Darren Woller is a successful barrel racing trainer who is popular not just with western riders but dressage and eventing riders, too. Here's his approach to training the perfect horse and rider.
Darren Woller answer a few questions for us to give us insight into his training philosophy. WHAT MADE YOU BECOME A HORSE TRAINER? Woller: Horse training is something I’ve done my whole life, in one form or another. There was never a finished horse for me as a kid or a teen, I was always working with a horse with issues because that’s what I had. Growing up, I believed that horse training was the profession for me, but was encouraged to find a “real job” instead. I continued working with my own horses during the evenings and weekends, buying horses with issues, raising a few youngsters, and helping friends out. I spent about 15 years putting really long hours in at a real job—but those were hours I dreaded. I finally decided if I’m going to put that much time in, it’s going to be something I love, and decided to make the leap to training horses as a job. WHAT IS THE MAIN GOAL OF YOUR TRAINING PROGRAM? Darren: My main goal is to develop confident and balanced horses and riders with the leadership abilities to maintain this balance. Balance is achieved when you have a horse that is equally responsive to cues and desensitized to all other distractions. This balance, along with a solid foundation of skills, is the key to having a willing partner, which is important no matter what discipline you do. HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE YOUR APPROACH TO LESSONS AND TRAINING? Woller: I favor a back to basics approach. I want to be able to control every part of the horse’s body in every direction. The basics are so important to not rush through for a green horse, and often a “finished” show horse that comes to me because of a seemingly complicated problem is really just exposing a problem it has with the basics. For example, you can rush a barrel horse to the pattern and skip teaching it the basics, and you can have a very competitive horse pretty quickly. However, when you run into a problem in your pattern with that horse that lacks these foundational skills, you don’t have the tools you need to fix that problem. You can keep wasting entry fees running that horse, or you can go back and fill in the gaps from its original training. No matter what your discipline, any maneuver is simply a combination of the basics. So perfect the primary exercises and then glue them together to accomplish more complicated maneuvers. WHAT ENCOURAGES YOU MOST ABOUT THE HORSES AND STUDENTS YOU TEACH? Darren: What encourages me the most is seeing how quickly I can make a difference in a horse, in a rider, and in the relationship between horse and rider, and the impact that has on my clients. I’ve had customers on the brink of selling a horse because they couldn’t enjoy their time with the horse because of behavior issues. I find it very rewarding to be able to help people enjoy their horses again. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU TRY TO TEACH YOUR HORSES? YOUR STUDENTS? Woller: The most important thing I teach horses is to respect people’s personal space. I see this as the root of a lot of behavior problems that range from merely annoying to dangerous. To me, this is the key to being able to work with a horse safely. For students, it’s leadership. I teach my students how to be assertive and judicious leaders that horses can follow confidently. WHAT ARE SOME QUALITIES YOU LIKE TO SEE RIDERS DEVELOP? Woller: Soft hands, awareness of timing and position along with a good seat. WHAT'S THE BIGGEST MISTAKE PEOPLE MAKE WITH HORSES? Woller: The biggest mistake I see over and over is green riders with green horses. It makes for a very tough learning environment where both the horse and rider almost certainly destined to fail. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A HORSE? Woller: The most important thing to consider when buying a horse is the intended use for that horse. A horse may be perfect for one job and terribly suited for a different job. You have to know what qualities will help a horse do a certain job and what qualities will hinder it. For example, I like athleticism and conformation in a barrel prospect. But if I was looking for a kid’s horse, it’s all about personality. ARE THERE ANY CHARACTERISTICS THAT SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS HAVE IN COMMON? Woller: A willingness to work on themselves. When you realize a horses behavior is a reflection of what you are communicating to your horse, then you realize that any change that is to be made in your horse must first start with a change in your own behavior. WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST REWARDING ABOUT THE WORK YOU DO? Woller: The smiles on peoples’ faces when they get to enjoy their horses to the fullest.
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