Hello everyone! I am having a dilemma. I am considering switching barns, but I love my teacher to death, and I can’t imagine leaving. However, the problems with this barn are: No indoor ring (so bad weather=no riding), I have a 30-45 min drive there, no available lease/lesson horses, board is $600 a month, lessons are expensive too.
I know my trainer is in a bad financial state. She owns the farm, but wasn’t always the trainer there- her old student was the trainer for a few years, until she pretty much deserted the place, started up a new barn, and spread some nasty rumors about the barn I go to. Half of the boarders/riders moved with the new trainer, half stayed with my trainer.
It’s just really hard to stay with this barn when I see nearby barns that are reputable, fancy, but at the same time, have cheaper boarding costs. I can’t imagine leaving my trainer though, she’s like my family. This is so confusing and I feel so torn. 
Would your trainer travel to you for lessons if you move to a barn that’s closeby?
Probably not…most of my lessons are group lessons, and she is really busy anyways. The nearest barn is also 20-ish mins away.
Move. It’s time for you to move on and if she’s really like family then she’ll understand that.
I can’t tell from your post if you have your own horse or you’re riding lesson horses (hence wanting a lease situation), but why not try some lessons at these other barns before committing to anything?
You might also just ride elsewhere in the winter months (make sure your present trainer is OK with this - some would not welcome you back come spring or would’ve booked your current slot etc).
You can always just open the discussion with your current trainer, e.g. I’d really like to ride more, I’d prefer not to miss out on winer lessons due to weather etc, what can we do about this?
I assume OP is a younger person? This kind of decision happens many times during your lifetime- should you stay loyal to a service provider or select another? There is no one size fits all answer, it depends on whether or not they are delivering the service you are paying for in a satisfactory manner and what the competition can offer.
Has nothing to do with horse training, just are you getting your needs met or not. Would a change meet those needs better? Are you getting good value for what you are spending versus what another can deliver? Only you can decide.
Specific to this situation, for a weekly group lesson student? If you want to ride regardless of weather and current trainer does not have an indoor? I wouldn’t worry whether she approves of you taking your weekly group lesson or not. Asking for her “approval” is BS when she offers no substitute. Going to come down to your choice of do you want lessons on a predictable schedule or not.
Same thing with the board being higher then comparable facilities with indoors and less drive time. What works best for YOU?
It’s great to be concerned and compassionate towards your current trainer. But you cannot change the fact there is no indoor, it’s a long drive or reverse some of the decisions and choices she has made in her life. You need to think about what’s best for you and base your decision on that. Be nice, don’t be in a rush to leave- take some test lessons first but you need to meet your own goals.
She should have no problem understanding its about your needs, not her issues. If she does? Time to go anyway. Be remiss not to mention there are three sides to those stories you hear- side A, Side B and the truth somewhere in the middle. Keep in mind you only know side A.
I HATE, to change barns and trainers… but sometimes you have to because its best for you. Good luck.
Thank you for the lovely responses! Yes, I am a young rider and I am half-leasing a horse at that barn. I am being challenged in my riding, but not as much as I would like, if that makes any sense. The horse I am half-leasing is a green pony, which is making it difficult for me to improve, since I am a novice rider. It would be great if i could just lease/board a nice made horse that would help me improve my own riding skills, but it would be way too expensive for lessons, board, and lease/buying costs for a good horse.
On the other hand, I feel as if I am being way too impatient with improving my riding abilities, and that I should just stop complaining and stay where I am.
I am slowly branching out a bit and going to see other barns in my area, including a really close by dressage barn, and another hunter barn that has cheaper board cost.
Ummmm, being impatient over lack of progress due to an unpredictable riding schedule with no indoor and having to lease a pony too green to be comfortable enough to learn much on? That would make me impatient too.
It will be very difficult to make much progress in your riding. You need regular lessons on a set schedule and a horse you can learn on whether half leased or typical paid by the ride school horse you don’t have to lease. Instead of advancing off the novice level, I fear this situation will turn you into a defensive rider and do squat to build your confidence. At best. Worst case you get hurt and/or scared.
I’d start looking elsewhere. Like, tomorrow. The additional information indicates some trouble spots impeding your progress unlikely to exist elsewhere- particularly the green + green situation you are funding with the lease requirement.
It sounds like you are sacrificing a lot to be with your trainer…since you don’t own a horse, perhaps you can travel once a month to barn for a lesson or she can travel to you for a lesson here and there…if not, stay friends and in touch but sometimes it just can’t work after awhile to stay put.
Thank you all for your advice. Today was really rough at the barn. I learned that my lease pony is most likely going to be sold (which is a bit of a relief, but I still will miss her), I fell off and hit my back (ouch), and everything I did was apparently wrong today. The girls I have lessons with are also much much younger than me, who have been riding for longer than me, and they have absolutely wonderful horses. Lessons are becoming embarrassing. It took me about the whole hour to get my horse to canter on the correct lead…I’m supposed to be jumping up to 3ft instead. I am looking into a nearby hunter farm now. Unless something major happens, like a new lease available or cheaper prices, I am going to leave this barn. Thank you all again for your support and opinions, it really helped me sort this mess out.
