Help me decide where to send youngster

Z

zoon

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 November 2008
Messages
2,325
Visit site
I have a difficult young horse who has some issue with his legs and feet being handled and I’ve decided to send him away for a couple of weeks training as I’m on my own with no help and am fed up of him being a pain in the arse

Place 1 - trainer I really like who has worked with horse before. I really like his training methods. Horses get daily turnout with him. Has a current space so I can take horse to him straight away. Down side is he is an hour away and I really want to be involved as much as I can be so will need to book time off work and extra costs in petrol getting there and back

Place 2 - trainer has never met horses before, but he did back a previous horse of mine who turned into an excellent allrounder. He is only 15mins away from me so easy to be involved in working with my horse. Negatives are no turnout whilst there and £70/wk more expensive. He has space in 2 weeks time.

Help me decide who to send to as I’m going round in circles trying to decide

Cost isn’t really a factor as I’d spend what I save travelling to place 1 compared to 2, but travel time is an issue
 
You can't expect a young horse to learn and remain in a teachable mindset if you aren't able to offer it any downtime, so the place with turnout would be immediately out. I think for issues like this, which are fairly minor and not as nuanced as riding away, I wouldn't be too attached to being there throughout the process. A session once or twice a week should be sufficient from the trainer.
 
AShetlandBitMeOnce said:
You can't expect a young horse to learn and remain in a teachable mindset if you aren't able to offer it any downtime, so the place with turnout would be immediately out. I think for issues like this, which are fairly minor and not as nuanced as riding away, I wouldn't be too attached to being there throughout the process. A session once or twice a week should be sufficient from the trainer.
Click to expand...

I’m experienced with youngsters and with unhandled ones, but this one is a bit older and has been allowed to get into some very dangerous habits. Hence wanting to be involved as every little change in his life makes him protective of his legs again
 
I would rather pay for someone to come to me. If you could find someone to come 3 times a week, I feel that would work better. A young horse might take a long time to settle in a new place so not make much progress - two weeks is not time at all. Whereas at home, the horse will be in a better frame of mind to learn.
 
zoon said:
I’m experienced with youngsters and with unhandled ones, but this one is a bit older and has been allowed to get into some very dangerous habits. Hence wanting to be involved as every little change in his life makes him protective of his legs again
Click to expand...

Sorry I mis-read your post and assumed youngster, my answer would still be the same. The trainer can explain body language, regression indicators and causation and trigger stacking to you when you visit, in a more controlled and considered way, rather than you being there to crowd the training process that needs to take place. It is quite far but even twice a week would be a good amount to visit and see some progress.
 
zoon said:
I have a difficult young horse who has some issue with his legs and feet being handled and I’ve decided to send him away for a couple of weeks training as I’m on my own with no help and am fed up of him being a pain in the arse

Place 1 - trainer I really like who has worked with horse before. I really like his training methods. Horses get daily turnout with him. Has a current space so I can take horse to him straight away. Down side is he is an hour away and I really want to be involved as much as I can be so will need to book time off work and extra costs in petrol getting there and back

Place 2 - trainer has never met horses before, but he did back a previous horse of mine who turned into an excellent allrounder. He is only 15mins away from me so easy to be involved in working with my horse. Negatives are no turnout whilst there and £70/wk more expensive. He has space in 2 weeks time.

Help me decide who to send to as I’m going round in circles trying to decide

Cost isn’t really a factor as I’d spend what I save travelling to place 1 compared to 2, but travel time is an issue
Click to expand...
I would always prefer someone to come out to me so I know for sure that the work is happening as I want it to.
 
zoon said:
I have a difficult young horse who has some issue with his legs and feet being handled and I’ve decided to send him away for a couple of weeks training as I’m on my own with no help and am fed up of him being a pain in the arse

Place 1 - trainer I really like who has worked with horse before. I really like his training methods. Horses get daily turnout with him. Has a current space so I can take horse to him straight away. Down side is he is an hour away and I really want to be involved as much as I can be so will need to book time off work and extra costs in petrol getting there and back

Place 2 - trainer has never met horses before, but he did back a previous horse of mine who turned into an excellent allrounder. He is only 15mins away from me so easy to be involved in working with my horse. Negatives are no turnout whilst there and £70/wk more expensive. He has space in 2 weeks time.

Help me decide who to send to as I’m going round in circles trying to decide

Cost isn’t really a factor as I’d spend what I save travelling to place 1 compared to 2, but travel time is an issue
Click to expand...
Place 1 leave him there for at least a week without you being there, get regular updates.

Depending upon progress then go up to see if your comfortable to carry on the training at home or leave him a little longer
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top