How you get it to stop is to not tolerate it in the first place. Not just say don’t do it again. Let them know up front it’s unacceptable and if it does happen walk away.
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What Highflyer said
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I think it depends on the expectations and the arrangement.
I rode at a Saddlebred barn for a number of years where the showhorses were worked by the trainer, assistant trainer, or groom. They weren’t ridden every day, but were lunged or hooked to the jog cart on non-riding days. The owners rode about once a week for 30 minutes. Several times I rode one of these horses when I was helping out and told, don’t tell whoever. The younger riders took lessons during the week on lesson horses, but I never saw the adults take a lesson beyond their once weekly ride. At the time, I was riding at least three times a week and would say I rode better than several owners, so one ride by me on a horse wouldn’t ruin it. I knew one owner who was very relaxed and wanted other people to enjoy her horses and didn’t care, but I realize that’s likely not the norm.
Most riding horses do better when in regular work. I presume a lot of horse owners have full-time jobs and/or families and/or the horse doesn’t live in their backyard/easy driving distance, so it’s just not possible to ride the horse as much as it needs. If the horse needs to be worked, the rider is competent, and the trainer is supervising, I don’t really see a problem (unsupervised may be a different issue).
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We stop it by all parties being honest and upfront about their expectations (client) and what they can offer (trainers).
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Your key phrase was “without my permission”. Of course you have a right to be upset.
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When I worked for local BNTs, they had a big chalk board and wrote down who would ride each horse in the day. Sometimes training horses were ridden by the trainers, sometimes by me, and sometimes by other owners/riders. It was all up front. The key was that the owner’s trusted the coaches judgement and they were not billed for a service they did not receive.
If you don’t want it to happen, don’t ride with a trainer that does it, as there is a pretty decent chance it will happen again when the trainer gets stuck for time, despite your conversation. Although you could get it in writing to enforce it a bit more.
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Why would you think that it’s ok to not provide full training by the actual trainer to those who provide the bulk of consistent income? I would be out of there so fast!
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I think it depends on who was getting the “riding lessons.” As others have pointed out, it is not unusual for a working student or groom, i.e. another employee under the trainer’s supervision, to put in some rides. However, teaching lessons to outside paying clients is something else entirely. In the first case, I see it as part of the trainer’s program, which should be disclosed upfront, and no permission needs to be asked for the working student rides. In the second case, absolutely permission must be asked in advance. If the trainer is generating additional income off my horse without my permission, then there is a problem.
I agree with the earlier post that the heart of the matter is transparency on both sides. The trainer needs to explain the program and who provides the services. The owner needs to enumerate expectations. If an owner expects BNT to put in every ride, the owner should be prepared to pay the price for that. It may be considerably more than regular training board.
The biggest problem in both sides is that assumptions are made without discussing the scope of services or heaven forbid, having a contract.
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I once booted someone from a barn I was running for this very reason. Unacceptable!
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OP,
I am confused by the language you used in your original post - “trainers using client horses for lessons”. To me, there is a distinct difference between having a Working Student or Assistant Pro do some of the training rides on a horse in a training program, versus using a client horse in a lesson factory type setting, in which riders are less skilled and trainer is making money 2-ways on said horse. My response would be very different depending on which scenario is in play.
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I’ve only taken lessons in a few barns, and none of them were super duper awesome top level barns.
That said - this NEVER happened, so far as I know. And I was there for my own lessons plus my kids lessons.
No boarded horses were used for lessons, and most definitely it was not “the norm” for boarders horses to be used for a lesson without their knowledge. I think people would have gone ballistic, for good reason.
I understand the reason for wanting a better trained horse for advanced students to lesson on. This is one of the reasons most small lesson barns are unsuccessful - lack of appropriate horses for all skill levels. But the answer is to consider lowering board rates for horses that can be used in lessons, with the owner’s permission.
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I once showed up to ride my former horse, who was in training for two rides a week for which I was paying individually, and he was being used in a beginner lesson. Totally inappropriate horse for a beginner: hot OTTB.
Trainer (giving the group lesson) acted totally nonchalant, but did tell me I should not ride that day because “he’s had a rough time and will be mentally tired”.
I later found out that this had been going on with different levels of riders for some time, and that trainer was counting those rides as training rides, and I was paying for them!
Out of there asap.
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That’s absolutely not okay and your trainer was incredibly out of line - especially considering she didn’t even ask for permission first! I would be absolutely furious.
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Right, because you should be paying for someone who rides worse than you do to train your horse. 
OMG.
I would have gone through the roof. Probably would have told everyone within a 50 mile radius to steer clear of this trainer. Argh.
Actually, a trainer brought a horse in on trial for me and I ultimately bought her; so I knew that people were riding her before the purchase was made. But about a week after I officially bought her I found out that another trainer put a 13 year old on her after she spooked at something in the corner of the arena. I was told at the holiday party later that day - how they “worked her through that issue” she was having with me. I was so furious.
I didn’t stay long after that; and let it be known that no one was allowed on my horse except the trainer that I would pay for training rides. You know, a person that was a better rider than me.
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Cheer up, on my other horse (not the one in my prior post), my trainer bemoaned that I wanted to ride my horse.
I would undo all the trainer’s careful schooling.:lol:
I’m confused as to why you’re confused and why three people liked your post.
Horse is in full training. Horse was used for lessons. Lessons are not training rides put on by working students.
If the horse was ridden by a working student, I would have said that. I didn’t. And, I don’t mean this as blunt as it will read, but I’m seriously perplexed as to why anyone would be confused with my post. :lol:
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Arelle I understand your confusion. Your original post made perfect sense to me.
The only way I would be okay with a horse of mine that was in for training being used for lessons was if I was asked first and the riders were at the same level as me and the trainer was using them as a test of how things were progressing and they were going to knock some $$$ of my training bill. (ARGH run on sentence!) I wouldn’t want them to make a habit of it though.
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@Arelle I think the confusion came when so many of the replies kept referring to working students riding the training rides and not so much about the horse being used in a lesson program. It wasn’t what you said, just all the replies that followed.
If the trainer did not speak with you before hand about your horse being used in lessons, and it is not in the contract for services, then I’d be highly annoyed and definitely think about moving my horse or at least taking them out of the training program. Most barns I’ve been at will give a discount to others for letting their horses be used in a lesson program, not expect the owner to pay a training fee when it is the lessonee and not the horse getting a lesson!
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There’s definitely a difference between a working student riding your horse who is in training, and the trainer using your horse in a lesson with a regular student. I’m more OK with the working student riding the horse. That’s expected, because that is what the working student is there for. Generally, it’s with the trainer overseeing the ride (or, if it is happening regularly, at least supervising periodically). These rides are still productive for your horse.
I have an issue with a trainer taking a training horse and then also getting paid by the student taking the lesson on it. So the trainer doesn’t have to do their required training ride, and they get paid for a lesson. That double dipping, and the riding by (likely) a less than qualified rider, is dishonest. That is not what you paid for, and on top of that the trainer is making extra profit from your horse.
Not enough people walk away when they find out about the second situation. That’s why it keeps happening. Why people don’t walk away is a harder question to answer. There may not be a lot of options in the area. Maybe the trainer has them drinking the koolaid. Maybe the trainer gives them a really good deal that it is hard to walk away from, so the owner justifies the lesson situation that way.
I don’t mean this applies to your situation OP, but in many cases the owner needs for the horse to learn how to take a joke. If the only other person who rides the horse is a pro, the horse is deprived of this experience. Also, as noted above, many owners just don’t have time to ride as often as their horses need to be ridden.
Of course, if the owner says no, then that’s the final word. But I think most owners would benefit from having their horses ridden by other people of varying skill levels. I’ve seen problems happen when owners convinced themselves otherwise, usually with help from people online who’d never seen either horse or owner. 
