OK now I’m dying to know. Whereabouts in Canada are you?
I don’t want to be specific and hurt feelings 
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Yuuuuup. There’s someone here who was advertising as an “FEI trainer” when all s/he had done was show two horses that other people trained at PSG. :rolleyes: Another one “competed at the NAJYRC level,” leading one to believe they went to championships, or at least qualified. Nope, they showed a few YR qualifying classes, scored in the 50s, and didn’t compete again for almost a decade.
What I really like to read is when a trainer advertises how he worked with all these famous riders. Sometimes its even a mixture of very different philosophies (and I believe the reason behind that is to attract clients with different background) isn’t it amazing if a trainer teaches classical dressage and German dressage and french dressage and even Natural horsemanship??? … And then if you read his site a little more thouroghly its says that he cliniced with those riders. I guess that would make me a very qualified trainer as well I don’t think to ride in a clinic with a famous rider or trainer makes somebody an amazing trainer, especially if there is not a whole lot of show scores to back it up.
But obviously its works…
Not really, no, most of us aren’t that dumb
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Dunno. Maybe most folks see through the real frauds, but resume inflation by mainstream competitive coaches is widespread and hard to always evaluate. And lower level clients may not make distinctions. Rode in a selective clinic with Anky five years ago might be seen as feather in coach’s cap not just a random weekend in the past.
Actually I kind of think lower level clients do very little objective evaluation and just go with who is convenient until they start to have problems and need better training.
I think Manni way way underestimates our skill level here, to be honest, for me I have a good 30 yrs under my belt of solid education.
Anyways, we need to all remember that some of us learn by doing, some by hearing, some by watching, etc. so that is way more important than who the coach trains with. Someone can be the best on paper but not work for me. I think many people miss that part, but it can make or break a program. I like dialog with my trainer, that is how I learn to be independent.
One thing I have also learned, if anyone cares, is to watch a hopeful trainer on a few kinds of horses and a few times, don’t judge too soon (Baring any real issues and RK of course!)
If you think so… but then I wonder why they are highly regarded
who are you talking about? who is calling them highly regarded?
As a horse professional myself, I know that I am very careful what I say, so some it could very well be diplomacy.
I know of a few that like to throw big names on their CVs, and it works quite often, for some time.
I won’t name names because most are not « harmful » and can be good little trainers without these inflated « alternative » resume.
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THIS.
I posted quite a bit on the other thread advocating the wisdom of really examining your trainer’s scores and student’s scores. I will admit… I made a straight up STUPID decision to spend some time and money sending a young horse out to someone who I thought was essentially a decent 3rd level type rider with a solid training business who would be a good fit for me and my horse (we need lower level help… I’m a re-rider and the horse is green).
I definitely made a decision too quickly and chose someone convenient and friendly…
Over the next several months riding with them, and when discussing my young horse’s progress… Or problems… I found conversations would twist and turn and this person would contradict stuff they had said a week earlier and sort of dodge pointed questions. They also seemed to want to be an expert and coach in all things…You name the discipline, this guy had a story about his own experience. Talked a bit about Dressage at Devon, Lexington, Warmblood inspections and starting young horses… but there were serious gaps in terms of evidence of this person’s abilities and record. In short, it became clear relatively quickly that the BS was knee deep.
Frankly, it made lessons unproductive and time spent at the barn sort of tense when I felt like conversations with the trainer were routinely a matter of them telling stories, and embellishing. I’m not really a confrontational person though, and was hesitant to call them out while I still had horses staying at their facility. After a while… The BS extended to some obvious poor horsemanship issues concerning other aspects of their business… I pulled my head out of the sand then, severed the relationship and moved my horses - STAT.
Anyway… My point is, I agree embellishing is a red flag and frankly annoying! I would have been happy paying a fair price to someone who was competent at the mid levels and could focus appropriately on getting my horse and I going with a solid foundation at the lower levels. She was 3 and newly backed… Obviously we didn’t NEED a Grand Prix Trainer to get her going forward in three gaits, relaxed and in rhythm, while beginning to establish connection. So I didn’t research this guy’s scores. He claimed to be great at starting youngsters, claimed to have experience with multiple homebreds, and talked a decent game… Complete with chit chat about classical dressage (uggh!). After a few months, it became apparent that my horse and I had ended up in a really messy confusing situation though, with someone who didn’t seem to know how to work with a young horse like this and get a solid foundation established.
After that experience, given the amount of trainers in my area in multiple disciplines who have competed at high levels and brought multiple horses and students along… I’m sticking with the safe route. There’s no reason not to have a frank discussion with a good professional and just ask if they are willing to work with a lower level client with modest goals. They can always say no. But hey - if someone is capable of bringing horses and riders up the levels, has a show record and students with show records that verify this, and is willing to work with you and your horse from the bottom up for a reasonable price? That is DEFINITELY the best way to spend your time and money. On top of solid instruction, it’s nice not to have lesson time wasted with the instructor telling embellished and unverifiable stories about their past accomplishments… Focused and professional, with no BS is definitely my preference.
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I was asking Manni, but yeah, I think this is fairly common, just smile and wave boys, smile and wave…I think people who re-locate have a harder time sussing out what is what.
Convenient or available?
I don’t know how many times I’ve emailed or messaged horse related professionals and gotten no response. When you are a beginner, it doesn’t matter what level a trainer competes at when they don’t want to work with anybody who doesn’t have a $30000+ warmblood or won’t teach anyone who isn’t already a 3rd level rider. You are limited to what is available.
I like to see that a trainer has worked with multiple breeds including my horse’s. I had a terrible experience with someone who was very competent with warmbloods but clueless about hot blooded horses (particularly the temperament differences.)
