Kuchina Keeps Animal Training A Family Affair
Bourdon Herald, 04 March 2005

Kuchina Johnson, daughter of the renowned Brassy Searle, is a well-known horse and dog trainer based in Oakhanger. She has been training animals all of her life. She specialises in giving displays at shows, but she has also provided animals for television and has made several appearances herself. Kuchina and her husband Sam have three children - Frank 18, Kuchina Junior 10 and Phoebe 6. They have eight horses; Mucho Dinero, Chico Suerte, Otros Manos, Furioso, Nino Cantado, Mercedes, Eclipse and Nico, three display dogs; Dan, Woody and Chaquitta and two cats.

"My ambition is still to ride at 76, just as my father does. Most dads get slippers and a pipe for their 74th birthday but I bought my dad a stallion, Mucho Dinero."


"I ride for at least an hour a day otherwise I start to seize up," said Mr Searle.

"I prefer horses and dogs to people. It sounds bad but what you see is what you get with them," said Kuchina, or Kuchy as she is often known.

Kuchina has recently found out that every horse and dog in the yard is going to be sponsored by Gro-Well Feeds. She said: "I'm a very happy woman. Kids eat like horses and horses eat like elephants."

"All the day to day care, the training and everything else is done solely by me, my dad and the girls. No one else is involved at all." She added: "My husband will feed the horses if I'm away, he'll care for them and come and watch me but that's as close as he will get to them."

The horses are never clipped so they have manes down to their shoulders. To keep them in tip-top condition and to prevent them getting rubbed by rugs Kuchina applies Dove leave-in hair conditioner on the mane at the withers.

Over the coming months Kuchina will be very busy doing displays across the country and in Spain, where she is known as Loca, the mad woman. At the moment she and her daughters perform three different displays, one of which is called Kuchina's Spanish Dancing Horses. This display was originally choreographed by her father 44 years ago but was updated by Kuchina in 2000.

"Each horse is different and has its own way of presenting things. I don't think any one is better than any other, each one has something to give."

Kuchina rides for a minimum of four hours a day and the girls ride about five times a week. Kuchina said:

"Phoebe hasn't been hurt yet, you have to be hurt to learn to respect the horses. It's become a tradition now; me, my dad and Kuchina have all broken our left leg and my son broke his left arm and so we're waiting to see if she'll break her arm or her leg."

Eclipse, who was named in a competition for Herald readers, won't be in full training until she is three years old. "She's a stunner," said Kuchina, "Sometimes it's about getting a horse not to do too much that is a problem. They want to be top dog but have to wait their turn."

They have a small indoor school but most of the time the horses are trained outdoors. Kuchina said: "As the horses all compete outdoors, with all sorts of distractions they have to be introduced to different types of noises. At the moment I play Eclipse Delta Radio, so she gets used to different sounds."

The first animal that Kuchina trained was a goat called McGinty. She has never looked back. "I think given long enough you could train anything. My daughters are trying to train the cats at the moment, believe it or not. I haven't come across any horse that I couldn't train."

Until 2002 Kuchina had never trained a mare, only stallions and geldings. "My dad used to say that mares were just access to the true showmen but my three mares are all brilliant."

"A mare can't lose concentration for a second, they are more intelligent, you have to ask things of them. I train them using my voice, I don't agree with spurs and I've never had any trouble." She continued: "You need to get inside a horse's brain. The best thing you can have is time, it's the only thing you need to get across what you want."

"You also need light hands," said Mr Searle, "I always say horsemen and women are born, not made, it's either in you or it's not." Kuchina added:"Thoroughbreds are the easiest to train, they are natural-born athletes but they won't play up to the crowd. Crowds want majestic, dream-looking horses that play up to the crowd and give them what they want. That's why we have horses of Spanish and Portuguese bloodlines."

Kuchina once remarked that she would rather have a horse than a husband because they are easier to train. Soon after she made that comment, her husband bought her a stallion, Nico.

"Mercedes will go into foal with one of the stallions either Nico. Mucho or Otros Manos. It'll most probably be Nico but we dont like them to just breed and breed and breed. I don't put them in foal every year."

This love of animals have been transferred from her father to Kuchina's and her brothers and sisters. She is one of 10 children and all her siblings have different breeds of horses. Whatever type of horse she need, between them they will have it. Her mum Phoebe. 72, doesn't ride but she does drive horses
They have a good following in Oakhanger and many people know the horses by name:

"We're known as the dream team in the village because it doesn't matter what you look like or how old you are. We range from six years old to 76."

Kuchina is a familiar sight in the playground, but unlike other mums she often does the school run in her 10-ton horsebox. She said: "When I need to get them used to journeys I start off with the school run. The kids come and say 'hello' and its just the sort of short and sweet journey they need. I am living proof that dreams can come true, I always wanted a purpose-built-yard and that's what I got. I love what I do, it's a real family affair. I was the youngest person I know to become a registered trainer at 21 and my daughter Kuchina Junior is trying to beat me and become one by the age of 20."

To raise money for Red Nose Day people can be photographed with Mucho Dinero. All they have to do is ring in advance and then turn up with a red nose. So far, over 70 people have already been snapped with him.