My mom and I found a lesson barn about fifteen minutes away from our house. They breed Paints and do mostly roping, WP, and HUS. The trainer said there are about 100 horses on the property. The facility is very nice and most of the horses looked really good, but I did see a couple of skinny broodmares and one horse that was a bag of bones and had clumps of fur falling out. I have no idea what the story is behind those few horses. I don't know if she's rehabbing them or what. The stalls were kept immaculate and all the horses had food in front of them. The owner/trainer seems to really know what she's doing.
I had a lesson with her today on her $30,000 Paint gelding, which was the most expensive horse I've ever ridden! The lesson went well and it was a whole new experience learning to ride a WP/HUS horse. He was trained to respond completely off of leg aids, which was really cool. My legs are going to hate me tomorrow, but it was worth it. I have another lesson scheduled for the same time next week.
The barn isn't as laid-back as my old boarding barn. Maybe that's why it feels so weird to me. And I get the impression that the people there are strictly riders, not horsemen. The horse was saddled for me and she didn't even want me to rub him down afterward. Which is okay for me because I already know how to do those things, but what about beginners? I get the impression that she only teaches people how to ride, and not how to take care of a horse.
I don't know. I'm interested to see what happens with the skinny horses. I don't know how you can have dozens of horses that look like they're ready for a show, and then have ones that look like poop. If things don't improve, I'm going to quit. I'll just have to wait and see.
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