Finding a Horse Trainer
Once you have found a horse that suits you there are many things that need to be considered when planning for your future together. Depending on your skills and your horse’s abilities you may find yourself in need of a professional trainer. When hiring a trainer, it is important to remember that this is a professional business arrangement. Be sure to outline what your goals and expectations are before you start your search for a trainer. Here is an outline of things to consider when looking for the best trainer for you and your horse.
Goals for needing a trainer
- Starting a young horse under saddle.
- Train your horse in your chosen riding discipline
- A trainer that can show and sell your horse
- Help to solve a particular training issue that is more than you can handle
- Help to maintain the training and conditioning that your horse already has
- Train you to ride better so you can reach your showing goals
- Learning a new riding discipline
- Preparing your horse for sale.
How to find trainers
- Ask your veterinarian, farrier or friends.
- Check the local horse association for list of trainers
- If you are moving out of the area check with your national organization for list of trainers and barns.
- Boarding facilities do advertise.
- Go to horse shows and clinics in an area to meet people and learn about the types of facilities that are available in an area.
- Internet chat rooms.
- Trainers websites.
Keep in mind that in the U.S. there are no regulatory associations or licensing boards that evaluation the qualification of a horse trainer. In many cases the only thing that classifies the person as a professional is they are being paid.
What to look for in a new trainer
- Is the trainer skilled in the riding discipline that you want to train in?
- Are the trainer’s students doing well in that discipline?
- Do their students look prepared to show at the level they are showing at?
- Do you like their training style and feel you will be able to learn from that person?
- Do you think your horse will thrive with the trainer’s techniques?
- Does that trainer remain active in the sport and stay current on any changes in techniques and philosophies?
- Do you want to ride like them or their students?
- Are their horses healthy and happy doing their job?
- Are they fair and consistent in their correction of the horse?
- Where is the trainer located? Can you travel to them or will they travel to you?
- Does the trainer teach the rider or do they only train the horse?
- Are you able to ride your horse while it is in training?
- Check to see if they are in good standing with their riding disciplines association.
- Do and internet search on the trainer and see what comes up. If they have a website or Facebook page you can learn a great deal about them.
- Watch the trainer at horse shows and see how they interact with their students and their horses. This will help determine if their style of coaching is going to work for you.
- Does the trainer maintain a professional demeanor?
- Are you able to understand their instruction to their students?
- Contact potential trainers by phone or email. If they don’t get back to you in a timely manner chances are you will not want to work with them.
Once you have narrowed down your list of trainers it is time to set up interviews and tours of the facilities. Be sure to allow plenty of time for your visit.
- Set up a time to meet the trainer as well as any assistant trainers that will be working with you and your horse
- Watch them ride a horse that is about the same age and skill level as your horse.
- Watch them give a lesson to a person who’s riding abilities is close to yours.
- Are they focused on what they are doing while training and teaching?
- Check to see that their equipment is in good condition and they do not use any items for training that you are not comfortable with.
- Ask for references from present and former clients as well as veterinarians and farriers.
- Evaluate the condition of the facility and the horses. This link is to a post on finding a new boarding facility https://horsetaillegacy.com/lile
- Review the trainer’s contract and be sure to include any terms that were agreed on that may need to be added to the standard contract.
- Review the boarding facility contract.
- Discuss how much time will be needed to train your horse to meet your goals. Be aware that these goals may need to be adjusted based on your horse’s progress.
- Be sure you are able to visit your horse at least once a month so you can monitor their progress.
- Know what items of tack need to be sent with your horse and be sure to label them with your name and the horse’s name.
- How much is it going to cost to have your horse in training. Know about any additional costs that you will incur such as, hauling, veterinary, farrier, show fees, etc. Also discuss the billing cycle so you know when payment is due. Ask for an itemized bill for any charges beyond the training and board.
- Discuss the trainer’s philosophy concerning horse training and teaching.
Training agreement should include
- How much is it going to cost to have your horse in training. Know about any additional costs that you will incur such as, hauling, veterinary, farrier, show fees, etc. Also discuss the billing cycle so you know when payment is due. Ask for an itemized bill for any charges beyond the training and board.
- How often your horse will be ridden
- Who will be training the horse
- Who will be caring for the horse
- How show expenses, trailering, training, care, and show winnings are handled
- Does training include giving you lessons and how often? If not, how much are lessons?
- Will the trainer attend horse shows with you?
- How much turnout will the horse get and in what form?
- If the trainer sells your horse how much is the commission paid to the trainer?
- Can you watch the trainer work your horse and what arrangements need to be made for that to happen?
- Who is responsible for making arrangements for the horse to receive veterinary and farrier care?
- Will you be notified in advance for any additional fees beyond board and training?
- How often will you be updated about your horse’s progress?
When planning my trip across the U.S. with my American Quarter Horse Irish I followed many of the same steps I just outline above. First, I mapped out the areas of the country I wanted to visit and then looked-for trainers in those areas. My biggest source of information came from the National Reining Horse Associations website. The information on their website gave me a jumping off point to contact trainers that would be willing to take us in for a week of board and training. I also found that reading the trainers websites before contacting them was helpful in narrowing down trainers that liked to teach non-pros. All I can say is that the trip took a lot of planning but in the end, we had a great time and worked with some truly talented horse trainers along the way.
