Q&A with David
What drove you to become a horse trainer?
I dig it, I love it, I love all of the aspects of it. I grew up with it, it’s home to me. My dad was a saddlebred trainer, and me and my brothers would wake up and head to the barn, help with everything from cleaning stalls to grooming to working horses whether we wanted to or not. It’s just part of me.
What’s a typical day like for you?
Wake up a five, get my coffee from McDonalds, and get to the barn by 6 a.m. I have a white board in the tack room, where we have a weekly and daily plan for the horses. I start by going over the board with the team, we plan the day, we go over what we are doing with the horses, who we are giving lessons to - we get organized and we keep rolling from there. I live and die by the dry erase board.
Each Saturday all of my clients are invited to come out in the morning, I call it show and tell day, where the students ride or drive their horse, and everything we do during the week is geared towards getting ready for Saturday and for any upcoming horse show. Clients will bring friends or family out to watch sometimes, it’s pretty fun.
What is unique about the saddlebred, what drew you to this breed in particular?
My family drew me to the horse. My grandfather first saw them in the early forties, he was a cattle rancher in Wyoming, and he used to also round up mustangs and horses, transport them across the country, and put them on boats overseas to Europe after the war. During that period, the horse population of horses in Europe was decimated because of the war, and Europeans needed horses to plow fields and work.
When he was on a trip putting horses on boats, he had the opportunity to see the American Saddlebred for the first time. When he came home, he said he found the best horse ever and he moved his family to the Carolinas and started training and breeding saddlebreds. My father and his brothers followed suit and built careers around the breed.
I love the saddlebred, I’ve grown to appreciate and love other horses and what they do, but the saddlebred is home for me. I have a favorite spot for saddle horses, their ability, athleticism, their beauty, showmanship, their presence. I think they are the best at what they do.
Do you have advice for someone who wants to become a horse trainer?
Find good trainers you can apprentice with, learn from everybody, but find your own way. Horse training has to really resonate with you, because it doesn’t make sense on paper, you have to really want the lifestyle and love horses.
One thing I love about training is seeing horses come along and seeing that lightbulb moment, when they get something. And I love seeing that with my clients, all their hard work, culminating into a moment. Seeing the “blue ribbon moment.” It doesn’t have to always mean a blue ribbon, a victory can be “I’ve got my second direction cantor lead down” or “I came in the ring better.” It’s the little things, it’s the moments that are great.
Tips for new equestrians?
Find a place that is going to keep you safe, and teach you, really teach you. Make sure the trainer takes the time to educate you in riding and horsemanship. Find someone that’s knowledgable and experienced and makes a concerted effort to keep you safe first and foremost.
