Fourth Interview Questions

1)   What does a successful horse trainer mean to you? In other words, define success.

2)   Do you find yourself often working with people that have horse problems or horses that have people problems?

3)   What are some important qualities one should have when dealing with horses?

4)   What are some important qualities one should have when dealing with people?

5)   Would you consider showing someone's horse for them a part of training?

6)   When training a horse, what do you look for in the owner?

7)   Do you often find yourself administering basic veterinary care to the horses under your watch?

8)   Have there been any recent breakthroughs in technology that have helped and/or shown problematic in the horse training industry?

9)   At the moment, horse training has proven to of taken a blow from the terrible economy. Do you think the industry will improve in the next five years?

10)   Do you work alone, or do you like to have a partner(s) that help you with the training?

11)   Does equipment play a big role in training a horse?

12)   How would you define a 'green' horse?

13)   What sort of bit do you generally like to use when training a young or green horse?

14)   Do you see any similarities in the young horses you train?

15)   Do you have a distinct line between your professional life and your personal life? Or does training horses naturally fall into your personal life?

16)   There are many well known horse trainers around the globe. If you could pick one to train/work with, who would it be and why?

17)   Why did you choose to become a horse trainer?

18)   How long does it take, on average, to break a young horse?

19)   What is your main goal when it comes to training a horse?

20)   How do you determine the pricing of training someone's horse?

Independent Component 2 Plan Approval

1)   For my second independent component, I plan on applying training skills that I've learned through my research on my horse without any assistance. This will give me the chance to test what I've learned, and find/improve on any mistakes that may come up. Since my horse Leroy is already trained in the basics, I will focus on refining his skills, and possibly teach him new skills.

2)   My plan will meet 30 hours because I go to visit Leroy everyday, and plan on working on training skills with him at least four days out of the week. Working with him will consist of riding, lunging, and groundwork, which would give me at least 30 minutes of work to look forward to on every work day.

3)   My independent component 2 plan relates to my EQ of "What is most important to becoming a successful western horse trainer?" because it will let me experience first hand how to apply aids and techniques without assistance. I will also learn how to handle certain situations that may arise, such as the horse spooking or miss behaving.

Independent Componet 1

Link to Independent Component Log.
Link to pictures/videos showing proof.


Literal:
- I, Shannon Malally, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
- For my independent component, I took riding lessons with J. Kristen Keeler of JKK Performance Horses at Sycamore Canyon Equestrian Center. Each lesson was from 30 minutes to an hour and a half long. I rode my own horse, Leroy, and together we learned how to better ourselves in both the western and English disciplines. We focused on the western sport of reining, and have been able to improve our skills a lot over the past 3 or so months. We also attended and competed in shows with Kris Keeler, competing in reining, trail trials, western pleasure, and English pleasure.

Interpretive:
During the lessons, we focused on tuning up Leroy's reaction to commands, and also taught him a few new skills. I have also been improving my riding, having gotten a lot of critique from my trainer, Kris Keeler. With Leroy, we worked on rollbacks, spins, sliding stops, lead changes, the jog, sidepassing, opening gates, crossing tarps, crossing bridges, jumping crossrails, jumping 2ft, jumping 2'3", and basic dressage exercises. Kris focused on my riding, and gave my critique on how to hold the reins, how to ask for a sliding stop, perfecting spins, using and rolling spurs, improving the speed of rollbacks, correct jumping two-point posture, when to ask for lead changes, memorizing both reining and jumping course, and basic show preparation tips. Each show and lesson I attended took a great amount of time, as it is essential to warm-up a horse before starting the task of asking for specific commands. Hour long lessons were usual, as it's a good exercise for the horse and rider.

Applied:
Taking lessons helped me answer my EQ of "What is most important to becoming a successful western horse trainer?" because my trainer was able to share her knowledge of horses and riding with me, and I was able to practice techniques under a professional. Kris Keeler gave me important tips that should always be applied when riding any horse, such as keeping your heels down and toes up. I've also learned how to correctly apply aids to the horse, as Kris was able to tell me what I was doing correctly and incorrectly. I learned the value of patience and persistence, and experienced first hand the outcomes of specific training aids.

Presentation 2 Rough Draft

Link to Rough Draft