Don West is the consummate
professional horseman; breeder, trainer, teacher, author, and equine
product designer. He specializes in paso and naturally gaited horses,
trail riding, and low-impact horse camping. An
internationally known and respected speaker/clinician, Don is an expert
in saddle fit and design, training for trail riding, and back country
wilderness horse travel. Not just a lecturer or teacher, Don thinks of
himself more as an "equine success coach", your "learning leader
for equine adventure". Come ride with Don at West Gait Equine
Learning Center, near Fruita, Colorado, and learn, hands-on, under Don's
supervision, what he calls: "horse handling-horse sense", "sit-down
equitation" and "synergistic-synchronistic riding".
"Saddle Up- Let's Ride!"
Don's saying: "A comfortable horse is a happy horse, and a
happy horse makes for a happy rider." describes his straight
forward, no-nonsense, easy to understand approach to riding and
training. As Don says, "If you're a rider, you're a
trainer! Every time you touch your horse, you teach your
horse. Every time your rein your horse, you train your horse.
Your job, as a rider-trainer, isn't to make each horse the best, it's to
make the best of each horse. Success with horses requires both tact and
tack. In this human/equine partnership, you're horse is the brawn, and
you're (supposed to be) the brains. For a safe and satisfying
relationship, learn how to use finesse (correct touch and timing) instead of force, and patience and
perseverance instead of pain and punishment so that you can end up being
the benevolent master, and have your horse be your willing servant."
