# What do you look for in a trainer?



## kelseylane (Mar 27, 2015)

I'm a trainer in Colorado, who does travel training and problem horses as I'm still learning how to move horses thru the levels. 

I would love some idea's on how to further my business but also learn what people look for and how to provide the best service to my clients. 

What do you look for in your trainer? What do you like about him/her? And what do you feel sets them apart?


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## LynnF (Jun 1, 2011)

Everybody looks for something different in a trainer depending on what they want to use their horses for. Some people look for a trainer that can produce a quiet trail mount, while others look for someone who can produce a high level show horse. 
Pick a market that you are good at, for example if you just want to start colts and do foundation training, or if you want to take horses that are already started and finish them for a certain discipline.

I think some common things that everybody looks for in a trainer are:
-experience in the field that they are training for
-helpful and easy to deal with
-get results without pushing the horse passed its ability (mentally and physically)
-honest about the horse's ability to do the job you are asking of it (and not continuing to work with a horse that isn't going to work in your specific discipline)

Most of my clients come through word of mouth, I advertised when I first started out but now most of the phone calls/emails I get are from people who have hear of me from my previous clients or people who know my previous clients. So work on making every horse you work with the best it can be in the time you have it and clients will find their way to you!


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

kelseylane said:


> I'm a trainer in Colorado, who does travel training and problem horses as I'm still learning how to move horses thru the levels.
> 
> I would love some idea's on how to further my business but also learn what people look for and how to provide the best service to my clients.
> 
> What do you look for in your trainer? What do you like about him/her? And what do you feel sets them apart?


Well, I mainly trained my own horses, except when I was pregnant, or when I got to the age with bad kneees, that I needed someone to put those first 3o days on a colt
My oldest son is a great colt starter, as I had him begin to start horses when he was just 13, thus helping me train the horses I raised.
He , of course, grew up, and was on his won, when I got to the point that these old bones should not be getting on a colt, esp with replaced knees!

So, after that introduction, I will tell you what I look for in a trainer, both from my own experience, and that of fellow horse people.

Someone who works the horse , according to the time paid for. If the horse becomes temporarily un sound, then either send him home, or charge board only for that period where the horse is not ridden

I have heard many stories of horses sent to trainers, and left sitting , while that trainer was off to shows, holidays, etc.

If an assistant trainer will be doing the riding, say so up front.
I know of a thre year old that I sold, that had a very good start on her, sent to a well known western pl trainer by the buyer, and that well known trianer, never rode the horse (he was going through a divorce )
I went to that trainer's place, with the new owner, to see how the horse was going, after 2 months more training. The assistant trainer knew nothing about training a horse, and the horse was going not even as well as when sold, with my son having put a month on her.Of course, the buyer was charged the rate of that well known trainer!

Thus, a trainer that rides the horse for that paid time period.
A trainer that has past customers that are satisfied
A trainer that produces good minded horses that last, in body and mind, and not one that creates '30 day wonders'


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## Amateur (Feb 21, 2015)

It depends. I have no visions of being a trainer and so will not get untrained horses. But do know enough to keep myself safe and enjoyable on a nice trained and not too crazy horse. I look for someone who can train/teach me to work with my horse independently and not be dependent on anybody. I trail ride-though now horseless-don't want to be in the middle of nowhere and get in a jam and looking around for a trainer to tell me what to do.

I have seen trainers who have horses/riders in "training" for years and the rider cannot even trot without the trainer being present . Maybe it is emotional strength or a leash-but who knows. I guess my kind is not good for business as I tend not to be a long term lesson taker. But love learning. I don't mind sending my horse to a refresher, as long as I learn and both of us get over a hump. 

But for you, I guess it should be more of a business plan. What are you seeking? Long term students, serious adult amateurs or adult amateurs who just enjoy the idea of riding and use it a social thingie, kids, big shows, professional aspirations? One area does not happen to be worse than the other-just what suits you and also what need is there in your local area?


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

One thing that WAY too many clients and trainers don't consider is the trainer's ability to deal with people. You need to be reliable, easy to get along with, and flexible or you will wonder why you don't have any clients. You need to return phone calls quickly, do what you say you're going to do, communicate to your clients in a polite and civilized manner even if you have a disagreement, etc. poor people skills and business management ruin a lot of people in the horse world.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Textan49 (Feb 13, 2015)

Smilie said:


> If an assistant trainer will be doing the riding, say so up front.
> I know of a thre year old that I sold, that had a very good start on her, sent to a well known western pl trainer by the buyer, and that well known trianer, never rode the horse (he was going through a divorce )
> I went to that trainer's place, with the new owner, to see how the horse was going, after 2 months more training. The assistant trainer knew nothing about training a horse, and the horse was going not even as well as when sold, with my son having put a month on her.Of course, the buyer was charged the rate of that well known trainer!


 I would say honesty and credibility would be the most important things. Smilie's story reminds me of the situation where a man paid a stud fee and four months board/mare care to have two mares bred. The mares were finally sent home NOT in foal and the reason was that they never even saw the stallion ! There are "professionals" who will take advantage of a situation, but hopefully few and far between.

I have always done my own training so my use of trainers has been limited to a few situations where I just wanted another opinion on something. I can't ever see myself sending a horse out for 30 or 60 days of training, but if I did, I would choose a trainer who's results I have seen. I would want to know what type of program was going to be set up. Who was going to be working my horse and how often. I would want to be able to watch the training in progress a few times, and I would expect the trainer to be available to work with me a few times afterwards to make sure that I am riding the horse the way it was trained


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## BreezylBeezyl (Mar 25, 2014)

I've commented very similarly on other threads but I agree with DuckDodgers, the most important thing to me is that my trainer is a good people person. You cannot build a clientèle and a good reputation without treating your business like a business.

I also don't like to hear the excuse _"Well, some trainers are better with horses than people"_. If a professional trainer has a character flaw which could prevent their business from building, then they should get some personal training themselves or hire an assistant to do all of the 'front end' work with the clients. A rude, disrespectful trainer is just unacceptable in my books and there are no excuses for it. If you can't respect me, why should I believe you are going to treat my horse any differently?

That's just my opinion.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I would look to fix a lot of small training problems, short jobs, and build a large clientele. You would have to operate like a small business, and be available at odd hours. I have been a Notary Signing Agent--vendors call ME to handle mortgage documents--and I'm closing in on 450 signings. When I first started out I took low fees and many jobs. Another local NSA lists 24/7 service!! No WAY! I get rated by my job performance and have a sterling reputation bc I care about the quality of my work, which won't happen if I offer to work every day of the week. 
You, however should offer to work every day of the week while you build your business. Keep evaluating your own performance and you will soon see what your specialties are, which you really DON'T know right now. Many different horses will different backgrounds will teach you this. I would be available to help load problem horses--cash only, UP FRONT. I would go to Vistaprint and get business cards printed and hand them out like candy. OUR Law office has started a DUI campaign, and we are limiting the free pens and business cards with what to say to the police when you are stopped for a DUI, to only possible clients in our county.
Word of mouth is the best way to get new clientele. Don't be afraid to go back and tune up a horse or two for free just to make the customer happy. THAT goes a long way, too, and once you have established yourself you can drop that free practice. 
*CREATE AND MAINTAIN A GOOD WEB PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
OMGosh, when I was horse hunting there were more started and abandoned horse stable websites than I could count, when the last time the page was updated was 2 years ago. =/
You must know the cost of any travel and gasoline fees and what it costs you to maintain your vehicles. People that do not work for themselves often don't think about WHAT it costs you to do your job.
Work very hard, but give yourself one day where you only work for about one hour and then do something totally unrelated. You have to rest or this endeavor will burn you out.
GOOD LUCK!!!!


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

WillowNightwind said:


> I've commented very similarly on other threads but I agree with DuckDodgers, the most important thing to me is that my trainer is a good people person. You cannot build a clientèle and a good reputation without treating your business like a business.
> 
> I also don't like to hear the excuse _"Well, some trainers are better with horses than people"_. If a professional trainer has a character flaw which could prevent their business from building, then they should get some personal training themselves or hire an assistant to do all of the 'front end' work with the clients. A rude, disrespectful trainer is just unacceptable in my books and there are no excuses for it. If you can't respect me, why should I believe you are going to treat my horse any differently?
> 
> That's just my opinion.


I hate that excuse as well. There are people people and non people people in all fields, and those that can manage to deal with people politely and effectively will almost always be more successful. For some people that can mean putting more effort into it than other people need to, but it needs to be done. 

Back when I first started taking lessons as a kid I was at a h/j barn in a big group lesson every Saturday morning. We were going to be out of town for the week for vacation so my mom called the trainer to let her know we wouldn't be there. We ended up coming back a day early so we were there on Saturday, but we had already cancelled the lesson. My mom got an angry phone call from the trainer that afternoon asking why I had missed my lesson. My mom explained that we told her we were out of town, shouldn't have even been home that day in the first place, and that we had told her that. The trainer kept insisting that "my dad had called her and made arrangements", which was not true and that she still expected payment for the lesson. We never went back, and for insisting on payment for that GROUP lesson which we did not arrange she missed out on years of board and lesson payments. She was a decent trainer, but at the time neither me nor my parents knew the difference. All we knew was that this woman was flat out rude and we didn't want to deal with her. Had this been a regular occurrence I could totally understand something needing to be done about it. However, in all the years of riding since that I have never once missed a lesson. It's one thing to make sure people don't take advantage of you, but sometimes you need to let little things slide to keep a good, well paying client. 


Corporal said:


> I would look to fix a lot of small training problems, short jobs, and build a large clientele. You would have to operate like a small business, and be available at odd hours. I have been a Notary Signing Agent--vendors call ME to handle mortgage documents--and I'm closing in on 450 signings. When I first started out I took low fees and many jobs. Another local NSA lists 24/7 service!! No WAY! I get rated by my job performance and have a sterling reputation bc I care about the quality of my work, which won't happen if I offer to work every day of the week.
> You, however should offer to work every day of the week while you build your business. Keep evaluating your own performance and you will soon see what your specialties are, which you really DON'T know right now. Many different horses will different backgrounds will teach you this. I would be available to help load problem horses--cash only, UP FRONT. I would go to Vistaprint and get business cards printed and hand them out like candy. OUR Law office has started a DUI campaign, and we are limiting the free pens and business cards with what to say to the police when you are stopped for a DUI, to only possible clients in our county.
> Word of mouth is the best way to get new clientele. Don't be afraid to go back and tune up a horse or two for free just to make the customer happy. THAT goes a long way, too, and once you have established yourself you can drop that free practice.
> *CREATE AND MAINTAIN A GOOD WEB PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
> ...


I can't stand when businesses/groups/trainers/barns etc have not up to date websites! I'd rather them not have one at all than one that's not up to date. Or, even worse, one that looks up to date and then when you contact them you either don't receive a reply or none of theinfo is accurate. A good website certainly can't hurt you and it can bring you a fair amount of business. If nothing else a free facebook page can help a lot! The first thing I did as an out of towner looking at boarding stables was to run a google search and see what was out there.


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## WildAtHeart (Jul 17, 2013)

All I can say is *Stick with Your Style.* You don't want to change your style to suit a client. Rather, inform them of your style and why it works (sell yourself). You don't want to work with someone who disagrees with your methods anyhow.

That being said...what I would look for:
-Someone who respects the horse.
-Provides long periods of rest after a small goal is achieved.
-Invites me to participate in training and keeps me up to date.
-Honesty, honesty, honesty.
-Provides references.
-& of course someone I get a good "vibe" from.


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## WildAtHeart (Jul 17, 2013)

Corporal said:


> *CREATE AND MAINTAIN A GOOD WEB PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*


Oh Schnitzel Yes! If you have no eye for this stuff, find someone who does. A good website is a life saver. Personally, I have not purchased from businesses (both product and service based) simply because they have a cheap, unattractive or convoluted web page. Make it "perty", simple, clean and reflective of your business.


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## Universicorn (Mar 31, 2015)

I love trainers who are gentle, and know how to make the horse truly understand what they're asking-- not particularly fond of trainers who put horses under too much pressure... I love the way Buck Brannaman talks about horses, his movie is especially amazing!


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## kelseylane (Mar 27, 2015)

I've been doing the travel training for over a year now, again problem horses (which I am very good at if I do say so myself), and have been using craigslist to get clients. Which has worked pretty successfully. 

I'm working with two upper level trainers to continue my abilities, and knowledge-- one is a dressage trainer who I assistant train for part time, and the other is my jumping trainer who has brought 3 or 4 horses thru the Grand Prix level. Eventually that would be my goal. 

I'm happy where I'm at for now, but would like one day work with horses in a specific discipline (and a specific location). 

A lot of what I read is affirming the work that I've already been doing, but I'll get on getting a website and business cards! 

Thank you so much for all of your input, I've gotten a lot out of this, and really appreciate your thoughts!


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