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From tranquility to tricks, Ogilvie's Surrett can train horses

Posted Online: 7/2/02

By Greg Hunt

Watching horses who could walk a narrow concrete beam or jump into the back of a pickup was impressive. Then came the display of previously spooky horses who wouldn't balk when walking through a plastic tarp or when an ATV drove by loudly. And bowed when the presentation was done.

Those feats and several more were evident in the students of Larry Surrett after they completed the recent three-week course at the Minnesota Horse Training Academy, located north of Ogilvie.

Surrett, a colorful 45-year-old man, has run the Academy since 1995 after being around horses since he was 12-years-old. Over the three week course, he exposes the students to his seven training techniques which begins with praise and correction. He prefers to keep class sizes small for the sessions which run in the late spring and late summer.

"What I want is a good training foundation for the students. They break the techniques down into steps which over time they can use to apply to just about anything they want to teach their horse to do," explained Surrett.

June 28 was the final day for his latest class. For the guests in attendance, the eight students ran their horses through a variety of stations. Student Vonnie Theisen of St. Cloud had her horse, Dakota, standing calmly while she shook a rattling contraption made up of plastic milk jugs.

"This is my first horse, and he was pretty spooky. Now I can have him walk through the tarp or have a 4-wheeler drive by, and nothing matters to him," said the 18-year-old.

"I've never trained a horse before, and I learned how to do it correctly, which was my main goal of taking this course," said Gretchen Castle of Osage, IA who owns what she calls a "hot blooded horse"ñan Arab and Saddlebred mix. "If parents were thinking about getting their kids into horses, this is a good program, a well-spent investment."

Surrett, who has had a number of Isanti Co. riders through his program along with folks from all over the U.S. and Canada, can be reached at 320-272-4199. He will be offering a free 4-H day at the Academy in August which will center on safety and horse reactions to common situations. For more on information, log on to www.mnhorse trainingacademy.com.