Unlimited access >

Trainers with good working student programs?

I’ve decided I want to pursue riding dressage professionally and become a trainer. My riding ability is around 3rd level, I would be looking to start a new position in May at the soonest. I don’t own a horse, so I would need something to ride. My goal is to learn how to ride and train through the levels, get some show experience, and start getting scores towards my medals. An “apprentice trainer” type postition would be ideal. Would be willing to travel anywhere. Is there anywhere that offers a program similar to this? Any advice/recommendations/insight that you would be willing to share would be helpful and much appreciated.

This is coming from someone who is truly serious and passionate about the sport, and is not afraid to put in the hard work necessary to make this happen!

I don’t have specific advice.

I would suggest researching trainers in your region whose riding style and student achievrments you like. Research then online to see if they have brought horses and students up the levels.

Many coaches get their gold medals on made horses, sometimes client horses, and haven’t trained above 3 or 4. Many coaches have a big grand Prix photo on their webpage but their students don’t go above 1 or 2.

When you find someone with the apparent qualifications, then go take some lessons with them and see if you like their teaching and personality.

Then you can broach the working student question.

The idea of starting regional is that you aren’t throwing up all your life and support system to end up in a strange town, strange barn, if something goes wrong.

If you find you have maxed out what you can learn regionally then you can start thinking about moving to a dressage concentrated area and a real BNT.

Rereading your post you say you ride “about” third level but don’t have a horse. I gather that you haven’t been showing to have that level confirmed or you’d have scores towards Bronze at least. So I take that “about” with a grain of salt.

If you want to be an assistant trainer you need to have some verified skills under your belt. You might or might not have these. If you want to be an assistant trainer primarily to get ride and lesson time that might be the wrong designation to aim for.

Perhaps what you need is a working student work to lease or part lease plus lessons until your skills are confirmed.

Most barns and trainers have some room in their life for working students but few except very large barns have any real “program.”

There is also a job classified site called Yard and Groom if you want to go national in your search.

I have to say it is rare for anyone to get truly accomplished in horses without buying their own eventually, even if it’s a project or green prospect.

1 Like

Why did you start a new thread, when you have asked this exact question on a previous thread?

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/f…unities-advice

1 Like

Well spotted. Very good advice there. Same as anyone would give now 2 months later.

Trying to gain as much insight from as many as I can. Looking for more specific ideas this time around

If you want something more specific try putting what areas you are looking at. If you are willing to completely move and relocate then note that. Willing to travel and willing to move your entire life are two different things. Did you contact the individuals on your previous post (there is nothing more specific there than here)? What did they tell you? Did you talk to your trainer like was suggested on your previous post? Did they give you any ideas? What have you tried? If we know what has happened over the last two months maybe more direction can be provided… although you have great suggestions from your prior post.

Also, you said that you don’t have a whole lot of $ to start with and are currently working two jobs. Are you able to afford relocating and paying for yourself? Many trainers are in high cost areas and if you are doing full time WS work you likely won’t have any time to work on the side. Relocating also costs money. With that in mind, are you also trying to find a place that offers housing?

Have you looked at Yard & Groom. Tons of dressage positions there if you truly are willing to relocate anywhere. Do some research on those and see what you can find out.

Good suggestion. Here OP, look through these ads and see if you like any.

https://www.yardandgroom.com/Jobs/USA?jobtypes=CategoryRider

I am completely willing to pick up and move anywhere, staying in the U.S would be my first choice but if there is an awesome opportunity somewhere abroad I would be all for that. I don’t have a lot of funds but my parents/family are willing to support me financially. I have contacted KYB dressage and a few other ads, the issue there is they are looking for someone who can start immediately. This is the trouble I’ve had with Yard & Groom, so I’m thinking I’d have better luck responding to these ads closer to May. In the previous post, a lot of people suggested positions that are more “Young horse rider” than “working student”. I don’t believe I have the experience and mileage to feel comfortable taking on that type of position quite yet, but would love to work up to that possibility (hence the need for this WS position).

I’m trying to find trainers who are known for having a good working student program. A position that starts off as a WS with room to grow would be ideal. I need someone with good/correct training, someone that understands my goals and wants to help me get there. I’ve worked for trainers before as a WS that didn’t hold up their end of the deal so I’m trying to avoid that experience again…

I would definitely wait until closer to when you need to go. I did a WS out of country (which was awesome, I’d suggest it if you are able to get that lined up) and didn’t really reach out until the month before. It was not for a BNT, but I wasn’t trying to go pro and was mainly in it for the experience. The horse world moves quick and I doubt you are going to find anyone who is in need of a rider/working student/groom etc willing to hold off on their needs for 3 months. I’d take this time to work really hard with your instructor (if you have one) or finding reading/video material to soak up some knowledge. For those really nice WS positions you’ll find that they want someone with experience and that you probably won’t be doing much riding, if any. That is why you were getting the suggestions to do a rider position. Many WS do not get ride time or if they do it isn’t that much. Are you really good with grooming, tacking, cleaning, bandaging, first aid, etc? Those are things that a barn is going to want in their WS.

Also do you have medical? That is a big expense and if you were to get seriously injured riding you can easily be buried in medical debt…ask me how I know…I have two friends I can think of off the top of my head still trying to dig their way out.

My personal opinion is for you to find a career. A non horse career, put all of your time and energy into developing that career so that you can eventually, comfortably chase your dreams. You can still take lessons and progress as much as you can financially right now, but it is not very often that your typical trainer position or horse related job will get you where you need to be.

4 Likes

You sound a lot like I used to, OP. Gung-ho about the horse world and ready to work hard. A few of my recent posts on here have been about my experiences as a working student/advice to other working students, so feel free to reference those or PM me.

But my blunt advice is to find a career and pursue dressage as a hobby. There’s a few Cinderella stories out there, but for the most part, you absolutely need access to $$$. Whatever tiny stipend you get as a working student will not cover your bare living expenses, and will certainly not give you the money to care for a horse. (As someone in your last post said, only board is covered for most positions. Farrier, vet, etc. - you’re on your own.)

Not to mention, the horse world demands everything you’ve got, and then some. As a happy adult amateur who is getting married next year, I can tell you how nice it is to have a life outside of horses. Pursuing horses as a career would have ended my long term relationship, left me with zero time for friends or volunteering, no money for travel or other hobbies, etc. I still ride 3-4x a week (the job that pays for the horse prevents me from being out there more often), go to the gym regularly, and am hoping to show 3rd level this year.

7 Likes

Windermere has some great advice.

I did the working student gig (a pretty darn fantastic one) for 4 years and my trainer considers me her greatest success…because I decided to go back to school, finish my degree and establish a career.

My career allows me to enjoy (and afford) my horse, as well as put dedicated time into him that I would not have been able to do as an assistant trainer/working student. He lives here at the house here, so I am able to ride 6 days a week, weather permitting. At times we will do a month or two at my trainer, in winter or to be prepping for a big show.

2 Likes

I wouldn’t recommend someone in their 20s try to go pro unless they already had better than average skills and results in riding training and horsemanship. And probably a show record.

4 Likes

Please have video of your actual riding and an honest and independent assessment of your abilities and knowledge. Thinking you are an “x” level rider on a finished/trained horse and being an “x” level rider that can get a horse there are different things! As a trainer you need to know how/why things work the way they do, how to make that happen, how to structure and progress training, not just stay on. It is one thing to bring a student’s training up a notch/polish it up, it is another to start at 0. Best of luck!

1 Like

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so honest in my original post. I’m looking for trainers who will train their working students. Does anyone have any names?

There were lots of names in the comments on your December post.

3 Likes

Do you think I would have made this thread if I hadn’t already looked into everything in the last one?

When i was doing the working student thing, I just found trainers whose style I liked and I sent them my resume. Some I never heard back from, some said no, and I did actually end up working for several very good trainers that way. Talk to your current trainer to see if she knows anyone good or can refer you to someone she knows or has worked with. Use her to network. Its much easier to get in with someone with a reference from a trainer who’s seen you ride than by sending an email with “Some people on CoTH said I should hit you up…”

Also, reread Windermere’s post. I started taking on working student positions the summer after my freshman year of college, and that was actually a very late start compared to my peers. I was done by the time I was 26. I don’t know how old you are, but its going to be very hard to try to start a career in your mid to late 20s. Some people do it, but they also have tons of resources and established skills- they showed as juniors and did well and made a name that way.I did make a decent amount of money grooming and WS-ing, but I didn’t have health insurance, and there’s no way I could have afforded rent or bills if my trainers hadn’t provided me with housing.

Good luck, but be realistic about how much of a chance you really have about being successful. Don’t waste your time and yours and your parents’ money on something that probably won’t pan out.

1 Like

OP, I really sympathize with you. Lots of ambitious, nonwealthy young people think that they can launch their dressage career via the WS route, but it rarely works.

The trouble is, people who hire WS generally don’t want to train the WS or help them up levels. That sort of attention is given to people who show up at their barns with a nice horse and money to support their goals. What trainers want from WS is cheap, always available manual labor. That is the fundamental problem: you want to be trained and supported in your riding goals, and the person who hires you wants someone on hand to do the chores every day. This is reality.

Yes, there are some fair trainers out there who will give regular lessons in exchange for hours of work. But as others have pointed out, they won’t pay for you to maintain a horse if you acquired one, and they almost certainly won’t pay show expenses which are ridiculously high. Trainers don’t pay health insurance, car maintenance, cell service, and other essential expenses. Instead, they pay between nothing and as little as possible—we’re talking well below minimum wage most of the time. Sooner or later (usually sooner) WSs realize that they are working 60+ hours/week on an isolated farm with no social life, no vacation time ever, constant exhaustion, no access to the kind of opportunities they need to get credentials in the dressage world, and no ability to pay for or save for the latter. Burn out sets in and they come to their senses and get a real job. Then they can eventually become one of those people with a nice horse and money to pay for their riding goals.

I think that the horse world is very deceptive since a lot of people who were WS of famous trainers and became successful riders/trainers themselves were always backed by a lot of money. As a WS, they worked hard, and this is always emphasized and praised. But behind the scene, Mom and Dad were paying a ton for everything they needed to be successful riders. Without such funding, WS positions are generally a dead-end for someone who hopes to show and get medals.

If WS positions still seem appealing after taking in COTH opinions, you might consider a stint with a high-level eventer. They can generally teach basic dressage mighty well, and there are some well known programs that have a reputation for being fair (e.g., Courtney Cooper, Phyllis Dawson).

6 Likes

Tina Konyot is searching for a groom and rider. She has an ad on Yard and Groom and on FB.