How does a guy get hooked on Horses?
Pretty much like any young horse-crazed teen would . . . by spending many
hours mucking stalls and helping with horses in exchange for a bit of
actual riding time.
Horses in the Army?
Shortly after graduating from high school, Bob was drafted into the US
Army and belonged to the "98th Army Band". By chance, the band
barracks were right next to the "Fort Rucker Riding Club". Of
course, this meant that Bob was drawn to the stables daily; the end result
was the purchase of his first horse, "Rex", from then Colonel
Graham (Father of international event rider Jim Graham).
From Easy to Difficult
Bob survived his first twenty plus years of horse ownership without any
major mishaps. Then, in 1988, Bob purchased his current mount, Schonbrunn,
and found out that horses were not always easy! "Schon" turned
out to be nothing at all like Rex. Instead he was so strong-willed that
he couldn't even be bribed into doing what he didn't want to do. Methods
that worked with other horses just didn't work with him. It was clear
that something was lacking in the communication between horse and human.
What to do?
If it doesn't work, try something different
In '89, a friend asked Bob to attend a symposium given by a trainer from
Colorado named John Lyons. Bob immediately saw the value of the principles
he learned there and successfully applied them to his interactions with
Schon. When others witnessed the complete turn-a-round Bob did with his
horse, they sought his help in communicating with their horses. Bob was
on the road to a new and exciting career!
Go Horses Full Time!
So in 1994, after 22 years of operating a BMW motorcycle dealership, Bob
decided to work with horses full time. He's now expanded his teaching
from just "problems and problem horses" to all aspects of horsemanship
(ground work to riding) working with horses of all ages and levels from
foals to competition dressage horses...even mules on occasion. Bob is
continuously developing and improving upon his own techniques and methods
and has developed a very consistent and easy to understand system of teaching
horses and their owners how to communicate in harmony with each other.
Today Bob struggles to find the time to take on new students while continuing
to work with his long-time students who describe him as:
"The best kept secret in Western New YorK"
Bob and Schonbrunn were invited to perform a ground work exhibition for
the American Trakehner Association in Columbus, Ohio in 1991 and for the
NY State Morgan Horse Club in Syracuse in 1998. They have also done many
clinics throughout New York State for a variety of organizations including:
The Cornell Cooperative Extension, several 4-H Clubs, the Western NY Dressage
Association, and the Arabian Horse Association of NY to name a few.
In 1998, Bob he was invited to lecture at the Northeast Horseman's Conference
in Rochester, NY. During the conference, Bob demonstrated ground work
and mounted communication in classroom seminars. The conference was highlighted
with a panel discussion in which he participated with Bruce Davidson,
Captain Mark Philips, and Lendon Gray.
About Bob Dickinson
