Riding and showing with a trainer?? Advice please!

[beau159]

@Palm Beach

I understand what you are saying, but I think the better horsemen understand that to develop talented youngsters, both horse and human, you need to allow some decision making and hence mistakes.

Exactly what I was going to comment – you need to make mistakes in order to LEARN.

If the rider only can ride the horse when the horse is doing it right … how is the rider going to know what to do when the horse makes a mistake? Or the rider makes a mistake?

I don’t like the theory of “don’t even make a mistake” because that’s just not realistic.

@findeight

Good answers above. Honestly, if you are new to this level of the sport and bought a fully trained horse already in this trainers program? You need to understand that horse is a reflection of trainers abilities which generate their livelihood and horse is trained for specific response to specific and very subtle cues while maintaining a certain style-that is what they are judged on. Trainer is coaching you every ride because you are not yet an expert in consistently applying those cues and detecting/correcting any deviation in the horses response.

Failure to do so can untrain a whole lot of months or years of training in a few weeks and result in poor or no placings which reflect on the trainers reputation for turning out horses that place well consistently and hurt their ability to keep current clients satisfied and attract new ones. .

I do see your point on how the trainer needs to have their clients perform well … but at the same time, the trainer does not OWN the client. I think there is a difference between the trainer showing their own show horse that they own, versus a client showing the clients horse under the trainer’s guidance.

It doesn’t sound like the OP wants to go off and ride his/her horse for weeks on end without said trainer – just wants to be able to ride here and there when the trainer is gone. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that and they aren’t going to do serious “damage” by doing that on those small occasions.

Obviously, the client needs to be able to show the horse in the ring without the instructor there to guide them … so why can’t the client ride their own horses from time to time? Consider it a practice run without the instructor so they can learn their strengths and weaknesses when their instructor is not there.

Good points on either side. Ultimately, I think the OP needs to have a conversation with the trainer!

[findeight]

Much of this depends on the OPs current skill set and if she’s mastered enough of how this horse is trained and where the trainer is on progressing with her towards more independence or keeping total control.

These are unknowns to us. Only way OP will know is to have an honest discussion with the trainer and be willing to accept the answer that she needs to build her skills with Zippy more first and the plan is she will be riding on her own more when she does.

If the answer is never she certainly needs to find another trainer. But without rushing it or she could end up in another situation that doesn’t work. Or worse. Long as there’s no abuse and the horse is happy and well cared for, no need to rush into another barn without careful investigation. Do it right and move once as opposed to picking another that’s a bad fit and moving yet again. That can reflect on your reputation as a client.

And Zippy may not be the same out of a program he’s been in for a long time so that’s a consideration in finding the right trainer for both of them. Only by going to the shows can you really evaluate how a trainer treats their clients and runs their business. It’s not such a black and white decision, there’s always grey areas, like boarding barns, nothing is perfect and compromise is involved.

BTW, I picked Zippy to make my answers clearer then " this horse" or “Horse”. No idea what its name is. Don’t want any confusion there,

Odd we are having so many good discussions over here on Western instead of our home discipline forums.

[Chuckles]

I ride with a top AQHA barn, and this is pretty standard. When I have a young horse and when I first started, they were much more restrictive until I learned the ropes. Now I can ride when ever I want to as long as there is an employee on site. The trainer owns the barn and for safety’s sake, does not want anyone riding without someone being there. I can drop in on my horse whenever I like, I can even watch the online security cameras if I would like.
I agree that you do need wet saddle blankets with your partner, but you are paying an expert a lot of money to help you find success. You need to be able to ride the horse how it was trained and with consistency. The key for me is communication. When I was working through a rough patch and not riding forward enough, my trainer did not want me to ride outside of a “lesson” (direct coaching) so that I would not continue to build on bad habits. Now I am back to riding as my schedule permits. There are times I ride and just do my own thing as others work with babies or what not, it just depends on what my needs are at the time.
Some trainers are very restrictive as to having the owners show up. That is not in my comfort zone

[TheHunterKid90]

Following

[meaty_ogre]

I have been in a few breed barns that use this same model.

The good ones will have an assistant trainer who stays behind to work with those horses and riders who do not attend the shows. This is nice for riders or horses who aren’t quite ready, or even old campaigners who have already qualified and don’t need to go to every show, or owners who can only afford to hit a few shows per year. In my experience, this option keeps most people happy and involved.

Some trainers make no bones about demanding that all show horses and riders attend all shows, and if they choose not to for whatever reason, their horse will not be worked and the owner will continue to pay full training board. Those trainers are looking for dedicated show clients only, and some of them are in high enough demand to run their operations that way. Not saying it’s wrong, it’s just obviously not for everyone, but they aren’t catering to everyone.

I was able to negotiate being able to ride when the trainer was away at one of these barns previously. It can be very difficult if you’re not able to go to all the shows, especially if there are ones where your entire barn is away for weeks at a time, like Congress or national championship shows. You could end up going weeks or a month without being able to ride. Hopefully you can work out a good solution.

[shakeytails]

The title caught my eye, so I thought I’d pop in. Like Tiffani, I’m used to the “trainer controls all” model. I see and ride my current show horse once a week. If I choose not to go to a certain show, I’ve never even considered riding him with just the skeleton crew at the barn. It’s just not done.

Before I brought my previous horse to the same trainer, I did ask if they would be OK with me taking her on my own to shows they weren’t going to. No problem. But I still wouldn’t expect to show up and ride just anytime.

Sure you can say “It’s my horse, I’ll ride it whenever I please”, but I’m pretty sure that’ll get you booted from most high end show barns. If the program you’re in isn’t working for you, talk to your trainer and see if you can make it work. If not, start looking for other trainers. Or, there’s always the amateur owned and trained route…

[ESSMorgans]

I believe you should ride your hose whenever you like, and look for a new trainer in the mean time. Its very unfair and you bought the horse for an obvious reason.

[findeight]

Might not be unfair if OP requested trainer find a competitive horse for her to show on the circuit, paid a pretty decent price for it and agreed to join the trainers program. That would be what she asked for, trainer diesnt gave a crystal ball or ability to know what she really wanted…,if she even knew what she really wanted.