What Your Trainer Didn't Tell You (But Should Have)
1. Your horse will tell me what happens at home. First and foremost, be honest with your trainer about your horse and the experiences you’ve had with him. After you’ve left, and the work has begun, the horse’s behavior will reveal his past experiences, and how he perceived them. “Out of the mouth of babes” is not an expression limited to children. Your horse will quit innocently respond to the trainer in the way he was previously taught, and trainers can tell the difference between a horse’s natural, instinctive responses, and trained ones. Unacceptable trained behaviors take longer to extinguish and replace than unacceptable natural responses. This may be something your trainer has to address, before saddle training can begin. Let your trainer know about any concerns you have, about your horse’s behavior, and your own responses to that behavior, and he or she should be able to help you improve your responses to your horse to get more desirable results. A horse owner will get more out of the training experience if they are honest and open about their own concerns or perceived inadequacies.
3.23.12 TME
return to
Educated Equestrian
return to
Educated Equestrian
2. Confirmation matters. Of course your horse is beautiful! Trainers appreciate the effort you spent, finding a young horse of the bloodlines you prefer, or a color that’s striking. We can also appreciate that different people prefer different styles of horses. My husband rides a tank; Wassamo is thick, broad, has tremendous presence, feels solid to ride and is ready to doze through anything. My daughter rides a Buick; long and lean, Ojo glides down the trail in comfort and style. I prefer a Mercedes; square and tight with precision maneuvering, Jasper is built for quick speed when you need it, quick and tight turns, and easy handling. No style of horse is better than the next, they’re all
equally enjoyable horses, in their own ways, but these horses have more than aesthetic appeal. The proportions of each of their bodies-- despite being different from each other--are functionally advantageous.
There can be a difference between confirmation which is aesthetically pleasing and that which is functionally pleasing. Some horses, while attractive to the eye and personal taste, do not have proportions that make movement easy for them. The angles of the hocks or shoulders, the length and weight of the head and neck, the length of the back or canon bones will all affect the horse’s locomotion. I have had horses in training, who I have requested particular foot stances, who do it easily and well on their first and subsequent tries. I have had other horses who struggle with this same footwork. We try, and try and try, and maybe by the sixth day, they finally set their body up to plant their feet as I’ve requested (and sometimes, clumsily, at that). Obviously, the latter horse will take longer to train that the former. It has nothing to do with intelligence or attitude. It’s not that he can’t or won’t increase his athletic potential, and become less clumsy, but disadvantageous proportions can and will take more time to overcome, and a great deal of patient and consistent guidance to find a more efficient way of moving. If one brings a horse to training, who is proportionately challenged, it would be fair to expect that horse cannot move through training as quickly—be as advanced, in 6 weeks—as a horse whose proportions are functionally superior. Midway through training, your trainer should be able to tell you how the horse is moving, and what may, or may not, be covered in his preparation by the time you are scheduled to pick him up.
3. Select a trainer who is skilled in preparing horses for the work you have in mind. There are some really wonderful trainers out there, who know how to prepare horses for the disciplines they have been selected for. Reining, eventing, cutting, dressage, hunting, barrel and roping experts abound. But if you want a trail horse, why take him to a roping specialist? Outdoor riding is a discipline in its own right, with attention, mental and balance requirements which often exceed those of arena work. Don’t get me wrong, the training that takes place in the first 6 weeks is extremely basic in nature, but that first trainer is preparing your horse for the career he will someday have. If your trainer’s specialty is different than your own area of interest, you will find the horse you bring home will be well prepared in some areas, woefully under skilled in other important areas, and over trained in yet others, resulting in a horse whose education exceeds the owner’s. You might find such a horse difficult to have a dialogue with, upon his return home, because he’s been prepared to respond a particular way, and you desire a different response. Discuss with your trainer the areas your horse will be prepared in, and let the trainer know what your horse is going to be expected to do upon his return home.
4. One day in an outdoor arena is equivalent to two in an indoor arena. This ties in with the prior point, to some degree. If you wish to have an outdoor horse, preparing him in an indoor arena is woefully inadequate. The challenges outdoor riding presents work against a trainer. Outdoor training is distracting and sometimes scary for a horse, because their mind will drift off of the lesson, towards the horses across the fence line. Every flight of bird or dog (or goat, at our house) may startle him, and traffic and noise may be additional factors. However, these distractions also provide the greatest opportunities for growth. A horse will eventually come to realize these distractions don’t matter, and when he does, this horse will be prepared to attend to his rider in the best or worst of environmental conditions. If outdoors is the setting he will be asked to perform in, upon his return home, it’s a great benefit to have his preparation take place in such an environment. Ask your trainer where your horse will be prepared, and let him or her know what your facilities at home will allow you to do.
5. I don’t ride like you, and you don’t ride like me. To be clear, this is not a judgment statement. I’m not suggesting one rider is better or worse than the next, but we are each different, and the horse will recognize this. Despite the car comparisons I made above, the horse is not a car. You can’t just throw the keys over to a new driver, and expect the same performance. What the horse is able to do for and with his trainer is because they have spent the past 6 weeks, riding daily, building a dialogue together. The horse has come to trust the trainer, and understands the expectations and limits the trainer has outlined. The horse standing before you, at the end of training, is not exactly the same horse you parted with 6 weeks ago. Upon return home, owner and horse will need to develop their own dialogue, and this takes time, consistency, and patience. You may move quicker than the trainer did, or slower. Your weigh and balance in the saddle will certainly be different, because your body and my body are not the same size or shape. Your horse will need to be allowed some transition time to get to know and understand your expectations and limits, before he will perform as well with you as he did for me. Switching dance partners can be clumsy at first, but time and practice together will improve performance.
And if your trainer did discuss these points with you? Congratulations! You’ve found a trainer who is considerate of your needs and expectations, understands your horse has individual needs, and will try to meet them. In all of training, there is ambiguity. We trainers really never know what we’re going to get from a horse, or how long it will take to reach the target goals, until we begin the work and can evaluate the horse. If we try to apply standardized training methodology, it may or may not suit that particular horse, and the gaps in education will become apparent over time. We may need to spend extra time and attention in some areas, but be able to move quickly through others. We do our best to prepare a well-rounded horse you will enjoy spending time with. We don’t have crystal balls or magic wands, but we will do our best to make magic with your horse, and teach that magic to you, so you can go home and begin a magical dialogue and relationship of your own.
There can be a difference between confirmation which is aesthetically pleasing and that which is functionally pleasing. Some horses, while attractive to the eye and personal taste, do not have proportions that make movement easy for them. The angles of the hocks or shoulders, the length and weight of the head and neck, the length of the back or canon bones will all affect the horse’s locomotion. I have had horses in training, who I have requested particular foot stances, who do it easily and well on their first and subsequent tries. I have had other horses who struggle with this same footwork. We try, and try and try, and maybe by the sixth day, they finally set their body up to plant their feet as I’ve requested (and sometimes, clumsily, at that). Obviously, the latter horse will take longer to train that the former. It has nothing to do with intelligence or attitude. It’s not that he can’t or won’t increase his athletic potential, and become less clumsy, but disadvantageous proportions can and will take more time to overcome, and a great deal of patient and consistent guidance to find a more efficient way of moving. If one brings a horse to training, who is proportionately challenged, it would be fair to expect that horse cannot move through training as quickly—be as advanced, in 6 weeks—as a horse whose proportions are functionally superior. Midway through training, your trainer should be able to tell you how the horse is moving, and what may, or may not, be covered in his preparation by the time you are scheduled to pick him up.
3. Select a trainer who is skilled in preparing horses for the work you have in mind. There are some really wonderful trainers out there, who know how to prepare horses for the disciplines they have been selected for. Reining, eventing, cutting, dressage, hunting, barrel and roping experts abound. But if you want a trail horse, why take him to a roping specialist? Outdoor riding is a discipline in its own right, with attention, mental and balance requirements which often exceed those of arena work. Don’t get me wrong, the training that takes place in the first 6 weeks is extremely basic in nature, but that first trainer is preparing your horse for the career he will someday have. If your trainer’s specialty is different than your own area of interest, you will find the horse you bring home will be well prepared in some areas, woefully under skilled in other important areas, and over trained in yet others, resulting in a horse whose education exceeds the owner’s. You might find such a horse difficult to have a dialogue with, upon his return home, because he’s been prepared to respond a particular way, and you desire a different response. Discuss with your trainer the areas your horse will be prepared in, and let the trainer know what your horse is going to be expected to do upon his return home.
4. One day in an outdoor arena is equivalent to two in an indoor arena. This ties in with the prior point, to some degree. If you wish to have an outdoor horse, preparing him in an indoor arena is woefully inadequate. The challenges outdoor riding presents work against a trainer. Outdoor training is distracting and sometimes scary for a horse, because their mind will drift off of the lesson, towards the horses across the fence line. Every flight of bird or dog (or goat, at our house) may startle him, and traffic and noise may be additional factors. However, these distractions also provide the greatest opportunities for growth. A horse will eventually come to realize these distractions don’t matter, and when he does, this horse will be prepared to attend to his rider in the best or worst of environmental conditions. If outdoors is the setting he will be asked to perform in, upon his return home, it’s a great benefit to have his preparation take place in such an environment. Ask your trainer where your horse will be prepared, and let him or her know what your facilities at home will allow you to do.
5. I don’t ride like you, and you don’t ride like me. To be clear, this is not a judgment statement. I’m not suggesting one rider is better or worse than the next, but we are each different, and the horse will recognize this. Despite the car comparisons I made above, the horse is not a car. You can’t just throw the keys over to a new driver, and expect the same performance. What the horse is able to do for and with his trainer is because they have spent the past 6 weeks, riding daily, building a dialogue together. The horse has come to trust the trainer, and understands the expectations and limits the trainer has outlined. The horse standing before you, at the end of training, is not exactly the same horse you parted with 6 weeks ago. Upon return home, owner and horse will need to develop their own dialogue, and this takes time, consistency, and patience. You may move quicker than the trainer did, or slower. Your weigh and balance in the saddle will certainly be different, because your body and my body are not the same size or shape. Your horse will need to be allowed some transition time to get to know and understand your expectations and limits, before he will perform as well with you as he did for me. Switching dance partners can be clumsy at first, but time and practice together will improve performance.
And if your trainer did discuss these points with you? Congratulations! You’ve found a trainer who is considerate of your needs and expectations, understands your horse has individual needs, and will try to meet them. In all of training, there is ambiguity. We trainers really never know what we’re going to get from a horse, or how long it will take to reach the target goals, until we begin the work and can evaluate the horse. If we try to apply standardized training methodology, it may or may not suit that particular horse, and the gaps in education will become apparent over time. We may need to spend extra time and attention in some areas, but be able to move quickly through others. We do our best to prepare a well-rounded horse you will enjoy spending time with. We don’t have crystal balls or magic wands, but we will do our best to make magic with your horse, and teach that magic to you, so you can go home and begin a magical dialogue and relationship of your own.