Sort of reflecting to a few threads ive posted.
I’ve obviously had troubles with trainers. Our last trainer was a business houdini, and not in the good way. She was great at making you feel like you couldn’t do it without her. New trainer is the exact opposite: she makes me feel like she isn’t interested or into us. The communication line is even more dead between her and I than old trainer and I. At least old trainer and I were friends. New trainer wants to keep the professional/client boundaries which I totally respect and appreciate but there is a limit. When I don’t feel confident telling her something about our ride, question everything and start venting to friends there is a problem.
After leaving our old situation I am on edge. This new trainer goes from unapproachable to supportive in minutes, back to unapproachable. She is much more into doing things only when she is paid to do them. She will not work harder than you pay her to work. I get that, at the same time her rates are really expensive for the little advice she is offering.
She works with mostly andalusians, PREs and warmbloods. She trained 2 OTTBs to RRP but apparently had a bad experience.
She is somebody you have to follow up with a call or text after an email just to make sure she got it, and then you find out she gets it but she responds in that medium.
The alarming part is she is refusing to ride my horse even though I pay her good money to train. When we first started with her the trainer was very excited about working with my mare, and on her first training day i get this alarming text that the horse has serious ground work issues and she does not feel comfortable getting on and riding before these are solved. now, this is a mare I can lead without a halter, who has never once crossed me on the ground and who has come leaps and bounds in her confidence with me as her rider. I don’t think groundwork is an issue.
On the training sheet I put down that the horse can and has bucked under saddle. These last 2 months the trainer has spent work in the round pen. What she does I have no idea as I cannot get information from her. She declared my horse lame and that put yet again another obstacle to overcome before the horse could be ridden. But despite calling the horse lame she still wanted to round pen her and for me to ride her in lessons.
I’m not here to bash this trainer. She’s a great person and I am with her for the community and the fact that I am finally part of a large program and barn. I love the a-la-carte training list where she gives you a price for everything that she does. I am also with a GP rider who recommended this woman to me. I told her I don’t know if it is going to work out, and the trainer confirmed this lady is a bit of a timid rider, but that she disagrees with her that my horse is dangerous under saddle or on the ground (GP does training rides for me sometimes).
I LOVE LOVE LOVE her barn. I adore getting the t shirts, the saddle pads, the sign ups for shows where I can go with others, the get-togethers, the clinics. All of this is good and well.
The issue I am having is I have never had someone make so many excuses not to ride a horse. I ride her in lessons. Friend rides her for me sometimes. She’s seen many people on the horse and no one gets hurt/bucked off/etc. I feel she is labeling my mare and judging her before she even had a chance.
She told me she won’t work with her unless I got the stifles injected. Vet told me there was no real need. But I did it anyway to get the trainer to ride the horse.
I texted her and told her what we could do is convert my one training ride to lessons, and do 2 lessons a week. Then I got a text back saying “i really enjoy working with Mare and I feel I have laid the foundation and would like to continue.”
This trainer is beloved by everyone at my facility. But my friend who has worked with her for years says she is treating us a lot different from how she has treated others in the past.
Does anyone have any insight into what might be going on? At best this trainer will start riding my horse. At worst I am paying $$$ to be spinning my wheels going nowhere while GP trainer cleans us up.
Ok then…
