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Thursday, May 07, 2009
Horse expert to conduct clinic in Cashmere on training and hoof care
Thursday, May 07, 2009
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Submitted photo
Paul Rogers
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Paul Rogers, a horse trainer from Ellensburg and head of Remuda International, will put together two clinics on May 9 at the Chelan County Expo Center.
Rogers has been training horses for more than 20 years and this is his first teaching trip to the city.
Remuda International, Rogers' business, puts on horse-training and hoof-care clinics all over the Northwest. Just in May alone, Rogers will teach in Cashmere, Pendleton, Ore., and Wenatchee, among others.
Training a horse is like getting to know a person, Rogers said.
"You interact with them, you get to know them," he said. "Horses don't speak English, so you gotta kind of use body language with them, when you're interacting with them."
Spokena language may not be their thing, but horses are responsive to other aspects of the human body, such as pheromones and touch, Rogers said.
Training a horse is easier than people think, he added. Horses gravitate toward humans and that's what kept the relationship between human and beast alive for centuries.
"You put a horse that is ornery and temperamental toward grown-ups," he said. "And you put it around a kid, and it'll take care of that kid like it was its own."
Rogers got his start as a trainer taking care of, as he put it, the horses other people didn't want. Troubled, tough, tantrum-prone horses, gave him the best school possible on how to tame and teach any kind of horse.
"I realized that these horses acting this way, they weren't born that way," he says. "Their interaction with a human made 'em difficult to deal with or trouble. Self-preservation is a very strong instinct in a horse."
Rogers still deals with a lot of troubled horses and what he calls human-made issues. "It's kind of my specialty, I guess."
Nowadays, Rogers is busy getting another facet of his business off the ground: applying the horse-human relationship and its communication methods, to the business world.
People can discover much about themselves when they interact with horses.
Rogers grew up around horses, so he took that interaction for granted. It wasn't until he grew up and realized most people have to wait and get a job and save money until they can afford to have a chance to own a horse.
The first horse clinic will start at 8 a.m. and will last until noon. In the afternoon there will be a horsemanship class.
The clinic is open to people with all levels of expertise, from beginner to professional.
"It's for everybody who loves horses," he said.
Registration is $50 for each class. Each class is four hours long.
Sebastian Moraga can be reached at (509) 782-3781 or by e-mail at moraga@cashmerevalleyrecord.com
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