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When looking for a trainer....

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  kevinshorses 
#1 ·
What questions do you ask?

What do you look for?

Any information would help. When our baby is 2 1/2(ish) we will get someone to put 30 days on her. The in her 3 year old years, she should be going back to get some more riding time in.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
My main concern is proximity. If I have to trailer out, then I would want somewhere close so that I could visit often. If they're coming to me, obviously I want to avoid a possibly costly traveling fee.

I would ask what kind of experience they have (in your case breaking/working with babies) and I would either want to see what current horses they're working on like mine, or at least the three most recent horses they've turned out. Youtube, client email, visiting previous clients, whatever. In that question, also comes what kind of "methods" they use.
 
#3 ·
First, you want to find a trainer who works in the discipline you are wanting. Contact them and previous customers. Come and watch them handle and ride horses. See if they have a horse they have trained that you can ride (maybe one of their personal horses). Just kinda use your common sense. Also, ask how they train a horse; do they train off seat and leg or do they use the reins more often, do they leave the horse in a snaffle or do they also use the curb, etc.
 
#4 ·
When I was looking for the place I asked all my local horse forums to recommend me trainers. And not just recommend, but tell what horse was in training, why, and what was the end result. Also visiting a facility and a lesson/training session tells you A LOT. Usually you can tell right away if the trainer is indeed good with horses. I drove through every single one on my list, looking at the horses there, conditions, food(!), and talking to the trainer in person and asking uncomfortable :) questions. I also ALWAYS google the name whether it's a new trainer, vet, or farrier I wanna use. You can't believe how much info you can find (sometime good, sometime not so) about most people these days.
 
#6 ·
Look at the horses they are training and particularly thier personal horses and see if that is what you want your horse to be. If you like thier horses then hire the trainer, if you don't like them then don't expect anything different from your horse and find another trainer.
 
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