Gary Kirchoff Interview

Now here's an interview with the late Howard Hale and Kansas breeder Gary Kirkhoff.

I've seen some horses that have been drilled so much on the ground that they get to the point doing the same thing over and over where they basically have the handler tuned out. That's dangerous isn't it?

Yeah, that's very dangerous because you need that horse to be looking to you for direction. And when it's kind of zoning you out, it's on the borderline of self-preservation there. And if something goes wrong, you're maybe not the first choice it's going to have. Sometimes some of that can be overdone. Repetition's good, but it's really about, you can't do it day in and day out because the horse, some days he's in a different frame of mind. Maybe there's an owl hooting all night or something, he didn't sleep good. So you got to adjust to where he is that day. That was a big key I found in getting along with the horses. You can't go out there with a pre-described deal in your head that, well I'm going to get all this, I'm going to get my right lead master today and my left spin because he may not be there, you know, quite ready to absorb that.

That's Kansas Horseman Gary Kirkoff on the Horseman's Corner.