I talked to a trainer the other day about starting up weekly lessons with her. She said she’d check her schedule and get back to me. She sounded all like “Yes! would love to have you join our team” so thought I’d hear in the next day or so. It’s been 3 days and radio silence. Should I text her and ask again? Is it too soon? I don’t want to be a pest but am pretty anxious about getting started to maybe get in one lesson before the pony club rally. Should I wait a couple more days?
I would guess they are just busy and do not remember to text at a time that they also have their calendar. (Something I would do.)
Send a short text simply stating that you are excited to join their program and looking forward to finding a time that works for both of you.
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I sent a follow up text immediately after hanging up with her so she had my number and my name correctly. I’ll wait until Sunday and see.
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send a follow up stating- I know you are busy but I wanted to follow up in case I missed something. have a good weekend
or something to that effect
I’m going through this right now with a barn I’m inquiring at. I know it’s a busy lesson program and trainers tend not to be great with email, so after about a week, I followed up. Horse people generally aren’t known for their business organizational skills, so trainer really probably just forgot to get back to you.
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I was putting out feelers for a new trainer. Emailed four. No response from two, got (and loved) the one who responded immediately, then the final one emailed two weeks later, after I’d started lessons, apologizing, saying she was busy. I don’t think there’s harm in following up, as long as it’s done in a nonconfrontational, undemanding way. It could just be a bad week.
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Call me OldSchool (I am!), but if this trainer is near enough so you consider taking a lesson, is she not near enough to drop by her barn & ask IN PERSON if she is available?
I think dropping in on a barn without knowing their schedule is likely to make you a pest. If they simply forgot to text back, they should be happy to get a text. If they are too busy to respond, you’re likely to catch them while they are teaching or on a horse, in which case, they are too busy.
I’d definitely go with the text first, and then decide on the next move if still nothing…
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Three days is sufficient (assuming it wasn’t over a weekend, they could be away at a show.) So on the third “work day” after two days of silence, I would try again.
I always go observe a lesson / check out the barn and horsemanship before I sign up for a lesson.
Depending on where you are in your search, make a specific request instead of a general inquiry.
“Hi, I’d like to come observe a lesson. Is that okay and when will you be teaching [level similar to yours]?”
“Hi, I’d like to schedule an introductory lesson on a school horse to see if I’m a good fit for your program. Do you have room and is there a time this week that will work?”
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I would never just drop by a barn. A barn is private property. You might “just drop by” when the trainer or rider is incredibly busy (at best) or (at worst) be working with a young horse at a time they’ve specifically chosen because they want minimal distractions. Also, it’s not true of all barns, but sometimes the seemingly obvious entrance to a barn or an arena isn’t the one that’s usually used. I once was riding a very spooky pony when two people “just dropping by” suddenly opened a door that’s never used, bursting straight into the arena. Even blocking a driveway on a day when a delivery is expected isn’t a great way to introduce yourself as a potential client.
I wouldn’t personally be okay as a rider with a stranger observing my lesson. I’m paying a decent chunk of change for my trainer’s input in a private environment, without being judged by outside eyes. I understand if someone who is part of the barn has to ride in the arena during my lesson time but that’s different being put on display for an audience “auditioning” my instructor.
I can understand that switching barns is a big commitment, as is choosing a trainer for a horse, but deciding on a place to take lessons is less complicated–get a trial lesson when (and if) the instructor has time.
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This totally sounds like a situation I’d find myself in. Often.
When my email(s) inquiring about driving lessons began receiving one word responses - quite literally - from the trainer about very basic deal-breaker kinds of things, I decided it would be better to try not to take it personally and just call her instead to set something up. It was the right decision, because she happily scheduled me in!
In your case, I’d send another message as other posters have already advised. Or call, if messages are going unanswered.
And once you schedule something be sure to ask this trainer what is their preferred means of contact.
Everyone is different on how they like best to be communicating.
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@S1969 this is what I intended by “drop by” - a public lesson barn s/b open to visitors who are not disruptive & you can approach the trainer after a lesson is finished & ask if they have time to chat about your intent to lesson.
While I do text & check my incoming texts pretty regularly, there are times I miss one for a day or so.
OldSchool 
I don’t agree. Just because it’s a “public lesson barn” does not mean it is open to the public in the same way a grocery store of municipal park is open to the public. It’s private property, and the trainer as well as the clients in the lesson might find the presence of a stranger watching their lesson to be weird.
It’s totally fine to say - “hey I’d love to watch a sample lesson, is there one that would be similar to what I want?” and wait for the trainer to say - “yes, I have an intermediate flat lesson at 3pm on Thursday that will work” - but not just show up to watch any lesson, uninvited and unannounced. Had you done this at any lesson I ever took, the trainer would have stopped the lesson and asked …“um…can I help you?” rather than just let you observe a lesson without an introduction or invitation.
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100%. Although in my experience, it’s usually 1. email for first contact (to be checked at leisure), followed by 2. texting (after verifying with instructor this is preferable).
I admit (just putting this out there to instructors in evaluating how to communicate with clients), that instructors who don’t email/text and insist on phone contact for non-urgent, non-emergency communication would probably not be a good match for me and probably most other middle-aged or younger clients.
And also the trainer (if willing to do this) would have to check with the students if this was okay. Personally, I prefer to suck in private, observed only by my kindly instructor, rather than have a possibly not-so-kindly stranger watch me suck.
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I’m sure the instructor is aware of which students wouldn’t want someone watching and would take that into account. The instructor will want to be seen in their best light anyway, and making a student uncomfortable will not do that. FWIW when I’ve been invited to observe a lesson it’s almost always been a group lesson, usually kids. All I want to see is that the horses are well taken care of, the instructor knows what they are doing, and how they interact with the students. (No yelling!)
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IME, a barn that gives lessons can be a place the public can go without an invitation.
UNLESS it is on private property - in which case I agree you don’t go unless you’ve made contact ahead of your visit.
So OP could go where she knows trainer teaches & at which time OP can tell trainer she had texted, ask if was this a good time to discuss her future lesson. etc…
I’ve been observed in lessons & critiqued by railbirds at clinics - neither bothered me or took my trainer’s attention from the lesson.
Just had a situation where there was a snafu in the timing for a lesson I’d booked - Driven Dressage - with a BNT.
I drove into the arena she was teaching in, havng noone to head my mini if I exited the cart, waited politely a distance from the area she was using & when she completed the lesson, introduced myself, apologized for any disruption & asked if I could stay on the rail (of the very large) arena until she was ready for me.
She was more than gracious, even when it turned out she was not the clinician I’d booked the lesson with.
She then tried to contact the trainer I’d been listed for, had no success, but advised she’d be glad to give me lesson & would then split the fee with the other trainer.
I can’t think of any barn within 200 miles of me that is not on private property. So, perhaps the concept of a “public lesson barn” is different where you live.
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All barns here are on private property - in that it is not land owned by the County.
But the lessons barns are all open to visitors*.
I visited several when looking to relocate my horses.
*Make that visitors with common sense and/or horse sense.
I.E. you don’t unload the school bus outside a barn without having made arrangements to visit.
But a single person can walk into the barn if inquiring about board or lessons, ask for the BO/BM & go from there.
