# Opinions on Clinton Anderson Training??



## Crossroadshorsefarm (Apr 17, 2012)

I am looking to get into a training method for my horse and my horse's hope to be future foal. I have been looking at the Clinton Anderson method and I watch his shows on RFD-TV. I just want some opinions. Has anyone had great success with his methods? Are they easy to follow?? Worth the money?? Good, the bad and ugly please!!  Any opinions or advice will be much appreciated!! Just want to know opinions before I spend $400 on it.

Thanks!!


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## gigem88 (May 10, 2011)

I like him because he's a good teacher and he lays a good foundation for you and your horse. I usually rent the vids from giddyupflix, that way if I don't like or agree with a certain trainer I haven't bought the DVD!


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

I like him but I haven't bought any of his DVDs. He explains things so it's easy to understand, at least for me. 

Instead of paying the full $400, you might find them on eBay for less. You could also become a member on his site for only $20/month. There you can watch his DVDs and tv shows anytime, from what I hear. I had only watched him on RFDTV.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Fingerlakes (May 2, 2012)

I have all his stuff.. John Lyons also... Plus my sister is Lyons certified.

Good stuff! You can't go wrong.


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## HighonEquine (May 11, 2012)

My best advice.. Lots and lots of research! Not necessarily on Clinton Anderson but just different training methods in general. You need to figure out what you as your horses leader and trainer find appropriate for your horse. No horse is the same and neither is any given form of training. I personally like a lot of what Clinton Anderson does, but I also like a lot of John Lyons stuff. Also, I know from experience that you can't do all your learning just from books and videos. Granted there is a lot to be learned from them, but they can't be your only form of instruction. It would be in your horses and your best interest to look into a good trainer around your area who uses a lot of the same principals you believe in and get some lessons. A good trainer will see any mistakes you are making and help you fix them right away. A lot of the time we don't realize we aren't doing something right until someone points it out to us. Always remember you are your horses leader and protector and you make his/her choices for him/her.


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## Crossroadshorsefarm (Apr 17, 2012)

gigem88 said:


> I like him because he's a good teacher and he lays a good foundation for you and your horse. I usually rent the vids from giddyupflix, that way if I don't like or agree with a certain trainer I haven't bought the DVD!


The Giddyup flix is the way to go!! Thats awesome!Thanks!


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## Duren (Oct 25, 2011)

I agree with what HighOnEquine said.

While watching training videos and reading books in great, it should not be your only way of learning. Go visit some trainers in your area and ask them about their methods and pick one you feel comfortable with.

Also keep in mind that "Clinton Anderson" is now just as much a marketed brand as he is a trainer. "His" methods have been used for ages, he just happens to have the marketability and name recognition, which is why he can charge hundreds of dollars for videos and actually have people pay it.


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## DriftingShadow (Jun 4, 2012)

My BO and a lot of others at my barn are big fans of his. I have seen some of his things and liked them, but not enough to form an opinion. 

Personally I am a HUGE Buck Brannaman fan  His methods have worked the best for Drifter and I


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## DriftingShadow (Jun 4, 2012)

My BO and a lot of others at my barn are big fans of his. I have seen some of his things and liked them, but not enough to form an opinion. 

Personally I am a HUGE Buck Brannaman fan  His methods have worked the best for Drifter and I


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

His method is easy to fallow, for most people, but the man him self is an @$$. IMHO all his vids on RFDTV are "buy my product"


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

I enjoyed his tv show a lot more a few years ago -- they have really strayed miles into info-mercial territory now, where there used to be a lot more useful training tips and exercises explained. I agree, the whole thing has become about as much about the "brand" as certain other NH circuses. Personally, that kind of hype turns me off the system and makes me want to find loopholes and ways to find the good stuff through all the fluff and light shows and dollar signs. 

That being said, the nuts and bolts of the method are worth learning and understanding. I like the way that CA explains things and makes some fairly subtle and tricky concepts easy to understand and implement. I use a lot of his groundwork exercises myself, particularly a variation of what he calls Lunging for Respect. 

I'm not as big of a fan of his under-saddle work; I see a lot of focus on the face and a forced, unnatural-looking vertical flexion coming from his method of isolating poll flexion from the rest of the horse's body. Unless I'm dealing with an issue of very basic control (i.e., gas, brakes, or steering), I prefer what I suppose one could call "more traditional" horsemanship, for lack of a better adjective. His horses look very defensive about their mouths to my eye. Personal preference, of course; I know many people who put their hearts, souls, and wallets into getting that trademark CA topline silhouette. 

Bottom line: methods are easy to understand and implement (for me, anyway), results are as advertised in my personal experience, but very overpriced. If you're interested, go for gently used materials or DVD rentals.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

There is a world of difference between the way CA approaches a horse, as far as he talks about them, and the way Bill or Tom Dorrance, or Ray Hunt approached a horse (as per their writings).

The CA method feels as if the horse is an adversary. The others always have "how can I help this horse" in mind.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

tinyliny said:


> The CA method feels as if the horse is an adversary. The others always have "how can I help this horse" in mind.


That is well put. I should add that SO MANY horses come with baggage and are dangerous and "breaking" them is the only way to bring them back to correct behavior.
If the market was turning out loads of well trained horses, we would have not need of CA or the other trainers. Even in the early 20th century--1920 was the peak of horse ownership in the US--Walter Berry published his training method in order to help horse owners establish leadership and submissiveness, which CA's method produces.
I agree, look into MANY METHODS. I saw his program pushing his foal training. If I ever get a weanling--might not, since I've had horses for 27 years and you kinda lose interest in such things--I WILL buy his foal starting DVD's. IMO, the system is sound and he shows how HE works with a foal from the 1st hour forward (imprinting), as well as working with an older foal that hasn't been handled, and THAT is very useful.


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

i love CAs ground work stuff, it really helped me train my horse when she really knew nothing at all ! i dont know much about his undersaddle stuff, but i find his groundwork videos very easy to follow. if you join the no worries club you have access to all sorts of videos and get mailed journals which is really nice at only $20/month.


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## pgboogie (Apr 7, 2012)

HUGE *new* fan of giddyupflix.com

BUNCHES of trainers, some waiting but only about $21/mo for 3 dvd's at once! I'm myself a newbie horse owner and am using a blend of Clinton Anderson Round penning and then going to my riding instructor (Natural horsemanship horse guy) for further clarification and "touchups". I'm new to horse training but feel like I'm learning loads and go to my instructor when I'm running into issues.

I would be upset if I spent the $400 on the round penning series, but since I'm renting them for a nominal fee, I'm totally ok with the "advertising". 

BUT as always, when in doubt, consult the professionals!!


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## RunJumpRide (Sep 29, 2011)

I really like Clinton's Method. I'm a member of his No Worries Club, and there's great videos on training. I don't have any DVD's but I've recorded all his programs on RFDTV. there's also a forum on the NWC that you can ask questions on the method too! It's good stuff 
I'm going to Clinton's Walkabout Tour next weekend too. 
He's my favorite trainer because he's a really good teacher and his ways are black and white; nothing outrageous.


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## Ian McDonald (Aug 24, 2011)

I studied Clinton quite a bit when I first became interested in training horses. It was a good place to start as most of it is geared toward the beginner. A lot of the demonstrations on his DVDs gloss over or completely omit any mention of the way a horse actually moves and involve a lot of pulling them around with a lot of physicality and dumping them on their front ends with "millions and millions of one-rein stops". Notice how many times during a DVD that he changes shirts. If you watch him work for any length of time without a cut and a scene change (such as in Road to the Horse) you can see that he tends to get his shirts soaked with sweat. When I see this I can only wonder how Bill Dorrance, at over 90 years old, could have ever gotten by without that youth and tenacious athleticism. Some horsemen are artists. Others are mechanics. Clinton is what I would call a good mechanic. Skilled, but pretty limited in the scope of his thoughts on horses. Or at least it seems that way, judging purely from his available material that I've seen. For me Clinton Anderson was the gateway drug into horsemanship. His stuff was great for getting me started down the path but at this point all of the one-rein stops and other mechanical means of control (especially for emergencies) have faded into the background of my repertoire much like one eventually takes the training wheels off of the bike. Not knocking the dude at all, but I would say that if a person wants to really get into horses that there's a whole world of ideas and methods out there beyond Clinton.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Ian McDonald said:


> I studied Clinton quite a bit when I first became interested in training horses. It was a good place to start as most of it is geared toward the beginner. A lot of the demonstrations on his DVDs gloss over or completely omit any mention of the way a horse actually moves and involve a lot of pulling them around with a lot of physicality and dumping them on their front ends with "millions and millions of one-rein stops". Notice how many times during a DVD that he changes shirts. If you watch him work for any length of time without a cut and a scene change (such as in Road to the Horse) you can see that he tends to get his shirts soaked with sweat. When I see this I can only wonder how Bill Dorrance, at over 90 years old, could have ever gotten by without that youth and tenacious athleticism. Some horsemen are artists. Others are mechanics. Clinton is what I would call a good mechanic. Skilled, but pretty limited in the scope of his thoughts on horses. Or at least it seems that way, judging purely from his available material that I've seen. For me Clinton Anderson was the gateway drug into horsemanship. His stuff was great for getting me started down the path but at this point all of the one-rein stops and other mechanical means of control (especially for emergencies) have faded into the background of my repertoire much like one eventually takes the training wheels off of the bike. Not knocking the dude at all, but I would say that if a person wants to really get into horses that there's a whole world of ideas and methods out there beyond Clinton.


 
That is perfectly put. Thank you.


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