Westfall Horsemanship
Basic Ground Work 2 DVD set
Gifts/Books/Videos
Manufacturer: Westfall Horsemanship
Model: Basic Ground Work 2 DVD set
Category: Gifts/Books/Videos
Purchase: I paid $50 plus shipping on ebay for this 2 DVD set, as I had seen the Stacy Westfall video going around the internet and I was really impressed with her riding. Even though I ride english, anyone who can ride bareback and bridleless in a reining competition clearly is an excellent horse person who instills confidence and trust in her horse.
Likes: She used three horses in the video: first, a horse who knew what to do, second, a young horse the same age as my own colt, and third, an older horse who needed refresher work. She was very clear with instructions and showed not only good parts, but also when horses did things they will do, like buck or paw, and how to correct it. The horses that came in weren't perfect, just like my colt.
Dislikes: For a "natural horsemanship" trainer, I though some of her ideas were less "natural" than they could have been. I personally like to see completely pain free methods, yet I was surprised when one horse in her video was using a twisted wire snaffle bit. That is too harsh a bit for me, and I ride eventers. Although none of her disciplines looked like they hurt the horse or were really mean, there was a lot of negative reinforcement rather than positive reinforcement. I would have preferred to learn how I could positively reinforce good behavior than negatively reinforce bad behavior, because I feel that has a more lasting and positive effect.
Quality: This is a 2 DVD set. The first two horses are on one DVD and the third horse is on the second CD. I would have preferred everything on one CD so I didn't have to change around much. The sections are well labeled, although I don't care to watch the intro each time I need to review some info.
Summary: Stacy is an excellent trainer---there is no getting around that. She makes things in this video look a lot easier than they are, just due to her experience and abilities. Although I plan to keep the video, I am still going to be looking around for another trainer who I feel has more natural horsemanship skills, as I prefer to positively reinforce my horse rather than use a dressage whip or "carrot stick" on his neck and face when he isn't doing when I want him to do. I also found that some of her methods simply didn't work on my horse, like turning him in a tight circle several times if he doesn't want to walk forward...I've found he's got an excellent pivot, but he still has no desire to move forward when he decides he doesn't want to, and she doesn't address alternative methods.
Rating: 3
Author: KN
Date: 0000-00-00
Usefulness Rating: 5 out of 5.
3 reader(s) voted.
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