I never said don’t go to other clinics. I’m saying that if you’re in someone’s program (which, it has been pointed out to me that the OP is not), you owe it to your horse and the trainer to discuss together a plan for training. If a clinician is so different from your regular trainer that working with them will be detrimental to your horse, or if the clinician is known to not consider a horse’s fitness levels for the clinic, then you as the owner should decide to leave your regular trainer or respect what they are saying about the clinician and stay home.
Your horse, your choice, but if you’re in a program, ignoring your trainer is just doing your horse a disservice.
Sorry, no. I’m not knowingly sending a client to a clinician that is going to mentally or physically screw up a horse. Hard stop. Not fair to the horse. I’ve had horses trained by other trainers come back with back soreness so bad they can’t be ridden for 5 days. That’s unacceptable.
OP said get coach was unhappy and told her not to go [quote=“nighthorse6, post:1, topic:795423”]
In the Fall when I have mentioned wanting to go to different events, I could tell she wasn’t pleased and gave me reasons why I shouldn’t go.
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When I got Tiger, my first “fancy” horse, I would worry that I was going to do something wrong and “ruin” him irretreivably.
My trainer and best friend finally looked at me and said, “You aren’t going to do anything with that horse in an afternoon that I can’t ‘fix’ in 10 minutes. Go have fun.”
First, you wouldn’t be “sending a client”, the client would be going because THEY wanted to. Their horse, their choice. You work for them and they own the horse and pay the bills.
I’m curious about this part “horses trained by other trainers come back with back soreness”. That can’t be referring to a clinician because generally clinicians teach the horse and rider team and rarely do much if any riding themselves. Two or three days of one 45 minute lesson a day? Nope. That back soreness speaks more to either poor saddle fit/bad riding (which is on the existing trainer and the client) or a horse that is not fit enough to be ridden and really worked for 45 minutes a day.
Exactly. Bad riding that the clinician is having the owner do (balancing on the reins, riding in too short of a frame for the horse’s fitness or training level), and a lack of fitness. 80% of the horses that come to me for rehab have injuries or extreme body soreness because someone worked them too hard for too long when they weren’t fit enough. If a client insists on going to someone that’s going to do that, they can be in a different program that’s not mine.
The horse I mentioned above was in rehab and being ridden by someone once a week, and had a sore back for 5 days, multiple times. I’m not down with that.
Having been in similar situations where “trainer” is not riding horse and I was only doing a weekly lesson (it was nice to have eyes on the ground but I only did it as it was a requirement to board there), I would take my horse and go no asking for permission. I would tell BO/ coach “Horse will be gone X date to Y date” or “I’m hauling out at 8AM tomorrow and expect to be back by 6PM” but wouldn’t always say where I was going because honestly it never occurred to me that it was any of their business. If I want to take my horse, with my truck and trailer, on my dime, to a rodeo clown clinic then I’m going “trainer”’s opinion be damned. Apparently I’m in the minority here. It would be a different case if you were truly in a program, IMO, but you aren’t which is the biggest thing here.
100% you can do whatever you want if you own the horse and want to.
The trainers that don’t like it, usually are the ones who aren’t as helpful with you or your animal.
(Wandering eyes started to wander for a reason)
This is why I have my horses in a barn that I rent myself. I train and ride them myself and I take lessons with a fabulous trainer. But it’s rare that we are at the same shows, due to the clientele she has and what they need versus what me and my horse need in terms of heights, days of the week (with my job) and climate and weather.
I would LOVE to show where she shows more, but I don’t need to. So I prioritize my needs and celebrate when it all intertwines.
Then clearly that client had a poor understanding of the word “rehab”. Or maybe didn’t realize the horse was being rehabilitated, which in some barns is used as an excuse for not being worked.
Heck yeah. This is a good way to handle it! I’ll add that if there is a BM or BO that handles the daily care vs the trainer, OP would be better off telling that person and just informing the trainer casually. Depends on the setup.
Exactly. Assuming the horse owner isn’t a complete dumb dumb (and isn’t so reliant on Trainer that they can’t make sound judgement calls when it comes to protecting their own horses), if a trainer cannot fix what someone may “mess up” on their horse on a weekend trail ride or show or fun day, then that trainer isn’t as good as they think they are. And the client would likely be better off elsewhere .
That said, if OP’s trainer gave her reasons not to go and those reasons were “the footing at that venue is demonstrably dangerous, that clinician is known to be extremely rough and teaches rolkur disguised as LDR, the owner there is sketchy towards XYZ demographic” - that is ENTIRELY different. But I didn’t get that impression from OP’s post. I could also see a trainer being a bit worried about a client going to a Parelli or CA clinic, having seen horses messed up by those in VERY short order. But again, not the impression I got from OP.
This is one thing that I love about eventers (as a hunter rider), almost everyone clinics and rides with multiple trainers and hauls out for XC or whatever and no one bats an eye.
Yes the client had a poor understanding of the horse’s fitness level, as evidenced by his 5 day long sore back after someone rode him in a 3rd level frame for 45 minutes when he could barely complete a 1st level test.
Honestly I would question the quality of the training you provide if a weekend clinic can undo all of the training that you have provided. While I have no issues with someone offering insight on how to get the most out of the clinic ( you should consider riding at this level, this clinician can be really tough etc) you need better reason than the horse might get screwed up to forbid someone like the OP from going . Yes by all means if you know the clinician to be abusive to horse or rider, or was known for asking riders to do things that were unsafe speak up. But outside of that you should be training horse and riders in such a way that they are able to go and do something without you there holding their hand.
My apologies, I didn’t realize you were at that clinic watching. Since your client was so inexperienced as to not understand rehab, I’d have thought you’d have advocated for the horse while you were at the clinic. Again, sorry for misunderstanding.
Sure, you can advise her. But once again - it is her horse, her risk, her decision.
It seems self-centered and maybe even a bit juvenile for trainers to think it is “unfair” to THEM when a client wants to do something WITH HER OWN HORSE.
It has occurred to me more and more that I would be in good company with my OTTB in the eventing crowd, plus it seems like everyone is the more DIY independent sort of rider like I am. I even did my very first horse trial last year and even though I was terrified, I really did love it! It was the most fun ever!
However, I’m determined to show all those Warmbloods in Hunterland that TBs can still be competitive there! Plus I can’t help myself, I really love a “it’s like watching paint dry” Hunter round
just one “trainer” who apparently thinks they should have full control over their clients making a lot of comments.
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