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Feel like I wasted $1300 - vent post

22K views 138 replies 54 participants last post by  wausuaw 
#1 ·
So I have a 4 year old paint/draft mix gelding. I got him in a horse trade when he was 2. Due to my life being crazy he sat untouched in a huge 300 acre pasture until this spring at 4. He was born on the range, handled only to be loaded and taken to me, caught a handful of times (in a chute) as a 2 year old, castrated at 3, then caught a handful of times over his 3 y/o winter by running into a chute, roping, or getting him into a round pen (at which point I could catch him)

I took him to a "reputable" trainer, some hot shot who is certified up the wazoo, has trained in the states, etc etc. and told her everything.. That he sometimes pulls away while being lead, is hard to catch, has tried to jump out of my arena and bust through fences, and has kicked before. I agreed to 1.5 months and on her trainer form I specified that I wanted him started under saddle at a walk, trot, canter , direct reining, moving off pressure, a bit of handling with his feet, etc.

Fast forward 2 months (she gave me half a month free of cost because she self-admittedly didnt do anything with him for 15 days except lead him around because he had a "wall up"...though I still had to pay board at $225/month)... I picked him up last week and have a horse who has been backed a MAX of 5 times and only at a walk, I "need to do more work" with his hind feet, "hates the bit".

He is NOT a mean or untrainable horse. Nervous, yes. I think she was scared of him. Kept calling him a mustang in front of people lol

Admittdely He is a lot less nervous, I did walk up and catch him the other day, and I did pick up his front feet (though I could do that before he left). But when I get on him it's going to be like getting on a first timer colt (and that won't be til I have him used to a brifdle with a bit) Which i was sooo looking forward to NOT doing for once. On the bright side, she did saddle and longe him under saddle a bunch of times and he hasn't bucked yet so that's nice to know. $1300 for that though? Never again will I send a colt away to be started.

Ugh I just have such a bad taste in my mouth. I really did have no other option cause I just moved and have no access to pens, arenas, etc... But it is still really frustrating.
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#96 ·
I sympathise, I've been there myself:(

I sent one gelding to a younger unknown trainer, in under 60 days he was trail safe and it cost me not even $1000.

His half brother I sent to a well known recommended trainer who completely screwed him up, he was returned to me(after a bit of a em discussion)un rideable, with girth galls and saddle sores after just under 60 days, cost me $1800 for a train wreck, 6 months to heal up and the following year I sent him to another trainer who did a great job in a short time as I couldn't afford much:(

It's a bit of a lottery with trainers I'm afraid.

Glad your boy is getting better:)
 
#98 ·
SC...I'm too old anymore but started/problem horses for 55 yrs for other people and feel you got a raw deal on the training and didnt expect too much but you learned a valuable lesson on trainers. Looks like you have him on the right track now that you are working him yourself. Some time and lot of wet saddle blankets you'll have a good one.
 
#99 ·
So just to make everyone feel better, here I go.

I bought a 4 year old gelding last fall,( Nov), was told he was ready to go, has had someone on him and that was it.....perfect just the way I like them. So due to we didn't have the infrastructure quite in place and trying to finish fencing sent him back to the barn we bought him from.( he went there in June) I get the bright idea to have 30 days put on him, that was actually my birthday present. It felt pretty spendy but thought well worth it.

These people have pretty much ignored any contact from my husband and myself during this entire time, tried asking questions just wouldn't get a response. So finally mid Sept my DH get a hold of them, he will be home around Oct 1, ready to go. During some back and forth communication it comes out that the trainer feels that this horse needs months of ground work and he wouldn't recommend that I ride him..........they will send him home for me to work with this winter (??) and they will take him back in the spring.

I'm not into this for a lot, paid 1000 for the horse and sent him to them in June with 1000, as of last night we told the people had they been up front where the horse is, we would have never bought and their comment was we owe 650 in board..

I would understand if I sent this horse to them history unknown, this horse was born on their property and had never left the farm until he came to our place, poor horse tried to give him a chance, just haven't won the lottery yet.
 
#100 ·
You got ******ed. Put in what ever term you like.

If you do not know what kind of job a trainer does for sure, you need to go check on the horse and watch a training session at least once a week. Tell the trainer up front that you want to do just that. It they are not OK with that, hunt for a different trainer. Any qualified trainer will not mind and will welcome you coming and watching them once a week.

I would also arrange in advance for the trainer to let you ride the horse a couple of times at the end of the training time so that you can get the horse to do what the trainer has taught the horse. When I was training for the public, I always urged owners to do this and included it in the training fee. I wanted people to be happy with their horse and to know what their horse had learned and explain what they needed to do next to keep the training going in the right direction.

Keep in mind that no trainer wants you telling them what to do and they do not want someone hovering over them asking 1000 questions and killing their time. But if they mind you standing back out of the way and watching them ride / handle their horse, something is wrong. A few questions at the end of a session should be welcome.
 
#101 ·
HI

You bought a colt, let him be a wild horse till he is four them hand his 1500 pound animal over to a 160 pound person and expect the horse to be under saddle and cantering in six weeks. Your kidding me. This is the same as going out and getting a three year old mustang and telling someone to train it in six weeks!!! You were asking this person to do the impossible!!! This horse needed six week of ground work before you could even think about putting a bride on! Even the best trainers in the world can't train a mustang in six weeks.
 
#102 ·
You bought a colt, let him be a wild horse till he is four them hand his 1500 pound animal over to a 160 pound person and expect the horse to be under saddle and cantering in six weeks. Your kidding me. This is the same as going out and getting a three year old mustang and telling someone to train it in six weeks!!! You were asking this person to do the impossible!!! This horse needed six week of ground work before you could even think about putting a bride on! Even the best trainers in the world can't train a mustang in six weeks.

Frankly, I find your naiveté both amusing and offensive at the same time. Did you even read the rest of the thread? There are several members who posted in this thread that do exactly that, myself included.

And, just to prove you wrong on the bolded parts above. In 2004, some family friends adopted a 2 year old mustang stud. They brought him home and realized that he was actually wild, so they left him in an arena by himself for an entire year. I bought him in 2005 as a 3 year old completely unhandled stud. Brought him home on Thursday and by that next Tuesday, I was riding him through cattle w/t/c.

Now, almost 9 years later, he's my go-to horse for anything and everything.


So, tell me again how even the "best horse trainer in the world can't train a mustang in 6 weeks"? :think:
 
#103 ·
Your kidding me. This is the same as going out and getting a three year old mustang and telling someone to train it in six weeks!!! You were asking this person to do the impossible!!!
a) read the rest of the thread and b)you don't know what you are talking about. A horse that is "trained" wrong will take far longer to get riding well than a wild one. I have worked with a two year old mustang that went from wild to on her back in a month, and that was working with her very sparingly and lightly, as she had a foal at her side. I had another 4 yo filly that was spoiled on the ground with treats, but never halter broke. I had her halter broke and trail riding w/t/c in 30 days. I ended up selling her to a youth as a jumper a year later.

there may be some horses that are so messed up, determined or fearful that they need that much time, but the vast majority do not.
 
#105 ·
Lyra, really, you should go back and read the whole thread.

Point being, the trainer said she could have the horse ready in the set amount of time, which she didn't. There was a huge lack of communication between the horse owner and trainer.
Yes a good portion of this thread was devoted to whether a horse could be started in that amount of time and plenty of examples were given by those who have done it. The most recent example being smrobs on this page, who IS a trainer, not someone who sends her horses off to the trainer and expects miracles when they get back.
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#106 ·
When I took my 3 year old to the trainer this past spring I took him first for an assessment that was about 1 1/2 hours long. He worked around with him on the ground, ground manners, yielding to the body, tarps, lounging, tacking up, everything. Then he rode him for a short while. After that we sat down and talked for about 1/2 an hour and he told me exactly where the horse was at, what he needed for training, what he could do in 2 months. Loved the process. In 2 months I got exactly what he said I would get. I didn't tell him what I wanted, except that I wanted him out on the trails a bit, he told me what he could do in that amount of time. I knew what I was going to get and was very happy with the results and would recommend this trainer to anyone I know.
 
#110 ·
So if a politician tells you he's going to get the US out of debt in 5 years and decrease taxes - you will believe him and vote for him?

Consumer/voter/buyer beware. Have realistic expectations, regardless of what anyone says because talk is cheap. I don't care if someone says they can take an untouched horse and make it a safe trail horse in 6 weeks, or even if they've done it once or twice. It's still not realistic. 6 months - sure. 3 months OK if you're good - but the better the trainer the price will adjust accordingly. Supply and demand. A good trainer will charge a lot more than $1300 to break a horse to the point it's ridable by an AA on trails/in spooky situations.

IMO current trainer is a lot more realistic.
 
#111 ·
^I think you're missing my point.

Firstly, politicians are elected officials. That's slightly different than someone you hire under contract.

Secondly, I wasn't claiming that $1,300 is an unreasonable amount to charge for training. Not by a long shot. That seems fairly reasonable for a month of training.

What I am saying is, it is bad business to advertise something that you cannot provide. But, I guess the horse world is full of people that just don't care, or assume that the person paying for the service must be of subpar intellect.
 
#112 ·
And that's why I say to use common sense. If you see a "world champ quality QH" for sale for $300, what will you think. Trainer says "I will have the horse broke in a month w/t/c started on x-rails and trail ridden" then there's some smoke being blown. Coach says "Oh you will be in the WEG next year!!" again, use common sense. None of these things are true. It is up to the consumer/customer/client to choose where to put their money. It's not the trainers fault if they told you they can have the horse doing whatever because they've done it a few times before and it's unrealistic but you put the horse in training anyways. If a trainer told my they could have an untouched horse broke w/t/c in 6 weeks I'd laugh! Because it's a joke. Some horses it might be possible. But most individuals need that amount of ground work, long lining and lunging. We start messing with the horses beginning of their 3 year old year and don't expect solid w/t/c undersaddle until the following winter. And if they are really immature - wait even longer.

Equate it to reading/writing - takes kids a heck of a long time to learn that, it's not fair to condense it. Basically all of elementary is for learning to read/write and as the internet has shown us, often that isn't even enough! Some kids are whizzes and end up graduating high school at 14. That doesn't mean every child, or every horse, can handle that time frame.
 
#113 ·
*SHRUGS* different horses for different courses...

Around here there is a preference from colt starters to have something not handled, better a clean slate than something that someone has already messed up.

Most will want them for 60 days and it that time will have them walk, trot and lope, that is just fact.

Doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks, that is how it is done here. Are they trained finished horses, hell no, but they would be expected to come home being able to walk trot and lope, soft in the face, a good stop and be able to turn, and move away from the leg. There are no 'gaping holes' in their training, they are trained by working people who expect that the owners want a horse to actually ride. They have a foundation, it's up to you to build the rest.

If you want to take 6 months, that's fine, the only colt I have taken from birth to saddle, I kind of left until he was 2, then spent 2 years ground working him before getting on, he still had holes, because I am no trainer.

Still comes back to if someone tells me that they can have him going under saddle in 60 days and $1300 that's what I would expect to come home. It sounds totally reasonable time frame and price to me, and I am with the OP in being disappointed that it didn't even get close by the sounds of it.
 
#114 ·
again, I think we need to read over the whole thread. It is not unrealistic to expect a horse(with a good attitude and some handling, not one with issues or previous poor handling) to be comfortable packing a person, to the extent that they are not fearful of a saddle/bridle/rider and not disrespectful, so they are capable of w/t or w/t/c. Not flawless, but has done it. The OP wanted the horse started, so they could continue the training, not a broke horse, just one with the first rides put on it. My filly can calmly w/t and she is on her second ride.

moreover, as has been stated previously, the issue mainly with the fact that the trainer did not communicate properly. I would be very frustrated if I met with a trainer, who said it was no problem to get to the level I wanted in a certain time frame, then they did virtually nothing with the horse in that time frame. I would expect, if my horse was harder to deal with than expected, that I would be contacted. early on.

as much as "buyer beware" is applicable, so is false advertising. Any ways, OP, its good to hear he is finally making some progress:D
 
#115 ·
It is buyer beware. Horses are individuals. The first trainer I took Reeco to said she averages 6 weeks but untill she got the horse working she couldnt tell me how long it would take. In the end she gave up after 8 weeks and no progress. The next trainer told me she didnt promise anything and sure enough 7 weeks later she only had him longreining without exploding but he was still panicy.
The final trainer said she would take him for 4 weeks and see how she got on. She had him 9 weeks but finaly got him to the point where I could walk and trot and he was safe in traffic.

I continued the work and a year and a half later (if you dont include the time spent on box rest for his fractured pelvis) we competed and held our own at CHAPS national championship, we can do a decent prelim dressage test and working on novice level. A better rider could probably have him working at elementary level (which I believe is a 2nd or 3rd level test depending on the test)
 
#117 · (Edited)
Haha thanks Maximas!

Everyone who has recently started arguing on this thread again (or debating, or whatever)

The point is, I ASKED THE TRAINER what I could expect in 1.5 months. I told her everything about my colt. She said w/t/c, no problem. I even asked her AGAIN to emphasize that he had never been touched and she said no worries.

I believed her because I have had horses going undersaddle w/t/c in two months or less AND I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL. These horses have gone on to the show ring (only provincial level), to work on the trail, working cattle, and to be kids horses. So I figured that if I can do it, then she can.

I got a horse back who bucked the first couple times I saddled him. A horse who I WAS NOT at ALL comfortable getting on. A horse who was "guaranteed" to go w/t/c.

I screwed up - I was a long distance from the trainer and did not have the opportunity to check in. Through texts and calls she said he was doing "great!!!" all the time.

This is a woman who shows all over the states, Canada, trains horses, and teaches riding lessons out of a town near Edmonton.

I KNOW I got ripped off. I was promised one thing and did not receive anything NEAR what she said I would get for the money. That's what this thread is about.

I realize some people may think that it takes months to get a horse started under saddle and there is nothing wrong with that. We all know the horse world is incredibly diverse. But in the horse world I grew up in it is common practice to have a colt out on the trail within a few training sessions. They grow up to be happy, healthy horses with a job, good enough for me and good enough for many people out there.

Even if this lady was some high class trainer who needs 6 months to start a colt undersaddle I should have seen some sort of results, shouldn't I have? and shouldnt she have TOLD me she'd accomplish nothing in 30-45 days?

I think so
 
#121 ·
I screwed up
It think these words sum it up.

The trainer gave you a huge red flag of not working with your horse for the first 15 days. I would have brought my horse home THEN. And I wouldn't keep sending the trainer money if I didn't think they were meeting certain expectations. Text messages are NOT a good way to moniter your horse's progress. Every horse is going to progress differently in training, and you often don't know how they are going to progress until you start working with them. I've had some colts that I entered in shows in 30 days, some that were still in the round pen at 30 days, and some that I ended up selling at 30 days because I was sick of dealing with their nasty bucking (there's too many good horses to deal with ill-tempered ones).

Yes, you got ripped off by your trainer. But you really didn't do much to help yourself from that. Hard lesson learned.

You've been complaining that you don't have time (nor want to deal with) a green "unbroke" 4-yr-old colt at this point in time. Nothing wrong with that, but instead of sending him for training for $1300 or $1800, why didn't you give him away and buy a 7-yr-old trained trail horse for $1500? (Easy to find right about now, with the way the market is.) Or why did you even take him on a trade in the first place, when you could have gotten cash for whatever it was that you sold? For the end goal you wanted, you really did not set yourself up for success. Again, hard lesson learned.

And just kinda curious since you've mentioned time and time again throughout this thread about ALL the horses you've trained successfully, and continue to insinuate that you can do better than this trainer did ..... How long has your horse been back, and what have you accomplished in that time frame? Are you going to be able to walk, trot, canter, direct rein, move off pressure, and pick up his feet in 45 days? (Although we know he still can't pick up his feet, because you said the farrier took an hour to do his feet. That is YOUR responsibility to teach; not the poor farrier.)

Probably not.

And clearly you are now seeing that your horse isn't going to be an easy one to train, like all the others. Every horse is different.
 
#124 ·
It think these words sum it up.

The trainer gave you a huge red flag of not working with your horse for the first 15 days. I would have brought my horse home THEN. And I wouldn't keep sending the trainer money if I didn't think they were meeting certain expectations.
She did work with him for the first 15 days. There was a 2 week period in the middle where she admitted that she did not.


You've been complaining that you don't have time (nor want to deal with) a green "unbroke" 4-yr-old colt at this point in time. Nothing wrong with that, but instead of sending him for training for $1300 or $1800, why didn't you give him away and buy a 7-yr-old trained trail horse for $1500? (Easy to find right about now, with the way the market is.) Or why did you even take him on a trade in the first place, when you could have gotten cash for whatever it was that you sold? For the end goal you wanted, you really did not set yourself up for success. Again, hard lesson learned.
Maybe I'm wrong here, but though I'd never used a trainer before I thought that sending a horse to a trainer was a viable option? No time or location to do it myself, why not pay someone else to do it? Other people do that all the time. I AM in a position now this winter to break him (which I am doing). However, at the beginning of this summer I was not - due to time and location constraints.

I took him in trade because at that point in my life I was in a position to start him a year later. However, circumstances changed. Yes, I could have sold him. I admit I was a bit attached - what is an unbroken unregistered 4 year old going to go for? meat. I felt like I owed him something since it's MY circumstances that let him sit untouched until he was four

And just kinda curious since you've mentioned time and time again throughout this thread about ALL the horses you've trained successfully, and continue to insinuate that you can do better than this trainer did ..... How long has your horse been back, and what have you accomplished in that time frame? Are you going to be able to walk, trot, canter, direct rein, move off pressure, and pick up his feet in 45 days? (Although we know he still can't pick up his feet, because you said the farrier took an hour to do his feet. That is YOUR responsibility to teach; not the poor farrier.)
Since he has been back I had to leave for work again, however I did have a month to work him. In the first week he got to where you can easily handle all four of his feet with no problems. My dad trimmed and shoed him before our hunting trip with zero issues, I was very proud of Atlas :) After that first week or so of working with his feet and doing groundwork I took him to the bush.

After the pack trip (11 days) I only got on him twice before I got sent out of province for work. Those rides were just at a walk. However he is long reining well, giving to the bit, and moving off of hand pressure. NONE of which he was doing when I got him back.

Like I mentioned, I'm gone now so haven't worked him again but will be starting again once I'm home. Amazingly, I thought I had a "very difficult" horse, but everything went VERY smoothly once I had the time to start working him

Yes, there is not a doubt in my mind that accomplished more than the lady I paid. I mention the colts that I have started in order to make it clear that I am not a complete noob when it comes to starting horses.

In the end, it's all good! Lesson learned. I GOT RIPPED OFF. But I shouldn't have trusted her like I did either. Atlas is doing well now and he's quickly becoming my little sweetheart.
 
#122 ·
^It was my understanding that OP was not actively visiting the horse while he was in training, and only later found out that he hadn't been worked for the first fifteen days?

Also, she has mentioned that she got her horses to w/t/c nicely under saddle within forty five. Maybe she just doesn't have the time?


I'm still so appalled that we are reprimanding the OP as opposed to the trainer. Maybe I'm stuck in the past but, to me, a contract is a contract. If I pay for something, that's what I'll be getting.
 
#123 ·
I'm still so appalled that we are reprimanding the OP as opposed to the trainer. Maybe I'm stuck in the past but, to me, a contract is a contract. If I pay for something, that's what I'll be getting.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where people aren't always honest. That's why you've got to watch your own back. No, it shouldn't be that way, but it is.

Yes, a contract is a contract but I doubt it was actually written on paper that the trainer 100% money-back-guaranteed that the horse would do x,y,z at the end of 45 days. We all know that horses are unpredictable and it would be impossible to legally enforce such a contract.

If you allow yourself to taken advantage of (whether or not you know better), it's just one of life's many lessons. Move on and learn from it.
 
#126 ·
I guess I was just raised differently than to say "I got ripped off. Oh well, my fault!" and just leave it at that. I think people should be honest.

I do understand that horses are unpredictable. But, if things weren't going according to plan, then it is her duty (as a trainer that is being paid, UNDER CONTRACT) to contact the owner and explain that things aren't progressing the way that she would like, and then discuss with the owner the proper course of action. Whether that means some of her money back, an extension of time, or new goals... That would be for them to decide.

I guess I'm just sick of dishonest people in the industry, and then everyone saying "you should have known better".
 
#127 ·
OP: The good trainers ARE going to booked out quite in advance. It usually makes me raise my eyebrows if a trainer says they can get them in immediately. The few times I have used a trainer, I called a year ahead of time to get my name on the list and get my horse in when I wanted. But they do good work and they are worth the waiting for.

I apologize for mis-reading your post, but I guess it would make me even more suspicious with red flags if she stopped working with him in the middle of it all, unless she had made you aware ahead of time that she was going to be gone on vacation or something of that nature (which doesn't sound like the case).

Did you actually get any references from friends for this Amy lady? Or just looked her up? I know you said you had references for other trainers who had a long wait list. For myself personally, I do a lot of background on a trainer before my horse goes there.

Zexious: I'm not saying the trainer wasn't crooked. I don't think anyone is saying that. But simply texting back and forth with the trainer is no way to ensure your horse is being taken care of or trained. That's where the OP went wrong and she already knows it. You've got to actually visit your horse on a regular basis. Yes, people are supposed to be honest. But some aren't. Different story if you've used the same trainer for years and know them well; then you may not need to stop in on a regular basis. But using a trainer for the first time? Yes, you need to stop in frequently. And if all you did was text instead and the trainer said "Yeah they are doing great!" well you can't really blame yourself too much for getting taken. It's quite easy to manipulate and lie to someone when you never see them in person. And sometimes you will still be lied to your face. This is not only true in the horse world, but absolutely true in real life. Sad what our society has become, but it is what it is.
 
#130 ·
OP: The good trainers ARE going to booked out quite in advance. It usually makes me raise my eyebrows if a trainer says they can get them in immediately. The few times I have used a trainer, I called a year ahead of time to get my name on the list and get my horse in when I wanted. But they do good work and they are worth the waiting for.
No doubt about this! If I EVER do it again, I'd go with someone who does have a waiting list. It's still hard to know though when you're going in blind like me. I live in the Yukon, went to school in southern Alberta, worked this summer in northern Saskatchewan and am now in BC. I never know where I'm going to be a few months down the road. When I found out I was going to SK this summer I was left without a place to start Atlas. It was either sell him or send him to a trainer. I searched forums for recommendations, asked on here, and asked my family in Alberta but basically didn't come up with anything viable. From that point I pretty much had to go with gut feeling. I tried to do background on a couple different trainers but I guess with me being new to the game or SOMETHING I was unable to turn up anything helpful.

I KNOW I should have stopped in more and I sure as hell would have if there was any way that I possibly could. Phone calls to her reassured me that he was doing well and things were going relatively to plan. Not the case!

I wasted my money. It's partially my fault that I got ripped off, but it's HER fault that she ripped me off, I don't see how anyone can look at that any other way. I did attempt to contact her after I got him back and NEVER heard back from her. It pisses me off because this chick makes her living off of training and lessons.

My first clue should have been the one time that I DID stop in to visit and she kept calling him a mustang in front of other people hahahaha. I'd TOLD her that he was a draft/paint mix lol.

Anyway, it sucks that I had to leave home for work again because I'm going to have to re-start with him when I get back, but it is what it is.

In other news - one more reason I'm proud of him, he is GUTSY. Nothing on the trail phased him much after the first day, he'd cross anything, climb over anything, and go through anything. He broke a 4" tree off with his pack box and didn't even think twice about it lol, and creek crossings that some of the other horses were jittery about were no big deal - he'd just leap over them (not good to have a pack horse who jumps stuff but oh well hah) When it came to swimming the big river at the beginning and end of the trip I was worried that there was NO way he was going in... but he bailed in like an absolute champ! I just threw the shank over his back and away he went.


Wilderness Ecoregion River Wildlife Lake
 
#128 ·
This thread is interesting but absolutely exhausting to read and keep up with. I am truly shocked at how many people have beat up on the OP for things ranging from not taking more time to work with her horse (the amount of time she works with the horse is her choice and dependent on her life and her circumstances, as long as the horse is happy and healthy and being cared for, I don't believe it's a horrible awful thing to leave a youngster in a field with little or no work as long as the owner has a plan for the horse's future, which the OP does) to having unrealistic expectations when she made the choice to invest in a trainer (as many many people have already stated, the OP's expectations were not at all unrealistic), and many other things in between.

I won't continue to restate opinions that have already been stated here. However, I must say, the thing that really shocks me is how unsupportive and sometimes downright close-minded so many people have been on this thread. In the horse world, I have found that so much can be gained by being open-minded. So much can be lost by being close-minded. There is more than one way to do most things. What one person wants, another person might not want. What one person pays, another person might not need to pay. What one horse needs, another horse might not need. There are so many factors, and it seems like people are forgetting that.

The OP has kept this horse well-fed and healthy. She realized she wasn't able to give him the time he needed as far as his training is concerned, so she made the choice to invest in a trainer. By doing those things, she is doing leaps and bounds more than most horse owners in the world do! Mistakes were made, but the important thing is that she did right by the horse and the horse is currently making progress and in a good place. WHY can't we focus on that and keep the negativity to a minimum?
 
#133 ·
But Faye, you were told by your trainers that he was going to need more time. I've done that myself, told a customer what I can normally get done in a set amount of time only to call them a few days later and tell them that some behavior had popped up and caused the training to stop progressing.

The point is, the trainer needs to make the owner aware of something like that, not just wait until the end of the time, take the money, and then make excuses about how "they didn't have time" or "the horse has a behavioral problem" when they return a horse that isn't rideable.
 
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