B3o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 6,1982 BY GINGER SECEIST MYERS Staff Correspondent HANOVER Did you ever wonder how the Lone Ranger got his horse Silver to stand up on his back legs so majestically? Well, behind every good trick horse is a patient and luiowlegeable horse trainer. One such trainer is Ken Reid, 212 Krug Ave., Hanover. Ken, who has his own stable and boards and trains horses, can teach a horse just about anything from the simple control of the pleasure horse to stunts such as kneeling, lying down, and playing dead. He has taught horses to come, follow, stop, stay, and back, all by word command only. He also has a number of horse-drawn vehicles, including a covered wagon which he built himself and rents out for weddings, promotions, and special events. Horse training, however, is not Ken's vocation, but rather his hobby. He is a minister by profession. Reid recalls how he was raised in a very religious home and even in his early teenage years felt a definite urging to become a minister. He remembers, “Many times 1 would imagine the old days were still here, when horse and man could unite their efforts to Lying down of the job is one way Flash lets Reid know what he thinks of life as a trick horse. Actually, Reid trained the educated equine to kneel and then stretch out which he does at just a word from the horse trainer. This winter scene of horse and sleigh con* several horse-drawn vehicles which he jure up visions of a former way of life. Reid sometimes uses in weddings, parades, and hitches his two-year-old horse, Flash, to promotions. Ken Reid is a "circuit riding preacher" pursue a major goal. I used to sing that old classic; "Die circuit riding preacher used to rid* across tiro (arid. With s rifle in iris saddle and a Bible in his band. He fold the prairie people ell about tbe Promised land. As be want riding, singing down tbe trail." “Little did I know that someday I would be able to enjoy the best of both worlds,” he marvels. • Ten years ago Ken, a Canadian citizen, immigrated to the United States to pastor the Hanover Brethren in Christ Church. He and his wife Charlotte now have two sons, Kenneth Jr. and Kevin. Ken has found that his work with horses has been very helpful in providing him with a means of contact with people, some of whom now attend church. However, he still has his priorities. He sets, those priorities as follows: God, family responsibilities, church responsibilities, and then his horse-related activities. Ken states that he is really pleased that his interest in horses ' meshes so well with all his other responsibilities even though training horses is no easy job. “The basic secret to training a horse is to work him everyday,” says Ken. “I work them for about an hour a day. Any longer than that Ken Reid is a minister whose “free" time is of the old-time circuit riding preacher as he spent training horses. A resident of Hanover, sits astride his Tennessee Walking Horse, this man of the cloth takes on the appearance Flash. at one tune and they start to go sour.” For Ken to take a horse to train, the horse must come to his stable. The horse is required to have a clean bill of health and the horse must stay with Ken for at least one month. He generally asks the owner for a list of exactly what he wants his.horse to master. How long Ken keeps the horse is often dictated by the length of the list, but the average stay is about 60 days. He prefers to get 2 year olds who have not had any previous training. Older horses have usually acquired some bad habits which are often difficult to break. Ken, says he has found that there are certain similarities between working with horses and working with people. He states, “Each person I deal with in pastoral work must be treated and dealt with individually. No two are alike. This is also true with horses. “What works in training one horse may not be what you’ll use on another. In dealing with people and extreme amount of patience and understanding is a must. These also are the two most necessary ingredients in training a horse. “Horses respond greatly to praise, but are smart enough to push you to your limits and try to get away with something wrong. At this point firm discipline is necessary, but not angry out bursts.” J, V If It takes a lot of horse sense, patience and understanding, to train this young Arabian colt, Magnum Force, to rear up onto his hind legs after receiving a verbal command. This horse will be spending the winter at Reid’s training school before returning to his owner in Baltimore, Md. Ken has not had any formal training to work with horses. He got his first horse, a 2 year old French Canadian stallion, when he was only 12 years old and what he has learned about horses has been acquired through experience, books, and listening to other trainers. Although he humbly (Turn to Page 831) vyJ' -s •*>* „ «. * v v --M, * rj •S p * j - ».v X ■i)
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