We bought our horse in 2008 from a trainer that took him on a trade for training another horse.  He was a beautiful AQHA registered red dun and there was something about him that stole our heart, we named him Luke.  We had him green broke by the trainer that owned him at the time.  After a few months of us seeing the Trainer ride Luke, we knew something was missing.  Roger decided to take him on a trail ride.  He worked him in the ring first and tried flexing him and warming him up.  For some reason, after several hours of riding, Luke decided to “take off”, and take off he did.  That kind of behavior was just not acceptable to us.

We contemplated selling him and didn’t want a horse we couldn’t trust or one that didn’t have the proper groundwork or manners.  Even though he was young, 4 at the time, we knew that kind of behavior would only get worse.  Then a friend of mine told me about Lynn.  I emailed her and right away I got a response back from her to come by and look her training facilities over, talk about our concern with Luke, and decide if we wanted her to spend some time with him.

We went to Wytheville to meet with them.  Lynn and Steve were so friendly, it seemed like we knew them forever.  They have a great training facility and love horses.  We decided we would give them a try.  We took Luke to them in early June 2009.  Lynn first accessed him as not having much groundwork; he couldn’t flex very well, and was very sensitive in his hindquarters.  She had her vet check him out, told us he needed his teeth floated, which we did and it seemed to help, had him shod, for the very first time which he was great about, and now was ready to ride.  Lynn spent time accessing him, looking for signs that might make him sore, in pain or anything that would hinder the training process.  She found nothing and started ground working him.

She encouraged us to come by as often as we could and spend some time.  She showed us how to ground work him and get the respect from him that he so wanted to give.  It was amazing watching her and the natural skills she has with horses.  In one month, Luke was not only respectful; he was a much happier horse.  He wants to please, he just didn’t know how.  We have him home now and he ties, stands, flexes, baths, loads, knows his space/our space, lunges, and rides great.  If we had more time, we would have left him for another month as Lynn was getting him to side step, could open a gate off of him and much more.  He trail rides great, when he sees or hears deer or something new, he doesn’t bolt and has that natural trust once you bond with him. 

I know now that if we have any problems in the future, with any of our horses, Lynn is the only Trainer I would go to. 

Roger & Deb Bench

Bluefield, VA