Hi xena. Oh, what a terrible experience for you and Luna. There's so much I could say about this but it won't change what's happened, but please believe me when I say I feel every ounce of the agony you went through and I admire you for trying to stand up to this sexist and cruel person (I refuse to call him a trainer!). Thank you for sharing this with us. I notice you don't say his name, I think it's important we know who these people are, we must not stay quiet about these people - if they set themselves up to be public 'trainers' then they must be prepared to stand up and be counted. On a practical note, can you get an equine physio in to look at Lunas tail carriage and see if there is anything that can be done? Best wishes to you and Luna, I hope you continue to have a lovely life together.

Hi Xena - thanks for sharing your story. I feel so much for you and Luna. It is just shocking what can happen at some clinics and your story is no exception. Like you I have learnt the hard way and now avoid clinics or anyone's offer of assistance with my horses. There are ostensibly a couple of really good natural trainers close to Melbourne and when I can find the time I would like to attend their clinics BUT only as a spectator first. I also hope one day to go and see Lynn Mitchell (Monty Instructor) and although I have not the same qualms about her I would still only attend as a spectator. From her web page I gather her clinics are mainly based on ground work with the dually and join up and my mare is perfect with that so no need to take her other than having the opportunity for someone else handle her. Your story is such a warning to us all so thanks for sharing. Do hope Luna's tail self corrects but if it is still held awkwardly after a few days I agree with Vicci - you need to get it checked out.

Hi Xena, you poor thing, how awful for you not to be able to stop this vile person, it's very difficult in that situation as you are in shock at what you're seeing, i'm so sorry for your horse.
I totally agree with vicci, he should be named & shamed as he'll go on doing this & getting lots of money for doing so.
Also agree with Maggief, watch what people do carefully before letting them near you horse.
Thank you for putting this out there, it's very important that theses people are exposed.

do get a physio to check her back out as her muscles have probably been damaged with all that severe backing up, treatment will help speed the healing for her & i hope you can get her over this awful experience as quickly as possible bless her.

Please post the name of this person so no one else will be taken in and their horses harmed by him.

Hi Xena, I am so sorry for your horrible experience. I want to validate the anguish and horror that you must still be going through after such an ordeal.
This situation might have been a blessing for both of you though. (one of those life lessons?) You will no longer tolerate anyone else mistreating you or your horse or anything else that you hold dear. When something like this happens to me, I re-create the whole scenario in my head - then re-write it the way I wished I would have handled it. (with confidence) That way when I find my self in a similar situation again, I will have the confidence to know what to do because I've already done it! Kudos for you and Luna! My heart goes out to you both.
oh.. and always remember... run like heck when you hear someone say, "Trust me!"

Xena, that is so upsetting to read. Good for you not going back day three. I wish you had knocked him out flat! He obviously lost it with the backing up episode. Faking, my a..! I suppose your mare was faking the sweat as well?
Didn't any one else react?
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It's weird how we tend to have too much respect for "authorities" in setups like this, to object when things get out of hand.
I was in a similar situation (as spectator) at a clinic where a well-known and respected Swedish trainer/rider held a dressage clinic. To make a long story short, he mounted one horse that was misbehaving (I think - it was more than 20 years ago) and started beating the poor thing left and right. The rider/owner was clearly distressed but unable to speak up. I'm ashamed to say I didn't speak up either - there was some murmur of approval on the stand - and a handful of us left in protest. Not that it helped the horse.
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As for her tail being crooked that's definitely a sign of something being damaged. Do contact a vet i it isn't better after a week.
You also should take pictures as evidence and maybe show it to the insurance company and ask if the trainer could be held liable.

I am so sorry I dropped off the face of the earth. Life just sort of turned upside down, I had to cancel my subscription here (I'm back as of today. yay!) but now I can finally say thank you to everyone who responded and sent good energy Luna's and my way. The Clinician's name is Doug Mills. I didn't want to say it at first because I just didn't want to hurt his livelihood. I know as a trainer that not everyone is going to gel wit how you do things,, but this was so far off in left field it just totally freaked me out. I had to come and post about it. You will all be happy to hear that Luna's tail finally is sitting correctly (yay chiropractor!) and she and I are starting under saddle work. She is a happy horse, and is the Darling of the barn where we now board. We have moved clear across the Province, our entire lives have changed, but I still have Luna. She's doing great, too. :) If you are wondering about my name change, I am going through gender transition and so I am now going by Kimba. But again I wanted to thank you all for being so kind.

HI Kimba

Lovely to have you back and so glad you still have Luna. So glad everything is working well for you.

Hi Kimba, sorry about your experience. I looked up this character on the web. Looks like a Clinton Anderson wannabe. Seems he selling horse tricks and a lot of hot air to support the family business. I saw no horsemanship reflected on his site. Just a lot of self/family promotion to maintain his "life style". I was not impressed. In fact when I saw the CA (cowboy halter) and lead in a picture on the "BECOMING AN APPRENTICE TRAINER", I wanted to vomit.
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Your story just strengthens my feels. He gets an "F" from me as a horse owner. Thanks for the valuable information.

Thanks Vicci and Greg! It's good to be back. :) I have had Luna now for several years, as i got her when she was 18 months old and now she will be five (OMGS I can scarcely believe that!) in a month. I have learned that with her it's 'slow and steady wins the race'. She may be almost five in chronological years, but her little mind is quite juvenile. Silly spooks and just general baby silliness. For the most part she's progressing fine, just one of those horses who needs lots and lots of time to process information and get comfortable with things. If she's rushed, she panics. Thankfully, she's my baby and nobody but nobody is ever going to rush her again. our goal with Summer is to go in a local Walk/Trot class. it will be our first mounted class in a horse show. That's what we're working toward, anyway. :)

Oh, and Greg you hit the nail on the head with your assessment of Mr Mills. Made me chuckle as I read it. 'Wannabe' indeed. :)

Hi Kimba, I shoot off a rather pointed email to him. I mentioned NO names. I basically told he he was a poser just trying to make a buck to support his family horse competition and to not pretend to be teaching horsemanship; also to "clean up his act". Probably a little too much male bravado in my comments. But, from one man to another he should be able to handle it. Well maybe all he knows is to bully horses ;). So I left my Name, Location, Phone number and Email address if he cared to respond. But I doubt I will hear anything.
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Just to be fair I read everything I could on his web site. Only watch one video though.

Wow Greg, hat's some chutzpah you have! :) Thanks for standing up for the horses :)

Thank you Kimba, I just feel it's the right thing to do. Someone once said (might have been Monty himself), "No horse is born with a problem. All horse problems are created by humans." I firmly believe this. My motto is "no lung whips, no violence".

Nobody, but NOBODY, touches my horses but me and my husband, and our farrier. I will not allow anyone to mistreat any animal of mine, and anyone who tries will have my husband and me to deal with, and wont like it. I have seen so called trainers that I wouldn't give the time of day to.

I'm with you guys! That was the one and only time I ever let any other trainer work on my horse. Monty would be the exception to that rule, of course. :)

I'm on a page on fb, and they were talking about this Clinton Aderson guy. so I was curious and went and watched a video of him dealing with a horse that had become very aggressive. I stopped half way through as he was whipping the horse that bad you could see the marks across his backside and back. People think this is right?? Like seriously. You know you should have used that whip on him and shown him what it felt like maybe he would change his mind. If anyone thinks it is fine to whip a horse then they are sadly mistaken. I hope you are both doing well, and I know from a experience like that it will leave you with a scar for the rest of your life. There really needs to be more Monty Roberts in the world.

I spend a lot of time on several Horse forums. CA is mostly well received. As I say, "Clinton is his own worst enemy". He is the new to the horse showman circuit. But some day he is going to pay dearly for what he dose at show time.

I know behind the scenes he takes his time and does not get could with his pants down when a horse bolts and has no place to run but over him. Hence the whip across the hind side.

Stick with Monty. Work the Uni Lessons. You will get a full rounded educations with no violence. Everything is clear, concise and incremental. Once you get Monty's Methodology through a true education you will see what CA is doing and his bag of tricks.

Hi All,
If you have moment, please go the forum under God Bless Monty---,
Last week I witnessed a similar disgusting, cruel, violent and abusive demonstration/how to train your horse on liberty.
The horses were whipped to sheer panic, welted bodies and owners were put in danger as this ?#@** continued. I know how you feel, in that I too did nothing at the time. I feel terrible that I did not react. I can only, like you, think that I was literally in shock.If he ever is in this area again, I will inform the Humane Society and perhaps even the police.
I hope you don't think this is overreaction. There were times when he had two hands on the whip, running at the horse and twice he hit horses in the face with the but-end of the whip
I am going to contact some of the participants to offer my help and show them the gentle way and hopefully help their horses recover from any residual damage.
Please say a prayer for me and them that all goes well.

I too, went to a clinic, but as an auditor and thank my lucky stars I DID NOT take my friend's horse!

It was a Parreli demonstration in the saddle, this guy wrenched the horses mouth so hard the bit went right through to the other side and had the biggest spurs on I have ever seen! He was ROUGH, MEAN and not civilized or gentle. I WAS NOT IMPRESSED! When I mentioned Monty Roberts train without pain, he laughed at me and said I was too GREEN! I have been around and training horses since I was 10! So I did my auditing and HE GOT AN F! Never will I go back nor send anyone to him either!

It's always about the $$$ and ego boosting and finding 'victims' to torture with these wannabe horse 'trainers'. And it's always at the expense of someone's horse-- like yours, Kimba. Tragic story. Made me sick. Their MO is to MAKE a horse act bad so they can show an audience how to fix what they just created-- otherwise their 'show' won't work.

I'm preaching to the choir! Go Greg! Go Monty! True horsemanship always shines through.

I think what is also very worrying is when people align themselves with a named person (Monty, Parelli, whoever....) and corrupt their methods in their name. It's one of the reasons why I prefer ideologies that use as little "method" and "gadgets" as possible and as much psychology/understanding of learning processes and a horse's natural processes as possible within a non- violent philosophy.
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There are good trainers who have a non-violent philosophy themselves but their 'method' gets misused and leads to abuse. The best example I have is the Parelli rope.
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I have seen so many people (incuding Parelli trainers) use the heavy clip at the head end to smack the horse under the chin and the leather flick at the other end to inflict pain. This is NOT taught by Pat Parelli and never has been, but many Parelli advocates do this and it gives the host a bad name. I have even had someone rant at me and insist that that is what Pat Parelli teaches - it is not.
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I have seen people misuse Dually's (actually what I most often see is shiny unused Dually's but that's a different story!!)and we know they can cause damage too.
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The ethos and philosophy has to be sound and then the method will be reasonable. We can argue until we are blue in the face about "whose method is better" but I strongly feel that it's the ideology that matters the most. I happen to prefer (after studying many many styles) Monty's way because the ethos is sound and the method is logical. But if soemone prefers Parelli that's fine with me but it MUST be practised within the right ethical framework. If the philosophy is wrong, people will find ways to be cruel even if they don't have a single bit of equipment in their hands.
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I think I'm i danger of lecturing/ranting ....I will stop now! :-)