THE BEGINNING

There are many theories why girls and women love horses and I will share my theory with you. For many girls the relationship with their horse is their first real relationship.  It is a relationship that encourages girls to exercise individuality and power.  The relationship with a horse may be the first experience with passion in a young woman’s life and as we grow older many of us find that our relationship with a horse helps us to find equilibrium in the world that only recognizes our defects of character and shortcomings.  Horses patch the holes in our beings. Our love for horses gives us citizenship in a community of people who embrace our imperfections.

We give our hearts to our horses and our trust to our trainers and that is where the trouble begins.

A good friend gave me some advice when I asked her if a horsewoman that we both knew was trustworthy.  She said that it was important that I make that decision for myself and not rely on the advice of others when giving my trust.  Is it possible that the fraud and dishonesty in the horse industry is caused by disregard for so simple a rule? As naïve and trusting people we want to believe what we are promised, and many of the trainers in the horse industry seem to have a second sense of who is vulnerable to their tactics. As consumers we have tools to help us select dishwashers, carpeting, and roofing materials, but we need to be more self sufficient in selecting trainers and horse dealers to trust.  They declare their own degree of reliability and we believe them because they told us how honest they are.