Let's Talk Trainers

Choosing trainers is always such a personal choice because people learn in different ways. For me, I want someone that's going to challenge me but at the same time be encouraging. I want some of the more complex ideas involving riding and training techniques, but delivered in a clear, easy to understand manner. I catch on to things pretty quickly and it doesn't take a lot to help me learn.

Not anyone I know. Image from Google.

I've worked with lots of different kinds of trainers in the past. There's RC who is challenging and sometimes tough but encouraging and clear. KO who is slightly scary and like to yell at people, wants everything done 3 seconds ago, but has a clear goal in mind and tells you when you get it right. TS who is overly encouraging, thinks almost everything is a step in the right direction but still gets results. DVO who demanded perfection at all times, was tough, challenging, but could lighten up and encourages you. CW who couldn't be scary if he tried, explains every thing in clear, detailed terms. Puts the horse first, explains why and gets amazing results. So there's tons of different kinds of trainers.

What prompted this post? Well I've been planning one for a while after reading an article on Chronicle of the Horse about Stockholm Syndrome and how it applies to people who stay with emotionally abusive trainers. But today ML came home after a lesson really upset. I don't like it when my friends are upset! (Some background: Spyder, the QH she was leasing who then went lame was rehomed as a husband trail horse so now she is leasing a warmblood filly from one of the veterinarians I work with, Dr. P who has placed the horse in training with a local dressage trainer JM who I have ridden with several times. ML pays half board and her horse gets worked by JM a couple times a week and she gets lessons almost every day - seems like a good deal right?)

JM is a really hard person to ride with, in my opinion. I don't feel that he's very clear with what he wants you to do, often contradicts himself multiple times within a lesson, can be pretty rough with you and the horse, just generally not my style of trainer. He just ends up confusing me to death. But people like him - Dr. P for instance as well as a friend that I met at a JR/YR camp both adore him.

Anyways, this is ML and Addie's (the horse) second day at the barn so their second lesson. Guess how long it went? 3 HOURS. Personally I don't think that's ok to take a 5 year old horse who has recently been started under saddle and has only been in "full" work for two weeks. I don't even really think it's ok to work any horse in an arena for that long, no matter how fit it is. And this is a baby!

I guess they were having some difficulty with leg yields, which is understandable. Addie is a baby, babies take a while to "get" stuff. Jetta learned leg yields pretty easily, but Katy didn't. In fact it took Katy over a month to finally get it. Half the time she'd do a leg yield the opposite direction of what I was asking - at 4-H Fair in first year under saddle I asked for a left sidepass and got a right one, lol. But JM was insisting that ML asked for a leg yield a certain way, not the way that ML would have done it, and Addie just could not get the concept, though when ML asked her way she could get it, though was yelled at by JM for doing it incorrectly. So after quite a while of JM contradicting himself (don't use outside rein, use outside rein) he got on and had no better luck.

When he was riding, ML was holding his horse and after he was "done" with Addie her brought her over and thought that ML had not been watching him ride so began lecturing her on how he wouldn't help her if she didn't try harder and pay attention to what he was asking, etc. ML is definitely not the kind of person that wouldn't pay attention - she's attentive, courteous and respectful plus she's a good rider. Even though I wasn't there, I can tell you that I'm sure she didn't deserve it. That set ML off. Like me, she cries when frustrated or angry and once started, can't stop. She spent the next half of the lesson (an hour and a half) crying while riding while JM told her to suck it up, hold it in and get over it.

Wow. Just wow. That's certainly not the kind of person I want to ride with. I've had two lessons with him before, and while I've always been able to get something out of it, the majority of it is just odd and useless to me.  Some of it I can understand. And like I said, it's a personal thing what kind of trainer you go for. Maybe some people want a trainer that can make them tougher. But I certainly wouldn't - if I was a trainer in his position and a student of mine starts crying, I'd try to figure out why they are crying and then stop drilling them in something that isn't working. Move onto something easier, once the rider and horse make a move in the correct direction, end on a good note and stop. Try again later. Don't keep drilling for three hours. I don't really understand how people could like him and pay for his training, but that's just my opinion and experience with him. Everyone's different.

Ugh. Ok, my rant is over. Opinions? What kind of trainer suits you best and why? I thrive on positive feedback and while I'm not afraid to take criticism, you don't have to bash me over the head with it, lol. I like to be challenged, I'm competitive by nature. I always try to take away some "homework" from my lessons so my trainers can tell I've been working and improving on stuff they told me about. What about you?