Leisha Griffith, Horsewoman, Trainer

Leisha Griffith is part of the BG Horsemanship with her husband Brock Griffith. She trains, transports, barrel races and is a multi-champion colt starter. Leisha has worked hard and become very successful in the horse industry along with her husband they have built a strong business, raised two wonderful children and still going strong. I know you will enjoy getting to know her.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Uh horsewoman podcast. I don't know if horsewomen and horse and horsewoman podcast. Really excited today that I have Leacha Wilborn Griffith as our guest. Leachha has had a great career in the horse industry and has tons of experience and things that she can share with us. So we're happy to have her on the show. So welcome in, Leisha. Good morning, Rose. How are you? I'm doing good today. I've been excited about talking to you, and we've been trying to get this worked up for a while. So I think that you have so much to offer to our industry. So tell us a little bit about you.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Okay, sounds good. Um we're happy to be here this morning. Yes, I'm glad we got it worked out as well. I know we both kind of have busy schedules, so that's great that we could get it together. Um so my husband and I run Brock Griffith Horsemanship, which is his name. Uh we primarily start Colts Under Saddle and work with problem horses and work with performance horses like rodeo horses.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

And you guys have been rodeo stars and cult champions, so tell us a little bit about that. Well, we've done a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Um we've certainly competed in our fair share of cult starting challenges, um, which we've enjoyed, you know, the typical format where you've got a couple cult starters and a couple of fresh horses, and we've had some success in that. Um I won the all women's cult starting challenge and then we won a couples challenge where we did it together. And Brock's won several on his own. So those have been a lot of fun. Um we grew up rodeoing and our kids rodeo, so we all still compete in branch radios, team reping, barrel racing, the kids do poling and goat tie and breakaway rep and all that fun stuff. Um, so that's kind of our weekend time to spend with our kids, and then we've got some students that go along as well. So those are always good.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Now you've been barrel racing a long time, so tell us a little bit about about your experience with barrel racing. You know, what what makes a good barrel racer?

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Um, so I've had been for a long time. Um, I think really applying good horsemanship, you know, kind of sets you aside and makes you really good at it. Um, I prefer to see a young girl, you know, learn how to ride and learn how to use horsemanship versus learning how to use tools um on their horses. I think that, you know, that makes a makes them really good at it, um and sets them aside from everybody else. Um, you've got two kinds of barrel racing. You've got your barrel racing shows where it's just barrel racing, and then you've got your rodeos, um, where they add the barrels in and it's just it's a lot of fun to bring along young horses. Um, you know, you've got your girls that want to have your winning horses, and then you've got girls like me that bring along young horses and take them out and get the first couple years of experience under their belt. So that can be quite challenging. Um young horses, you know, they do what young horses do. Um and some days they make you look really good and some days they really try to embarrass you. But it's part of training horses. Um, and no horse ever gets great without somebody taking it initially and exposing it and hauling it and getting it used to everything.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Right. And what do you look for in a barrel horse?

SPEAKER_00 3:37

So, um, in a barrel horse for me, a lot of girls want a run horse. They want a horse with a lot of run, you know, more like a track-type quarter horse. Um, I like typically like a horse that's crossed on a run and a cow horse. Um, that way to me they've got a little bit more work to them. And they may not be like super lightning fast, but they turn well. Um, I feel like they get down in the dirt and they listen well, and I just really enjoy the cow crosses or the working crosses um in the performance horses.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

I would say I've never barrel raced, but I would think that that would be really important because you know, if if he's fast and he doesn't listen, he's not gonna you're not gonna win because you're gonna knock barrels over.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Right, and I mean a lot of times you'll see these like runaway type horses and they put so much headgear on to control them, which I totally understand. If you've got something that's out of control and you want to control it, you know, the trainer's looking for a solution to that. Right. Um, they're looking, you know, for these real fast type horses, but I really do enjoy the cow crosses on them or the working crosses on these type of horses. Um, they just to me it it just suits me. I like the smaller, shorter, drag your foot through the dirt, those type horses versus the big, huge running horses. Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Right. Now you you also do roping, so tell us a little about that.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Uh yes, and we rope a little bit. We team rope, we head, heel, and breakaway. Um, and we also do some ranch roping at the ranch radios, which are really fun, and it's it's kind of non-traditional where you're doctoring cattle and things like that. Um, so those are a lot of fun, but I definitely enjoy um you know, roping on the hillside. I definitely enjoy breakaway roping. Those are both a lot of fun. I also enjoy teaching young horses to do those things. Um, so we'll start them here at the house on the sled um and rope the sled some on them and then we've got a roping pin that we're members of that we'll haul the young horses to and expose them there. Um, so I definitely enjoy that. And I enjoy going and roping on like a Sunday afternoon and around Robin where you've got ten people and you rope ten times with ten different people. Those are always fun. Um, so I've never really made it, you know, made it real serious or tried to be, you know, the best in the world at roping. Um but I do enjoy it. It is a good skill set to have, I feel like, for cowgirls to have. Um, and it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

Do you rope on your barrel horse?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Um, so yeah, so our horses, um, and and not everybody does this. Some people have their rope horses and they have their barrel horses or whatever. Um, ours are pretty much require to do any job, whether it be, you know, doing a public demonstration or having kids come over from a group to ride them, to rope and to run in barrels, yes ma'am, I do want them to do every event.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

I think that makes for a better horse and it gives him a break a little bit so he can do other stuff too.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

It does. Um, in particular our daughter's horse, Willow's horse, he really, really likes um we do the women's trial at the ranch radio where you all in one run, you break away a calf, you run a set of barrels, and at the end of the barrels you step down and tie a goat. So you're doing three events at one time and you want to do it ideally in about thirty five seconds or less. Um, and her horse just really, really does well at at that event. He really likes the challenge, I think, of all three. And I think it does make a well-rounded, all around horse to ask them to do more than one job.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

I think so too. So of your of the two things that you do, roping and barrel racing, which one's your passion?

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Uh I'd probably say, um, gosh, I don't know, that's a tough one. So I go through my spurts. I've ran barrels for a long time and I go through my spurts where I really like it, and I'll go and I enjoy it, and then I'll get bored with it, I'll take time off from it, and then I'll go back to roping. So I flip flop back and forth. If I had to kick, I'll probably enjoy the roping aspect more than running barrels. All right. A little bit more challenging.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Yeah, for sure, without a doubt. Yeah. I tried to learn to rope one time and and decided and we we did it actually live on my TV show, and it didn't take but a few seconds to figure out. I probably wasn't roping material without a lot of years of practice.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

It's definitely, I mean, it's definitely something you either grow up doing or you invest a lot of time in learning how to do because there's you know, just the roping aspect of roping the dummy on the ground is one thing, and then you add in the horse and add in the live cattle, and it can go kind of any direction.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Absolutely, absolutely. So you've accomplished a lot of things in your life. What are you the most proud of?

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Uh honestly, I'm probably the most proud of having a good marriage and have raised good kids. And that doesn't have a lot to do with the horse industry, but it does. Um, we have, you know, my husband and I, we created this business twenty five years ago together. Um, we're still running it strong. We still keep a waiting list for training horses, thank goodness. Um, we've been very, very blessed in and doing a good job on each horse. Um and in raising good kids, I'm proud of that. Um I'm proud of a lot of the horses that we've made. I see a lot of horses that have been to us, whether it be you know, to start them or to work on problems and I see them performing and see them winning and see them doing well. Um I'm super proud of that. And I'm definitely proud of the of winning the cult startings that was won. We've competed with some really good trainers. Um, not only in North Carolina, but just in the southeast in general. There are some really, really good cult starters that are good at what they do. Right. Um, and to and to hold a candle to any of those, you know, men or women has has been super special to me, um, just to compete with them in the same arena, much less to win anything. Um, so you know, to come from just a just a commercial type farm growing up with horses and you know, to for the rest of your life for you to be a good horseman. Um I'm super proud of my horsemanship. I'm proud of of what I've learned and what I continue to learn. Um I feel like every day I learn something new working with horses and and each one you're gonna learn something with and just when you think you know it all, there's so much more to learn. Um but I I'm definitely proud of the life that we've built. Um and you know it's just it's just such a cool thing to to not only run a business but to run it with your family.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

I agree, and you know, having horses in general, if the if your partner isn't on board, it's a rocky road.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

It is. I've seen a lot of marriages fail, honestly. A lot of my friends, a lot of marriages fail because, you know, the wife was really into horses or or vice versa, or the husband wasn't and the other partner wasn't. And it's it's not just uh it's not a hobby like golf. It's not something you pick up and do once a week. It's unfortunately it's three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

It is.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Um, I have to miss a lot of things. I've I've missed a lot of events and a lot of things I wanted to go to because I had to feed my horses. Um, and it's not just my horses, it's the training horses and the boarding horses and they definitely come before an event. So if there's a wedding at five o'clock, um, not a great chance I'm gonna make it, you know? Um so it it it definitely is a lifestyle, um, and I feel like, you know, your partner has to be on board and they have to be okay with you doing it every single day. Um, or it's probably not gonna work out for somebody.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Absolutely. You know, I I feel like it's just like any other career, you know, when when you're driven and you have a career, whether you're a corporate executive or a horse trainer, you have to put in that, you know, how many error hours a week it takes kind of work.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Right, right. And I mean I I chose a long time ago that I didn't want to work forty hours for somebody else. So here I am twenty five years later still working hundred, hundred and twenty hour weeks for myself.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

You sound like me.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

But I do still believe, you know, if you do what you love, you're not working.

SPEAKER_02 11:00

You sound like me. I I would I've turned my nose up at many good paying jobs because I didn't want to work on Saturday and Sunday and being self employed, I'm never off on Saturday and Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Absolutely not. I'm I'm doing something every weekend, whether we're showing or competing, or I'm hauling horses. You know, the hauling is a big part of our our our business too, and um like just this weekend I took the entire weekend to haul a load of horses, so um I I never mind working on the weekends, it doesn't bother me one bit.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Now let's talk a little bit about your hauling business because that's that's a fairly new part of of your horsemanship business and very important part, and you build a great reputation.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Um, it is. So it initially started with, you know, a horse or or let's just say a client would have a single horse they wanted to bring to training, um, and they didn't have a way to get there. So I would, you know, offer for whatever fee to go and pick the horse up and get it in a training. Um, I'd also get some calls occasionally at night from my vet that, you know, they had a client with a horse, same situation, that was colicing. They don't have a trailer, they needed it to get to the vet school. Um, so we eventually just decided just to make it a business and it's definitely full time. Um I've been averaging about a hundred and forty to a hundred and fifty thousand miles a year for the last several years. Um, and that could be anything, like I said, from a vet appointment to an emergency to, you know, maybe you're in North Carolina and you bought a horse that was in Idaho and you don't want to go and pick it up.

SPEAKER_03 12:23

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Um so I've moved thousands of horses at this point and I do enjoy that as well. Um, I feel like if you can hire a horseman to move your job with good equipment versus just a guy with a truck and a trailer, your horse is gonna be a lot better off going down the road. Um, that horseman is gonna take care of that horse, the horseman is gonna, you know, feed hay water, keep the trailer clean, um, they're gonna look for any signs of stress, they're gonna keep the clients updated the entire time. Um, and and I feel like that's a big deal when you spend money on shipping. Um, gosh, I just saw where one went missing the other day with a big commercial shipper. It took them thirty six hours to locate it, and when they did locate it thirty-six hours later, it was only four hours from where it had been picked up.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

I I mean that. That that's horrible.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

It is horrible. I I can't imagine having a horse number one going with a with somebody else. I mean, that's just stressful enough as it is on the interstate with the way people drive these days. Um, but then not being able to locate it and the and the shipper not answering the phone, that's you know, that's pretty stressful for the client.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

So I just tell people to, you know, to research your shippers just because just because they say they're commercially licensed and they have a DOT does not make them great at it. But however, there are a lot of really great ones.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

I agree, and you know, horses are very stoic. So if you're not a horse person, you're not gonna see those little subtle innuendas that tells you that there's a problem coming.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Right, that something's wrong, that they're stressed, that they're trying to colic, that they are trying to take on a respiratory infection, that they you know, gosh, so many things can go wrong. You know how horses are. Um, they spend them days trying to kill themselves, I feel like. Yeah. Um, but it it is it is important, I think, to have a good eye and have somebody that really is gonna stop every two and a half or three hours and check on those horses and like I said, keep hanging water in front of 'em and keep the client updated and I want 'em to beyond shadow of a doubt and know from the time they get in the trailer to the time they get off where they are, uh, what's going on, what the horse looks like. Um, and and just try to ease their minds a little bit during that shipping period.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Absolutely. Yeah, and you know, not only shipping, but loading them and unloading them. I mean, you know, it's gonna be tricky. If a person's trying to load a horse that doesn't know how to load that horse and they're not a horseman, they're gonna force it on. It's gonna be a bad experience, and then you're gonna have a real problem that you didn't even see coming.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Yeah, it definitely can be. I mean, I had a client just last week. They had sold their property there local in Carrie, and they were moving over to the other side of Raleigh, um, and it was their horse, and they had been trying for twenty-four hours to load her, and they had loaded her several times into their little two-horse trailer, and she kept flipping over inside of it and tearing it up, and they couldn't get the doors closed, and long story short, they closed at two o'clock that day and they had to go. Um, they called me at eleven o'clock that morning, three hours before they had to be off the property, and I happened to be home and I had just gotten home from a long trip. Um, and I was able to go down and help them move that horse, and I felt like that right there just really changed their day because the whole family was stressed. Um, the dad was all beat up or the horses flipped over and in the trailer with him, and it was just a bad situation. Um, so I definitely ran into a lot that won't load or that have difficulty loading. Um, and that loading is definitely one of our specialties. It's something I used to do long before we, you know, started the shipping business is teaching horses how to load um and teaching clients how to load their horses. So a lot of times just the horse doesn't have the forward momentum, they want to pull back on pressure. Um, and and we'll just work on getting those horses to go forward and learn how to get into the trailer and get in quietly and stand and wait, you know, for everything to be closed up. Um there's nothing worse than loading the horse in the trailer and you know they've got these ramp type loads and they're trying to close that ramp while the horse is trying to back out. Um so it can be super dangerous, you know, for the client and for the horse. Um, I've definitely gotten into dangerous situations myself. I won't say that I haven't. Um I had almost all of my top teeth knocked out at the start of COVID from a horse that flew backwards out of the trailer and nobody told me. Um, so it's it's definitely something, you know, yeah, if you want a horseman versus somebody you hired off a view ship. Um it definitely can be helpful.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Hey y'all, this is Ronnie from Mill City Specialty Feed located in Bitson, North Carolina. It's almost free time. Is your horse blooming? Does your horse have a shiny cook and money area? We're out on the trail.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

Now tell me a little bit about your training business too, because you guys take in a lot of horses to be trained and trained the riders as well.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Uh yes, ma'am, we do. We definitely want to train the riders as well. Um so for about 25 years we've been taking in colts to start. Um we take in horses that have problems. We take in just tune-ups, you know, they want their horse advanced, or maybe the owner wants to advance. Um, and also performance horses, again, we're happy to start them on the barrels, haul them to some barrel races. Same thing with the ropes. Um, we take in a lot of warm bloods that have developed problems, like in the jumping world. Horses that all of a sudden refuse to jump or whatever, they've been vetted, everything is fine, but for whatever reason they don't want to do their job anymore. So we'll take those type horses, those jumpers, and just change their job for a little bit, maybe introduce them to some cattle work or something like that. Um, we definitely want to work really close with the owner. I tell every one of them when the horse goes home, we still have a relationship, please call us. Um, but you know, that's the most important part. I feel like money is really hard to come by these days. And when you invest in your horse, you need to invest in yourself. Um, so you know, we can train the horse to do whatever, to to lay down to do whatever they want it to do, but if we don't train the owner, um, I mean it's like putting you in a five speed car and you've never driven a five speed. So if you have to figure it out on your own, it can be a little bumpy, but with some good instruction, um, you know, it makes things a lot easier and and like I said, we've been blessed for a really long time to stay busy, um, and to, you know, to be able to raise our kids and pay our bills and do something that we love. Um, and in helping, I guess, thousands of horses at this point. Um, it's been a lot of 'em. So but we enjoy it. We're slowing down a little bit. We don't take on quite as many per month, you know, as we used to. Um we're getting older, we're in our forties, we've both been hurt. Um, we're a lot more cautious than we were when we were twenties. Right. Um, but we do still take in a lot of horses to start and a lot of problem horses. Um, and and we definitely we love it.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

Now, do you help clients find the horse that fits them?

SPEAKER_00 19:46

So we do do that. Um, you know, they can call and they can say, Hey, um, I'm looking for this. This is my budget, and I'm happy to reach out to, you know, just our our group of friends or or group of horse people that we haven't looked for that. Um sometimes they come. with the wrong horse and that can be really hard to tell somebody. Um but for me, you know, if I've got a client that's let's say she's sixty five and she brings me a three year old freaking cross, I may be pretty quick to tell her that this is probably not a great situation. Um and honesty can be tough. Sometimes when you tell somebody something they don't want to hear, they can take it one or two ways. They can take it as in you're looking out for their life, which is what I'm doing, or they can take offense to it. Um and you're gonna have both, certainly. Um and you're gonna hurt some feelings at some point and being an honest horseman. So, you know, that makes it difficult because you've got a lot of people in the horse industry that are not honest. They're happy to, you know, drug a horse, hide something or whatever, sell it and send it down the road and they don't care who rides it or what happens. Um I definitely do care and I definitely will be honest with you. So that can be hard, um, but um most certainly don't mind helping somebody find something in their budget that suits them. Um mainly that they can enjoy. You know, I feel like a lot of people have horses that they can't enjoy for whatever the reason. Maybe the horse lacks training um maybe the client lacks the training to ride that horse. Sometimes the horse can be overtrained for that client.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Um but a lot of times it can just be the wrong situation. So we're happy to help get 'em in the right situation because the whole point in having a horse is to enjoy it, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

And it you know it took me a long time to learn. When you go to buy a horse, don't say, oh I'm gonna go find me a buckskin or a blue room. Because chances are you're not chances are we definitely rise not to shop on color. If you happen to get what you want, that's great. That's right. Chances are I'm gonna wind up with a red one which is my least favorite color but I thought That's right, a good old sorrow horse. But when you get that old sorrow horse that does anything you want it to do and will never hurt you, then it'll become very beautiful to you.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

That's it. I I definitely advise people to try to find something they like I said they can get along with and they can have fun with, they can trust. I mean they are horses. Things can go wrong at any time on even the best one, always um but I feel like there really are some saint other horses out there that just they're worth their weight in gold. And that's like the truest statement ever.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

You know yeah, absolutely. And and you know also when people are shopping for a horse I think it's important to realize if you're a serious horse person, this may not be the horse you have forever. Because as you get better you may outgrow this horse.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

That is absolutely true. Um we do see people go through you know they kinda go through the levels. You've got some that just stay at like they just want the trail ride and that's all they ever want to do and that's perfectly fine. I mean there are horses that are happy to take these folks out trail riding on the weekends and go camping. Um that's another great thing to do is you know your performance horses there as far as giving them a different job.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Um but yeah you've got your w your your folks that want to they want to up their horsemanship and they want to get better or even let's say they start running barrels and they're at the very bottom and they're they're not really clocking. They're just kinda getting comfortable with it and then they start to get better. Well they max that horse out and let's just say that horse is only gonna run in what we call the fourth division and that's as fast as he's ever going to get but the client is ready to go on and go faster. Um there's certainly nothing wrong with selling that horse to a good home and get me something that to to step up, to step up the steps let's say.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Absolutely. So you've accomplished so much, Alicia what's left on your bucket list to do?

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Oh gosh, well I don't know what's really left on the bucket list. There are a few things that I would like to do that if I was called to do I definitely would. Um I've always been a big fan of Road to the horse um and you know they just kind of started bringing women into that recently. Yeah. Um Road of the Horse is obviously the biggest cult starting competition in the world and I think that any cult starter would love to do that um if they were called to do so. Um also just as a spectator I would like to go and get out to the NFR to the National Finals Rodeo um in Las Vegas. It's not something that I've been to I am not a big fan of airplanes. Um so I feel like that does kind of hold me back from doing some things that I've wanted to do. Um I think you know I'll just kind of keep competing. I'm not near as serious as I was in my twenties about competing and things. I definitely still have a competitive side. Um the older I get kind of the less I do, Rose to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

Yeah, I understand. I'm sixty six trust me.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah I I would I would love to get out and watch the NFR um I would love to even maybe just go to the uh to the Road of the Horse one day but if they ever call me to go I would definitely go and compete in that. Um I don't know how many cold starting days I've got left in me at 41 almost 42. Um we'll continue to start as home for our business. Like I said we don't take in as many as we used to um but we do still take in a select group. We keep a waiting list for that just kind of work through it as we can. Um but you know honestly just to continue my horsemanship journey and just continue to learn more. Um I feel like you know even at my age even when I've been doing this for a long time I've still got a lot to learn. Uh I feel like the opportunity is always there to learn from other trainers uh learn them what to do, learn them what not to do and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

So Well you know you you're uh uh an excellent cult start and judge and an excellent commentator too so you'd have a big future in both of those fields.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

Yes ma'am I've enjoyed those I know that I've commented or commentated um MC'd some of your competitions and and I've judged a few and I really enjoy that. Um I just enjoy everything that goes into the art of colt starting it's it's such a special dance and not everybody has it but a lot of people do have it. Um and you know setting those colts up that first the from the first ride through the first sixty days you're really setting him up for his life. Um and I feel like colt starting is a is a big different venue than training.

SPEAKER_03 25:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Um I feel like there's a big difference in the two and it's just something that I've really enjoyed. I enjoy the training aspect. I enjoy teaching horses to side pass or to two track or to do fancy things, come pick you up off the fence or to lay down or all that stuff. Um the competition I enjoy you know training horses for that. But something about being the first person to touch it. You know when they haven't been handled, when they haven't they haven't had anything done, you're the first person to interact with it. You're really setting him up right there for how the rest of his life is gonna go. And you can make it, you know, just so good for that horse if you teach him, you know, wrong from right right from the get go. Um and you have a good gentle way about taking him through that cult starting process.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

Absolutely and and whoever gets him needs to understand that he knows right from wrong and you just have to keep continue carrying it on with that.

SPEAKER_00 26:50

Yeah, you you definitely gotta keep up with the training especially those ones that you know they come in here they get sixty days which is not very much. Um a lot of people think oh you know sixty days is a lot and it really does set him up that somebody's got to continue it not failing once he goes home.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Mm-hmm So what kind of advice would you give women coming into our industry because it's a tough place to make a living.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

It is so my my number one thing would be if you're gonna do it you're gonna have to be tough. Um it's a lot harder for the women than it is for the men. And and that's just the way it is. Anytime a a woman comes into you know a male dominated type environment I feel like there's always been that thought of you know cowboy in it's for cowboys. Um and and and though it rings true in some things there are definitely things that men can do that I physically cannot do. That's just all there is to it. I've never been one of those women that say I can do anything a man can do because I can't. Right. Um I'm five four and a hundred and twenty pounds. So a lot of those things I can't do but for the women coming in you're gonna have to be tough and you're gonna have to commit to it and you're gonna have to really love it. Uh if you come into it half-hearted you're not gonna make it. Uh if you come into it and you're gonna cry every time you get your toe stepped on you're not gonna make it because you're gonna have some injuries, uh you're gonna have to have you know maybe a backup plan for when you are injured. Um my husband and I both had major injuries when we were out of work for extensive periods of time. Um I was out of work one time for eighteen months. Mm-hmm um had it not been for my husband, you know, keeping our business going, I would have lost everything that I had. Right. So um you're gonna have to be tough but I just mainly advise them to be tough at it and to come into it with an open mind and to learn as much as you can learn from anybody that has a little bit more experience than you do. Um I feel like I see a lot of young people and they already know it all. And I feel like that right there is where they really need to take the opportunity to learn from from anybody and everybody. Ask people questions. You can go to anybody. I sat with uh John Lyons outside an expo one time when I was very young and first starting doing public demonstrations and he schooled me for thirty minutes and you better believe I listened to everything that man had to say. Absolutely a lot of time with like Guy McLean. I've taken a lot of advice from him. Um I've spent a lot of time with other trainers that I have a lot of respect for and that I've tried to learn from. So I feel like just go around and learn all that you can from from every trainer, every opportunity that you have uh but women can certainly make it in the horse industry and a lot of women do better than men. They've got a special touch, they've got that soft side, they've got something to 'em that these horses really take to. Um and women are athletic and women can ride. Yeah. I mean you look at like these girls that are running at the NFR or these girls that do like eventing eventing blows my mind. Um those women that you know that compete in inventing and show jumping that's something to be said for.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Absolutely. Absolutely anything else that you want to leave our listeners with?

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Uh you know the best piece of advice I've ever given out I think and that I stick with is the kindest thing you can do for any horse is to get him some training. Um the reason that I say that is because number one the horse may not always be with you. And if you love that horse at some point in your life, whether you love him for six months or you love him for ten years and then the situation changes for whatever reason, if he's had some training he's likely to find a soft landing. Um if he's disrespectful if he's not had much training he's more than likely to not find a soft landing. So I always advise horse people the kindest thing you can do for any horse is get the horse some training. Um teach him to be a good citizen and that horse is most likely going to have a great life.

SPEAKER_02 30:48

I agree with you a hundred percent. Now how can people mute you guys?

SPEAKER_00 30:53

How can they find you um so they can find us we have a website Brock Griffith horsemanship dot com. Um we have social media obviously we have Facebook pages um our phone number anybody's welcome to call us that's on our website and on our social media as well we're located our facility is in Graham North Carolina um I obviously travel all over for my husband and I both Brock and I both for clinics for lessons um we travel around for expos. I travel around a lot of Holly horses but our facility is in Graham um and we do most of our training here. We do do some farm calls where you know we need to go out and help somebody with something at their farm or let's say you know they want the trailer in for lessons that their horse won't load so we do have to go out and help them. Um but yeah they can look us up on our website at Brock Griffith Horsemanship dot com. We've both got Facebook and social media and different outlets there um and we're happy to help whether it's just talking to somebody on the phone or you know giving them a couple lessons, taking their horse in for training, whatever um happy to help out anybody that is seeking some help in the horse industry.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Very good. Well I really appreciate your time this morning thank you for being on the show. Yes ma'am Rose it's been my pleasure thank you so much for having us and as always guys thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed today's show our souls wander in similar places even though we may not know each other and our hearts wander in the same area