Speaker 2 (00:42)
Today we're here with Wade Black and Wade Black is somebody that was born into a family of horsemen. He spent his life refining the art of colt starting and performance horsemanship. With a background in everything from cutting horses to rodeo, he now leads one of the top equine education programs in the country. Wade's knowledge runs deep and I can't wait to tap into his expertise here today. So welcome Wade. It's great to have you.
Speaker 1 (01:06)
Thank you, glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:07)
you grew up with horses it sounds like. I'd love to hear a little bit about how that started and then how it brought you to where you are here today now, educating our youth in the industry.
Speaker 1 (01:18)
You know, it's funny, here I am 42, looking back over my life. It seems like it's been 10 years. Every, every 10 years has been a kind of a shift in what I'm doing. And I'm so thankful for all those different shifts. So I was born on a big ranch in Nevada. My dad managed a million and a quarter acre ranch in Nevada. So I grew up on a ranch in that lifestyle, kind of living out in the middle of nowhere. And my dad really tried to build the equine program there, the horse program, I guess they would.
Like a lot of ranches, they used a horse to do everything, you know, but then really, ⁓ they'd go show a lot at the Elko County Fair. so Tom Dorrance come there and gave like two different clinics. And so my grandpa Ray Hunt would come there and come by. And so my dad really tried to have a very rich environment of Cowboys wanting to learn and getting better. And so that was kind of the culture I was raised in of people.
You just picture that having that culture of that environment of going to ranch rodeos, going to horse shows and cowboys would work all day. And then the evening they'd be riding their, their show horses to get ready for the Elk County fair. Always roping the dummies just really neat environment. And then major culture shock. lived out in the middle of nowhere in Nevada and I moved to. Homedale, Idaho with the, I think there's like 2000 people in the town and moved to the city is what I thought we, I went through a two room schoolhouse with fist.
first through eight, 30 kids, and I moved to the big city where I had like two classrooms of kids in my grade. I was blown away. And so, and then I changed dad. We, he quit, you know, kind of got out of the cattle business and it was kind of full blown horses from then on out. And he had, we had anywhere from 30 to 50 brood mares at different times, two to three different studs. And then as it transitioned, we kind of whittled that down. And then like when we were in high school,
We'd have 30 outside horses that me and my dad and my brother would be riding. So that was kind of the quota is get your 10 horses rode. You know, so it was everyday ride. mean, that was what kind of the expectations of riding Colts. And so we did lots of sports in high school, but I always knew that we had a family business and it kind of annoyed the crap out of me. But my father loved to remind me that I'm a part of the family business and
Looking back now, I'm so thankful of that when a lot of the kids in my grade were just kind of focused on sports and stuff that I was a part of that when I left home, I got married pretty young. My wife was 19 and I was 21. And my dad kind of went a different direction there right when I was in high school. And so I ended up taking over his equine business horse training business. And I was so thankful. He taught me how to do that from the time I was 10 to 20 there. He had put me to.
train and sell horses. And so I basically did that in, had a rodeo scholarship. And so from all through my twenties there, twenties in the thirties was training horses, riding Bronx, got my scholarship, got my masters in training horses. And then it was kind of interesting. Then Sonny Hansen was running the equine program here at TVCC. He passed away. And so the last, the next 10 years here, I've been building a program here at TVC and really passionate about that.
During that time we did a lot of selling horses and so we'd go to performance horse sales, Bence's, Van Norman, Shellman's. And so we were kind of focused as a family, you know, through my thirties, I got out of riding horses for the public and I got a chance to do what I've always wanted to do is ride my own stinking horses. It's hard to ride your own horses when you're riding 30 outside horses. And so loved it. Man, family business had a blast going to kind of creating that all around performance horse.
mainly marketing at Ranch Horse Sales. And now it's kind of fun. We're kind of not doing that so much anymore. And I'm so thankful for where this program is now. I have a bunch of middle school high schoolers, my own kids. I have a two year old, a 10 year old, a 12 year old and a 14 year old and kind of shifting in the rodeo and kind of where normally I'd have those horses where I'd take them to performance horse sales. I'm kind of getting excited to just make rope horses. We need.
barrel horses, calf horses, team roping horses. And so we've kind of always done that anyways, all around performance horses. And so that's horses that I use them at the college and we have a stock horse team. And of course, as a family, we go do day work and stuff during the summer. so, that's kind of a background of where I am now in a nutshell, every 10 years, something a little bit different, but that's, that's me in a nutshell, I guess.
Speaker 2 (05:31)
Yeah, that's great. think that's quite the diverse background and being that you've been really in the industry since you were 10, it sounds like, and seeing there's been an evolution and quality horsemanship has definitely been something that has been coming more and more to the forefront since, you know, since your younger years. Yeah. What do you see, because you're involved with college students and the program, and what do you see? I'd be curious for the industry.
Moving forward, what do you see coming down the pipeline?
Speaker 1 (06:03)
You know, one of the things that I'm pretty passionate about, my wife and I started a nonprofit, it's called Training Quality Assurance. And really the design, now that I'm, you know, at a college here, there needs to be a standard, there needs to be an industry standard as far as the expectations. There's 7.1 million people in the equine industry and 85 to 90 % are inexperienced horse owners. You got roughly, you know, 6.3 million people that are going to be paying someone to train a...
train a horse for them or they want to buy an already trained horse and it's crazy. I mean, there is no industry quality standard that says if I'm the consumer and most people are charging between 1200 to 2000 bucks a month, there is no set industry quality standard as far as what that foundation is on that horse. How long should it take? How much should you pay?
And so I think there needs to be, think that's why we started our nonprofit. We worked with Brian Newbert, Joe Walters, Chris Cox, my dad, Nick Dowers, and then a bunch of other people in the industry. know, beef quality assurance a long time ago, the people in the beef industry got together and go, man, our consumer, they expect quality beef. So as the industry, what do we agree that we're going to provide our consumer with to have a consistent industry standard? And so I think.
going down the pipeline, think the industry needs to help these consumers, you know, the extreme of, you know, what is the quality there, you know, and so I think, you know, people like Tom Gorance and Ray Hunt and Buck Randall all these guys, I think they've done a great job of the shift in a different way of thinking. And I mean, that there's a whole line there, right, as far as helping the horse from the inside to the out. And I think that's great.
But I think as far as what my heart is where I see the need is meeting that need for the industry for the consumer that is going to pay this guy versus this guy and the quality of that horse at the end of their training and just an expectation for the industry.
Speaker 3 (08:00)
I think more and more people understand how much it's the whole horse and it's not, you know, the, the horsemanship is one part of the whole, but we've still got all the environmental factors, all the hoof care factors, saddle fit, everything. And, and that's where things like with what you're doing and even the horse fair, we're trying to kind of bring an overall knowledge to people and especially people starting out with horses. Now.
We, we talked to a lot of people that are starting out with, horses. And as you know, so many people are new to horses. So if you had a piece of advice to offer somebody buying their first horse, what would it...
Speaker 1 (08:34)
I think all of those factors that you just said, having a sound horse and that kind, for me personally, using a horse to do a job and selling horses to the public, buy a horse that's went and done a job. There's a big difference between riding a horse that's been in a box stall that you've ridden for 30 minutes or a horse that you've actually, that horse has actually done a job. And so for me personally, being raised on a ranch and taking horses to do jobs, there's such a big difference.
when you have a horse that has had long days and really can go do a job. And so that would be my advice in training horses for the public and training lots and lots and lots of problem horses. That's a lot of the problem of horses that are in box stalls getting high energy feeds and only get in road for like maybe 30 minutes, you know, and so that would be my advice.
Speaker 2 (09:22)
I think that's great. you look at training versus life experience, and we always talk about that with horses and our training program, we talk about it being life experiences together with a horse because life experience, things come up and now you've got a problem solved on the fly and the horse needs to understand that there's going to be times where there's pressure, that pressure is not directed at them, but we've got to move when we say move, we've got to stop when we say stop.
And so then if somebody that's inexperienced is getting this horse, now the horse is actually bringing quite a lot of life experience to the table. So then it's going to be giving the human good quality experiences. And that's important because people are going to get out of the industry if they get their first horse and it's a wreck and now they've spent thousands on training and it's still not working out. And I think that's a really
really important thing to highlight. think that's a great, great tip for people. What, what would you say you're seeing with the students that you work with coming through? Are people starting to understand that it's going to be necessary for them to have some qualifications and not just hang up, you know, it used to be anybody just hangs a shingle out.
Speaker 1 (10:34)
Yeah. Yeah. I think, ⁓ man, I really enjoy my job. love working with students and yeah, I think giving that standard to where here's the expectations. Okay. We have this horse according to these people. And one of the things, you know, we break down where they should be at the end of two months. And that was just kind of the industry standard that we always had growing up when we actually had it for one month. It used to be back in the day when dad, when we were riding colts.
they would just bring that horse for one month. Well now, thankfully, most people don't take a horse to set the foundation or quote unquote start a horse for less than two months. And so it's nice to have that set standard. you know, one of the things with the students as I train them and how to go through that is all we've done is set the standard of the expectations according to these experts. But we're not saying that every horse is going to meet that standard of that expectation. No more than every fourth grader in them in, you know, is going to have a certain
math or reading level. The only thing is it's something like if you use the analogy for school that the teacher can sit down with the parent and say, listen, you know, in the fourth grade, according to the state, this is where they should be in their math and their English. You know, now we're not as a parent, the teacher isn't telling the parent that their son's a dink and they should get another one. They're just saying that he may need a little more help, a little more tutoring. And so I think the students really like that where it's like, here's the expectations.
you know, and it gives them a clear standard. And then we have the TQA program that we go through that really takes them. And that's what we have online. What I posted there is groundwork phase one, phase two, phase three, phase four on what is that process. If you follow the TQA program that how neat that industry quality standard, you know, at the end of two months training. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:21)
I'd love to dive into that a little bit more because your presentations are about the TQA standards and it's beautifully laid out in a very clear process and you've got worksheets to go off of and those aren't part of the fair, you're showing them on the screen. And I'd love for you to let people know what they're in store for with viewing your videos about the program.
how they might be able to apply it to themselves and their own horses.
Speaker 1 (12:49)
Yeah, you know, kind of your intro there, can, how I visited to start this was I was raised in a very, you know, very horse savvy environment, right? I mean, picture a little boy. think the very first clinic I ever rode in was when I was like six or seven in a Tom Dord's clinic, right? And so that was the environment that I was raised in. And so I, I grew up around really good horsemen around people always wanting to know more about horses and to get better.
Continuant that was the environment. I was continually raised it and I heard this phrase I don't know if you guys have ever heard this phrase there. Do you feel that there? Do you feel that? There do you feel that so I grew up around that always always there do you feel that well, so I go on I train horses I grew up with that a bunch, you know, and then I go on to Go on to college, you know, I'm riding Bronx there at a junior college team roping I mean at the University of Montana Montesite University
And I got sick right out of high school, which led a lot to my research in health and welfare and everything that I do with horses. It's kind of three things, how I was raised growing up, getting my masters. And that's what I'm going to talk about now. And then health problems really trying to break down the different parts of a human body, the different parts of horses and in the mind, the will and the emotions and just overall being healthy, parasympathetic, sympathetic, all those different things.
And so when I did my masters, had to, I just went out there and I mean, we'd started so many courses, mean, tons and tons, and it was a science. just come, you know, and so I just started these horses. We rolled through them, we grained part of them. We didn't grain part of them. We measured the effects of increasing energy during the early stages of training. So on those score sheets, we track three different parts, task completion. So every week there were certain tasks completions like good to catch, good to saddle, good to bridle.
You know, as it expanded every week, there was more expectations till at the end. basically did a reigning pattern, rollbacks on the fence, open and close gates, swing a rope, just kind of your, like if you're going to take that horse to a, you know, the clients coming to pick them up at the end of the month there. But then there's things like temperament. So on the right side of the graphs, there were things like self-preservation, energy, confidence, reaction to social separation, sensitivity. You know, there was those different parts on the other side. And then there was things, this was the fun part. There was
the foundation. So what specifically did me and my dad and my grandpa when we take the slack out of the rain, we're waiting for them to get we're waiting through them to get supple through the pole in the loins. I grew up the rains always direct the feet. So every time we take the slack out of rain, we're always waiting for what step. So here's the crazy part. So I'd say, well, I'm going to do this. I here's what I'm going to do. This is what we do. And they are like, great, name it and define it. So
everything that so they could track it. So I had to name and define in a step process. Okay, well pick up a soft fill. No, that's not good enough. You got to give it a definition. So direction, you take the slack out of the ring, they put the slack back in the ring with suppleness through the pull in the loin. Okay, now you got to come up with eight different things, four by looking at the head, four by looking at their foot fall in their feet to determine whether you have that.
So it's basically bringing a scientific component so that anyone could look, there do you feel that? Well, what is that? So that's what I developed in these videos is, okay, here's the research that I did in my masters. Here's a video, here's a name, here's a definition, it's monkey see, monkey do. So the students all the way through, they have to do their groundwork, phase one, phase two, they go through there with a name and a definition. And so all of TQA is name, define,
demonstrate, evaluate, then teach so they track that whether they have that compared to this is what it should look
Speaker 3 (16:31)
that's great. You're making it measurable for people. some, for some people it's very measurable seeing, noticing the smallest change in the slightest try. It might be really obvious to some people, but then to other people it's like, wait, what, what did I just see? And, and so making it measurable, quantifiable. And it reminds me of almost like a dressage test, only you're breaking it down into even smaller pieces. That's the only way I see it. I think that that's, that's a pretty handy way to get people to see.
Speaker 1 (16:40)
Right.
Speaker 3 (16:59)
and to observe what's taking place.
Speaker 1 (17:01)
No, thank you. And then another thing we tried to do we have a couple different things there we have the industry quality standard that I set with TQA and then we have the TQA program my specific You know the TQA groundwork to help with the flavor that I was raised But really what we're trying to do is just to promote that standard and I purposely you can go to our website I purposely made it for dressage or when we were starting Colts in Kentucky. It's pretty simple. Good to catch good to send good bridle
walk trot, Lopez circle, both directions for revelations through to the feet, up feet and load and trader. mean, that's, I tried to make it to where in our videos, you know, we track a cow and rope, but I really tried to make it. What is just the basic foundation for dressage or, know, for anything for rope horse anyway. And so hopefully that's something that people can use as a tool of what that basic foundation is, know?
Speaker 3 (17:55)
And I remember, you know, hearing like your grandpa quite a bit too. mean, he would always talk about the horse's life energy. And this is something that I have to put into words quite a bit for people so they can understand their horse operating with more life or less life or what is operating under pressure and all of these things. But so hopefully you're addressing sort of putting vocabulary to the energy.
system of the horse and then also the idea of the whole kind of the whole horse because so many terms, know, when you listen to riding lessons, so many of the terms are physical. It's the body and that's there's a place for that. We need to understand that too. But then there's there's so much more depth when it comes to again, getting to kind of that that whole horse. I wanted to ask you working with like the people in your life that you did some really huge, you know, huge horsemen.
I know you must have learned some big lessons from them. What were some of those big lessons that you learned? And also, do you encounter a lot of English writers? And if so, have you been able to sort of crisscross and apply some of those concepts that you've learned? Have you been able to apply it to sort of some of your English client?
Speaker 1 (19:04)
You know it's funny I have my students they read that the Tom Doran's book and in the Ray Hunt book and and you know how they taught it was just I mean my grandpa's clinics you go to a clinic you've been to one clinic he'd say a lot of the same things right and so I think just a lot of those things and you said look for the smallest change in the slightest try in the life to the body the legs to the feet you know I think some of those things
You know, don't pull harder, just wait longer. I mean, that was, and so I think all of those things that I was raised with in the phrases, in the terminology, it's like I grew up going to church. There's a lot of time you hear scripture and it doesn't, I mean, you hear the scripture, but until the revelation comes through to your feet. And that was kind of my personal journey, paralleling those two that finally overlapped for me, honestly, I grew up going to church and I grew up.
hearing my dad and my grandpa and these people, but it wasn't until I got sick that those things overlapped for me personally, where I was able to understand what I was hearing in church more by what dad and grandpa and those guys were talking about of that unity, that in a lot of ways I was going through the motions in both of those and I was missing that true unity, willing communication between, you know, on both of those areas. And so I
Just what you said was a lot of those things. then contrasting over to English, I've branched out a little bit into some different areas, you know, different times in Kentucky. And as far as which thing is, when you hang out your shingle is a writing cult for the public, it's so neat because you get, I've got, I've trained for lot of English writers and different dressage and a little bit of those different things.
But as far as specifically working with a lot in clinics, I have it. My dad does a lot. My grandpa did a lot, but right now I kind of went from MSU that to training horses for the public to right now, right at a college. So as far as in a clinic setting, traveling around a lot, I haven't done a lot with that. We have some certifications through CHA here, Certified Horsesmanship Association, and they have the certified clinician and that kind of.
I'd love to get more of that in this program at TVCC and that's kind of my goal in that position is to include more English and Zushaaz and just a more broad spectrum of quality horsemanship going to different areas. Yeah, because I honestly feel like, I mean, horsemanship is horsemanship and my dad and my grandpa and all those guys given clinics have proved that, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:35)
Definitely. Although, you I will say that the Western disciplines have very much, they've done a great job with philosophy and kind of taking into account the mental component of the horse and the mind. And then you've got a lot of the English sort of centered riding programs, which are very good when it comes to like the mechanics and the quotation of the rider and how we influence the horse and putting those two together, I think is the ultimate kind of melding.
of bull, and we know that English good quality horsemanship is good quality horsemanship. It's not about what costume we put on. But I think now we live in a time where, at least for me, when I go to dressage barns and English barns, people are really receptive to some of the, what I would say like the horsemanship concepts are. And I think that's great. I like it.
Speaker 1 (22:21)
Yeah. think what's interesting as different methods, different, I guess, is the guy that gets the, the training horses for the public. get to see on any of it, you know, what is quality horsemanship. And then when there's a problem in the horse is dangerous for years, I had a reputation, you know, this they're kind of the horse's last hope, you know? And so I enjoyed working with problem horses. And so it's in some of those disciplines.
when you're constantly pulling and kicking on that horse's face, which is more common in some disciplines than other, pretty quick, the horse is like, hey, I don't want to play this game anymore. And so you get to see a lot of different styles of riding, you know, when you get to, I mean, if you're the doctor and you're, you're having to try to bring, you know, restoration to whatever's happened on the, on the tail end of that. But what's, what's amazing to me in the equine industry is there are great horse trainers
wherever you go, wherever you go. And it's not a specific discipline. And then you can go to different areas where there's people that obviously could probably improve a little bit on their worship and shift in that. And so that's why the equine industry is just so diverse. I love it so much, you know, and I love being at a junior college where I always talk like, man, I the best job on planet. My job is to help people direct their passion. So I get these young kids or I say young kids, mean, high school, they're graduated, but man, I've been getting
You know, that's the beauty of a junior college. It's structured to where I get a lot of military people that have graduated and now they have, you know, some money to go back to school and we call them the non-traditional. So I get a lot of parents that are going back to school. I mean, horses are expensive and here's my pitch. My whole program in the horse training degree is probably way different where you guys are, but around here, it's like three to $500 per month to own one horse. Okay. And the average horse owner owns three to fourth, three to four.
So just, if you have one horse, that's a car payment. Okay, if you're like most people, you have a mortgage. So the goal of every one of my students is let's not have a mortgage on top of your mortgage for the whole rest of your life, which is you need about $2,000 cashflow. Now, how do you get that through training horses, selling horses, maybe doing some day work, boarding, you know? And so it's fun for me. I'm directing people's passion. So I'm constantly going, what are you?
passionate about is it barrels is it dressage is it but what is that thing when you get around it when you get around other people just something leaps inside you and you're so excited then I get to try to direct that passion and so I feel so blessed being where I'm at
Speaker 2 (24:52)
What do you see the general industry, because for our particular platform and what we see is we see a lot of, it's a mix between men and women, but heavier on the women. And it tends to be 35 and older because that tends to be the stage where, you know, they're settled with their family. you know, maybe they're able to, maybe their career, they're in a place where they can have a little more time to themselves.
What do you see coming up in the industry underneath that like 35 and under and where you think the industry might be headed towards?
Speaker 1 (25:28)
Yeah, I think that's, I think you're right on, right? Even at this age, you know, way more women than men, you know, as far as even in my students. I think there's so much opportunity there in the recreation area. So your question is, what do you see with that, you know, 35 women? There's so much opportunity. So find what you're passionate about, whether it is dressage or showing from the recreation part. Okay.
and getting in the club and getting with a group of people, there's a lot of opportunity in learning and growing and creating that culture around recreation. From the business side where I'm at, there's a lot of opportunity to be training and selling horses to people in the industry. So I would be recruiting the kids of the people in your program or the people in that to come back to get out of that hobby horse category. So I think with any of those,
You know, I visit a lot with spouses. So a spouse comes in there and it's like, horses are expensive. So that's where I'm at is let's have high quality horsemanship. But at the end of the day, if we have $2,000 or more, it's stressful on marriages. And when there's a financial stress, then it's stressful in the family. And although I love my horse, it can become a deal to where it's not a blessing and it can create a negative environment between spouses.
on the finances, which creates a negative environment for kids where they're raised. And that's where I'm really passionate is health, having healthy marriages, having healthy kids, creating that environment. And so I would say in that with those people is how do we structure it to where I have this thing that I love and I have to go compete, but it's unhealthy in the process, just the financial stress that it puts on people. And so yeah, I would say if you're giving lessons,
If you're riding, if you're selling, if you're doing anything, I have a horse owner break even. That's the minimum for everyone in my program, everyone that comes here, minimum, let's just break even on the horses that we own. You know what I mean? And so I think there's so much opportunity out there for training and for offering quality training, you know, lessons, clinics, there's so much opportunity there for, you know, for consumers in that area. Yeah, to produce that product.
Speaker 2 (27:46)
Good suggestions all around, I think for people, you know, that have their own horse and the ideas of find a community, find organizations and get yourself around others where you can have that support of people maybe pointing you in the right direction or going to shows with just to have the community to go to shows or maybe you've got a trail ride group and you're trail riding and doing that sort of thing. I think that's fantastic for people. Community.
sometimes is something that gets overlooked and it is so beneficial. And now with the online stuff too, you've got the ability to have community online and have zoom coaching calls or even zoom lessons, or you get together with, maybe you end up finding a book study group, but there's, there's that ability to connect there.
Speaker 1 (28:35)
I'd
say my goal for it is find a quality trainer. mean, that's the part that frustrates me. I mean, if someone, mean, we've laid that out at the end of two months, this is where that horse should be. So if I'm paying you whatever 1200 to 2000 bucks, find a qualified cold starter, someone that can meet the industry quality standard. I mean, it's just frustrating to me if you're the consumer and you're paying someone to start your horse.
You know, at the end of three months, they haven't saddled them. Well, I, should have got a phone call at the end of a week or two. And that's the part that breaks my heart is just people don't know and there's not a set standard. And so yeah, to try to, try to promote that and to help them in that area as well, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:15)
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:15)
that's great. any other things you'd like to share about your presentations that you're going to be doing and what people could expect and...
Speaker 1 (29:23)
I think that's, that's the big one that we're trying to do is from groundwork. What is groundwork? Okay. What is that first part? You know, and I have it broke down in my program. I have it groundwork phase one, phase two, phase three, phase four. And my normal program, that would be week one, week two, week three, week four. But I broke it down over two months for an industry quality standard at the college here to help people try to track that. But I've heard a bunch of people, you know, like, don't worry. I've done all the groundwork.
is they have the horse right underneath the jaw and he's running over the top of them, you know? And so I think, and what I try to do in my program is there's, and you know, and I go through this, this is the flavor that I was raised with, kind of stemming down from Tom and grandpa and you know, my dad, Brian Newbert, Joe Walter. mean, this was just the expectations of how we were raised. And so through TQA, it's not me, it's the culture.
that I was raised in around just so many good horsemen. Here's the expectations. And I think that's the thing that as I go through, as you watch those videos, what are the expectations of groundwork? Hey, the horse shouldn't be running over the top of you. He shouldn't be running away from you. In that first phase of training. And it's a little bit different, right? As you watch those videos, it has kind of the Great Basin flair, right? I mean, it has Tom Gorin's Rayhunt. I mean, we got on those horses and we're doing a job.
Right? I have college students that have never started a colt. Okay. And they come here, we follow TQA and we're taking these colts and going and doing a job on them. I remember a lot of the clinics with my grandpa, shoot, three days, we're going down the ditch bank, you know? So I think how do you prepare that horse to ride him outside the arena? You know, and as you watch those videos, man, as soon as I can double that horse, it's all about straight lines and curved lines and riding in between my hands and feet. Nick Dowers.
very big name in the reigning cow horse industry, he's huge about getting that horse to follow his notes. You know, and I feel like so many people, whether it's the dressage or the rain, they want to get on, they're just pulling on both reins all the time collecting that horse. So as you go through that, you'll see me riding that horse in between my hands and feet. We give that horse his head, dip his nose, know, disengage his hindquarters and give him his head. How important it is to ride that horse on a straight line in a curved lane with a loose rein.
then you can see the progression as I start to refining and bring the refinement to where we do have the reigning cow horse collection, but it doesn't start there, you know, and I think you'll see that progression. And with that said, the video I go through, it's not that great of a video, I'm sorry guys, I did it for my class. As far as Wade Black took this horse and he went through the whole TQA program, I have the rides, but it's hit and miss, and I showed what I wanted to show.
But what the video wasn't perfect, I guess is what I'm saying. I'm going through the TQA process, but it's not like I took that one horse and threw it and I was riding it consistency of how, how it would look if I was taking it through the TQA program. Does that make sense? Anyway, but yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:21)
that's great. That's great. So thank you so much for sharing your expertise and all that you know. Are there any last things you'd like to leave our audience with or if they can find out where to find you and.
Speaker 1 (32:34)
Yeah, I think some of the things that we hit on in what I tell my students and everyone in my program there is, you know, and I'll go through these in the videos. I guess I'm really passionate about health. I'm really passionate about healthy relationships, especially between husbands and wives and parents and kids. I think sometimes in the equine industry, it can become unhealthy.
And it's a lot of stress on parents and kids. And so I'm super passionate about our nonprofit. It's a program designed to help trainers reach their goals. What are your goals? What are your goals? Not just with your horse, but in your marriage and with your kids. and I, and I think in that I go through different circles on the body, the soul, the mind, the will and the emotions, and then the, then the identity. And so I go through what, what is a horse? What is the makeup of a horse? That's what I got my masters in.
There's three primary driving factors, self-preservation, comfort, companionship, the two underlining this confidence and energy. So understanding that a horse is a horse. He was created to be a horse, which means he's a prey animal. So if he thinks he's going to get eaten, he's going to fall into self-preservation. He's a herd animal. So he's naturally going to want to be with other horses. He's a herbivore. So he's designed to graze 17 hours a day. So when we put him in a little pin and
filling full of feet and he's not allowed to eat 17 hours a day, we have some problems because that's not how he was created in his identity. And then the other part is environment. They seek comfort in environment. So if he's wanting to go where the feet is, I can make that environment uncomfortable and make him going down the ditch being comfortable. So I think going from the inside to the outside and then, you know, understanding body, soul, identity, how that horse is created. And then I'm just real passionate about people. ⁓
A years ago, I had a family friend that we know and their son committed suicide. And that's what I'm passionate about. I'm excited about helping people. So I train horses. My passion's really truly people. And I think if I can help promote health and I tell people, my students, be careful being alone with the negative thoughts in your head. So be a part of the community, be a part of people. And I tell my students and everyone, and I firmly believe why I'm so passionate in training kids.
Whoever has authority has the ability to shape your identity. So parents, teachers, coaches, employers, and mentors have the ability to shape someone's identity. And so it's just like those horses, as we're training those horses, we promote quality training. So how are you training that horse? How are you training your cows? How are you training your employees? How are you training as a spouse? How are you training your husband? Okay, how are you training? I mean, all of those different things.
in evaluating your training programs and it starts with you, starts with your heart, starts with your mind, starts with your perspective, you know, and then it can start going in those other spheres of influence.
So we have a TQA training quality assurance. That's our nonprofit. And on that page, I have a link to the junior college that I teach at, Treasure Valley Community College. If anyone knows any college bound students, I'd love working with kids, helping to direct them in the equine industry. And then my wife and I have a, it's called Training for the Cross. So discipleship, I kind of that journey there dealing with a lot of health problems and kind of tying those things together.
you know, growing up, going to church and growing up hearing good horsemen and kind of the parallels of how those two finally made sense to me and helped me find some healing to what some of the health problems I was going through.
Speaker 3 (35:54)
Excellent. A little deeper meaning now with horsemanship within our own lives. Yeah. Well, that's excellent. But, Wade, we want to thank you so much for your time today and spending time with us and part of the fair. we're looking forward to watching your videos.
Speaker 2 (36:05)
part of the family.
Speaker 1 (36:08)
Okay, well thank you. I appreciate what you guys do. I know you guys send me the links and it's so frustrating with guys like me that take forever to give you the links and then they give you crappy quality. And so I just know it's quite the work that it takes to put on this, to have the quality that you guys do. And so I just appreciate you guys and the work that you're doing in the industry and willing to do the hard things to make it better. So I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (36:33)
Thanks for that.
Speaker 3 (36:34)
appreciate that. Very, very good. Well, thanks, Wade.
Speaker 2 (36:37)
we'll see you.
Speaker 1 (36:37)
I will see you guys later.
Speaker 3 (36:38)
Tired.
