Choosing a Trainer is like choosing your spouse!

   Choosing a riding instructor may be as simple as calling the one and only individual within a hundred mile radius who offers riding lessons. The choice is not nearly so limited, or usually so easy. It should be done with the same care you would take to pick a university for your child.

  Before beginning your search for the best possible instruction, it is both helpful and necessary to make a complete and honest assessment of your strengths, weaknesses, and goals as a rider. With which riding skills do you feel comfortable and competent? Which skills do you feel yourself lacking? Identify the equestrian pursuits on which you would most like to concentrate your educational efforts. Do you aspire to ride in the Dressage ring, the Hunter/Jumper ring or maybe just for pleasure?

   Visit  facilities and watch a lesson so you can make an informed choice. Take a notebook along so you can jot down information about the program’s nuts and bolts such as available lesson packages, lesson times, the number of students in a class, cancellation policies etc. Is the instructor qualified to help you reach you goals? How did they acquire their knowledge? Is safety a priority? Do they put the horses well being first and foremost in their training program? Do they fallow the rules set fourth by the FEI and the USEF to guide all of us?(especially when it comes to drugs,medications, and ethics!) Observe the barn routine and riding classes thoughtfully and right down your observations for later review. When considering putting a horse in training or boarding your horse with an instructor, don't be afraid to ask questions about the feeding program, health care program, care of the footing- overall facility and turnout procedures-quality-availability. This is especially important if you have a horse that has special needs.
    When you do choose your instructor give them 100% of your self. Keep a open mind, be respectful, be passionate about learning all you can and use your instructors knowledge to your best advantage. We recommend staying with them for a minimum of five years,studying literature and videos that they pick; which go along with their system and only riding in clinics they recommend. You should learn one language-system fluently, so you can have clear communication woth your equine partner and a happy lasting relationship.
  This model of how to choose instruction can be applied to learning almost anything. We hope sharing this has helped you in some small way.
                                                           Sincerely,
                                                                        Petra and John