USD Magazine, Summer 2001

wasn't just about talking to the horse, but listening to the horse. Once a trainer understands the horse's issues - its insecurities o r anxieties - learning becomes a partnerhship between human "It is all about understanding where that horse is, mentally and psychologically, and then Stonecypher-Cote, who with husband Gerald has trained hundreds of horses without using restraints, chains or other traditional "breaking" methods. "Tom Dorrance had all these people coming to him with ' problem horses.' And he told me that it wasn't the person who was having trouble with and animal. going from there," says

the horse, it was the horse hav- ing trouble with the person." To listen, Stonecypher-Cote spends time watching the animal, its body language and reactions. On a recent spring day, she observed two horses groom each other and made a mental note of where they scratched. Next time, she'll scratch them For a horse that refuses to be saddled, Stonecypher-Cote will start with a blanket. If the horse still bucks, she'll use a handker- chief. If that doesn't work, she'll apply some light pressure with "Once we get the change that is appropriate at that level," she says, such as the horse accepting in the same spot. her hand.

a piece of cloth on its back, "then we'll have the horse go to its corral and think about it." Carolyn Frankel took her Arabian to the couple after unwittingly using other trainers who used fear as a tactic - she came upon one trainer kicking her horse in the shins to get it to back up. Because of the abuse, her horse threw every rider who climbed on its back. After about 30 sessions with Karen and Gerald, Frankel now can ride her horse bareback with just a halter."I feel safe, really safe, with him," she says, petting the stately horse's nose.

path. After graduating from USO, she spent eight years working for a San Diego stock brokerage firm, rising to management. After a company shakeup, her thoughts turned to horses, and she decid- ed to trade them. But she had one big problem - whenever she bought a horse, she didn't

want to sell it.

At the urging of her husband, she tried horse training, and was

back in the saddle again.

"I try not to make it a busi- ness, but rather to concentrate on the qualities of the horse and rider," says Stonecypher-Cote, who also trains young riders for the show circuit. "I look for the good in people, and I look

Despite her horse training

success, Stonecypher-Cote never intended to go down the bridle

for the good in horses."

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