Trust Issue.Horses?!?!?

Question

Ok I have this issue to where I don't trust anyone to ride my horses like I wouldn't even trust Beezie Madden and MAYBE George Morris...but that's a big maybe and I just don't want them to do something wrong and ruin them and I could never even imagine myself buying and selling horses cuz I'd be scared someone would take all of the work I put into the horse and they might put a pelham on them or they might ride with too short of reins etc etc and I just have strong beliefs in my methods and I when I open up my barn I want to do a Working Student program but I want the option of them not having to bring their own horse so that would mean I'd have to let them ride mine so what do I do to "get over this" or "cope with it"? I dont just want to abandon this concern completly but what are somethings I can do? Like should I lease 3 horses temporarly and train the rider MY WAY and then when I trust them let them ride my horses? or what? Ideas please.

Answer 1

A little maturity might address some of your fears.

You started somewhere and I promise you you made mistakes along the way.  Do you worry equally about the horses you learned on?  

Answer 2

Girl, you need to chill out!  I'm a nurse in the operating room at a level One Trauma Center on the East Coast.  I work with someone who thinks her way is the only right way and everyone else is wrong....she's a pain in the *** and you may be too.

Seriously, take a look at your control issues...both in and out of the ring.  You may not be as perfect as you think you are!

Answer 3

If you are doing lessons, then teach the riders to ride the way you do so that they will not do anything to your horses training. Just tell them not to use certian things like Pelhams and stuff. But if you are opening a Working Student barn, you will have to learn to cope with it a bit

Answer 4

i am a working student at the barn i go to. when i first went, all i did was take lessons. they taught me on school horses because i didnt and still dont have a horse of my own. then after about 2 years of lessons, they let me work. they started off on just barn chores then gradually let me start working with the horses, including some of their own. so i would say just do it bit by bit and make sure you trust the student. once you know that they can handle the horse let them ride it. maybe you should have some set horses that you would let the students ride like at my barn theyre called school horses and all the students take lessons on them unless they have their own horse.

Answer 5

I have gone threw this, and have had a bad experience. I started a TB mare young one too so that kids could ride, and let a friend ride her and since then all she can think of is "rider is one, lets run" My suggestion is to have one single person that you can trust to follow orders and show them exactually how you ride your horses. Show them from top to bottom, anything that is different in the way you do it. Even how to hold the reins. I started exercising some horses and I ride way different then she does so she is slowly taking me step by step on what to do, she has me walk around while she rides and she watches me and tells me to sit this way, or that way, move this foot, or that foot, loosen the reins, tigheten them...just make sure you have someone that listens very well.

Good Luck

Answer 6

I only trust certain people to ride my mare. I think my trainer is amazing, but I don't even like her to ride her because I'm so paranoid that she's going to be a little off and since my trainer doesn't know how she normally feels, she won't know she's off and can hurt her more. Crazy I know, but I get where you're coming from. Ya just have to learn to let go. I'm not afraid of her trainig getting messed up though, cuz I trust the trainer.

PS - Congrats to Beezie Madden on her Olympic individual Bronze!! And to Eric Lamaze on his Gold. He really deserved it :)

Answer 7

Well, you sound like you have some control issues here.  

To get over this, you could try using a little logic.  

First, do you actually think that a student you are training is going to "ruin" your horse riding right in front of you while taking riding lessons from you?  You are not going to be turning people loose with your horses for weeks at a time without supervision, right?  

Second, if you are going to own a barn and train horses and people, you should learn to recognize the signs of behavioral problems and then you will be able to nip any potential issues in the bud.  It's pretty tough to simply ruin a horse with a one hour lesson, and I really don't think someone is going to take your horse for a ride and beat them or abuse them the second you are out of sight.

You need to have some confidence in yourself - you're saying you believe in your methods, but you sound like you don't believe that you can train people to do things your way and won't recognize a problem if you see it.  If that's the caseyou still have a lot of work to do on yourself before you start teaching others.

Start with one student.  It gets easier to be less paranoid when you start letting go.

Speak to other trainers and possibly intern with a barn owner so you can get a better feeling for how to cope when trusting someone else with your babies.