I totally understand wanting to have your own stuff, but I echo those who have said maybe stick to saddle pads and possibly your own grooming tools (as long as you keep everything very clean).
And then if you still feel the need to buy things, buy things for yourself (good helmet is more important than saddle pads, but you could also invest in boots, breeches, gloves, and/or a crop to be used only when directed), and of course anything that will deepen your knowledge and skill - like additional lessons, books, DVDs, clinics to audit, etc. – because your ability as a rider and horseperson is really the only thing that will truly benefit the horse you are riding. Aside from maybe carrots lol :yes:.
Above all else, yes, glad you are going to talk to your trainer first and see what they are open to and what they recommend.
Some quick examples on why a trainer might say no to students buying tack and equipment for lesson horses:
It of course depends on the barn you’re at, but I used to run a fairly large lesson program and it drove me NUTS when students would bring their own tack or halter. That’s because each of my lesson horses already had those items, and I knew their tack was consistently safe, fitted properly, and marked with their name. It wasn’t me being persnickety so much as me liking order and safety. (Although I CAN be persnickety at times :lol:.)
I had a student who insisted on having her own special halter and lead rope, so then my horses’ actual halters and leads would never be where they should be if she was riding them – she’d go to catch them with her halter and leave their halter at the field, for example, so then if we had to move the horse or put the horse away for any reason after she left…nobody knew where his halter was. Or horse would wind up with a halter on their stall, but no lead rope. Things like that can really mess up the flow of a barn, if it is built around certain items being in certain places. Or the halter would be too big or too small for the horse she was assigned to that day, which is an actual safety and comfort issue for the horse.
Or if I would forget that a rider on a certain horse was bringing their own bridle, and I had recently switched the bit said horse is going in, you can see how that would not only be annoying, but would eat in to that rider’s lesson time as we made the tack switch. If someone just uses the tack provided, things tend to go more smoothly and we can get down to the real business of riding and learning and having fun!