I don’t know why you are so bent out of shape about this. The OP wants her trainer to ride the horse at the show. None of your business.
It is beneficial in many many scenarios to have someone else get on. So your trainer can feel what you feel or so that they can produce a different feeling that you need to recreate. Sometimes what our mind and body tells us is correct actually isn’t. This is just about your own horse. Riding a horse that knows more than you do is incredible valuable.
I’m not sure the OP expected all of this debate.
To answer the actual question, you say “I would like my horse to go to the show and I would like Trainer to ride it.”
If trainer proposes that the assistant rides it, you can say “I would prefer that you take Horse out for his first time.” And then if they really insist, “I don’t think I’ll be going to this show then, but please let me know when the next show is where you can take him out.”
If my trainer continued to blow me off after that or insisted that the assistant rides, I would be shopping for a new trainer.
It’s way more than just a busy atmosphere though. You can do all the acclimating you want, you still have no real idea what will happen when baby takes his first steps into the big ol’ ring, all alone, and canters down to his first show-stuffed flower box. Stage fright is a very real thing, and you cannot prep for it. But how it’s handled that first time out lays the groundwork for the future. The pro that feels baby suck back to that first jump and reaches out to hold his hand and encourage/demand that we still go forward vs. the amateur that seizes up and starts picking all the way down to a stop. One of those rides is gonna result in a more confident baby, the other opens a can of worms that did not need to be opened. And sometimes those worms really don’t want to go back into their can, which further rattles the amateur, and now the whole team is a hot mess and creating more problems than they had to begin with.
Pros exist for a reason. If you’ve invested heavily in a nice young horse meant to be your long term show partner, and have any doubts that you can remain a cool cucumber no matter what happens in the show ring, there is absolutely nothing wrong with paying for a professional to take it around those first trips. The horse would probably thank you if it could.
Why not? This is COTH after all
Right and that pro can be the assistant the pro has trained to do just that and probably has started already a good share of horses in their first show experiences.
Assistant may be great, assistant may be so-so, assistant may have more balls than talent, assistant may not jive super well with the way this particular horse goes. I’m guessing the benefits the OP sees from the head pro riding vs. the assistant are fairly nuanced— probably something to do with straightness, or small things a less experienced owner might not pick up on.
A lot of assistants are perfect for more seasoned horses that just need a confident ride the first time around, but lack the sophistication that comes with experience. Others haven’t yet figured out that they’re not being hired to win ribbons, they’re being hired to improve the horse in the show ring or prepare it specifically for the owner. If that means pulling up in the corner and tossing any chances of a ribbon, so be it.
But in this case, the OP, who unlike the rest of us has seen both the assistant and the head trainer ride the horse, says that the assistant does not ride this horse as well as the head trainer.
A horse is as apt to have those circumstances come up and end up ok or not so well under any rider, the top trainer also.
Maybe trust that top trainer with trained assistants can determine who and why to ride what horse when, maybe better than others, even the owner?
That top trainer will honor an owner request as possible and if it makes sense, of course.
We can start with this: If the horse’s best interest were the only consideration, the head trainer (presumably the best rider) would ride the horse.
There is some reason for the head trainer not riding the horse that is for some other interest. Lack of time? Schedule conflicts? Assistant wants show rides? Less expensive for assistant to ride? Head trainer doesn’t want to?
Who knows, but the owner needs to give persmission.
No offense Bluey, but if you could see big difference between your horse being ridden by rider A and rider B, wouldn’t you have expressed your opinion?
See post above yours, best is always best, of course, but is it absolutely necessary to have best all the time, that first show anyway?
If so, request it, trainer will try to accommodate.
Every time until the horse is seasoned, maybe not always necessary, as the difference for an owner’s horse, unless a top horse in a top field, like hoping for the best jockey in a big race for your really good horse?
Yes, is best.
Is it terrible wrong for the top trainer, not a designated appropriate assistant to ride some trainer designated horses for that assistant?
If the trainer looks at that horse and thinks, hmm, I better give him his first few rides in the shows.
If he looks at that horse and thinks, he would be perfect for my assistant to show, both are ready for that level of riding and training and they make a great pair.
That would be a difference if to present to an owner a choice, or explain to the owner that the situation would be good for horse and assistant.
Those situations come up regularly with all horses a trainer has and how to manage their barns.
That is why I think the answer here is, it depends.
That’s not the point, though. In this case the OP has noticed the trainer does a better job than the assistant. And your hypothetical situation isn’t actually what is happening- the OP is concerned that unless they say something the default will be the assistant, and since they are the one who is actually in this barn and program, their hunch is most likely correct.
Regardless, it’s their horse, their money, their future with this horse. They should feel ok about talking to the trainer and requesting that person rides the horse. Who knows what will happen after that or what the trainer’s response will be, but no one should feel weird about having this sort of conversation with their trainer, or that they are somehow being high maintenance and should just shut up and accept whatever, especially with a greenie.
Sorry, I was answering to the general discussion that has evolved from the initial question.
Why and when it was appropriate for either trainer or assistant and why assistant riding horse, in general, was not good enough is not generally quite the right answer.
As you point out, in the OP’s case, she doesn’t think the assistant is good enough for the job and wants the trainer to show horse and her question really was, is ok to ask and maybe insist it be the trainer showing and answers were yes, your horse.
Then some were saying top trainer is always best, to what I was pointing out, yes, but there is other to consider in such situations.
Hope that makes my point clear.
Or maybe, as the person paying the bills, she can recognize that the assistant isn’t getting the best ride out of her horse that she is paying for? Not saying the assistant isn’t a good rider, but the person paying the bills isn’t seeing the same results from both.
Yes exactly. A good pro has timing, feel, and instinct that lesser riders (pro or ammy) do not, which can make a huge difference in what lessons a young horse takes away from a new experience. I’m bringing along my first green horse now, and learning how to teach a young horse is a new skill for me for sure. I do most of the riding myself, including all of his “firsts,” and just accept that our progress is slower because a lot of the time the main goal is for me to gain that training experience. That said, sometimes we hit a situation where the primary goal is for HIM to learn something specific and not have to deal with me learning to train him at the same time, and my trainer is the best person to give him that.
This board is always quick to recommend people seek out ride time on schoolmasters so they can just focus on themselves, I don’t see any difference in putting a pro on a young horse sometimes so the focus can be 100% on the horse.
I’m picky about who I let ride my horse so if I were in OP’s shoes I would definitely want to talk about it and get head trainer’s take on if/why there’s a difference with the assistant. Maybe there’s something OP is missing, maybe the head trainer just can’t accommodate another horse at shows, who knows. Either way at least having the conversation will give OP more information to decide if she can work with this situation or if another program might be a better fit.
I loved that book! And I found it immensely helpful when I was working with young horses. Which was a very very long time ago…
Your money. Your horse. Your decision.
So I would first tell you to have that upfront discussion with the trainer. There is nothing wrong with voicing your concerns. (Remember, this is your horse and your money…)
And with that, a follow up question: Do you want to ride your own horse at the show? Honest question that only you can answer. I know that you said your plan is to have the pro ride the horse first, but just remember: Your horse, your money. If your trainer is “pushing” you to have a pro ride the horse instead of you, well again, that’s still your call on how you want it to happen.
Even if you end up having the assistant ride the horse and even if assistant isn’t as good as the trainer, could that still possibly be a better segway for when you get on the horse? Just a thought. The majority of horses are pretty forgiving as far as rider mistakes go, but there are some out there who are not.
I’ve read this thread and think everyone is making good points. I will add, we start green horses at shows, we go for the experience. Trot into the first line, do the add, trot and do a simple change if necessary…trot into the next line, add, etc. Perhaps this is what the trainer has in mind and feels the assistant could do this well.
We used to call this Going Camping 
If Greenbean couldn’t handle the showgrounds busyness At All!, they got to be ridden or even just handwalked around them.
Mileage came from Schooling shows.
If they got where they were able to enter the rated ring, you’d let the judge know this was a Schooling round & not necessary to judge.
Above IF gate was agreeable 
If going the schooling show route do be aware that all schooling shows are not created equal and in the long run you might do more harm than good at those that have horrible footing, lines set at random head scratching distances, unsafe jumps, etc.
If you are lucky enough to have nice schooling shows in your area that you can go to with a support team, that is wonderful.
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