What Makes A Good Trainer?

Sorry if this is the wrong thread to put this in. Delete if you think so.

Ok, so on Saturday I went out to my trainers to see Ricky. And I was amazed. In one week he had changed so much. We paid $180 for a week of professional training and it was well worth the money.
My trainers even took me in the ring with him, and explained everything they had done, how they did it, and what I should keep up on.
And then because it was hot, I had a half an hour lesson on a beginner horse, just tuning him up and riding bridleless which was soooo fun!

So what makes a good trainer?
People have told me I paid too much, but there are only 2 western trainers in my area.
Do you think that was a reasonable price?
I'm thinking about having Ricky broken in there, when he's older.
Opinions?

A good trainer is someone who NEVER puts goals before principles, who understands how horses think and doesn't treat each horse the same, who is willing to adjust to fit the situation, who never gets frustrated, who doesnt' use mechanical devices to get results, who is very knowledgable in their profession, someone who never uses force with horses....there are SO many things that make a good trainer.

Agreed with spirithorse...a good horse trainer is also a person that has the respect and LOVE of all the horses he works with and owns

[quote=Spirithorse;468297]A good trainer is someone who NEVER puts goals before principles, who understands how horses think and doesn't treat each horse the same, who is willing to adjust to fit the situation, who never gets frustrated, who doesnt' use mechanical devices to get results, who is very knowledgable in their profession, someone who never uses force with horses....there are SO many things that make a good trainer.[/quote/]

I agree with this except I would amend it to say "someone who never uses more force than needed." Many times you need to use some force with a horse (not to say "forcing) to get past a barrier in training. If you never use any force you are most likely going to end up with a spoiled backyard pet. So many times I have heard I can't get my horse to go or I can't get my horse to lunge from people that are frustrated that the stuff they see on RFDTV isn't working. They don't understand that if asking doesn't get you the response you are looking for, you don't just keep asking, then begging, then pleading. There has to be consequences for the horse when it ignores you. If that's not using force I don't know what is.

VERY well said! ^^ I believe that 100%

Well put kevinshorses :)

I too agree totally with kevinshorses. Very well put!

Gidji:
In my area of the US, $180 USD isn't considered a great cost for a month's training, but for a week's worth of work would make most people I know think twice. If you feel comfortable with this trainer, and are happy with the job that the trainer did, by all means go back when the time comes to saddle-train Ricky. Maybe, since you have some time before your horse is to be saddle-trained, you could look up some older horses who were broken in by this trainer and see what you think of the end product?

I know for me personally, I've never used force. I can cause the wrong thing to be uncomfortable, but it's ultimately the horse that decides he should stop doing what he's doing. Force implies the animal has no choice in the matter....I don't want that. He has a choice to either continue doing what he's doing and be uncomfortable, or he can stop it and try the right thing, in which case the negative stimulus goes away.

While I understand and respect what you're saying, I believe in some circumstances the horse should not have a choice in the matter and that if the rider's not dumb or a novice, that their judgement is usually better than the horse's.

The old trainer I'm taking lessons with now says "if the horse doesn't make any progress it's time to find a new instructor". I think as long as horse is doing a good progress and the trainer is nice to the horse (and by that I don't mean giving out treats lol! But he/she understands horse and treats it accordingly) I think it's a good trainer. As for price - around here cheapest month is $650 - 700 (and it's not even with the professional). Really nice barns are $1000+.