So, you feel your current trainer's methods aren't as good as the previous or too difficult for you to follow?

 

My reining trainer confuses the heck out of me all the time! LOL. I am lucky because they are a husband/wife team and a lot of times they ride while they teach so when he has told me how to do things six different ways, showed me how he does it and I'm still not getting it right then she will explain the same thing in different words or show me the same thing the way she does it, and it will click.

I wouldn't worry about having a bad day. It happens. My trainer always says you learn the most on the bad rides.

Also... They have sold babies to barrel racers and they love the Reiner started babies. They say it makes their training so much easier....

 

I definitely don't think they're not as good, he's actually much higher caliber than my past trainers. I'm just used to having things explained differently. I'll probably figure it out eventually once I remember what a circle is.

 

What is your trainer helping/training you for? As in what discipline.

 

We all have bad lesson days. I think all of us here can empathize with your frustration and embarrassment. Riding is hard. It's like a refined mashup of calisthenics, yoga, and pilates that involves a large, and (sometimes) uncooperative animal. It takes a while for our brains to build the connections it needs to make it work.

If he's the kind of guy who will respond well to this, maybe ask your trainer before you get on to explain things to you like you're 5, and/or show you through example what you need to be doing. If it's a specific exercise, while I don't necessarily condone learning from someone other than whoever is teaching you in person, you can always look it up on Youtube or in a book and see if another trainer has a way of explaining the maneuver that makes more sense to you.

You won't ruin your horse! He is trying to figure you out, and part of being a green horse is learning that humans are imperfect. As long as you're not hammering him when he's confused, you won't ruin him.

 

My trainer confused me and I allowed it for a while. I tried to parse out what she was saying. She talked about things I thought I understood, but clearly did not, or not completely. She was getting frustrated with me because she thought I wasn't taking what she was saying seriously.

After a little discussion about her teaching style and my learning style we came to an understanding. And I started asking for clarification when I did not understand something 100%. I also stopped offering excuses whether they were valid or not as to why I lost a cow, or missed a transition.

I keep asking questions too even on stuff that seems too dumb to ask about. Our relationship has changed and my riding has improved.

Do not let another training session go by without asking for clarification. It wont make you look dumb, it will make you look smart. And chances are really good that the people watching are thankful because they need clarification too but were too afraid to ask.

 

What did he confuse you about? It's a hard pill to swallow, but being good with horses and being able to teach people are two totally different skills. There are a bunch of fine horsemen/women out there that can't teach what they know for beans. If this person is a good teacher and you just aren't understanding, no worries. That happens. There are things that will be said to you that are going to not make sense until 3 years from now. Often times we need to take a moment to define words that we both know, but maybe have different meanings to us. Or we may need to back up to a more basic skill and see where our assumptions diverged. Slowing down and making sure is always the right path. Solid foundations are not just for horses. You should also assume that stepping up to a higher caliber of horsemanship is going to have a learning curve and you're probably not going to ace it right out of the gate. That's ok and should be expected.

 

Never be ashamed to stop and ask for clarification. A good trainer will find a way to explain it in a way you can understand. Likewise some trainers and students just do not mesh and that is ok also. Just because they are higher caliber doesn't mean they have to be the right fit fr you. At your next lesson I would explain to him where you struggled.