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I have always been interested in nature, animals of all kinds, and animal husbandry, but I did not have the "situation" to own horses until 1994. My wife, Else, grew up on a farm in upstate NY and always had horses. I met Else while we were both working as zookeepers in a small zoo in Binghamton, NY. I did not "discover" horses until middle age. I enjoyed driving and riding and soon trained my first horse, Dakota, a TWH, to drive. The connection between horse and man fascinates me and it gives me great pleasure to experience the development of trust that comes as one trains and develops a horse that can be safely used for driving or riding. We have owned many horses, and most of them I have trained to drive. Currently, I specialize in driving Haflinger horses, but I still have a TWH that rides and drives, plus Else's young Fell Pony that we are training and she will drive in the summer of 2009.
Over the years I have worked in several professions. Most recently, I have retired from a job as a Caseworker in the County Children's Services Dept., Prior to that I had worked as a job coach for the mentally challenged. Both jobs required criminal clearances and background checks, as well as some people skills and patience in teaching.
As a retired person, I do not plan to make my living from our Horse Driving School. I will only take on a limited number of students/horses each year. My goal is to provide to beginners, relatively inexpensively, a means to safely become more experienced in the exciting hobby of horse driving. I wish to share the joy and satisfaction that I experience watching a horse and driver develop. I believe, properly handled, the horse enjoys having a job pleasure driving or doing light farm work. Not to mention the thrill, a person can get by safely driving a horse down a country lane or through the fields, or through more challenging trails and water hazards.
My training philosophy is to use gentle "natural horsemanship" methods using pressure and release. Repetition and desensitizing is used also with the goal being obedience and lightness in the horse, hence , ultimately, safety. I have studied under many horsemen/women using videos and attending clinics, yearly, and will never stop learning. Clinicians I have received in-person instruction from include: Muffy Seaton, Holly Pulsifer, Peggy Brown, Olaf Nyby, and Andy Marcoux.
I do not claim to be an expert. I am still learning. I ride and drive for pleasure and recreation. I enter a few pleasure driving shows each summer, with some success, but always a learning experience. I have done some driving demos at a private stable and at 4-H clinics. I have been well received. I love equines of all kinds. I am currently committed to train and help a lady show her mammoth donkey in a driving class this summer (2009). I am a student of the human psychology also, and appreciate the need to concentrate on the human learning and confidence building (as well as the horse) necessary to make a safe and successful horse driver.
-John Brunner
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