Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: What’s a barn rule you didn’t understand or appreciate growing up and now implement and why?
Here are their answers:
“Not doing lead changes unless in a lesson or at a show. Growing up, my green pony didn’t have the easiest change. I definitely didn’t follow this rule and practiced lead changes constantly and it showed. Looking back, I probably should have slowed the process down to properly finish that pony’s change.
Now, I can always tell if somebody has been doing lead changes on their own.” -Shane Powell
Read more from Shane here.
“One barn rule that I didn’t understand or appreciate growing up is being limited to having one jumping lesson a week.
My clients get two, or sometimes three lessons a week, however most of the time we do flat and cavaletti lessons and only one lesson will be a jumping lesson.
So much of what we struggle with as riders can be solved through flatwork and doing cavaletti exercises such as adjustability and ridability with extensions and collections. I try to continue to challenge my riders by doing these exercises with training tools like no stirrups, driving reins, etc.
By limiting the amount of jumping at home, we preserve our horses and then they can stay feeling good for the shows when they do have to jump multiple days” -Sarah Redman
“Meticulously wrapping bridles. It seemed ridiculous when I was a kid and now I do it religiously! They are neat, clean, and then everything, including the martingales, have less likelihood of being misplaced.” -Courtney Hayden
Read more from Courtney here.
“The barn, like the country club, has rules for safety. The horse’s safety, your safety, and the safety of others.
Never Hand Feeding Treats
My horses receive treats, but not directly from the owners hand to the horses mouth. The treats are all put in the feed room and given at feeding time.
My conformation horse lived next door to a horse that was given treats–the conformation horse would paw the stall door as he was not included. All I could envision was a splint!
Someone suggested feeding all the horses in their feed buckets and the barn aisle became unruly every time someone walked down the aisle.
Additionally, because of hand feeding, unbraiding can get too animated as the owner stands in front of their horse as they bob their head looking for a treat while the groom is using a seam ripper. Or biting starts–the list of unsettled behavior is plenty. Grooming your horse or grazing your horse was our goto quality time with the horses, not hand feeding treats.
Always Using a Lead Shank or Rope
Horses are walked out of their stalls anywhere from 1 ft to 100 yards to cross ties or a grooming stall using a cotton lead rope. There was no leading of a horse just by the halter, no matter the distance being navigated. Additionally, all cross ties in the aisle were unhooked for horses walking past–no walking under cross ties.
Just try leading a horse without a lead rope under a cross tie as one of the horses gets agitated and hopefully your shoulder is still in one piece.
Proper Footwear at the Stable
Walking in the stable, everyone has on soft soled shoes or loafers, etc. When working around a horse, paddock boots or tall boots are required. Most professionals have had their foot stepped on or worse!
Be Early
The definition of early in my career is 30 minutes ahead at minimum.
Four essential habits in the stable for the good and safety of the horses, grooms, and the riders.” -Diane Carney
Read more from Diane and listen to her on The Plaidcast here.
“When I was a junior rider, I didn’t understand why the barn had to be perfectly cleaned at the end of every day. Now, I would never leave my barn any other way than perfect. A clean barn shows pride and respect for your surroundings and also when you start the day with everything in its place and organized, there are so many more things that can be accomplished.” -Donna Pace
Read more from Donna here.
