Settler 

In June of 2002 I searched for a trainer for my 6-year-old horse, Settler. Settler was a former racehorse, who had 73 starts and won 4 times. He had had some rough handling before I bought him in July 2001.

Because of an unfortunate accident that happened to me in August of 2001, I have been outfitted with a rod and 4 screws in my right leg. After 10 months of wearing a cast and 3 surgeries later, I attempted to ride this horse. Remember, I said attempted. Settler decided to buck anytime he felt like it, especially at the canter. Now I am not your average horse owner, I am a certified riding instructor and have been teaching for 23 years. But I am not a trainer. I needed help from a trainer that I would respect and like. I have learned that you don’t learn a lot if you do not have a relationship with the trainer. I looked on-line for trainers in the Albuquerque area, and found a few, but the one that I choose was Chris Fleming. I asked her if after an evaluation of Settler if she thought she could make him into a trustworthy and ride able horse. What a great relief when she said yes. With an injured right leg, I knew that I was not able to do what needed to be done.

Chris started from the ground, free lunging; teaching my handsome boy to whoa at anytime she said it.

I could not believe that she was able to do this. She had him whoa within one session. She had me do some homework also, desensitizing him to the whip, dropping his head with a wiggle of the lead rope attached to his halter. She rode him a couple times a week to begin with, and found that his naughty behavior was a due lot to cross firing at the lope. The cross firing was the primary cause of the bucking, because he didn’t do it with any mean intentions. The secondary reason for the bucking was simple excess nervous energy. That was addressed by cutting back on the grain he was fed.

Another difficulty was that he did not want to go to the right side at all. Chris solved this problem by long lining him to the right. Chris has worked so hard on this horse, he is a real sweetheart and nice to look at too. She finally got him to where he picks up the right lead without cross firing and canters without bucking too. Chris still comes here once a month, just to maintain all the hard work she has done. I am able to ride Settler now, and he no longer bucks me and I am feeling way more confident on top of this very powerful horse. He is trying really hard to please me and I owe it mostly to Chris.

Look for us at some of the local shows this year, as he is almost ready