Approach the coach

When a trainer is verbally disrespecting another trainer, especially one that has a resume & track record of success, that’s a red flag. First, it’s unprofessional. Second, there are a set of unwritten ‘rules’ among trainers, and one is they don’t criticize other trainers in public, no matter how hard it is sometimes to hold back their opinion. It’s part of being in the segment of the horse world known as ‘trainers’.

So, by openly criticizing the 5* trainer, this trainer is basically marking herself as not a part of the "world of ‘real trainers’ ". It doesn’t mean that she isn’t a trainer, it means she’s putting herself outside of that cooperative group (and they do communicate and cooperate far more than their clients are aware, even when not working on the same level).

Which opens the lid on a host of issues and baggage that this trainer is undoubtedly carrying around. That is spilling over into her program and how she handles her clients.

OP, without taking the time to assemble them all, you’ve posted a number of contradictions about your opinion of the BM/trainer. You say that BM/trainer has great skills with green and difficult horses, that she’s done well with your horse, but then in another post you express concerns with how things are going now with the training rides she is doing with your horse. You say that she is your primary trainer/coach at shows, but that she isn’t living up to that role. There are more contradictory remarks/opinions in your posts, but that’s a start. You refer to this person as BM, and add her training & coaching as an apparent side description, which is an unusual way of looking at her professional role.

I suspect that you while you previously had a high opinion of this person and her program, recently some deep concerns are coming to the surface that contradict that image. And that’s a hard realization to accommodate. It’s telling you that maybe she’s not right for the primary role that she currently holds in your horse life. If that is the case, then you are facing some possibly difficult choices.

I once developed similar conflicting opinions about a trainer/BM/coach. I initially had a high regard for her and her program. She was offering a program for riders who wanted to progress in eventing. She had a lot to offer as an instructor & coach. But often she would withhold important information in a lesson. She had odd expectations that her students would know more than they did, but didn’t acknowledge that she wasn’t giving them the information they needed. Although her program was designed for riders who were actively eventing, she would only occasionally go to events to coach. In a warm-up ring, her students were often the ones with no coach. Before an event, she didn’t like tailoring lessons to prep for the event that weekend. And so on. Sometimes she did something brilliantly, but more often she didn’t make the effort. It took a couple of years to realize this.

Because I saw her potential and thought that I would ‘grow into it’ while at her barn, it took me some time to realize that this wasn’t going to happen. I was roadblocked from progressing very far and so were her other students. Her quirkiness wasn’t occasional, it was who she was. Eventually each of her students would figure that out and move on.

I finally figured out that the image didn’t match the reality. That was the time to move on. It was a difficult decision because I had been with that program too long and was too emotionally invested. And because it was challenging geographically. But moving on was one of the best decisions I ever made in my horse life. The longer drive to a better program was what was needed. :slight_smile:

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Overandonward, thank you for your insight.
I would like to clarify something you noted in your post. At no point did I ever say I am having trouble with her putting training rides on my horse. I bring that up because I don’t want words put in my mouth and a subsequent miscommunication/misinterpretation. Per the posts, I have two distinct horses, one gets training rides and the other does not. The issue is not how she handles my horses, but rather the coaching and human-human interactions.

I feel you, this sport has a lot of emotional investment at multiple levels. It convolutes our decisions.

I have received a lot of great points of view and eloquent ways of phrasing that we all need to pursue happiness and our better selves.

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And that I need to buy a truck and trailer lol!

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Truck and trailer are just amazing things to have.

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Just an observation in passing. In my experience true horsemen tend to be calm, thoughtful, open-minded and flexible. To have any success with horses you have to have immense self-discipline and control in order to provide the control needed by the horse. To be able to analyse both the horse and ones own performance, and the variables associated in developing and maintaining that performance, the horseman needs a flexible, open mind.

If I find myself in a situation where people habitually shout, throw temper tantrum or display ignorance, I walk away. I want to learn more about these wonderful horses from someone who understands them better than I.

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Those who shout and hit horses and throw tantrums and diminish students are those who have reached the end of their knowledge.

Keep an open mind, and above all have patience and that is all you need to train a horse.

You can learn from anyone.

Mum said she was in actual shock when she learned something from my 3yo brother.

She does not remember what she learned. Just the feeling of the shock at learning from a 3yo when you think you know everything and she was the one teaching him.

Her 91 yo birthday yesterday. She still has the patience and we showed people the 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles she has put together. They all said they do not have the patience to do that.

My brother also never had the patience and gave up riding horses. He used to muck up the puzzles Mum and I were doing instead of putting them together!

So to train a horse, have patience, keep an open mind, learn from everyone and everything and don’t be lazy.

I agree with others who say you have outgrown this “trainer” and her attitude. Good care is given at most barns. That she has no advanced riders may say a something about her skill set and the unwillingness of knowledgeable people to tolerate her attitude.

Since this elite clinician is within reasonable driving distance and he regularly communicates with you, what about finding out what other riders are attending his training events… See who their trainers are.

Personally I would tell 5* you are in a negative situation and are seeking a supportive, fair-minded trainer that can help you be your best and support your continued periodic riding with 5*

Clinicians are great but it does not help a lot if they don’t align with your home trainer, or if the home trainer tries to 'unjustify:" the knowledge you gained. You are not paying your home trainer for her opinion on 5* or anyone else.

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I think we get into periods of complacency and don’t notice that we aren’t moving forward until we do something different, like you going to that boot camp. It obviously opened your eyes a bit that you made much quicker progress with this 5* rider. If your BM pitched that much of a fit about it, that tells me that she is fully aware that you have outgrown her. Short of getting your own truck & trailer, (which is awesome by the way) if it were me, I would just tell her to drop it and continue to work with the 5* whenever you get the opportunity. It’s your horse and ultimately your decision who you train with.

I realize you cannot afford or even got to weekly lessons with the 5*, but I’ve found, when the quality of the instruction is that effective, you can get away with more spaced out lessons and work alone on your homework in between lessons. You sound like you are far enough along to know how to train on your own and also know when to seek advice for things that do not feel right.

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