Comments on: Why I Never Became a Horse Trainer

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:31:01 +0000

Part of the problem with horse trainers is they do not understand that the clients pay them for services. Most trainers have horrible business sense and do not have the people skills to deal affectively with clients. People only leave when they are unhappy.

By: Ang

Ang — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:11:38 +0000

I would love to be a horse trainer, but after spending six years working on a horse farm that did just about everything (trail rides, hay rides, pony parties, training, buying and selling horses, lessons, pony rides, etc.) I found what a hard buisness the horse industry in general is. It may be enjoyable to be with horses all the time, but boy, do I have stories about the people, too. Not to mention that until your get super good at what you do and your name out- which can take years- it’s such an unreliable buisness. Again, I would love to do it, but there are just too many holes. I’m going to college and majoring in Criminal Justice instead. I’ve done an internship with the local police and already have a job waiting for me there for when I turn 21. I’ll enjoy chasing criminals, but it’s a pity that I’ll have to keep the horses on the side.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:44:48 +0000

Good article. I can totally relate-one more note-some professional trainers that start out with good intentions of keeping the horse’s needs and speed of progress first have resorted to pushing these horses too hard. Many times “going through them” I was a show groom/assistant trainer for 12 years and you see first hand what a “natural horseman” ends up doing to the horses to please the client and keep the almighty dollar coming in. He is not longer the natural horseman-he has spawned into the old time movie cowboy. Let’s flipped them over, hang them up, totally exhausted them, make them head shy, and very paranoid. Turn these horses out and then discard this horse for a horse that “can take it”. The ones with less self preservation instincts. Most of these owners tend to be clueless, wealthy and demanding. Many of them have no understanding of how a horse should be handled or trained. They just want their name or farm name in lights! If one horse doesn’t cut it…let’s buy another one and throw the damaged one away. These damaged ones take YEARS to bring back to trust and be whole again. Flashback of their days at the “training barn” can come back at any moment for no good reason and without warning. Are these horses dangerous, hell yes. Is there hope? Yes but in different professional hands without the pressure of the wealthy clients. So you want to be a horse trainer-cowboy up! Because it is a HARD business! Most of the”trainers” need to quit-they are burned out…go out and get a different job and do this on the side-don’t depend on this to make you your millions!

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:40:28 +0000

I am sure everything is not rainbows but I still believe the job is enjoyable

By: Casey

Casey — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:08:25 +0000

Training horses sounds like a fun job, but its a lot of work! I always wanted to do that but now that I have a horse of my own, NO WAY! Sometimes, it’s more work than fun.

By: Kaitlynn

Kaitlynn — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:58:39 +0000

Good blog. so many people hang out shingles because they can ride a little bit and think it would be fun and easy to train horses for a living. It’s a hard living and money comes and goes. Better to go to college or get a real job and ride horses for fun.

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:44:34 +0000

Wow, I never realized how tough it was to be a horse trainer.