Curious what you guys think.
Itâs reasonable for an instructor to cancel every once in a while. Like you said, things happen. But not one of the lessons pretty much every week.
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Sounds like a bad fit for someone like you.
Committed to 2 lessons a week, wanting to progress.
Time to find a trainer who suits your program.
Look at it this way:
If the grocery store was closed every other time you wanted to shop, youâd be looking at alternatives, right?
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i get cancelled on my 2horse/2hour lesson pretty often in the heat of summer or cold of winter, but itâs always weather related. BUT!!! it happens frequently! Last week i had the trailer hitched, horses in the barn ready to loadâŠand then xxlâd. Itâs fine with me i suppose. Though my horses are probably cooler driving in the stock trailer than they would be grazing out in the pasture. No horseflies on-the-road either. And our lessons are in a nice breezy covered arena. But still, i get where coach is coming from. If repeated cancellations were due to a neverending series of personal reasons though iâd be seeking a new coach!
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Nope, not a normal amount of cancellations. Especially the âconfirmed good to go despite campâ part. That is 100% not okay, she should have made arrangements or rescheduled BEFORE camp. Weather/personal health/etc can be understood but that little tidbit there says a lot. Sounds like youâre not a priority, and neither are the rest of the lessons getting canceled.
Coaches flying solo tend to burn out FAST and no amount of money can make up for the stress and exhaustion that comes with trying to stay afloat on your own. This isnât an excuse, but if you want to stay with this instructor it might be time to flat out ask them whatâs going on.
Is it usually your weekend day getting canceled? Your weekday (are you first thing AM or last thing PM)? Ask if thereâs a better time that would work for them - they gave you a slot so they should be making it work but it might be a way to open the conversation without them getting defensive.
Still, the constant cancellations of more than one personâs lessons and running a program solo, all while advertising for new students, sounds like a program that isnât working. They probably donât charge enough to hire help, and also donât have a great business sense (horse people rarely do) to acknowledge the core issues. Itâs not your job to fix this, so if you want to see if you can make something work for her thatâs your call. But donât feel obligated to stay.
Personally, Iâd be looking for a new program.
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IME, instructors/ trainers who frequently cancel and cite a litany of reasons have serious personal problems that are beyond their ability to resolve. Its nit going to change.
It could be physical or mental illness in themselves, close friends or family, relationship breakups or troubles or deteriorating finances resulting in rent, lease or mortgage delinquencies.
More often its substance abuse, they are too loaded or hungover to stick to a work schedule.
Or all of the above.
Learned the hard way when this happens, you need to leave. Especially if you donât have a horse and can just not show up. Donât get sucked into feeling disloyal or that you are letting them down, they are letting you down and disrespecting you. Donât enable it, go elsewhere where you will be treated respectfully.
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make any advance payments with a quarter of the currency bill, handing them the remaining 3/4 after the lesson has be completed.
As long as you have three-quarters of a bill intact, you can take that 3/4s to a Federal bank to exchange it for a whole bill.
This.
Itâs not uncommon in horses for coaches and trainers to have multiple concussions over the years which plays havoc with time management and executive function. If they are a solo operation there is no reality check from a peer. Also itâs possible they canât bring on an assistant because no junior coach wants to get involved in the mess.
There can also be substance abuse (evrn if thatâs just getting hammered on wine after dinner and being late to the barn the next day), personal or family issues, mental health stuff like depression, and physical aches and pains that make it hard to get going.
Sometimes such coaches can be charismatic lovely people who promise you the earth, but just canât deliver a basic reliable service.
Unfortunately thereâs nothing you can do, even if this person was a family member or close friend you couldnât change them. As just your coach you have no responsibility to diagnose or help them.
Move on to a program that is functional.
Also keep in mind that as you move up, you may lease and then buy a horse. If you move up with this trainer you will be even more subject to their inconsistencies. Get out now while itâs low stakes.
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I was reading this thread and thinking, wait, is this a former barn of mine?
I understand that concussions and substance abuse are real factors regarding inconsistency, but Iâve been to barns where Iâm almost positive that wasnât an issue yet were still poorly run. The âalways advertising for students but cancelling lessonsâ for me is the big red flag, given itâs basically saying this person isnât staying solvent, but doesnât have the skills or resources to give the lessons she needs to finance her operation.
Iâve been to a barn that gave daily summer camps in the blazing heat, then lessons afterwards, saying that was the only way to keep itself going, so of course the horses were overheated and sour (or couldnât do much for the lesson slot because theyâd been worked before).
Iâve also been at lesson barns that only had a few true lesson horsesâso again, if one horse had an issue, basically that hurt the entire program, resulting in cancellations, other horses being overworked, and more lesson horses getting unsound.
Or barns that half-leased horsesâŠand then the owner got angry if the people actually rode the horses on their lease days, because a student turned up wanting a lesson.
Also been to lesson barns that just didnât have enough help, so every small crisis became a big crisis, and lessons were continually late and cancelled at the last minute because of waiting for vet/farrier/hay guy.
It is incredibly hard work running a lesson barn, donât get me wrong, and also incredibly hard to keep lesson horses sound and sane, but lots of people donât appreciate this fact, so they give it a go with too few serviceable horses, help, and resources, and are always running late, low on funds, and often take it out on students and staff.
Also, cancelling due to weather is totally reasonable, but there should be some sort of an advance heads up or policy, like, âplease be aware that if over 85F, lessons may be cancelled or shortened to preserve the health of the horses,â or an advance warning if snow is predicted. A BO should have an eye on the weather forecast at least a day or two in advance, if not just for teaching riding, but also for the horsesâ management.
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Thanks for the super helpful replies.
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Think if it this way; if you were cancelling on her every other lesson, do you think the trainer would still have you as a student. Most likely no.
YOUR time and energy are just as important as everyone elses.
Doctors and other professionals do the same thing, miss an appointment, you get blacklisted.
Its time to find a new trainer.
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But OPs trainer is not cancelling every other lesson with little or no notice because of weather.
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Yes! And, in all honesty, if you want at least a weekly lesson and donât own your own horse, itâs really necessary to have an instructor who has an indoor for winter and some plans to manage the extreme heat of summer (like shifting lessons earlier). Itâs one thing if you own a horse and can lesson less and just hack around bareback enjoying a walk or bonding after hosing your personal horse earlier or later in the day. But a lesson has to be scheduled, and if itâs constantly canceled, that means youâre not riding at all, so youâre better off finding a place that has the means to offer some consistency. Not to sound harsh!
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Good that youâre going to look for someone more reliable.
It doesnât really matter why sheâs canceling your lessons without notice - sheâs offering a service (lessons on a school horse) which you have arranged to engage. If sheâs not performing, itâs time to look elsewhere.
Youâre in the enviable position of having no ties here (itâs not as though you were leasing or boarding a horse with her), so finding a more stable situation isnât as fraught as it might be.
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Thatâs the other thing
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The first barn I ever rode at had no indoor, so yes, if there was rain, no lesson, and since the ring often flooded in cases of extreme rain, no lessons then, either. Because itâs hard to predict weather, especially in summer, often cancellations would happen close to the lesson because the instructor wanted the income and was hoping that it would be dry enough to still have the lesson.
I was also often kind of gaslit, âoh, are you some fancy prissy lady, wanting a barn with an indoor, my barn as a kid didnât have an indoor.â It honestly is very unfortunate how many lesson barns are struggling, and I feel for instructors, but after a certain point if the instructor doesnât have the ability to offer lessons consistently, itâs not your responsibility to subsidize the barn.
If you own your own horse, itâs not so bad, because there are always things to do with horses at a barn, even if not riding, so the trip or the time youâve allocated as barn time isnât wasted. But to block out time for commute, tacking, lesson, untacking and aftercare, and then to have it cancelled is frustrating for a horseless adult and impedes your progress when you could be going to a barn that did offer lessons more consistently.
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I do not find cancelling for medical reasons (migraine) or weather to be something nefarious.
I also respect a barn that does not want their lesson horses over working. How new is she at this? Could it simply be that she did not realize just how much summer camp would take out of the lesson horses and hoped to also do regular lessons but realized that it was just too much?
I can imagine the thread of someone complaining that a trainer is using their lesson horses too much.
I do get that you want lessons, and I do not disagree that it is frustrating that you are not getting them. This barn might truly not be a good fit for you and wanting to do two lessons per week.
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yes thatâs exactly where Iâm at. Oh and there was also a cancelled lesson where I had moved the lesson in advance to the morning, she said it was ok, then texted me at 11:30pm the night before saying she had to pick her boyfriend up at the airport so needs to cancel. SoâŠfor the cost of my lesson, plus the gas to drive back and forth to aiport, he could have taken an uber and we could have proceeded with our comittment. Maybe this is a sign I need to get my own horse so I donât have to rely on other peopleâs schedules haha
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Sheâs been doing this for decades, so shouldnât she know ahead of time? if she said, hey summer camp coming up on x date so no lessons that week, then fine. And if I canât get in 2 lessons a week then why advertise weekly for more students? I guess thatâs where Iâm seeing the disconnect. I figured Iâd ask about it here because I thought maybe I am missing something or expecting too much.
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It sounds to me like the instructor kind of wants to have it both waysâon one hand, sheâs constantly advertising for students and complains about needing income.
On the other hand, she doesnât seem to adequately plan like a professional for stuff like the fact that (very rightly) a horse shouldnât do half a hot day of camp and then give lessons in the afternoon and general life and weather-related issues. I think a âhey, letâs lesson when it works for both of our schedules, okayâ works with someone who is boarding and mainly rides on their own, or is a friend, or for someone only casually working as a trainer but who is getting the main bulk of her income from other sources, but if someone wants to seriously lesson twice a week, the instructor has to be honest from the get-go about what she can provide.
