be macho and do it their way when if I just spoke quietly to her, assured her that it was okay, and asked her to follow me in, she would have done it.  Maybe not quickly, but cautiously, with no added stress.  As it was she was tranquilized, then again when she balked, but by the time we got her into the trailer she had chicken eyes, and I told them that if they wanted to work on her they better hit her again.  There was no softness to her eyes, only fear.

I don’t care how much you think a professional knows.  I can only hope that their ego will let them check with the owner and get clues to what the owner may know about their own horse.

I will mention this to these two gentlemen, about my feelings on what took place.  I did not go into it at that time because I would have reacted out of anger and disappointment.  I know that they are on a time schedule and they can’t play games, but give the horse a chance to have a good experience so that next time there won’t be a hesitation or a fight.  Use this as a good learning experience for the horse.

I spent a lot of time talking to them.  They were indirectly testing me on my knowledge and how strong and determined I felt on various subjects.  I listened to their views, and expressed and backed up mine with facts.  Dug my heels in and stood my ground.

Thinking back afterwards, this mare had been done in a dental trailer before.  Perhaps it was a previous experience that made her react the way she did to them.

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I have contacted the dentist who did apologize for his assistants actions.  The gentleman was just filling in for a new assistant who will be joining the group in a week.  He assured me that it would not happen again.  I mentioned to him that whenever we have contact with a horse we are either teaching or reinforcing something good, or something bad.  But then you’ve heard me say all this before.