the REAL clinton anderson

Here's his response today, taken from his own website, to a story that went viral on Facebook after a woman posted a sad post on her Facebook page. Why? Because her horse went to Clinton Anderson's farm in Texas and never came home. He died. And no one seems to know exactly why. He was apparently "low-tied and left to graze." Now he's buried on Clinton's Texas farm.

I shared the story on Facebook because I recently got a Clinton Anderson catalog in the mail and was horrified to see the bull whips (used to crack beside your horse's head for desensitization), bits from hell, and the infamous "Patience Pole" - used to tie your horse after training so he "can process what he just learned."

Then the woman posted on her page that people should stop sharing the story because she'd heard from Clinton and he wanted her to stop the drama. (my paraphrasing)

A lot of people went to the woman's page and pointed fingers, saying it didn't add up, couldn't have happened, etc.

Except Clinton then posted his statement, which I have copied and pasted here. Tell me if you want your horse anywhere near this egomaniac.


by Clinton Anderson 28. March 2013 11:27

First of all, this is nobody's business other than mine and the horse's owner. If people would pay more attention to their own lives, their own horses and their own problems, the world would be a much better place. But there are too many looky-lous and sticky beaks that want to stick their nose in and stir up trouble when there's no trouble to be stirred up.

#1 People need to get a grip on themselves. Animals die. Humans die. It's called life. In fact, there's this bumper sticker that was invented that says "s*** happens." People put it on the back of their bumpers because that's what happens in life. It's called s***  and it happens. Sometimes it's somebody's fault, but a lot of times it's nobody's fault. Again, it's referred to as s*** happens.

#2 It's unfortunate that the horse died. Reality is we don't know how he died because the owner didn't want to get an autopsy. Horses die at my ranch. Yes, it's called life. We have 60 horses on the ranch, we have dogs and we even have cats. In fact, we had a cat fight in the barn last week, and one of them died. Shocking, yes. It's called life. Animals die. Yes, even Clinton Anderson's animals die. It's called life. I know this is shocking to know that as good as I am and as popular as I am and as famous as I am, my animals don't live forever either. Holy s*** , I must be human. For any moron that's getting his panties in a wad because a horse died at Clinton Anderson's ranch, get a life.

#3 It's unfortunate that the owner had to go and start this whole fire because I'm the one that has to go put it out. I've apologized to the owner; it's not my fault the horse died. It's not the owner's fault the horse died either. We don't know how it died. We believe it had something to do with either a brain aneurism or a heart attack because it died extremely quickly and there was no struggling involved. Reality is it was the owner's choice not to get an autopsy - she didn't want to get one.

I apologized to the owner; in fact, I've spoken with her on three separate occasions about this subject. We sent the owner flowers and we refunded all of the owner's money. I did everything I possibly could. In fact, I even offered the owner a Signature Horse free of charge. I went above and beyond to try to help her through the grieving process. A Signature Horse, with all its training, is worth $25,000. She declined the Signature Horse because she said the horse was too small. I had a horse picked out for her that was 14.1 hands high, and she didn't feel like a horse 14.1 hands high was worth having even though it was free and is worth $25,000. Just for the record, the lady is 5'9" and I'm 5'11", Mindy is 14.1. I rode Mindy in front of millions of people for 15 years and never had one email or comment that said I looked too big on Mindy. Just to set the record straight. But she didn't want the Signature Horse - no problem whatsoever. Since she didn't want the Signature Horse, I offered her the opportunity to send another horse to the ranch for the six-week program and we'd train it free of charge. Again, I went above and beyond to take care of a grieving customer.

I bent over backwards to take care of her needs, and now I'm having to fix this kind of bulls***  and I'm tired of it. So reality is if you think your horse is going to live forever, you're an idiot. Do we do everything in our power to take care of animals on the ranch? Yes, we do. The reality is every once in a while it keeps coming back to that bumper sticker "s*** happens." So people, get a life, get out of business that doesn't involve you and start focusing on your horsemanship and your own lives. When people start doing that, they'll have a lot more success with their horses, a lot more fun and a lot less drama. If it sounds like I'm irritated and I'm cranky about this, I am. All we've done is taken an unfortunate situation and turned it into circus and absolute mess. It didn't have to go this direction. This is my statement and this whole subject is done after this.

For anyone who cares, here are Clinton's sponsors. Let them know what you think about a trainer who writes this after a horse dies in his care.

AQHA, ABIequine (arena drag equipment), ADM (Grostrong feed), Behlen Country (farm/ranch equipment) Classic Equine (leg protection) Horse & Rider magazine, Cashel Insurance, Martin Saddles, NRHA, NRCHA, Ritchie (waterers), Safe-guard (dewormer), Smart-pak (supplements) Standlee (hay products), Stephenville Chamber of Commerce, Vetericyn, and Vet-rap

AND AN ADDENDUM 2/7/15:  Someone named Wanda Covington sent a private email, not a very nice one, asking if I "get money for this." 

No, I do not. I was trying to think who in the world might pay me to write about things I see in the horse world and to preserve things big-name "trainers" say and post so that when their publicists advise them to remove the offensive verbiage folks can still google and find their own words. 

The only group I can come up with who might pay me to write this stuff is the horses themselves. 

My take remains the same here. If you live with horses and you want to have a partnership with one or more of them, go elsewhere than CA's "training" to obtain it. I think if you study animal behavior and read the latest research on animals and emotions and the exquisite sensory mechanisms of prey animals and then apply what many call the "golden rule" you will end up in a similar mindset as me. Horses deserve kind, humane treatment. They deserve credit for their intelligence, sensitivity, and the fact that they carry us around on their backs and do our bidding for the most part. They are not there to be "broken" and if we dominate them and treat them like machines that speaks far more about us as people than it does about them. 

CA offers a primitive, dominating, ego-driven method of being with horses that is so behind the times it's an embarrassment. It's past time for him and everyone who uses these methods to evolve and grow. If your relationship with horses has to do with power and control the best thing you can do is take a break, get some therapy, and fix your own issues.