# Is this frowned upon?



## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Do what you feel is best for your horse.

A good trainer should not be threatened by an owner wanting to see what else was out there.


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## Textan49 (Feb 13, 2015)

Trainer "A" may have room in his barn because he is not as good as he thinks he is. Even if this is not the case, it's your horse, your money, and your decision on how your horse progresses. He can certainly offer something but should not be pushing anything. I would look seriously into going with Trainer "B" and see if his outlined plan for your horse would be more to your liking. If so, do what you feel is best for you and your horse and don't worry about anyone's opinion.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

I agree. Choose the trainer that is best for your horse and your situation. 

If you choose trainer B, then trainer A should be a professional about his job and not hold it against you in any way. And if he does? Well that's probably not a trainer you wanted to associate with anyway then.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

I take it you're working the horse under the guidance of A? Could it be that while you've seen slight improvement A may feel that he could step it up a bit if he had your horse readily available for more frequent short sessions? 

Sometimes slow & steady wins the race but sometimes it misses the race all together. 

If you feel you'd have more fun with B then no harm in giving him a try.


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## Chasin Ponies (Dec 25, 2013)

Beware the trainer who starts to sound desperate and pushy. No good trainer needs to beg for business, their program usually has no shortage of clients and many times have a waiting list. 

We had a woman come into our barn calling herself a trainer. She was caught beating, abusing and injecting every horse she got her hands on. (and that's only part of what she was doing!) The clients were always absent when the worst of this was going on. They became worse instead of better and many were ruined for life to be sold off to unsuspecting, out-of-state buyers. She lost all of her clients one by one and left. She leased some stalls about 5 counties away in an attempt to start over but in our state the QH people all know what kind of "trainer" she is, her name is mud and she is now begging for clients and offering 2 for 1 specials! People outside the QH world of course, don't really know the truth about her but soon find out as her tactics ruin horses.

I truly believe that you are better off working directly with your horse under a trainer and not just leaving it somewhere. This is your horse and you need to become a team, having a trainer work your horse when you aren't around doesn't help that goal. To get your moneys worth, work your horse under your trainer's supervison and then the trainer can mount up while you watch to demonstrate technique when necessary.

Follow your gut and don't let this trainer push you into anything.


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## Whinnie (Aug 9, 2015)

I think going too fast is when holes appear. I am enjoying training my mare myself under a trainer, but I am not interested in competition. That may come as my horse advances, but I am not in a hurry. Horses (and people) live a long time.

Trainer B sounds like he might be good for your young horse if you are comfortable with his program. Trainer A may recognize your horse's potential and want to get him out and competing soon as an advertisement for himself.

What do you want?


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## dawnandduke2002 (Sep 28, 2015)

*Trainers*

I believe that you should take your time training young horses, because most of the time if your rushing you skip necessary bases, therefore making them problems in the long run. If I were you I would switch trainers so you make sure you have a good, well-behaved horse in the end. To compete in shows and have success you have to have a good horse.  Hope that helped!


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Pushing a talented and young horse can destroy his confidence. WHEN he fails, he won't understand why, and will associate failure with training and resent it.
Time spent to really learn the basics never hurt a show horse. Only people with $ in their eyes want to rush them into the show ring. Many of us here believe that it's a shame to see TB's race as 3yo's, when they have mature bones as 5yo's and not break as easily. But, the TB racing world wants to make their money back on every horse.
All athletes, equine and human, are just memorizing the basics when they first learn them. You have to be able to digest them, so that they become second nature.
Dump this trainer, or better yet, do you own training for the next year, but make it slow and deliberate and cross train your horse to keep it interesting, arena work, trail work, maybe some pony soccer?


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

When I was starting young horses, they were ridden almost daily. As soon as we were doing a relaxed walk/trot, they got a week off. I noticed a positive difference in them when be ridden again.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Why would it be frowned upon to look at other options in the horse industry? It's a business. 
So, my answer is no. If you feel more comfortable with the skill level/tactics of trainer B, I say go for it.


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## EdmontonHorseGal (Jun 2, 2013)

if i was in your shoes i would go with trainer B. i'm not one to push horses too young or too fast. heck, my coming 5 year old mare got almost a year and a half off after we ran into chiro/pain issues during her very very light start. just getting back into training now. i don't mind one bit. mare is with me for life and i'd rather she have a sound mind and body at an old age rather than some pretty ribbons hanging off her bridle at a young age.

a trainer that is pushy about you using their services sounds desperate for clients to me. i would run from a trainer like that. or at least try to find out all i could about why they don't have a full barn/clientele. word of mouth travels fast, so ask around.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

From the aspect of a trainer, it is always very frustrating to me to have someone bringing a horse in every so often, asking for advice, expecting grand improvements, but doesn't come often enough to really make a difference yet still does not want to put the horse at my barn - It can sometimes be worrying, as one gal in particular came once a month for several months and then claimed she "Hadn't seen enough improvement" and "Would be looking for someone else".

If that is what Trainer A is afraid of happening, I wouldn't describe it as pushy. I would describe it as him wanting to progress your horse, and not lose a client he likes. While trainers do need to be professional and let the owners make decisions, sometimes it is hard to watch owners make errors and learn on their own without help. 

It also is easier on you, as an owner, to let him take the horse and put some serious time on it - He will probably advance much quicker, and it is easier on the wallet in the long run if you get it out there right away.

HOWEVER, If you really feel it is not worth your time and he is being pushy just for the sake of being pushy, then you need to be looking elsewhere, and perhaps trainer B would suit into your lifestyle better.


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## LilyandPistol (Dec 2, 2014)

Zexious said:


> Why would it be frowned upon to look at other options in the horse industry? It's a business.
> So, my answer is no. If you feel more comfortable with the skill level/tactics of trainer B, I say go for it.


This.
I think it's fine for you to 'shop around'!
However, I wouldn't say he is necissarily not getting enough customers because he's not a good trainer- depending on where you live, it may or may not be a good location to be a trainer. Some places have more horses than others.
So keep him in mind, but you can still shop around, methinks.
After all, as long as he's not trying to force you to let him train your horse himself, you can still have him show you how to do things.

Another thing that might be happening, could be he doesn't want to show you how to do it on your own, because he doesn't want competition. But that's not necissarily the case.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Sorrel--I think if that were the case, there would have been differences in the trainer's approach. 
His concerns should have been part of the discussion, if he were really a professional. Something along the lines of "Hey, it's difficult to make progress with these few contacts per month, would you consider a different program so we can reach your goals," etcetc. 

Based on what OP has said thus far, I don't think this is what's going on.


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

have you voiced to trainer A your goals/timeline?


I work with cows but will put this into horse terms:
you use farrier A, but decide to try farrier B since A isn't getting the angle on the hoof that you would like to see. B does an ok job but you're used to A so you have him back. Now A knows their work so it's obvious someone else trimmed your horse's hooves and asks you "just curious, is there something I need to change. I noticed you tried someone else" then you tell him "well yea, I wanted a bit of a different angle on my horse's hooves"

BAM if you had asked 5 months ago your original farrier could have explained his methods then given you the choice to work up to the angle you wanted and been good to go


so if you like the current trainer communicate, if you don't communicate with the new trainer


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Zexious said:


> Sorrel--I think if that were the case, there would have been differences in the trainer's approach.
> His concerns should have been part of the discussion, if he were really a professional. Something along the lines of "Hey, it's difficult to make progress with these few contacts per month, would you consider a different program so we can reach your goals," etcetc.
> 
> Based on what OP has said thus far, I don't think this is what's going on.


I'm only saying there is two sides to every story, and over the internet we have no way to see more than the text written.

Not saying that the OP is wrong at all, exactly the opposite - I am simply adding another element to the discussion.


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

another few thoughts:

- of course it will be frowned upon... it's the horse world! (joking, not joking when you're talking shows well take it as you want)

-different horses need different trainers just like different people do better/worse under different management styles


as far as the trainer pushing his boarding
there can be a few things there in my opinion:
-maybe he realizes the horse needs more work than what you have had time to get in and he's really saying "hey I know you want to win, so let me take some extra time training" 
- not many trainers are going to say "you're doing a terrible job" somehow I actually lucked into a blunt trainer put my wife on the verge of tears but he's a blunt man who tells it like it is which doesn't work for most people but it is what she needed and what her horse needed (a very black and white trainer built on respect)
-his wording probably isn't the best since a lot of us people that tuck ourselves away and specialize i working with/on animals are better at working with the animal than we are the owner


ultimately since it sounds as though you are trailering into the lessons, go take a few lessons with the next person, but if there is one thing or another that can be changed with the first before he would be good.... give him a chance or at least an explanation "hey bob, I wanted to try out the team show thing so I tried a few lessons with fred I think my horse is responding a bit better to his methods of ___ so i'm going to try some more lessons there but hopefully we'll catch up at some shows and see you in the summer"


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