Horse riding school question - please respond if you are a rider or you have kids who ride?

[IsabelC]

 

Quick background:

My daughter took riding lessons semi-regularly for much of last year, then had a break over the summer. Now she has been looking at a different equestrian school and is falling in love with their school horses. She is asking whether she could try just a few lessons there. However, I suspect that she will want to attend at both, because she loves the place where she was learning before, but her new friend at school goes to the new place.

 

My questions:

Is going to another riding school a good idea? Might the first riding instructor feel bad if we go elsewhere (she is very good, we haven't had any problems at all)? Is it really bad etiquette to do this? If my daughter likes this new place, would it be OK to go to both? Or should we pick one and stick with it? Also, is she likely to get confused if the two riding schools have different styles of instruction?

[Juniper]

The bonds little girls share with their horses and horsey friends are very special. Even if the other trainer gets upset, so long as the new one is good, I would place my daughter where she has peer support.

 

In fact we just moved (across country) and one of the perks of the new barn was that their were lots of other little girls, plus it allows me to go back to teaching. Learning from multiple instructors is something I have always encourage my younger students to do (younger being anything not showing at an intense level). It makes me sad when trainers get territorial. I hope that helps just a bit. :)

[BrookValley.]

I have seen a couple cases where a child rode at two barns and it worked out fine, but in my experience it usually doesn't work out. However, I am coming from a very competitive hunter/jumper background: lots of highly competitive showing, lots of money, and lots of people with big egos. Most of the people I have ridden with, worked for, or known in this environment would not continue to teach someone if they also rode elsewhere. Some of their reasons are legitimate, some of their reasons, well, boil down to competitiveness, money, and ego. None of this may be a factor in your daughter's situation, so if everyone is cool with it, I don't think it's a problem (as long as you don't mind shuttling to different places and paying for two sets of lessons, of course! :) ). If your daughter ever gets very serious about showing, she would probably find it more suitable to ride with only one barn, but if she's a relative beginner or she's just interested in riding for the sake of learning good horsemanship, eh, let her do what she wants.

 

As an instructor, *I* didn't like my kids riding with other barns on a regular basis only because I didn't like habits they picked up elsewhere. We did encourage things like clinics and impromptu lessons with other trainers at shows because, like Juniper points out, it is good to learn from multiple sources. Of course, this is just my experience and opinion, and may not be an issue with her current instructor.

[regentrude]

My DD has been riding for several years, and this year she was working with two different instructors at the same barn. They had different teaching styles which I considered beneficial, but they also had different preferences with respect to her riding style and gave contradicting advice, which did pose a problem. This is something you might want to watch out for, especially with a beginner.

[Journey]

i agree with much of what brook valley said. it really depends on how far your daughter wants to take her riding. My daughter also rides competitvely hunter/jumper and she does not ride with more than one barn or one trainer in a barn. The most important reason is because each and every trainer has their own way of training and very rarely (around here at least) are they compatible. Having said that, i know for a fact that there is no way that a trainer from one barn around here would be okay with her riding at another place as well. There are huge egos involved in the horse world and you do NOT want to get those egos going! but again, i'm talking about competitive horse showing. if your daughter isn't ready to show yet, or has no interest in it, then i don't see a problem but i would let both instructors know what you're doing.

[Juniper]

I wanted to add that not all competitive trainers are like this. My trainer growing up was on the US equestrian team for many years. She strongly encouraged me to ride with many other trainers while I remained and even managed her barn. Heck, a few times she forced me too! ;) The other trainers were not like her and I could tell they didn't like, but I did always consider her my "main" trainer. Working with her formed many of my own training philosophies. My daughter presently competes in "A" and "AA" level shows, yes I am her main coach but I happily have her riding with quite a few other trainers as well. Also, if your daughter ever joins a Pony Club, they are supposed to bring in different trainers for every mounted meeting.

 

Now, when and if my daughter chooses to show beyond National lines she will probably settle with one, but that is a logistical issue dealing with travel and training schedules.

 

Edited: I think the difference may lie in the fact that I don't do Hunter's :p My background is more Eventing and Jumper's. With Eventing I often sought out different trainers for the different specialization I was presently focusing on.

[Journey]

Funny you should mention the eventing trainer thing Juniper. My friend is an eventer and she has one trainer for the jumping aspect and another for the dressage aspect. she and i both were talking about this recently and we both feel that a trainer can't be great or even really good at more than one dicipline. i know people will disagree with that but that's our opinion. As you said, it might be different in the hunter ring, and it is. Hunter trainers are so obnoxiously annoying and thinking they are great(!) that they really and i mean really frown upon a student having more than one trainer.

[Ottakee]

Is this your 7 year old? If so, I would pick one barn and stick with it. Go for 2 lessons a week if she wants more time or see about a partial lease for more riding time. Pick a place where she will get the fundamentals down well and learn the safety skills of working with and around horses. I think it would get confusing for a 7 year old to have 2 different trainers.