Yes ^
I wasn’t going to ‘get into it’ or create a scene, totbe talked about later. And, especial with the little girl standing there, she had done nothing wrong, nor should it become an awkward situation for the kid.
But the trainer knew, and was covering her own ass by keeping the parents and the little girl around, so as to avoid me.
I do not think she does it with all horses, but most certainly did it with mine.
It’s a small horse community where I live, so I’ve never mentioned it, but I certainly won’t recommend her services.
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My trainer uses most of her training horses in various lessons if they are safe and appropriate for that kind of work, but she’s very up front about it, and for many of them it doesn’t happen until they’re pretty far into training. She feels this makes them more well-rounded when they leave her program, and gives the more experienced students a wider breadth of experience with horses to ride.
She’s pushed me before in terms of horses I felt adequate riding, but would never ever put someone in a situation where they were unsafe or really uncomfortable. Right now I’m riding a training horse she currently owns that came in fairly sensitive and unpredictable, and he’s really upped my confidence a lot. I was a little jittery riding this horse at first but it turns out he’s just what I needed for this stage in my progression as a rider.
My experience with horses I’ve seen come through her barn is that even if they come in green broke or straight up terrible, they usually leave well-rounded and well-trained.
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Op needs a few bottles of wine …
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What a ridiculous response 👎
So totally unhelpful.
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It is a shame when certain posters think that their snark passes for good advice, or wittiness ,.,
My thanks to all who understood my point, my quandary, and offered their best advice and understanding.
ðŸ‘ðŸŽ
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹
I would not be okay with it.
Now, if the trainer asked for my permission and I said it would be okay, that’s a different story.
But this is MY horse and I am paying THEM to ride MY horse, and if they did not ask me if they could use my horse for lessons ahead of time, it is not okay IMO.
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What REALLY shocked me was that the kid/parents had NO IDEA he was my horse (there - in training)
They believed him to be one of her ‘lesson’ horses.
And it never registered with them that he could, potentially, hurt someone.
Of course, they were new to the horse world, so wouldn’t have necessarily seen that situation as odd anyhow.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹He is a very nice horse, but can be spooky at the drop of a hat. Not a beginner’s horse.
At least in the western world, trainers with horses in training for clients and clients that show, not lesson barns to the beginner public, generally use those horses to train some student for a specific purpose.
Having such horses in training with a reining trainer, every so often I would get a picture or video of how the horse was working with someone else riding the horse, no surprise or second thoughts why the trainer did it and if it was ok.
You trust the trainer to do what is best, some of it is just that, having someone else at times on the horse.
For more than the occasional lesson, like a clinic, the trainer would consult first about letting this or that student use my horse for the clinic and why that would be good all around.
Some very neat pictures and great videos of my horses over the years are those showing such nice riding and the horse going so well for someone the trainer designated for that ride.
Not sure where the OP is coming from, if it found itself in a situation it didn’t know is standard with trainers, or a trainer misusing her horse for lessons?
Which is will depend on the circumstances.
If I had questions, I would clear those with the trainer and if not satisfied, then complain.
The last time I sent a horse to a trainer, we discussed exactly what the trainer was going to do and how he was going to do it. If, during that discussion, he had said he was going to use my horse in a couple of lessons to see how, e.g. the horse performed with less skilled rider, I might have been a little skeptical (because hey, I’m a less skilled rider, so why aren’t you having me come ride?), but I would have said, “fine.”
But, if using my horse in a lesson had never been mentioned and I showed up to find him carting around a kid in a beginner riding lesson, I would have been angry. And I would likely never use that trainer again.
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Yep, a friend of mine sent her horse to a trainer (That we were taking lessons with on her lesson horses) for finishing. The lesson students told friend that they all loved riding the horse in their lessons. Not only was the trainer charging the students per lesson, but my friend was being charged for “training rides”. So the trainer was making double. Horse was already broke but needed to have flying changes installed and some work on the canter plus over fences. So lesson students didn’t exactly put any polish on what was an already safe horse that needed finishing. She took her horse home. Trainer seems to have a habit of taking in training/sales horses and using them for lessons and being unable to sell them since they are too green and thus need more training.
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Hmmm …
I once took some lessons on a “trainer’s horse” as my own was not in work at the time. The idea was to learn from a horse with some experience. But the horse was so green it didn’t even have a good canter circle. After a few lessons the horse had improved more than I had, and the trainer smilingly pointed out “how well he’s going for you”. I stopped coming after that as for once I was more interested in me than the horse.
I think I just tumbled … that probably wasn’t “her” horse, it was probably there for training. :lol:
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Admittedly, I have only worked for two reining trainers so my experience is very limited there. With those two horses in training were not used as lesson horses. On a rare occasion, lessons were given on a horse the trainer owned. Owners rode their own horses for lessons when the horse and owner level matched for lack of a better description.
Same for when I worked for cutting and reined cow horse trainers. The “novice” that was put on horses in training was me when I was moving from assistant to training assistant so I could get a feel for what I was trying to put on the horses I was given to train. I rode horses for clients when they came to visit along with being photographed and videoed for the owner but never a novice client on another client horse.
The cow horse trainer I have my filly in training with is the only one who rides her other than an assistant to warm up and cool out.
I not arguing with you, I am just really surprised!
It should be discussed, but if you have a training package- flat monthly fee for all lessons and Pro rides- find its more common to use the train8ng horses in lessons. Be sure to ask…
I never cared if I wasn’t going to be able to ride that day and the rider was at least as good or better them me. That was pretty clear in my barns, all of which were a la carte pricing for training services and lessons with itemized billing ,
But if I find out trainer charged me a Pro ride fee AND charged a rider for a lesson on my horse for the same ride? We’ll be having a chat.
Trainers forget clients talk and it’s polite to thank an owner for the wonderful private lesson on their horse and sensible for owner to check their bill and see if they were charged a Pro ride the same day. In my case, Pro ride over fences was billed at $45, lesson rider was billed $55…I know it’s a business but…really? That was an assistant trainers gig and I wasn’t the only one, we got refunds and he got shown the gate.
Communication is key. Woulda, shoulda, coulda but it would have been best if you talked to the trainer and let her know you did not approve of your horse being used. Some owners don’t care. Fair to let her know you did. Next time, be up front and keep track of what’s been going on with your horse.
I cannot think of a single trainer in my area who would give lessons on a client’s horse, or have someone else ride a client’s horse, WITHOUT asking the owner. So it is certainly not “standard” in my area.
I had one trainer at one point in time who had an assistant and she told me the assistant would sometimes be riding my horse, which is just fine - because she let me know ahead of time. Had she not told me and I found out myself, well, that would not be okay.
I think the hang-up lies where the owner is NOT told, versus being told. I’m all about transparency, and you just simply don’t assume anything. Assuming usually gets you into trouble, one way or the other.
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