Coaches that don't ride

[erinmeri]

@rulex

Also the scheme of having a WS ride the horse under supervision of the trainer would very much depend on the WS and their qualifications. My own experience going that route in the past wasn’t great, I ended up switching to another pro who could do the riding and in retrospect would have been better off doing that from the start rather than spending the time and money having the WS on board. YMMV.

I certainly wouldn’t pay for a working student to ride my horse… I would expect that would be gratis, and only an option I would consider for a very talented WS who could ride better than I could/was inches away from being an assistant trainer themselves.

I would also add that if your clients are loyal and you have a fellow pro who can come in to do pro rides, I don’t think your clients would be enticed away. I really like the pro who comes in to ride my mare occasionally, but wouldn’t be enticed to their program because I adore my trainer.

[MsM]

I have never had an instructor ride my horse regularly. I actually don’t care for “instructors” who get on to fix problems too much. My previous instructor rode my horse once during the several years we worked together. (I had surgery) Similarly current instructor has ridden my horse a couple of times when I was laid up. Otherwise I feel her job is to help me work through problems as long as it is safe.
Tough position if a client was expecting you to do training rides or even “fix” things during a lesson. I guess a frank discussion with her about options and limitations might be in order. A working student would have to be quite accomplished so I’m not sure that is a big help in this scenario. Arranging regular clinics with a compatible pro who can hop on might be an option.

[BigMama1]

@Arlomine

How is this relevant? It’s just nasty.

SOP for that particular poster

[Djones]

I’ve witnessed the beloved Courtney King Dye leverage a pretty aggressive rider to “put a horse together” in clinics after her accident. It wasn’t pretty or necessary. CKD should have worked with the pair before them, rather than jerk the pair around with a stand in. Food for thought.

[NaturallyHappy]

This is why I think it can be done w a good trainer who is thinking and trains w exercises. That is disappointing.

[CHT]

The client didn’t buy the horse expecting me to ride it, I considered the horse suitable based on the idea I could ride it if needed. She is ok with taking the slow road, so right now we are doing slow work…in hand over obstacles and then riding, but just walk trot as he started to crow hop at canter. I thing its saddle fit (he was skinny when she bought him and has really filled out), so working on that first, but I feel that someone else might need to canter him to get both their confidence back.

[NaturallyHappy]

Could you work on the canter on the lunge line w side reins so the departure and the speed became less exciting?

[CHT]

My thought is a working student would want to be at show barn with a show trainer, on show type horses, but worth looking. A few years ago I had two great exercise riders - young adults who just couldn’t afford their own horses. Not trainers, but experienced enough, and bold. I need people like that I feel!

I don’t know of any local trainers that would come out to get on a little quarter horse in a way I trust. I need to look into it.

[CHT]

I am working on teaching the HO how to lunge. Her horse doesn’t really know how to lunge…teaching a person who hasn’t lunged to teach a horse who has barely lunged is an interesting challenge. I am not sure at what point I will feel safe lunging a green to lunging horse. But she isn’t in a rush, so that might be a good option!

[Bristol_Bay]

@clanter

I have a masters in business, nearly All of the business professors had run at least one company into bankruptcy, most had multiple business failures… they turned to teaching since they “could teach what they could not do”

Yes, but I bet they could punctuate.

Clanter, do you have any relevant advice or experience to share, or did you just want us to know you went to college?

@CHT I really empathize. Even if you never ride again, there is still a niche you can fill. There are riders out there like me with low ambitions and saintly horses who need your expertise. Is there somewhere local where you can advertise for the specific type of help you need? Board in exchange for schooling some horses under your expert eye might be desirable to riders who can’t otherwise afford to be in a program.

[red_mares]

I’ve had and known trainers who didn’t ride - old guys who were too broken to ride. The one usually had someone in the barn who could ride well enough - not fantastic, but good enough to follow directions from the ground. As an owner, I didn’t have a problem with the trainer not riding my horse. I knew going in that he wasn’t going ride much. I didn’t pay for his help directly, he paid them.

If a situation was given to him, my father could tell you how to fix a problem. While it was helpful to have the resource, it could also be infuriating that he was usually right.

[No1]

In my area there are tons of competent 20 somethings who would trade a stall for riding a few horses a day, teaching a horse to lunge, some barn work, etc. As long as they had time to earn money during the rest of the day.

I’m not sure what area you’re in, but if you could find someone like that, it could be a good situation for all.

[RhythmNCruise]

My coach when I started riding and on through my riding career as a teenager and young adult never sat on my horse. Neither did the handful of other instructors and clinicians I rode with regularly. The only exception was that Denny Emerson got on my horse at a clinic. It wasn’t to fix a problem, he just wanted to ride him and illustrate some things. My regular coach was there watching, and my parents and friends, and we were all just beside ourselves that Denny Freakin’ Emerson had asked to take my $700 backyard appaloosa for a spin. What was even cooler was that he highly praised my horse’s education. That education was attained with me 100% in the saddle and my instructor on the ground teaching me how to train the horse. I had just one year of weekly riding lessons under my belt and my horse was a green-broke 4yo pet that was literally in someone’s backyard when I got him…and maybe a year later, here was Denny Emerson praising his abilities in lateral work. Denny made sure to give kudos to my instructor, saying that she’d done an excellent job teaching me and the horse. I learned SO much from that situation (green rider on green horse with amazing coach). We were very successful in lower-level eventing (novice and training level) and even won some year-end awards. I also had my monthly clinics with a “bigger name” coach who my regular instructor recommended when she saw my horse and I moving beyond her and needing higher level instruction. He was also a great teacher and never got on my horse.
Both of these people DID ride and I’d seen both of them ride. But they taught ME how to work through issues with my horse instead of just getting on and trying to fix it themselves. I think that’s because they were SUCH GREAT teachers.

I’m grateful every day that I ride my current horse that I had such a great education when I was learning to ride. I see people who don’t know what to do if a horse goes off-script for a moment. I grew up riding a horse that didn’t even know how to read the script (or that there was one) and we learned to read it together. I’ve been able to start and train my own horses very easily thanks to my solid foundation…given to me by people who never sat on my horse.

[exvet]

I haven’t had a chance to read all the posts yet; but a few things I wanted to mention. I brought a long a Welsh cob from the age of 2 through PSG being his only rider. I purchased him with the idea of flipping him, but life circumstances intervened, and I lost my heart horse who I had earned my bronze on, and this guy had to step up to the plate. I would not have been able to have had the success that I did without the coach I had at the time (through almost his entire career with me). Due to severe rheumatoid arthritis my coach no longer rode, or if she did it was only her own horses on trails.

I also know of two riders locally who have been with their coach for a long time who have had much success riding up through the levels and training their horses. She also hung up her riding boots many, many years ago.

Both of these women (coaches) have a very good eye, have at least been Learner judges and continue to gain education through clinics, etc, and did have a successful career riding and training prior to being side lined from the saddle. Also, they both understand and provide a lot of help with groundwork which can successfully address a lot of issues in the saddle - may take more time and patience but in the long wrong is sometimes better.

As for the pelvis fracture, I had a horse flip over on me when I was 27 fracturing my pelvis. It took a while for me to be able to get back into the saddle (4 months if I remember correctly). I’m 59 now and still back and start my own. I still am reminded of my injury from time to time but usually it’s age and weather related. I don’t know if I suffered the same injury now if I would have been able to bounce back and everyone is different; but, I have worked hard to remain flexible and in shape otherwise which I think helps.

[Angela_Freda]

As I recall CKD and other WS rode most of the horses at Grey’s place, too.

[NancyM]

One of the top, long term hunter/jumper coaches in our area was never a competitive rider. But coached the most competitive riders, and competed across Canada successfully. The more advanced students became professional riders under her care. And sorted out any riding issues for the greener riders in becoming professional riders in their own right. I never really got the chance to ride regularly with this coach, but would take any clinics that she offered in my area. She’s still at it too, at around 80 years old I would guess. Still making new riders out of her clients, and winning at the shows. A legend in her own right.

[CHT]

4 months! wow. I broke my pubic symphysis, and didn’t get a plate put in, so doctor says to give it a year…but my pubic bones aren’t back to factory settings: the right one is tipped downward still, so I don’t know to what degree I will be able to ride comfortably/symmetrically. I am glad to have avoided surgery (My pelvis magically went back more or less in place while awaiting surgery), but at the same time, the surgeon can’t find any precedents for someone with this injury not getting surgery…so there is some uncertainty. That said, I also honestly don’t know if I want to ride again: I see a neurologist on the 22nd to discuss multiple concussion syndrome.

[exvet]

My fracture paralleled my sacroiliac and surgery was not needed. Riding was less of a concern (though speculation on if I ‘should’ was another matter) and greater risk of issues with childbirth/childbearing but got lucky with that too. Good thoughts and healing vibes sent your way. I totally get the second thoughts on riding again. I just rode through a buck yesterday which I was told was not a buck but an all-out handstand and ended up with severe whiplash. I did not come off (really didn’t even have any worry that I was coming out of the saddle) but my neck is far sorer than I’ve experienced in the past. I rode another right afterwards and am heading out now to ride two. It’s cold, I’m achy and I do wonder sometimes how long I’ll be able to do this; but it’s also my only link to sanity. Fortunately, my riding doesn’t pay the bills, just creates the main reason why I keep working full-time. I also am fortunate in that it’s rare I need someone else to get on and I’m one that most can ‘relatively easily’ ride through so the value in coaching for me, is based on the eye and the knowledge therein, not so much on the current physical ability to ride on the part of the coach.

[see_u_at_x]

I boarded at my last barn for over eight years with an instructor who no longer rode, but who had been the assistant trainer for an Olympic judge. It was a wonderful experience and I loved boarding there. When I first arrived, I had a totally safe Steady Eddie type of horse, so I didn’t really need help with someone else riding him. In fact, even though he wasn’t built well for dressage, I learned an awful lot from him and was able to work on my position as well as gain a lot of confidence. I bought my current horse as a 3 y.o. from the same instructor, sent him off for 4 months to a trainer for starting, brought him home, and continued with lessons. While my horse has been perfectly fine, there were a lot of times when I wished that I had someone more experienced to get on him. For a while, I had a young event rider come out and help me work through some things, but for the most part, I had to have my instructor help me from the ground. When my instructor retired, moved my horse two hours away so that I could put him back with the trainer who started him under saddle for me and here we remain. Telework made it possible for me to move closer to the barn and I’m really happy with how he’s progressed. He’s in full-training with a GP rider and I typically take lessons 2-4 days a week and it has helped both me and my horse exponentially. When I moved him, we were doing mediocre first level work, and now, with my trainer, he’s learning lead changes, half-steps, and canter half-passes. I get to learn that stuff, too, but my trainer does all the super hard work of teaching my horse, who is not the easiest of students! lol

[BatCoach]

typical for a clanter post. I had him on ignore since all of his posts are tone-deaf or self-absorbed. Time to re-extend his presence on my ignore list!